Neither Here nor There

Due to the civil war that had erupted in Syria, Osama and his family were forced to leave in 2013. Ireland was the place they chose to call home and Ireland is quite different from Syria. Osama shares with us life as a Syrian refugee and working towards his goals for his family and himself. 8 years later, he is now a software engineer working for one of the biggest communication companies in Europe.

Alejandra came to America 4 years ago, escaping political unrest in her country Venezuela. She did not have time to think it over, she just did it. Alejandra gave up her profession and old life and started from scratch. Sometimes, it is hard letting go of an old lifestyle, an old profession but it is easier if you have the mindset of "this is temporary" and that was Alejandra's approach. She is now self-employed in Chicago and co-founder of a non-profit organization helping her other fellow citizens who also had to escape from Venezuela.

In this episode of Neither Here Nor There, Eduardo Aquije shares his story of moving to the US as a teenager leaving his friends and prior life back in Peru. In the states, he was not just a teenager who was initially angry with his parents for leaving home, he also became an illegal immigrant when his parents decided to overstay their visas. Being a teenager is hard as is, being a teenager who is also illegal comes with different challenges. The hard choices Eduardo’s parents made gave him opportunities he would otherwise miss.

Kaveh Nafari came to America as a 25 year old adult who had his own set of values from his native Iran. However, he is open to new experiences and challenges in what he considers the land of opportunities, the United States. Kaveh has pursued a PhD in Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and is now an accomplished professional working with multinational corporations around the world. In our conversation, Kaveh talks about the importance of a social network and having a purpose which are important for professional and personal development.

In this episode of Neither Here Nor There, Gerald Olende talks with me about his experience as an immigrant in the United Kingdom and the United Stated after leaving his native country Kenya. Gerald moved to the UK on a job secondment but that did not mean he had it easy- he talks about starting over, and importance of community. Gerald is now an accomplished professional working in downtown Chicago, providing consulting services to Fortune 500 companies. Check it out 😊

In this episode of Neither Here Nor There, Luisana Colmenares talks with me about her experience as an immigrant in the United Stated after leaving her native country Venezuela, including initial cultural shock, conscious and unconscious biases and others. Luisana is an accomplished professional, Spanish teacher, and podcaster of her latest “The Solo Female Travel” podcast. Check it out 😊

Contact Luisana on IG @lucolmenares_

Contact me on IG @esmeraldap28

In this episode, Brahan shares with us his experiences as an immigrant in the US; how he calls home both his native India and the country he chose later in life; and how both are a part of him.

This episode is a pilot episode for my new podcast about immigrants wherever they are in the world. Its an intro of myself and structure of the podcast.