Wow, it's been ages since I updated this one...got through a mound of mid-terms...just a semester and a half of college to go and I GRADUATE! Yeeehaaa! Sooo, here's more; enjoy!
MARY ANNE:
Once I'm though wiping the tears from my eyes and blowing my nose, I have to wash my hands again so I don't drip snot on Syraria's journal. Then I sit back down at the kitchen table to read more...
We'd left in August, but now it is September. Joanna and Erik came to pick us up at Battery Park once we left Ellis Island. They took us to their flat in Lower East Side of New York. New York is so big and so crowded, so many people walking, running, selling things. So many strange smells and foods. I have never seen so many high buildings! I get scared trying to look up at them and it makes me a little dizzy. I held Mama's hand and Anna clung to mine. We found ourselves weaving through crowds of people and someone swerved by us with a cart full of a strange yellow food that looked like long curved handles. It took about ten blocks down and five blocks over to reach Joanna and Erik's flat. Joanna and Erik talked. Occasionally Mama added something. The houses are very close and crowded and people sprawl along the streets. As we went up the long narrow stairs, I saw several people lying under the stairs in a faint. I also saw papers, empty bottles, wrappers, and broken glass all over the streets and the place smelled faintly like urine and trash decaying. I felt a bit sick seeing and smelling it and I noticed Mama and Anna were a bit pale. It was a relief to get inside the flat on the second floor. As we went up to it, we could hear two people arguing in English. I could understand some of it, but the American English being spoken fluently made it hard to follow the meaning.
"And this is home sweet home..." Joanna gestured around once we entered. And it was homelike. Thinking back, many people might think it was shabby too, but it was rather small, narrow and was furnished. It was a big entrance room with a table and chairs, a kitchen to the right with a stove, table, and more chairs and ahead was a door that led to the bedrooms. It was almost as big as the entrance room, which I now know it as the living room. The bedroom had several beds lined by the wall and a bureau. Finally we could put down our bags and have a rest. The flat was dimly lit and as it was growing dark, we needed to light the lamps. So it was the first thing we did. Joanna and Erik started the wood burning in the stove and together all of us took out food and prepared dinner. After a month of eating the bland, salt-stained food on the ship, it was a relief to eat real-tasting food again. It was rice, chicken and tea. I hadn't realized how salty the food at sea had tasted until I got to taste this food. At first I winced at the strong flavors, but grew used to it and enjoyed the meal. So did Mama and Anna.
"We are lucky to have this food," Erik said once we finished eating and were having tea. "It took Joanna and me two weeks, but we found jobs ironing in the garment factory. The pay isn't high, but it feeds us and gives us a roof over our heads. Perhaps there are openings there." Mama, Anna, and I nodded.
"The work is hard and often hot," Joanna put in. "But Erik and I hope to get in training for better jobs. I really want to be a nurse, but I'd have to work several more years to afford training."
"I hope I can become trained for woodworking and maybe even be a carpenter," Erik added.
"Do you think there are possibilities for sewing in the garment industry sometime?" I asked.
"Hard to say," Joanna finished her tea. "What living are you thinking about?"
"A tailor," I spoke up. It is perhaps one of the few times I say my dream out loud. I love to sew and make clothing and if I can do it for a living, I will be very happy.
"She can be," Mama added. "Back in Germany, Syraria often made beautiful blouses and hats. She has a talent for sewing and putting things together."
"We can hope here," Erik said. We were quiet a minute, thinking about the difficulties which we all knew lay ahead. yes, America is the land of opportunity, but I'd also heard that there were unprincipled employers who sought to keep certain people back, like women, newcomers, Jews, and Catholics for a few.
MARY ANNE:
Wow, Syraria and I have a lot in common. She liked to sew just like I do. I wonder if I would have been a tailor had I lived that long ago. Back then, women really had a hard time getting ahead, even in sewing. I think about that a minute, then keep reading...
