Finally, Syraria arrives in the States in this chapter! Enjoy!
MARY ANNE:
It's around eleven-thirty in the morning and after enjoying a late sleep, I'm sitting at Grandma's kitchen table with a cup of tea, peanut butter toast, and Syraria's journal. I push up the sleeves of my sweatshirt and finish my toast, wash my hands, then open the journal...
We've made it. My family and I are here in the States. We are here outside of the Ellis Island immigration building waiting to be inspected, Mama, Anna, and I. Angela and her family were just taken in along with a crowd of others. Angela and I have exchanged addresses. Angela is going to Boston with her family since she has an few cousins there. My heart is lonely already since I am not sure if Angela and I will ever see each other again. I'm now wiping the tears away as I write, so I hope I won't get tearstains on this journal. Our ship docked early this morning as the sun rose. It was a beautiful view. Angela and I slept little last night. As it grew light, Anna, Angela, her sisters and brothers went up to the deck. We stood by the sea and after what seemed like a long time, I could see a dark line between the sky and sea! I knew that it was land and I pointed and the others saw too. We hugged, cried, laughed, then ran down to tell the others that we'd seen Amerika America. It's right, spelled with a c. The others came rushing up and all of us crowded to get the first glance of the new country. Everyone was yelling, laughing, crying, and hugging. Mama hugged both Anna and me, tears streaking down her face. I myself couldn't believe we'd reached America. "We'll send out a telegram to Erik as soon as we land and he'll come pick us up," my mother told us, her arms still wrapped around us. We silently watched as the dark chunk of land grew and grew until we could see tall squares. New York City, I realized. By then, the crowd was mostly silent. "That's New York?" someone gasped. "Look at those tall buildings!" someone else added. "How do people live in those big things?" There were other murmurings in other languages too. Another ship passed us in the opposite direction. Then Angela tapped me and pointed.
"Statue of Liberty..." she whispered. There she was. It was a statue of a tall, rather lovely woman holding a torch. By then the sun was rising and I could hear other people murmuring about Liberty and looking, just peering at her. As we got closer, she seemed to rise out of the sea like a beautiful coppery apparition. It wasn't that her face was pretty or anything, but something about her was...majestek...dignified. The sight took my breath away as we passed right by it. By then, we were seeing more ships and the buildings loomed over us like huge people inspecting us. Inspectors...I could hear the fearful whispers of the other immigrants and Mama held on to our hands more tightly as our ship headed toward a red brick square building on an island close to the Statue of Liberty. Finally, our ship docked and I could see passengers cringing fearfully as uniformed men came on board and began asking questions and peering into eyes, mouths, and feeling heartbeats. My own heart beat faster as they came close, but thank God, they gave us a quick glance and passed by. That is the first part of the exam. What worries us most is what will happen inside the buildings. I hope Angela and her family are getting through. I send a Mazel Tov to them in my mind and soul. We finally were let off the ship and herded into this waiting area outside the building. It's very crowded here with hundreds of languages being heard at once. They take the crowds in group at a time. The door just opened...we're next, I mouth that as we're taken in. I have to put this down now, as the guards and inspectors are ordering all of us to put all of our belongings here beside a long bar. I just hope this journal doesn't get stolen!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What a long, long day. My family and I made it through inspection, but some of the things we see...right now, we are waiting for Erik and Joanna to pick us up; they have already been summoned. I'm so glad no one stole our things. Right now, we are eating in the kosher kitchen. Once we got into the building, the hall was so huge and cavelike that the voices in thousands of languages seemed deafening. The noise bounced against the huge walls as all of us were herded up the stairs in a huge bunch. What we didn't know was that inspectors were watching us even up the stairs. Several people were pulled aside and questioned if they limped or seemed unsteady on their feet. Poor things! I thought. Once we got upstairs, we were lined up in long lines and at the head of each line was a desk with an examiner. This examiner asked basic questions like *what language do you speak* and they asked Mama what she planned to do for a living in the New World. She told them that she could sew and do factory work. The inspector kind of shook his head and muttered something like *sweatshop work.* "What's a sweatshop?" Anna asked.
