Adjusting to life in a new country

On a more philosophical note, I have been doing lots of thinking in the past two weeks about how difficult it is for an immigrant to adapt to a new country and a new way of life. Everyone says it’s difficult and you can imagine how difficult it could be, but even with my own Hispanic heritage, the reality doesn’t even come close.

When I worked with Hispanic clients in DC and FL I thought I understood or empathized with what they were going through. While I may have been empathic to what they were going through, I really had no clue how hard it was or is for them. In social work, we tend to be concerned about our clients who isolate themselves and have no social support. But when you struggle with language barriers and cultural differences, I can understand how you could isolate yourself and be perfectly happy and comfortable with that choice. I have traveled to many countries and traveling does expose you to these differences, but on a very small time limited scale. Once your vacation is over you get to go back to the US and to everything you know.

For some of these people, this is not an option because as difficult as it is in the US, conditions are far worse in their country of origin. It is very eye opening. Another thought is that many of the immigrants that come to the US have little or no education. I rely on my education (especially language) a lot to figure things out here and I can’t imagine being in their position. I certainly don’t take it for granted anymore.

We certainly do live in a great country (the US) despite what we think of politically, economically, etc. No matter how hard you think life in the US is, you can guarantee that it is always harder for people somewhere else in the world.