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What happens when you let the people who love you reflect you back to yourself?

In this first episode of a new solo series called In Translation, I celebrate turning 35 by reading handwritten notes from local friends and family answering two prompts:

What’s one thing I should try this year?
 What’s one thing I do well — or could do better?

From skydiving and Bollywood dancing to learning a fourth language, hosting more French meetups, and continuing to make people feel heard — this episode becomes a live, vulnerable reflection on growth, identity, and the power of community.

As someone who spends the year asking others about their journeys on From Where to Here, this is me pausing to process my own.

If you care about:

• Personal growth through community
• Language learning and cultural curiosity
• Becoming a better listener
• Building meaningful connections
• Living intentionally in your 30s

This episode is for you.

Because growth doesn’t happen in big leaps.
 It happens in translation.

_

🎁 Free resource mentioned:
 5 Phrases That Unlock Any Culture
 fromwheretoherepod.com/5-phrases

Subscribe, leave a review, and share with someone who loves discovering new cultures.

Until next time — keep learning, keep connecting, and keep celebrating the beauty of languages and cultures. 🌍

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Welcome to Episode 2 of the Language Legacy Project Series, a 5-part community storytelling initiative capturing the powerful conversations between youth from Alabama and elders from immigrant and refugee communities.

In this second episode, Alex D., a young interviewer sits down with Jack Schniper, an elder whose journey began thousands of miles away, arriving in the United States in the 1950s without speaking English, navigating cultural differences in the Deep South, and slowly building a new definition of home.

What unfolds is more than a migration story. It’s a reflection on courage, identity, language loss and preservation, and the quiet sacrifices that shape future generations.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• What it was like arriving in America with no English and how language barriers shaped everyday survival
• The emotional impact of feeling "different" while growing up in Alabama
• How cultural traditions were protected inside the home while adapting to life outside it
• The unseen trade-offs immigrant parents make to expand opportunity for their children
• Why asking elders intentional questions can uncover stories that might otherwise disappear
• How young interviewers are learning to see language as legacy, not limitation

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About the Language Legacy Community Project:

Language Legacy is a youth-and-elders interview series designed to preserve linguistic and cultural heritage through storytelling. Alabama teenagers interview elders from immigrant and refugee backgrounds to capture their language memories, idioms, childhood stories, and first-language expressions. These conversations are then shaped into short video stories and shared online to deepen intergenerational understanding and strengthen community connection.

If you’re inspired by stories of culture, identity, migration, and language, this episode is the perfect place to begin.

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ORGANIZATIONS mentioned:
- Alabama Holocaust Education Center: ahecinfo.org

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ABOUT THE PODCAST
Thoughtful conversations exploring cultures, languages, and connection. From Where to Here is hosted by Alexandra Lloyd and shares real stories that bridge cultural gaps and spark understanding.

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🔗 EXPLORE free resources & guides:
Visit my website for free resources that help turn curiosity about language and culture into real connection.
👉 https://fromwheretoherepod.com/5phrases

----------
📩 Let’s stay connected.
Join my email list list for thoughtful reflections, resources, and behind-the-scenes moments I only share there.

🎧 Subscribe & Follow
Follow From Where to Here on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen so you don’t miss a conversation.

📱 More language & culture, daily.
Find me on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @fromwheretoherepod

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What happens when you learn a new language later in life, and have to rebuild identity, confidence, and belonging from scratch?

In this episode of From Where to Here, host Alexandra sits down with the Fernández family to talk about learning English as adults, navigating life with an accent, and building a sense of home far from where they started.

Rather than growing up bilingual, the Fernández family shares what it was like to:

- Learn English later in life and use it for survival, work, and connection
- Carry an accent and the assumptions that come with it
- Hold onto their first language while adapting to a new cultural reality
- Use food, family, and tradition as anchors during migration

This conversation reveals how language learning in adulthood is not just about communication; it’s about dignity, resilience, and redefining who you are in a new place.

Whether you’re an adult language learner, part of an immigrant family, or someone navigating life between cultures, this episode offers a deeply human look at what belonging really means.

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ORGANIZATIONS mentioned:
- Hot Stereo 93.5 – Colón, Panama: https://radios.com.pa/hot/
- St. Mark Latino Ministry: https://stmarkrc.org/latinoministry/

----------
🔗 EXPLORE free resources & guides:
Visit my website for free resources that help turn curiosity about language and culture into real connection.
👉 https://fromwheretoherepod.com/5phrases

----------
📩 Let’s stay connected.
Join my email list list for thoughtful reflections, resources, and behind-the-scenes moments I only share there.

🎧 Subscribe & Follow
Follow From Where to Here on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen so you don’t miss a conversation.