"I don't know," Mama whispered. She put a finger to her lips to quiet her, since I hear that anyone who was too loud could be turned away. One question was giving each of us a small card to read. Since they knew we spoke Yiddish, they held out the Yiddish card to us. I answered some of their questions in Englisch, to gave them the good impression, that yes, we could speak Englisch as well, so we'd be able to make our way here. Our next exam, which made us nervous was the physical. It seemed so long as they measured our heartbeats, peered into our faces, and the painful part was the eye exam. I had to fight back a cry as the inspector used a bottonhook to pull down my eyelids. It really stung! Anna gasped, then held her eyes a minute once her exam was over. I held her a minute after, reassuring her that it was over. And that part was, since none of us had the dreaded trachoma Unfortunately, as we moved toward the scalp exam, the woman behind us seemed to have it and I had to fight back tears as I listened to her crying and pleading not to be sent back. I just hoped she didn't have trachoma. Fortunately, the rest of the exams got easier and we were sent to one last table. There we were told that Erik and Joanna had been notified and would come for us this evening. Then finally, finally, after some more questions, the last inspector asked for our passage money, which we'd had in our pocket linings. They didn't take it, but looked it over, then directed us to an exchange counter where we could exchange our marcks for American dollers. Then at last, the words, "Welcome to the United States." We let out our breaths as he stamped our travel passes, then waved us in. We slowly went in. I then caught a glimpse of Angela.
"You made it!" she called. We ran to each other and hugged and Mama and Anna came over and our families talked a few minutes. Angela said that since her parents were both with them, they were ready to leave for Boston. They had their tickets and we said a teary goodbye to them at a long set of stairs. The Stairway of Separation, Mama told us. We stood for a few minutes, watching several other newly admitted immigrants part tearfully at this set of stairs and Angela and I waved until we couldn't see each other any more. We'd promised to write. I clutched her address in my skirt pocked as tears rolled down my face. Mama then hugged me and asked if we should get something to eat. I nodded and Anna said that she was hungry. We exchanged our money, then wandered around looking for a kitchen, since we'd heard that there was one here. Finally, a woman who worked for a group called the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society directed us to the kosher kitchen down the hall and to the right, so we went and here we are now. We just ate now and Erik and Joanna will be arriving any minute, so I must put this journal away for now until we get settled into our new home in New York City.
MARY ANNE:
I have to get up and get tissues and wipe away tears of my own. The Isle of Hope and Tears, I think. I can see why it was called that. What they went through. I can just imagine how scary it all was for them.
More later on how Syraria settles into American life! How will her family adjust to a totally new lifestyle? Stay tuned and you'll find out!
MARY ANNE:
It's around eleven-thirty in the morning and after enjoying a late sleep, I'm sitting at Grandma's kitchen table with a cup of tea, peanut butter toast, and Syraria's journal. I push up the sleeves of my sweatshirt and finish my toast, wash my hands, then open the journal...
We've made it. My family and I are here in the States. We are here outside of the Ellis Island immigration building waiting to be inspected, Mama, Anna, and I. Angela and her family were just taken in along with a crowd of others. Angela and I have exchanged addresses. Angela is going to Boston with her family since she has an few cousins there. My heart is lonely already since I am not sure if Angela and I will ever see each other again. I'm now wiping the tears away as I write, so I hope I won't get tearstains on this journal. Our ship docked early this morning as the sun rose. It was a beautiful view. Angela and I slept little last night. As it grew light, Anna, Angela, her sisters and brothers went up to the deck. We stood by the sea and after what seemed like a long time, I could see a dark line between the sky and sea! I knew that it was land and I pointed and the others saw too. We hugged, cried, laughed, then ran down to tell the others that we'd seen Amerika America. It's right, spelled with a c. The others came rushing up and all of us crowded to get the first glance of the new country. Everyone was yelling, laughing, crying, and hugging. Mama hugged both Anna and me, tears streaking down her face. I myself couldn't believe we'd reached America. "We'll send out a telegram to Erik as soon as we land and he'll come pick us up," my mother told us, her arms still wrapped around us. We silently watched as the dark chunk of land grew and grew until we could see tall squares. New York City, I realized. By then, the crowd was mostly silent. "That's New York?" someone gasped. "Look at those tall buildings!" someone else added. "How do people live in those big things?" There were other murmurings in other languages too. Another ship passed us in the opposite direction. Then Angela tapped me and pointed.
