Elsi Herrera came to America from Ecuador at the age of 17. Growing up, she had no intention of moving to America, but once she met her husband he brought her with him. As soon as she got her citizenship and a job she sent back money to her family. A few siblings eventually joined her in America. Elsi loved America the second she stepped foot on the land. She says she knows she is living the American Dream and that she owes all of her happiness to America and the opportunities that she has had here.

Growing up:

My childhood was very good growing up in Calsetta. All my schooling was done in Ecuador; there is good schooling there. Then I came to this country and worked right away, it wasn’t hard for me. When I was younger I never thought about coming to this country it was never part of my mind, I was going to be a secretary in Ecuador and live there forever that was the plan until I met my husband he put in my mind the idea to come to America. My husband came when he was 18 now he’s 67, I’m 44. We met in Ecuador then he brought me to America.

Family:

I am very family-oriented; I was brought up that way. I like doing family things and I am very close with my family. We are 8 siblings; four boys and four girls, I’m the youngest. I was the first of my family to go to America. My children were all born here they don’t like Ecuador they say “mommy its too hot.” I always told my children the story of how I liked to go to the tree take an orange, my grandmother had all different fruits and I liked to go to the tree and eat the fruits straight from the tree. My mother came after me, my father passed away a long time ago. Even though I’m the one that brought everyone here to America and came here first, my siblings are still my role models and I look up to them. My kids speak Spanish and English, I spoke everything in Spanish while they were growing up. My grandkids come to me and ask for milk and I’d tell them to say it in Spanish so they would say milk and I would say “leche” which is milk in Spanish and then they would say grandma “leche.” My favorite day of the week is Sunday because that is when my whole family is in my house.

Neighborhood:

I love my neighborhood, it’s very quiet and very safe very nice to live there. It is pretty diverse. Honestly, I’m not a very friendly person, I’m nice with people I just like keeping to my family. My dream is to go on more vacations: id want to go to Ecuador, I went to Haiti, Puerto Rico, Miami, Hawaii, for vacation—love all the hot places, I love to go early in the morning to the beach.

Why She Decided to Come:

I came to this country at 17. I came because I was very poor in my country, I met my husband in my country and he used to live here; then he went to my country, met me and then brought me to America. I told my mother that if I come to America I will work and make money and I can help the family and it will be better. I was the first of my family to come to America and then they followed after. When I got my American citizenship I brought money back for my whole family and sent for my family.

Transition:

The transition was not a problem for me. The hardest challenge? In the beginning I missed my family before my mother came it was very hard for me to not be with her and then I tried to work hard so that I can do what I wanted to do, to bring all my family here and I did it. The culture was very different, so that was hard for me. Our schools, in Ecuador, taught us to be more polite and say good morning, good afternoon, and goodnight to people, in America they don’t do that so much. The parents don’t teach their kids that so much. My children do say these things because I taught them to since that’s how I was brought up in Ecuador – very important to teach them I think. What was hard was not understanding the prices when I went to the supermarket. To tell you the truth I learned English with my children and from watching television. My grandchildren call me grandma, I speak Spanish to them and they understand everything I say but they only speak English. My husband helped me through it all, transition and through everything.”

Change:

I would change the people running for president, that’s the only thing I would like to change about America.

Jobs:

My husband worked in the hospital in America for 20 years. I used to work in jewelry in Manhattan for 18 years then my husband bought a small beauty salon and then we moved to another one and now I’m here. I own this salon, only me and my husband. I love working here. I like this job specifically because everyone wants to do their hair and nails so I started this salon to help them do that, I used to do it every week so then my husband and I started the salon for others. My husband taught me how to drive- he told me I had to learn.”

Connection to Ecuador:

Oh the earthquake? My family in Ecuador was okay but very close to my old town. Everyone got out okay. Everyone is okay. I have four siblings in America and four in Ecuador. When mom was alive I went back every year to visit. She was very old so I went to take her to the city and left her there for the winter and then in the beginning of spring I would go to bring her back to America by myself. My favorite things about Ecuador are the food, my family, and being happy with them. I’m very sad when anything bad happens in Ecuador because I know all the places where these things happen. They have very poor people living there and it is very sad and very hard for me to hear. I already sent water and things to send to Ecuador to help. I sent it last Sunday to help them out by myself. I did it because they are really in pieces and need all the help they can get.

Culture:

I’m catholic, very catholic. I miss the food most in Ecuador it’s very different than the food here. Food from my country is very good, like rice and meat. I make the dishes at my house, Ecuadorian style. My children love my cooking, they love Ecuadorian style food.

Thoughts and Feelings about America:

When I put my feet in this country for the first time I loved this country. I love everything about it, everything everything a lot of everything. It’s the American dream, you can do whatever you want in this country. I was very happy bringing my children up in America they were all born here and everything was happy. I thank Gd that I came to this country because America has given me the opportunity to have everything that I have. People here are very nice they like to help you. I love American people because if you don’t understand something they try to explain it to you or if your lost they explain how to get to different places and give instructions to help you. There is a lot of opportunity in this country that we don’t have in Ecuador. Everything that happened in America is happiness for me, I love this country and I thank this country for everything I have. I can’t even imagine how different my life would be if I didn’t come to America and stayed in Ecuador I can’t even imagine.