Immigrant Voices Podcast Project

The Immigrant Voices Podcast Project brings you the voices of the courageous people who have made the U.S. their home. In their own words, you’ll hear about the lives and people they left behind in their native countries, their journeys here, their struggles and successes. You’ll hear from parents of “dreamers,” “dreamers” themselves, undocumented to naturalized citizens, and everything in between.

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Immigrant Voices Podcast Project

Rudi from Guatemala

October 30, 2022 • Deborah • Season 4 • Episode 28

Pay for teaching at a private school in Guatemala barely brought in enough money for Rudi to support himself. And certainly not enough to repay his parents for the sacrifices they had made for him. Instead, he decided to join his sister in the States to better his circumstances and be able to send money to his parents. Once here, he learned the plumbing and construction trades with dreams of starting his own construction business. Rudi is determined to find the best balance between career and family while improving his English. A devoted father and husband, Rudi is looking forward to using his recently earned U.S. passport to travel with his small family.

Guest introduction/00:38

Coming to the U.S./01:35

Deborah: So my guest today is Rudy from Guatemala. Hi Rudy. Can you tell me why did you come to this country? Why did you leave Guatemala? And also, what was the year that you left Guatemala?

Rudi: Was in 2002, 20 years. First of all, I grew up in a poor family in the valley, not the city, you know. And my parents, they had a hard time to give to me the opportunity to study in my country for a profession. And thanks God, they do a good job. They give the opportunity and I graduated for teacher. I’m a teacher in my country. Yeah. But, it is hard in my country to get a job because many, many student graduate every, every years, every day. Is not they the government they don’t give enough opportunity for all the students that got graduated. And I just started to give classes in my country. Like a private school. But the private school don’t pay a lot because it’s not part of the government.

Deborah: Are you saying that you went to school to become a math teacher?

Rudi: In my country the teacher they teach all classes science and math include all classes there.

Deborah: Was there a particular day or a particular thing that happened that made you decide, “I’m gonna leave”?

Rudi: Yes, because when I started to teaching in class I wanna help to my parents not pay back the money that they invest in me, but the pay it wasn’t enough for me in mind to if I give to my parents. That’s why probably I decide to come or at this country because I hear from my friend, they already here. They work hard, but they pay weekly and they do many things over there, not like a house, and they can send money to his parents. Okay. I would like to do the same thing, no? That’s why I took the decision to come.

Deborah: Did you get a visa or how did you actually come into the country?

Rudi: It was hard because I just come from the border. Yeah. It take me 20, 28 days to arrive here to USA. I have to sleep in the mountains and I have to walk the desert for two days and three nights. Yeah. It was hard. But thanks God, I’m here and I’m happy now. But I’m happy because my family is small. Just only have two sisters. My youngest sister is here and my parents they have a visa. They come they visit me every year. I don’t miss much my country. And all my friends they are here. They are in different states, but I had contact with them.

Finding Work and Love/04:58

Deborah: So when you crossed the border, how long did it take you to come to Boston? Did that take weeks or months?

Rudi: First, I came to Virginia. One of my friends, he offered me a house and food. I lived in Virginia for four years. I was working in a plumbing company, but the company lost a lot of jobs and they give a kinda layoff, not because I was new in that time, no. And they only say, “I will call you. I will call you.” Then passed two weeks, three weeks, one month, two months. Imagine if you over here, if you don’t have a job, you can’t survive. Yeah. The family can help you for a few days, but not for long time. Yeah. And that’s why my sister, one of my sister was living here in Boston and I asked her if he can, “How is the things going over there if they are jobs?” And, she told me, “Yeah, you can come if you want, because if you don’t want, you don’t have a job over there. How you can gonna survive or how you can help to my parents, no?” Yeah. That’s why I decide to after four years living in Virginia I came from Boston.

Deborah: Were you married at that time?

Rudi: No. I was single. It is more easy to move and stay to a different place when you are single.

Deborah: When did that change?

Rudi: Well, I was living in Boston, and I found the love then I got married and now I have a child at two years and a half.