"Statue of Liberty..." she whispered. There she was. It was a statue of a tall, rather lovely woman holding a torch. By then the sun was rising and I could hear other people murmuring about Liberty and looking, just peering at her. As we got closer, she seemed to rise out of the sea like a beautiful coppery apparition. It wasn't that her face was pretty or anything, but something about her was...majestek...dignified. The sight took my breath away as we passed right by it. By then, we were seeing more ships and the buildings loomed over us like huge people inspecting us. Inspectors...I could hear the fearful whispers of the other immigrants and Mama held on to our hands more tightly as our ship headed toward a red brick square building on an island close to the Statue of Liberty. Finally, our ship docked and I could see passengers cringing fearfully as uniformed men came on board and began asking questions and peering into eyes, mouths, and feeling heartbeats. My own heart beat faster as they came close, but thank God, they gave us a quick glance and passed by. That is the first part of the exam. What worries us most is what will happen inside the buildings. I hope Angela and her family are getting through. I send a Mazel Tov to them in my mind and soul. We finally were let off the ship and herded into this waiting area outside the building. It's very crowded here with hundreds of languages being heard at once. They take the crowds in group at a time. The door just opened...we're next, I mouth that as we're taken in. I have to put this down now, as the guards and inspectors are ordering all of us to put all of our belongings here beside a long bar. I just hope this journal doesn't get stolen!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What a long, long day. My family and I made it through inspection, but some of the things we see...right now, we are waiting for Erik and Joanna to pick us up; they have already been summoned. I'm so glad no one stole our things. Right now, we are eating in the kosher kitchen. Once we got into the building, the hall was so huge and cavelike that the voices in thousands of languages seemed deafening. The noise bounced against the huge walls as all of us were herded up the stairs in a huge bunch. What we didn't know was that inspectors were watching us even up the stairs. Several people were pulled aside and questioned if they limped or seemed unsteady on their feet. Poor things! I thought. Once we got upstairs, we were lined up in long lines and at the head of each line was a desk with an examiner. This examiner asked basic questions like *what language do you speak* and they asked Mama what she planned to do for a living in the New World. She told them that she could sew and do factory work. The inspector kind of shook his head and muttered something like *sweatshop work.* "What's a sweatshop?" Anna asked.
"I don't know," Mama whispered. She put a finger to her lips to quiet her, since I hear that anyone who was too loud could be turned away. One question was giving each of us a small card to read. Since they knew we spoke Yiddish, they held out the Yiddish card to us. I answered some of their questions in Englisch, to gave them the good impression, that yes, we could speak Englisch as well, so we'd be able to make our way here. Our next exam, which made us nervous was the physical. It seemed so long as they measured our heartbeats, peered into our faces, and the painful part was the eye exam. I had to fight back a cry as the inspector used a bottonhook to pull down my eyelids. It really stung! Anna gasped, then held her eyes a minute once her exam was over. I held her a minute after, reassuring her that it was over. And that part was, since none of us had the dreaded trachoma Unfortunately, as we moved toward the scalp exam, the woman behind us seemed to have it and I had to fight back tears as I listened to her crying and pleading not to be sent back. I just hoped she didn't have trachoma. Fortunately, the rest of the exams got easier and we were sent to one last table. There we were told that Erik and Joanna had been notified and would come for us this evening. Then finally, finally, after some more questions, the last inspector asked for our passage money, which we'd had in our pocket linings. They didn't take it, but looked it over, then directed us to an exchange counter where we could exchange our marcks for American dollers. Then at last, the words, "Welcome to the United States." We let out our breaths as he stamped our travel passes, then waved us in. We slowly went in. I then caught a glimpse of Angela.
"You made it!" she called. We ran to each other and hugged and Mama and Anna came over and our families talked a few minutes. Angela said that since her parents were both with them, they were ready to leave for Boston. They had their tickets and we said a teary goodbye to them at a long set of stairs. The Stairway of Separation, Mama told us. We stood for a few minutes, watching several other newly admitted immigrants part tearfully at this set of stairs and Angela and I waved until we couldn't see each other any more. We'd promised to write. I clutched her address in my skirt pocked as tears rolled down my face. Mama then hugged me and asked if we should get something to eat. I nodded and Anna said that she was hungry. We exchanged our money, then wandered around looking for a kitchen, since we'd heard that there was one here. Finally, a woman who worked for a group called the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society directed us to the kosher kitchen down the hall and to the right, so we went and here we are now. We just ate now and Erik and Joanna will be arriving any minute, so I must put this journal away for now until we get settled into our new home in New York City.
MARY ANNE:
I have to get up and get tissues and wipe away tears of my own. The Isle of Hope and Tears, I think. I can see why it was called that. What they went through. I can just imagine how scary it all was for them.
More later on how Syraria settles into American life! How will her family adjust to a totally new lifestyle? Stay tuned and you'll find out!