📱 More language & culture, daily.
Find me on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @fromwheretoherepod

🤎 If this episode meant something to you…
Leave a review or share it with someone who’d love it too.

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Welcome to Episode 1 of the Language Legacy Project Series, a 5-part community storytelling initiative capturing the powerful conversations between youth from Alabama and elders from immigrant and refugee communities.

In this first episode, a young teen sits down with an elder who left Taiwan at 18, uncovering a deeply personal story about language, identity, family, and the journey of making a new place feel like home. Through guided storytelling and cultural exploration, they dive into memories of childhood in Taiwan, learning English in the U.S., navigating cultural misunderstandings, and the rich traditions passed down through the generations.

You’ll hear stories of:
✨ Growing up in a multigenerational Taiwanese household
✨ Facing the challenges of learning a new language and culture
✨ The emotional realities of immigrating as a teenager
✨ Why idioms, tones, and tiny language differences matter
✨ How Mandarin and cultural traditions are being passed on to her granddaughter
✨ The humor behind a Mandarin filler word that caused a major English misunderstanding
✨ The warmth of Chinese New Year celebrations, storytelling, food, and family rituals

About the Language Legacy Project:
Language Legacy is a youth-and-elders interview series designed to preserve linguistic and cultural heritage through storytelling. Alabama teenagers interview elders from immigrant and refugee backgrounds to capture their language memories, idioms, childhood stories, and first-language expressions. These conversations are then edited into short video stories and shared across online platforms to foster intergenerational understanding, cultural appreciation, and community connection.

Through this project, we hope to:
🌏 Bridge generational gaps through the power of storytelling
🌏 Elevate and preserve the lived experiences of elders
🌏 Celebrate the richness of languages and cultural identities
🌏 Empower youth as interviewers, listeners, and cultural documentarians

If you’re inspired by stories of culture, identity, migration, and language... This episode is the perfect place to begin.

🎧 Watch/Listen now and join us for Episode 1 of 5.
New stories from the Language Legacy Project are coming soon.

----------
📩 Let’s stay connected.
Join my email list list for thoughtful reflections, resources, and behind-the-scenes moments I only share there.

🎧 Subscribe & Follow
Follow From Where to Here on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen so you don’t miss a conversation.

📱 More language & culture, daily.
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When Yumna "Yumi" Yassin left Damascus at age 13, she had no idea what life in Alabama would hold. From learning English and building friendships to navigating faith, identity, and belonging as a Muslim woman in the South. Her story is one of courage, reflection, and heart.

In this episode of From Where to Here, host Alexandra Lloyd sits down with Yumi to explore:

• What it felt like to move from Syria to the U.S. during the war
• How she found her voice learning a new language
• The emotional connection between Arabic and identity
• Her honest take on faith, hijab, and misconceptions about Islam
• How culture shows up through food, family, and friendship

Yumi opens up about feeling caught between two worlds, honoring her roots while shaping her own path. Her warmth and insight remind us that faith and culture aren’t boxes to fit in, they’re bridges that connect us all.

🎧 Tune in for a powerful, human story about language, faith, and finding home, wherever you are.

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Sponsor Spotlight: Birmingham Breadworks
=================================
This episode is brought to you by Birmingham Breadworks. They have been serving up artisan sourdough, European-style pastries, and scratch-made meals since 2014. With a focus on fresh, preservative-free ingredients, their spacious, light-filled café is a local favorite. They’re also committed to sustainability, proudly holding a Gold Level Earth Aware Team (E.A.T.) certification. Stop by for handmade bread, sandwiches, and house-roasted coffee in a space that feels like home!

----------
📩 Let’s stay connected.
Join my email list list for thoughtful reflections, resources, and behind-the-scenes moments I only share there.

🎧 Subscribe & Follow
Follow From Where to Here on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen so you don’t miss a conversation.

📱 More language & culture, daily.
Find me on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @fromwheretoherepod

🤎 If this episode meant something to you…
Leave a review or share it with someone who’d love it too.

Send a text

Growing up across the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Cass learned to feel at home in difference and to see cultural fluidity as a strength. Her story traces how global events like 9/11 shaped perceptions of identity and belonging, and how being mixed race taught her to navigate worlds with empathy and awareness.

Now a leader in tech and host of the podcast How She Got Here, Cass shares how living between cultures became her superpower: helping her lead diverse teams, bridge perspectives, and champion representation for women in tech.

In this conversation, Cass opens up about overcoming fear and perfectionism to launch her own podcast, redefining confidence as the simple act of showing up, even when you don’t feel ready.

