Astrid Chirinos oral history interview, 2002 September 11
Description
Astrid Chirinos discusses her experience as a Venezuelan immigrant to the United States. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Ms. Chirinos moved to Raleigh, North Carolina with the encouragement of her father to attend St. Mary's College. Ms. Chirinos shares her initial feelings of culture shock and disillusionment as a foreign undergraduate as well as her appreciation for cultural differences like the surprising generosity of her American neighbors and better job opportunities for women in the United States. Ms. Chirinos also explains the conflict she feels about her bicultural identity. Though she has claimed the United States as her new home, she shares how the Spanish language and culture of Venezuela are an inseparable part of her identity. She goes on to express her views of the Latin American community in Charlotte as business-oriented and made up of professionals who foster each others' success.