I can't believe I'm here in America and have been here one week. So many different people from different countries and speaking different languages! It's interesting. There're a couple from Poland living below us and a family from Italy living across the hall. Mama, Anna, and I got jobs in a nearby factory ironing. Anna works there a half a day and goes to school in the morning, which is good. The work is very hot and tiring, but it is good to be earning our keep. We work there six days a week, with Saturdays free. None of us really practice the Sabbath, but we do try to have a special meal on Friday evenings at sunset. Joanna and Erik have been very kind and generous. We can stay in their flat until we're earning enough to support ourselves, however long we need. So many strange customs to get used to. There's so many odd foods and so many different languages besides English. Shopping in any of the markets makes me nervous because I struggle with my speech problem and other people don't always understand. Yesterday, Anna and I stopped to buy kosher vegetables. The celeries were behind the counter and I had to ask the clerk for it, but couldn't get the word out. The clerk watched me, then started to smirk.
"What's wrong with your mouth, dearie?" he laughed and I felt my face redden. I pointed, still struggling to speak. Strange embarrassing sounds came out of my mouth, but I still could not make the clerk understand. *What's wrong with her...* I heard someone behind me mutter. Tears came to my eyes and I began to shake. I looked around for something to write with.
"I can write it down if you get..." The clerk kept smirking and handed me a bag.
"What's so funny?" Anna demanded as she came up to the counter with apples. The clerk looked startled then and stopped laughing at me. "Bring her a writing tool!" The clerk handed me a pencil and I wrote down what I needed and handed it to the clerk, very embarrassed and hurting too. Some of the people were laughing and Anna glared at them until they fell silent. The clerk brought the things over and I paid for it and we quickly left the store. "Oh, Syraria, I'm so sorry..." she put an arm around me. Tears spilled over my face and I hugged her.
"Danke..." I whispered my thanks in German. I felt a little better knowing I had my sister to stand by me. I know it's going to be hard, being foreign and with me having my speech problem. I told myself to bring paper and a writing tool on other outings so I couldn't make too big a fool of myself again.
MARY ANNE:
God, some people can be so cruel to someone "odd." And back then, people were a lot more ignorant and most people then had lower moral values. I know, Syraria, I know, I think. I hear the rest of my family coming in, at least Grandma, Dawn and Dad, so I close the journal for now and take it upstairs to read more on it later.
More later!
MARY ANNE:
Once I'm though wiping the tears from my eyes and blowing my nose, I have to wash my hands again so I don't drip snot on Syraria's journal. Then I sit back down at the kitchen table to read more...
We'd left in August, but now it is September. Joanna and Erik came to pick us up at Battery Park once we left Ellis Island. They took us to their flat in Lower East Side of New York. New York is so big and so crowded, so many people walking, running, selling things. So many strange smells and foods. I have never seen so many high buildings! I get scared trying to look up at them and it makes me a little dizzy. I held Mama's hand and Anna clung to mine. We found ourselves weaving through crowds of people and someone swerved by us with a cart full of a strange yellow food that looked like long curved handles. It took about ten blocks down and five blocks over to reach Joanna and Erik's flat. Joanna and Erik talked. Occasionally Mama added something. The houses are very close and crowded and people sprawl along the streets. As we went up the long narrow stairs, I saw several people lying under the stairs in a faint. I also saw papers, empty bottles, wrappers, and broken glass all over the streets and the place smelled faintly like urine and trash decaying. I felt a bit sick seeing and smelling it and I noticed Mama and Anna were a bit pale. It was a relief to get inside the flat on the second floor. As we went up to it, we could hear two people arguing in English. I could understand some of it, but the American English being spoken fluently made it hard to follow the meaning.
"And this is home sweet home..." Joanna gestured around once we entered. And it was homelike. Thinking back, many people might think it was shabby too, but it was rather small, narrow and was furnished. It was a big entrance room with a table and chairs, a kitchen to the right with a stove, table, and more chairs and ahead was a door that led to the bedrooms. It was almost as big as the entrance room, which I now know it as the living room. The bedroom had several beds lined by the wall and a bureau. Finally we could put down our bags and have a rest. The flat was dimly lit and as it was growing dark, we needed to light the lamps. So it was the first thing we did. Joanna and Erik started the wood burning in the stove and together all of us took out food and prepared dinner. After a month of eating the bland, salt-stained food on the ship, it was a relief to eat real-tasting food again. It was rice, chicken and tea. I hadn't realized how salty the food at sea had tasted until I got to taste this food. At first I winced at the strong flavors, but grew used to it and enjoyed the meal. So did Mama and Anna.