Deborah: That’s wonderful. So when you got to Boston, what kind of work did you do?

Rudi: A painter, a paint company. Was different. I didn’t know anything about paint. No. I never even got a brush and nothing. No. I have to start from the beginning. No because I don’t know anything in Boston. I don’t know nothing about Boston. Was hard. Was hard for me.

Adjusting to Life/07:29

Deborah: How long did it take for you to feel comfortable in Boston and also comfortable as a painter?

Rudi: I think it took me not much time because first of all I was with my sister and two nieces. And in Boston it’s easy to move to different places because we have the MBTA more easy. I had to learn fast how to take the bus, how to take the train. Was good.

Deborah: What was the biggest culture shock when you got to the States? Was there anything that was really surprising to you and difficult to adjust to when you came?

Rudi: The more difficult was the language. I don’t understand. It was hard. And I was in Virginia, I was working a landscaping company, most person who work in that company they only speak English not Spanish.

Acquiring English/08:28

Deborah: When did you start to learn English?

Rudi: Well I used to start to learn English in my job just hearing always I like to hear. Or when I take the bus, I like to hear watching the signs what they say. Probably I don’t understand but I like to repeat or I like to try to say the words or the sentence or on the signs. And after maybe like three years, I hear about the Gardner Pilot Academy and they teach English for free. Is the more important for free. I went with those day to apply, and they told me they gonna call me because they have a list, no. They called me and I was very happy because one of my goals is learn or understanding speak and write a hundred percent in English, no. Now most because I have I told you I have a boy and the future, imagine if I can’t understand why I can’t understand or write English, when my boy came from the school and he has a homework, how it’s gonna help him? My wife she can help, no. She can help him. But me, imagine if he asked me, “Hey Dad or can you help?” I gonna feel bad. That’s why I wanna learn English. That’s why I have three years, taking a English class in the Gardner school. And I think it’s helped me a lot because I receive many accomplishment. “Oh, now you understand. Now more Rudi. Oh, why? Wow. You, you can read.” Sometimes I send message in English and the person said, “Oh, this is nice.” That’s why I’m still assisting to the English class.

Deborah: Your son is still pretty young. By the time he’s in school, your English— you’ll be able to help him with his homework.

Rudi: Yeah. Hopefully.

Deborah: So did you bring anything from Guatemala with you that you still have? Something you carry with you, maybe even in your pocket, some little thing that has always been with you?

Rudi: No, no. When we come to this country, we cross the border. The person they don’t let us bring anything big or something. Walking or running in the mountains or the desert, you know, we cannot. I don’t have anything.

Citizenship/11:14

Deborah: You’ve told me when we spoke on the phone that you’ve recently become a US citizen. Can you tell me about how long it took you and what it was like to become a citizen?

Rudi: Well, after I get married, I become a resident. And after three years, I become a citizen. That’s why I decide to take the English class, no. Because one of my goal was be a citizen. If you don’t, you don’t understand. If you don’t speak, you cannot pass the citizenship test, no. That’s why I’m very glad with the teachers that are teaching English class at the Gardner Pilot Academy. I always be glad with Michelle. She help me a lot and she contact me with the person who give a citizenship class. And that helped me a lot because I think you learn more when someone is teaching you. Those classes helped me a lot to become a citizen, thanks God. Yeah, I’m very happy when I got my passport and say, “Oh wow, this is true. That’s true. I’m a citizen!”

Deborah: So where are you gonna take yourself or your family now that you have the passport? Do you have plans for traveling?

Rudi: Last year we went to my country in Guatemala.

Deborah: How was that?

Rudi: It was good. Was exciting. Yeah. See many different things, no.

Missing Guatemala/12:56

Deborah: What do you miss most about Guatemala?

Rudi: I miss the life over there. Probably you don’t have to have a job. You can survive over there no in the country because we cultivate corn, we vegetable. Yeah. Different things. No, It’s good. Over here the life I think is more rushing. You always was running, Oh, I gotta go to my other job or I gotta wake up early.

Deborah: More stress.

