To close out the year, we share the origin story of the podcast: why we started it, how we put it together, and the difficulties along the way. We also talk about unexpected moments, what made us the most nervous, our favorite episodes to record and many more behind the scenes details. 

Where We Land will be back with a new episode on January 11th (8 pm EST).

WATCH on YouTube!

LINKS TO EPISODES MENTIONED:
Shakira, Ricky Martin... Taylor Swift: Music that crosses cultures
Supportive words and mental health among immigrants with Aimee Hilado (audio)
Feeling behind and catching up with Miguel Angel Hito
Meet the Hosts (audio)
Awkward convos: marriage, kids, neither?
Cultural identities and misconceptions about immigrants with Dr. Nancy Foner
Past Lives: old flames and new identities
Sinners: music, culture and crying
The Summer I Turned Pretty: boys, growth and living abroad
Peace and milk, and perseverance with Abdi Iftin

REACH OUT:

Send us your questions to: [email protected].

FOLLOW:

*Follow WWL on IG: @wherewelandpod

*Follow WWL on TikTok: @wherewelandpod

*Follow Claudia on IG: @claudiavl8

Click here for a list of immigration resources / organizations you can support.

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Luciana and Claudia Valdiviezo know what it’s like to move to the U.S. – twice. They were born in Peru and lived there for only a few years until their parents moved the family to the U.S. The sisters kept in touch with their roots, speaking Spanish at home and every Christmas when they visited Peru for the holidays. Then, when they were 12 and 11 respectively, the family moved back to Peru. Growing up both Peruvian and American during those formative years gave Luciana and Claudia a deep understanding of what it means to belong, and not belong, at the same time.

The sisters eventually moved back to the U.S. Luciana is a marketing professional living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children. Claudia is a writer living in New York City.

After spending her childhood in Haiti, Farrah Daniel moved with her family to the US. The next few years were marked by her struggle to quickly learn English, find her place within Black culture in America, obey her religious upbringing, keep up with her French and Creole, and do as her parents’ asked. It took several years, but Farrah has managed to navigate her way through, sort, and reckon with all the cultural identities that collided within her as an 8 year old when she first arrived in Florida.

Today, Farrah is a writer based in D.C. You can check out her newsletter The Shameless Wanderer on Substack.

WATCH on YouTube!

REACH OUT:

Want to share your immigration stories or have a question? We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected].

FOLLOW:

*Follow WWL on IG: @wherewelandpod

*Follow WWL on TikTok: @wherewelandpod

*Follow Claudia on IG: @claudiavl8

Click here for a list of immigration resources / organizations you can support.

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Luciana and Claudia Valdiviezo know what it’s like to move to the U.S. – twice. They were born in Peru and lived there for only a few years until their parents moved the family to the U.S. The sisters kept in touch with their roots, speaking Spanish at home and every Christmas when they visited Peru for the holidays. Then, when they were 12 and 11 respectively, the family moved back to Peru. Growing up both Peruvian and American during those formative years gave Luciana and Claudia a deep understanding of what it means to belong, and not belong, at the same time.

The sisters eventually moved back to the U.S. Luciana is a marketing professional living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children. Claudia is a writer living in New York City.

As immigrants living in the US, we haven’t always been able to go home to Peru for the holidays. While it can be rough to not go home, it also opens the door to celebrate in new ways. In this episode we share our experiences spending all kinds of holidays and important occasions far from home, and even family.

WATCH on YouTube!

REACH OUT:

Want to share your immigration stories or have a question? We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected].

FOLLOW:

*Follow WWL on IG: @wherewelandpod

*Follow WWL on TikTok: @wherewelandpod

*Follow Claudia on IG: @claudiavl8

Click here for a list of immigration resources / organizations you can support.

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Luciana and Claudia Valdiviezo know what it’s like to move to the U.S. – twice. They were born in Peru and lived there for only a few years until their parents moved the family to the U.S. The sisters kept in touch with their roots, speaking Spanish at home and every Christmas when they visited Peru for the holidays. Then, when they were 12 and 11 respectively, the family moved back to Peru. Growing up both Peruvian and American during those formative years gave Luciana and Claudia a deep understanding of what it means to belong, and not belong, at the same time.

The sisters eventually moved back to the U.S. Luciana is a marketing professional living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children. Claudia is a writer living in New York City.