Takeaways:

• Cultural fluidity builds resilience and empathy
• Confidence grows from keeping promises to yourself
• Representation matters, especially in spaces that lack it
• Difference isn’t a flaw; it’s the spark that connects us

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🔗 Links & How to Connect with Cassandra Cross

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Connect with her:

• How She Got Here’s LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-she-got-here/ 
• Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandraccross 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howshegotherepodcast 
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@howshegothere 
• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@howshegothere 
• Website: https://cassandracross.com/hsgh-podcast/ 

Mentions:

• Support Cass’s fundraising: https://secure.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=60238760&fr_id=109969&pg=personal 
• “Hapa” meaning: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hapa 
• “STEM” definition and purpose: https://stemeducationguide.com/what-is-stem/ 
• Parable of the Sower (book): https://www.amazon.com/Parable-Sower-powerful-dystopian-future/dp/1472263669 

=======================================
Sponsor Feature: Red Cat Coffee House
=======================================
This episode is brought to you by Red Cat Coffee House and their Landmark Series Coffees. You can find the coffee blends online at https://theredcatcoffeehouse.com/shop/, at your Red Cat locations, or at your local Piggly Wiggly.

----------
📩 Let’s stay connected.
Join my email list list for thoughtful reflections, resources, and behind-the-scenes moments I only share there.

🎧 Subscribe & Follow
Follow From Where to Here on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen so you don’t miss a conversation.

📱 More language & culture, daily.
Find me on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @fromwheretoherepod

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In this episode of From Where to Here, Alexandra sits down with Dr. John Maddox, a professor of Spanish and Portuguese at UAB, to explore the intersections of language, culture, history, and identity. Dr. Maddox shares how an inspiring Spanish teacher set him on a lifelong path in languages, how games and stories made learning accessible, and why perfection in language learning is a myth. The conversation spans from classrooms in Georgia to study abroad in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, weaving in insights about colonialism, race, and the African diaspora. Together, they uncover the untold stories of Brazilian history, especially the overlooked role of Black women in shaping culture, language, and resilience, and reflect on how embracing mistakes, differences, and shared humanity can connect us more deeply across borders.

Takeaways

1. The spark of a teacher matters. A high school Spanish teacher using games, stories, and immersion inspired Dr. Maddox’s lifelong passion for languages.
2. Language learning thrives on imperfection. Mistakes aren’t failures — they are stepping stones to fluency and connection.
3. Portuguese and Spanish are sibling languages. Though often seen as rivals, their shared histories shaped cultures on both sides of the Atlantic.
4. Brazil’s history is inseparable from slavery. It was the largest slave-based society in the Americas, and its cultural fabric still carries this legacy.
5. Black women shaped Brazilian culture in profound ways. From domestic and community roles to preserving oral traditions and influencing literature, their impact endures.
6. Colonial myths still echo today. Narratives like Brazil being a “racial democracy” obscure ongoing inequalities tied to race and history.
7. Puerto Rican identity offers parallels. Like Quebec, Puerto Rico maintains strong cultural pride through language and resilience despite political and colonial complexities.
8. Shared humanity is the antidote to division. Dr. Maddox emphasizes empathy, curiosity, and seeing cultural diversity as a source of growth, not separation.

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🔗 Links & How to Connect with Dr. John Maddox
=============================================
📍Get in Touch with Dr. John Maddox:
- https://ua-birmingham.academia.edu/Maddox

📍Links:
- Puerto Rico - zafacón (Instagram post): https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIqv1i6xVne/?igsh=ZzRkYzN3MzNkanJo

- Slavery and the Portuguese Language (podcast): https://tinyurl.com/bdx73kt7

📍Book Recommendations
- Black Notebooks, Niyi Afolabi -  https://tinyurl.com/ppfmyjdu

- Machado de Assis, Blackness and the Americas - https://www.amazon.com/Machado-Blackness-Americas-Afro-Latinx-Futures/dp/1438498810

- Child of the Dark, Carolina Maria de Jesus - https://www.amazon.com/Child-Dark-Diary-Carolina-Maria/dp/0451529103

- Africans in Brazil, a Pan-African Perspective, Abdias do Nascimento - https://tinyurl.com/2hmvztye

- Changó, Decolonizing

----------
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Join my email list list for thoughtful reflections, resources, and behind-the-scenes moments I only share there.

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📱 More language & culture, daily.
Find me on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @fromwheretoherepod

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Join us for an intimate conversation with Juliana Madrid, a Colombian business operations director who transformed a simple dream of perfecting her English into a beautiful cross-cultural love story. Discover how she navigated building relationships, career success, and family traditions while bridging two very different worlds. Her honest insights about cultural stereotypes, the reality of immigrant life, and creating "home" in multiple countries will inspire anyone considering a major life change or curious about Latin American culture.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• The "No Dar Papaya" mindset is essential for success - Juliana reveals how this Colombian expression (don't give opportunities to be taken advantage of) guided her from choosing Birmingham over Miami to sitting front row in every class.
  