Rudi: This is the word more stressful.

Deborah: Are you saying that in Guatemala you don’t need to have a job, that just growing your own food is enough?

Rudi: Sometimes yes. Because the thing is when you get sick, this is the problem. You have to take the person, your children to the hospital and the hospital or the clinic is very expensive. You couldn’t pay the appointments or the medicine. But if you’re not got sick, probably you can survive because we cultivate many different vegetable, different fruits.

Deborah: It sounds like your lifestyle has become Americanized in that you’re rushing around a lot and you feel stressful. What do you do to deal with the stress? What do you do to relax? What are some of your hobbies? Do you have any hobbies?

Rudi: I don’t have any hobbies. But things I could be I have a hard time, a hard day on my job, but when I come to my home and see my child running and seeing me with a smile, that saves me from the stress completely.

Entrepreneurial Dreams/14:46

Deborah: What kind of work are you doing now, Rudi?

Rudi: I do construction work. We renovate apartments or house, all interior renovations.

Deborah: Is that something you had to learn from scratch from the beginning when you came to the States? Or did you understand how to do that when you were in Guatemala?

Rudi: No. Everything in here was new for me. I have to learn everything. Because all the construction over here, the steps, all the material are different compared to my country.

Deborah: And also we don’t have the metric system.

Rudi: Yeah. That’s true.

Deborah: So do you like the construction business enough to even go into business for yourself? Is that a dream that you have?

Rudi: Yeah. Yeah. This is my dream.

Deborah: Tell me a little bit about that dream. Where do you see it going in five years from now?

Rudi: First of all, I like my job because I can do different things—different thing like a painter, like installing floor, installing many things now I can do. That’s what I like my job. Yeah because always we are in different place. I’m not like be working in the same place every day, every day in the same room. No, no, I don’t like that. That’s why I like my job. I already started taking a small job on my side. After my day work, I work in the afternoons and the nights.

Deborah: Moonlighting.

Rudi: Yeah, moonlighting. Yeah. It’s hard. It is hard, but I have to do it if in the future have my own company.

Deborah: Being a citizen is probably gonna be a real asset for you. It’ll help you form your own company. Looking into the future, are you gonna have a lot of people working for you or are you just gonna be on your own? How would you like your business to be?

Rudi: Well, I think it’s good when you have a big company because probably you can win more money or something, but I think it’s more stressful and I don’t wanna live with the stress all my life, no. I think the money is good. But you have to balance with the work and the family. Now I have a family. But if you have a big company, you have to probably work a lot. Spend more time with the work, no. But the work is important. But the family too. That’s why I have to balance. I don’t like to be a big company, probably like four or five workers.

Deborah: Sounds doable. Sounds good.

Rudi: The family is important for me.

Deborah: It’s the right balance between personal and professional. Now, all those years ago, you were going to be a teacher and you were a teacher for a while. Has that interest in teaching been any part of your life or is that any part of your future dreams at all?

Rudi: Now no, because I have my dream already. Be a construction company. Probably if I decide to give a teacher or here gonna take me a long time. And my goal in construction company I already start to that process.

Deborah: That’s great. You’re on your way with that.

Rudi: Yeah, exactly.

Playing Dad Wins Over Playing Soccer/18:22

Deborah: Do you have any hobbies or did you have any hobbies in Guatemala? Sports or interests that you had? That you are pursuing here or that you’re not able to pursue here?

Rudi: Yes, because in Guatemala when I was teaching it’s only half day from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Every day I was practicing soccer. Every day, every afternoon.

Deborah: Are you playing soccer here?

Rudi: When I came here, yes because they have the opportunity they have many fields close to me. But now no, I don’t have that free time. I prefer spend time with my child, this is my hobby. Yeah. Playing with him.

Advice/19:09

Deborah: What advice would you give to somebody coming to this country based on what you’ve learned ? Your whole experience of leaving Guatemala, going through the border, coming here, starting your life over again. If you could talk to somebody, let’s say from Guatemala and they’re asking your advice. What should they do? What would you say are important things for them to do that maybe you didn’t know about or that you didn’t think about, or that maybe you did think about that you think are important?