At 30 years old, Marianna De Luca, a successful lawyer in Costa Rica, had just purchased a new apartment and had no plans to ever leave her home town of San Jose. Until, during a girls trip visiting a friend in DC, she fell in love. But how do you leave your life behind for the chance at something new? Watch our conversation with Marianna about taking a chance on a different life and the challenges of starting over.

WATCH on YouTube!

REACH OUT:

Want to share your immigration stories or have a question? We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected].

FOLLOW:

*Follow WWL on IG: @wherewelandpod

*Follow WWL on TikTok: @wherewelandpod

*Follow Claudia on IG: @claudiavl8

Click here for a list of immigration resources / organizations you can support.

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Luciana and Claudia Valdiviezo know what it’s like to move to the U.S. – twice. They were born in Peru and lived there for only a few years until their parents moved the family to the U.S. The sisters kept in touch with their roots, speaking Spanish at home and every Christmas when they visited Peru for the holidays. Then, when they were 12 and 11 respectively, the family moved back to Peru. Growing up both Peruvian and American during those formative years gave Luciana and Claudia a deep understanding of what it means to belong, and not belong, at the same time.

The sisters eventually moved back to the U.S. Luciana is a marketing professional living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children. Claudia is a writer living in New York City.

Nobody Wants This is a show we binged each season of and couldn’t help but relate to the cultural differences and culture clashes shown on screen. In this episode we explore the complicated nature of dating someone with a different cultural background and the negotiations that come with that. We also discuss our favorite pieces of culture depicted in the show, and of course, we dive into what we enjoyed so much about the series.

WATCH on YouTube!

REACH OUT:

Want to share your immigration stories or have a question? We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected].

FOLLOW:

*Follow WWL on IG: @wherewelandpod

*Follow WWL on TikTok: @wherewelandpod

*Follow Claudia on IG: @claudiavl8

Click here for a list of immigration resources / organizations you can support.

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Luciana and Claudia Valdiviezo know what it’s like to move to the U.S. – twice. They were born in Peru and lived there for only a few years until their parents moved the family to the U.S. The sisters kept in touch with their roots, speaking Spanish at home and every Christmas when they visited Peru for the holidays. Then, when they were 12 and 11 respectively, the family moved back to Peru. Growing up both Peruvian and American during those formative years gave Luciana and Claudia a deep understanding of what it means to belong, and not belong, at the same time.

The sisters eventually moved back to the U.S. Luciana is a marketing professional living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children. Claudia is a writer living in New York City.

Carlos Meléndez is a writer/director of film and television specializing in the horror, thriller and fantasy genres (learn about his projects here). Born in Mexico City, Carlos sneakily made his way to Film School in LA at 18. But after finishing his studies he didn’t feel quite prepared to take on Hollywood just yet. After twenty years of painstaking work and success in Mexico, Carlos returned to LA last year. You can watch his TV series My Encounter With Evil on Netflix.

WATCH on YouTube!

REACH OUT:

Want to share your immigration stories or have a question? We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected].

FOLLOW:

*Follow WWL on IG: @wherewelandpod

*Follow WWL on TikTok: @wherewelandpod

*Follow Claudia on IG: @claudiavl8

Click here for a list of immigration resources / organizations you can support.

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Luciana and Claudia Valdiviezo know what it’s like to move to the U.S. – twice. They were born in Peru and lived there for only a few years until their parents moved the family to the U.S. The sisters kept in touch with their roots, speaking Spanish at home and every Christmas when they visited Peru for the holidays. Then, when they were 12 and 11 respectively, the family moved back to Peru. Growing up both Peruvian and American during those formative years gave Luciana and Claudia a deep understanding of what it means to belong, and not belong, at the same time.

The sisters eventually moved back to the U.S. Luciana is a marketing professional living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children. Claudia is a writer living in New York City.

In this episode we talk about making friends in a new country. Specifically, making immigrant friends when you yourself have also immigrated abroad. We discuss how it’s easy to relate to someone who, like you, isn’t from here. We also talk about the additional ease of making friends with someone who moved here from the same country you did, and the difficulties of connecting with fellow immigrants who come from very different backgrounds than you.

We also get into the culture clash of visiting a honky tonk for the first time, and Luciana’s current fave: Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl.

WATCH on YouTube!

REACH OUT:

Want to share your immigration stories or have a question? We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected].

FOLLOW:

*Follow WWL on IG: @wherewelandpod

*Follow WWL on TikTok: @wherewelandpod

*Follow Claudia on IG: @claudiavl8

Click here for a list of immigration resources / organizations you can support.

