Interview with an Immigrant

On December 18th 2010 I interviewed my grandmother, Stylani Vosinas.  Exactly 46 years before the interview she was boarding a boat with her husband and three children to, The United States of America.

Why did you decide to immigrate to this country?
-Well, I wanted a better life for my children and grandchildren. Also there was no chance for my children to succeed if we stayed.

Have you gone back to your village Kokkina Louria or to Greece since you left?

-No. I cannot bring myself to go and recall of the memories of my family. All of my deceased family. I cannot walk the same streets I walked on when I was a kid in a village that is now abandoned. I cannot look upon the rubble of my old house that was neglected after we left.  To me, my life in Greece is comparable to a past life because I try to completely forget the painful memories. My kids, grandchildren, and husband have all gone back, but I refused to go with them. 

What was the hardest thing for you to leave behind in your homeland?
-For me, it was extremely hard to leave my family behind. It brings me to tears just thinking about how much more time I could have spent with them if I had not left.  Instead I was either called or written letters about all of my siblings and the rest of my family dying. It broke my heart to know that I did not do anything to help or that I was not there for their last moments. Currently, out of all my 3 siblings I am the only one left, and the same with my husband with his 9 siblings.  We are seeing some of your nieces and nephews die before we do and 46 years later it still hurts.

What was your job before you decided to move to The United States?
-Me and my husband were olive farmers on our fields. For the majority of the day we were picking olives while my mother-in-law raised my children so the first child I truly raised was you.

In the beginning, what was the biggest change financially for you and your family?
-Paying bills was a major shock to me.  In Greece, we lived on farmland therefore we did not have to pay taxes.  Since our village was in the mountains we did not have running water or electricity, two commodities that were essentially necessary here.


Culturally speaking what was the biggest change?
-Even though we mover to Perth Amboy, which was a highly populated Greek area at the time, there was a lack of community.  Yes, there was a Greek Orthodox church that created a somewhat sense of community, but it was not the same as what we felt at home in our village.

What do you mean by "a somewhat sense of community?"
-The church did bring my religion to this country but it also brought with it a false sense of hope. I thought that me and my family would be accepted there but that was definitely not the case. We felt outcasted because we were not financially established, unlike all the other families, and not could afford a high stewardship rate. My children never attended Sunday School, became Acolytes, or joined the youth group because those were activities for the wealthy and one could not participate unless either had money or were sponsored by a wealthy family.

Why did you never learn English?
-I never felt the need to and would rather ensure the Greek culture was being passed down through my traditions and my native tongue. Also, I was almost always around Greeks. My boss was Greek. My coworkers were Greek. And if I needed an English speaking person I would ask my children or one of my friends that also spoke English.