"We are lucky to have this food," Erik said once we finished eating and were having tea. "It took Joanna and me two weeks, but we found jobs ironing in the garment factory. The pay isn't high, but it feeds us and gives us a roof over our heads. Perhaps there are openings there." Mama, Anna, and I nodded.
"The work is hard and often hot," Joanna put in. "But Erik and I hope to get in training for better jobs. I really want to be a nurse, but I'd have to work several more years to afford training."
"I hope I can become trained for woodworking and maybe even be a carpenter," Erik added.
"Do you think there are possibilities for sewing in the garment industry sometime?" I asked.
"Hard to say," Joanna finished her tea. "What living are you thinking about?"
"A tailor," I spoke up. It is perhaps one of the few times I say my dream out loud. I love to sew and make clothing and if I can do it for a living, I will be very happy.
"She can be," Mama added. "Back in Germany, Syraria often made beautiful blouses and hats. She has a talent for sewing and putting things together."
"We can hope here," Erik said. We were quiet a minute, thinking about the difficulties which we all knew lay ahead. yes, America is the land of opportunity, but I'd also heard that there were unprincipled employers who sought to keep certain people back, like women, newcomers, Jews, and Catholics for a few.
MARY ANNE:
Wow, Syraria and I have a lot in common. She liked to sew just like I do. I wonder if I would have been a tailor had I lived that long ago. Back then, women really had a hard time getting ahead, even in sewing. I think about that a minute, then keep reading...
I can't believe I'm here in America and have been here one week. So many different people from different countries and speaking different languages! It's interesting. There're a couple from Poland living below us and a family from Italy living across the hall. Mama, Anna, and I got jobs in a nearby factory ironing. Anna works there a half a day and goes to school in the morning, which is good. The work is very hot and tiring, but it is good to be earning our keep. We work there six days a week, with Saturdays free. None of us really practice the Sabbath, but we do try to have a special meal on Friday evenings at sunset. Joanna and Erik have been very kind and generous. We can stay in their flat until we're earning enough to support ourselves, however long we need. So many strange customs to get used to. There's so many odd foods and so many different languages besides English. Shopping in any of the markets makes me nervous because I struggle with my speech problem and other people don't always understand. Yesterday, Anna and I stopped to buy kosher vegetables. The celeries were behind the counter and I had to ask the clerk for it, but couldn't get the word out. The clerk watched me, then started to smirk.
"What's wrong with your mouth, dearie?" he laughed and I felt my face redden. I pointed, still struggling to speak. Strange embarrassing sounds came out of my mouth, but I still could not make the clerk understand. *What's wrong with her...* I heard someone behind me mutter. Tears came to my eyes and I began to shake. I looked around for something to write with.
"I can write it down if you get..." The clerk kept smirking and handed me a bag.
"What's so funny?" Anna demanded as she came up to the counter with apples. The clerk looked startled then and stopped laughing at me. "Bring her a writing tool!" The clerk handed me a pencil and I wrote down what I needed and handed it to the clerk, very embarrassed and hurting too. Some of the people were laughing and Anna glared at them until they fell silent. The clerk brought the things over and I paid for it and we quickly left the store. "Oh, Syraria, I'm so sorry..." she put an arm around me. Tears spilled over my face and I hugged her.
"Danke..." I whispered my thanks in German. I felt a little better knowing I had my sister to stand by me. I know it's going to be hard, being foreign and with me having my speech problem. I told myself to bring paper and a writing tool on other outings so I couldn't make too big a fool of myself again.
MARY ANNE:
God, some people can be so cruel to someone "odd." And back then, people were a lot more ignorant and most people then had lower moral values. I know, Syraria, I know, I think. I hear the rest of my family coming in, at least Grandma, Dawn and Dad, so I close the journal for now and take it upstairs to read more on it later.
More later!