I have so often wanted to start this, so thanks Anna
My husband has been here 16 months. Jose’s transition to Canada has been great with some bumps. He went through some lonely times and still does. He misses his family and friends. Jose has found the “minute passes” (phone cards) and “You tube” (DR shows and singers) help a lot in those lonely times.
Jose was able to find work immediately at the Casino. He has been working there over a year and loves it dearly. He has made wonderful friends and also has learned that some people because you don’t understand everything in English perceive him as dumb. Now that his English is fluent he has been able to address some of those people and educate them.
Jose has been enrolled in the LINC home study English program. He does his English studies on the computer and a teacher calls him once a week. I remember a time when he first got here I would be his translator and would speak up for him…I soon realized I was not helping him and I stopped. When I stopped I watched his English flourish. We stopped speaking Spanish in our house which forced him to learn English. I didn’t realize how much I said certain words until he started talking like me…LOLOL
Food at the beginning was a challenge, but now Jose eats cereal and sandwiches without complaining. I try to make a couple of DR meals a week and I have actually learned to enjoy cooking.
Our biggest transition has been understanding money and bills. This has been the topic of many disagreements. I tried many times to explain that a certain amount had to be in the bank when the mortgage came due or the car payment and it was starting to take a toll. So, now he sits with me and does the bills and understands EVERYTHING! (as it should be) We used to have many disagreements over money being sent to his family. Now I don’t say anything because it just got ugly. We sat down and figured out an amount that worked for both of us and now we just fit it into the monthly bills.
I am glad we are through our transition stage. Marriage is hard work and double for us who decide to marry out of normal circumstances. It takes an extreme amount of patience and love to endure immigration, a new culture and a new marriage. One thing that was an incredible help to us was finding another DR/Canadian couple who were going through the same transitions and knowing that Jose and I were normal. We found that couple here on the DR1.
I wish all of you all the best with your new lives together. You have found a support network here in the DR1 reach out if you need them.
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