  
• Colombian family closeness creates a practical support system that makes American independence shocking - Living with parents until marriage and having affordable household help means learning to cook and do laundry at 30 was a real culture shock.
  
  
• Breaking the Colombian expectation of having children requires channeling nurturing energy elsewhere - Juliana shows how she became "Mama Juli" at work while her family's unconditional support made this choice possible without cultural judgment.

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🔗 How to Connect with Juliana Madrid
===================================
📍 Get in Touch with Juliana: https://www.instagram.com/julmadrid/

=================================
Sponsor Spotlight: Red Cat Coffee House
=================================
This episode is brought to you by Red Cat Coffee House and their Landmark Series Coffees. You can find the coffee blends online at https://theredcatcoffeehouse.com/shop/ at your Red Cat locations, or at your local Piggly Wiggly.

----------
📩 Let’s stay connected.
Join my email list list for thoughtful reflections, resources, and behind-the-scenes moments I only share there.

🎧 Subscribe & Follow
Follow From Where to Here on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen so you don’t miss a conversation.

📱 More language & culture, daily.
Find me on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @fromwheretoherepod

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Leave a review or share it with someone who’d love it too.

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In this deeply personal solo episode, host Alexandra Lloyd shares her real-life story of moving from Montreal, Canada, to Birmingham, Alabama, for love. What began as a spontaneous connection on a tropical island turned into a long-distance relationship, a K1 visa journey, and a completely new life in a new country.

Alexandra opens up about:

• How she met her now-husband on vacation in the Cayman Islands
• The emotional highs and lows of long-distance love
• Getting engaged and navigating the complex K1 fiancé visa process
• What it really felt like to move abroad and start over from scratch
• Losing her sense of identity and independence after leaving everything behind
• The emotional and cultural challenges of adapting to a new environment
• Rebuilding her life, finding community, and rediscovering her purpose
• Learning to express herself in a second language, even through love and conflict
• Personal growth, therapy, and the slow process of finding balance and belonging

This episode is both a love story and a candid exploration of what it means to let go of who you were to become who you’re meant to be.

=================================
Sponsor Spotlight: Birmingham Breadworks
=================================
This episode is brought to you by Birmingham Breadworks. They have been serving up artisan sourdough, European-style pastries, and scratch-made meals since 2014. With a focus on fresh, preservative-free ingredients, their spacious, light-filled café is a local favorite. They’re also committed to sustainability, proudly holding a Gold Level Earth Aware Team (E.A.T.) certification. Stop by for handmade bread, sandwiches, and house-roasted coffee in a space that feels like home!

----------
📩 Let’s stay connected.
Join my email list list for thoughtful reflections, resources, and behind-the-scenes moments I only share there.

🎧 Subscribe & Follow
Follow From Where to Here on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen so you don’t miss a conversation.

📱 More language & culture, daily.
Find me on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @fromwheretoherepod

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Leave a review or share it with someone who’d love it too.

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In this heartfelt and honest episode of From Where to Here, Alexandra sits down with Astrid, a tropical plant expert from Mérida, Venezuela, now thriving in Birmingham with Vivatia Plant Care Services and Botanical Workshop. Astrid shares her moving journey of resilience — from growing up under a dictatorship marked by frequent power outages to grieving the deep friendships and community she left behind.

Amid stories of cultural shifts and workplace adaptations, Astrid opens up about the joys and struggles of adjusting to life in the U.S. — all while discovering, with humor and self-awareness, that she might just be a hippie at heart. This episode is a rich blend of vulnerability, culture, greenery, and the kind of candid storytelling that stays with you.

===================================
🔗 Links & How to Connect with Astrid Jerez
===================================
📍 Get in Touch with Astrid:
- Vivatia Plant Care Services and Botanical Workshop: https://www.instagram.com/vivatiaplants/ & https://www.vivatiaplants.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/astridajerez/

📍Resources:
- https://www.domestika.org/en for online courses

=================================
Sponsor Feature: Red Cat Coffee House
=================================
This episode is brought to you by Red Cat Coffee House and their Landmark Series Coffees. You can find the coffee blends online at https://theredcatcoffeehouse.com/shop/ at your Red Cat locations, or at your local Piggly Wiggly.

----------
📩 Let’s stay connected.
Join my email list list for thoughtful reflections, resources, and behind-the-scenes moments I only share there.

🎧 Subscribe & Follow
Follow From Where to Here on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen so you don’t miss a conversation.

📱 More language & culture, daily.
Find me on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @fromwheretoherepod

🤎 If this episode meant something to you…
Leave a review or share it with someone who’d love it too.