Rudi: I think the more important is learn English. This is the first, learn English. Try to learn more fast you can. Because it’s gonna help a lot. The communication is very important over here. And it is the advice I can give to someone. Yeah learn English.

Practicing English/20:11

Deborah: Do you have American friends who don’t speak any Spanish that you speak to that you have to use English?

Rudi: Yeah. Almost every day because we work with Harvard University. My company have a contracts with the university. We paint and renovate the apartments where the students live. And all property managers they are white people they only speak English and I think this help me, too, because I was practice words and not have a big conversation but little by little I was learning more words, more words that they talking to me that’s why I think it helped me to learn English. And I receive encouragement for they now they, “Oh now Rudi you understand more. Oh, wow, Rudi. It’s a big different compared to two years ago, three years ago. Now I can understand more.”

Deborah: So they give you compliments in your English? And is your wife Spanish speaking?

Rudi: Was funny because when I start talking with her, her Spanish was terrible. Yeah. She don’t like to speak Spanish because sometimes I laugh at her about how she say the Spanish word. And now she is speak Spanish perfectly.

Deborah: Ah, so she’s a native speaker. She speaks English. So you have a live-in English teacher.

Rudi: Her family is from Guatemala, but her native language is English.

Deborah: Oh, so she was born here?

Rudi: Yeah she was born here.

Deborah: Is there anything else you’d like to tell me about what it’s like being an immigrant? What’s the hardest part after—I know you said your learning the language—but what’s the most challenging thing on a day-to-day basis?

Rudi: I think it was a little hard for me because it took me 15 years to go back to my original country. After 15 years I can come back to visit my family over there.

Deborah: So the separation and that you weren’t able to go back legally, is that what you meant, until you became a citizen or maybe you got your residence, what enabled you to return?

Rudi: When I got my resident. My resident card.

Cherishing the Vote/22:46

Deborah: Is the resident card the same as the green card?

Rudi: Yeah, they call green card. It’s the same. I’m very happy because now after I have anything now I have a family. I have become a citizen. Now I can vote. Now I can decide to give a vote to the person who I think will be elected.

Deborah: That’s wonderful. That’s a good reason to become a citizen so that you can vote.

Rudi: And I’m glad. I’m very grateful with the Gardner Academy because they are giving me the opportunity to learn English. So now it probably is more hard for me because I moved to another state two months ago. Over here is new for me.

A Commute Becomes Part of the Plan/23:38

Deborah: What brought you to Rhode Island?

Rudi: The thing is one of my goal is buy a house. And over here the rent is more cheap. Everything is more cheap. And I wanna save money, more money for can we buy a house. And over there in Boston everything is too expensive. And over here my wife her mom she’s gonna take care my boy. I think it’s more convenient. So my job in Boston I work in my Boston.

Deborah: You have a big commute?

Rudi: One hour every day.

Deborah: Wow. Yeah that’s a lot.

Rudi: I’m still assisting to the English class and now after work.

Deborah: Anything else you want to say? You want to tell anybody listening, any immigrant listening or non-immigrant or anybody. The purpose of the podcast series is so that other immigrants can be inspired, but also people who have no concept of how hard it is to be an immigrant. I want them to get a sense of how resilient and hardworking the immigrants are that I talk to.

Rudi: Yeah, the only advice I can use is don’t give up. Don’t give up. If you have goals, if you have dreams, yeah, you can do it. Don’t give up. Nothing is impossible.

Deborah: Good advice. Good advice. Thank you so much, Rudi. It’s been great talking to you.

Rudi: Thank you.

Wrapping Up/25:19

Rudi is an example of a patient, hardworking immigrant whose goals and dreams revolve around his family and his work. He balances the stresses of a long commute and juggling multiple jobs with a happy family reunion at the end of each day. His commitment to improving his English is evident as he enters his fourth year of ESOL classes at the Gardner. Rudi is a vital member of the Gardner Pilot Academy Adult Education extended community, and we are grateful for his involvement.