We had not told them about our dog. We simply thought that it would not be any problem. When they saw us, they were amazed. They said that they rented an apartment and their landlords did not accept pets. Little did we know that this was a widespread phenomenon and we would have a hard time finding a place to live with our dog. Our sponsors were very friendly but told us right away that we were welcome to live with them for as long as necessary, but the dog wasn’t. They advised us to lose him. We refused, so we were advised to find some other place to live.
In the morning, after our arrival, we had to go out to buy something to eat for our dog. Our sponsors indicated a nearby supermarket. We were curious to see an American supermarket but unfortunately a terrible flood had started. There were torrents of water flowing furiously. It was pouring. We tried to cross the boulevard but couldn’t. The water was higher than our knees. We were afraid. So we bought some canned food from a convenience store on our side of the road. Even the convenience store seemed marvelous to us. We spent a long time looking at everything.
Brand New Life
I took a newspaper and started calling people who had placed ads. The great majority of them did not take pets. We visited a few apartments that accepted pets but they looked awful.
Speaking the language was definitely an asset. My mother, however, who was 53 when we arrived, couldn’t speak language. She later learned it quite well because she liked to talk to people, read newspapers, watch TV. Plus, of course, I gave her lessons.
After 5 days of continuous efforts to find a place to live, we found one. When I called, I noticed that the person I was speaking to (the manager of the apartment building) had an accent, quite similar to mine. When I told him my name, he switched to Romanian. He was Romanian. He had been in the country for a few years and had found this building to manage for the Vietnamese owner. It was a 1-bedroom apartment that looked clean, well maintained had a decent kitchen and bathroom and cost î300/month. We had to pay for the first month plus security deposit.
Our sponsors gave us a headboard (for a simple bed that we bought) and an armchair (for î30). Some neighbors, also Romanian, gave us a used refrigerator and a small table for î25. We bought two chairs for î5 each from a garage sale. By the way, we thought garage sales were wonderful. For many years, they were our main source of entertainment. We took long tours on foot and visited many garage sales every weekend. Sometimes, sellers noticed that we came on foot and probably didn’t look very prosperous, and gave us stuff for free. I still remember that we got a bread toaster for free. That was one of the best toasters we ever owned.
Our sponsors drove us to the agency that had paid for our transportation from Rome. There were even more formalities to be done. Plus, another battery of medical tests. Our sponsors were gracious enough to take time off from work to drive us to our appointments. They also took us to the Welfare Office. They said that as new refugees, we were eligible for benefits. We didn’t know what can of worms we were opening.
The formalities to get on Welfare were extremely tedious and time-consuming. Although the clerks were polite, we felt some contempt in their demeanor. Not knowing any better, we declared that we formed a household, my mother and I. Little did we know that if we had declared that we cooked separately, our benefits would have been much better. For a whole month, our food stamps allowance was î53 (to cover food for 2 people). The cash allowance was minimal, to cover rent, utilities and just a little extra. To continue our eligibility we had to report to the Refugee Job Center that was supposed to find us some kind of employment. Both the Welfare Office and the Refugee Job Center were rather far from us. It took 2 buses to get to the former and 3 buses to get to the latter. And buses did not come too frequently. We were called there quite frequently and asked whether we had found a job or not. No help was provided. It took us about 5-6 hours to go there and back with the long waiting time there, just for a 10 second question.
And we did try to find employment. Not having a car, we applied to the businesses that we could reach of foot. All businesses, banks, post office, library, fast food restaurants, retail stores, a junkyard, anything. When they asked us about our education and experience, the answers were invariably: “You are overqualified”, “You don’t have the experience we are looking for.” “You have no experience in this country.”. The interviewer at some restaurant where I went to apply for a hostess position bluntly told me that I was too old. I was 29. I remember going to the Disneyland Hotel where I had heard many positions were available. I waited for hours to speak to an employment specialist and she said that she felt that no position would be good for me. I cried going out. I was also dazed by the superb surroundings around the Hotel Complex. I could see people strolling by, people on vacation, with no apparent worries, having a good time, the way I wanted to be, and compared myself to them. That area of the Disneyland Hotel remained one of my favorite places to go for a stroll even when my circumstances changed. When my mother and I went to the American Embassy in 1980 to make known our wish to emigrate, the consul had been very supportive and encouraging. He said that with our education and experience we would have no problem finding employment immediately. He obviously had no knowledge of the system.
(to be continued)