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Luciana and Claudia Valdiviezo know what it’s like to move to the U.S. – twice. They were born in Peru and lived there for only a few years until their parents moved the family to the U.S. The sisters kept in touch with their roots, speaking Spanish at home and every Christmas when they visited Peru for the holidays. Then, when they were 12 and 11 respectively, the family moved back to Peru. Growing up both Peruvian and American during those formative years gave Luciana and Claudia a deep understanding of what it means to belong, and not belong, at the same time.

The sisters eventually moved back to the U.S. Luciana is a marketing professional living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children. Claudia is a writer living in New York City.

Miguel Angel Hito works in marketing at Google, but when he was 26 Miguel had yet to fulfill his dream of going to college. Born in Peru, his first experience abroad was right out of high school living in Japan. After four languages, countless jobs and a move to Miami, Miguel finally made it to community college. There was still a way to go for him to feel ‘caught up’ to his peers, but he was on his way. Watch our conversation where he shares the full story!

WATCH on YouTube!

REACH OUT:

Want to share your immigration stories or have a question? We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected].

FOLLOW:

*Follow WWL on IG: @wherewelandpod

*Follow WWL on TikTok: @wherewelandpod

*Follow Claudia on IG: @claudiavl8

Click here for a list of immigration resources / organizations you can support.

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Luciana and Claudia Valdiviezo know what it’s like to move to the U.S. – twice. They were born in Peru and lived there for only a few years until their parents moved the family to the U.S. The sisters kept in touch with their roots, speaking Spanish at home and every Christmas when they visited Peru for the holidays. Then, when they were 12 and 11 respectively, the family moved back to Peru. Growing up both Peruvian and American during those formative years gave Luciana and Claudia a deep understanding of what it means to belong, and not belong, at the same time.

The sisters eventually moved back to the U.S. Luciana is a marketing professional living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children. Claudia is a writer living in New York City.

The Summer I Turned Pretty quickly became Luciana’s favorite show, so we had to find a way to talk about it on the pod. We explore the ups and downs of Belly’s experience living abroad in Paris, and the multicultural moments depicted in the show. And of course, we dive into what we loved so much about the show.

WATCH on YouTube!

REACH OUT:

Want to share your immigration stories or have a question? We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected].

FOLLOW:

*Follow WWL on IG: @wherewelandpod

*Follow WWL on TikTok: @wherewelandpod

*Follow Claudia on IG: @claudiavl8

Click here for a list of immigration resources / organizations you can support.

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Luciana and Claudia Valdiviezo know what it’s like to move to the U.S. – twice. They were born in Peru and lived there for only a few years until their parents moved the family to the U.S. The sisters kept in touch with their roots, speaking Spanish at home and every Christmas when they visited Peru for the holidays. Then, when they were 12 and 11 respectively, the family moved back to Peru. Growing up both Peruvian and American during those formative years gave Luciana and Claudia a deep understanding of what it means to belong, and not belong, at the same time.

The sisters eventually moved back to the U.S. Luciana is a marketing professional living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children. Claudia is a writer living in New York City.

Zosia Garcia is a movie and TV producer based in LA. Originally from Puebla, Mexico, Zosia left her home town right out of college to pursue an acting career in LA. She quickly pivoted to producing and has been climbing the industry ladder ever since. Zosia shares her ambitions of winning an Oscar, what it’s like to constantly travel for work, and what producers actually do in Hollywood. 

We also get into the challenges of visiting home when you live abroad, what she’s inherited from her Mexican and Polish backgrounds, and why ‘me la pelas’ is culture.

WATCH on YouTube!

REACH OUT:

Want to share your immigration stories or have a question? We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected].

FOLLOW:

*Follow WWL on IG: @wherewelandpod

*Follow WWL on TikTok: @wherewelandpod

*Follow Claudia on IG: @claudiavl8

Click here for a list of immigration resources / organizations you can support.

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Luciana and Claudia Valdiviezo know what it’s like to move to the U.S. – twice. They were born in Peru and lived there for only a few years until their parents moved the family to the U.S. The sisters kept in touch with their roots, speaking Spanish at home and every Christmas when they visited Peru for the holidays. Then, when they were 12 and 11 respectively, the family moved back to Peru. Growing up both Peruvian and American during those formative years gave Luciana and Claudia a deep understanding of what it means to belong, and not belong, at the same time.

The sisters eventually moved back to the U.S. Luciana is a marketing professional living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two young children. Claudia is a writer living in New York City.