How My Immigrant Wife Made it Through Her First Wisconsin Winter
It's not easy to move from the land of the sun to the land of the aurora borealis
My wife and I were married in Lima, Peru in January of 2009 one day before my wife’s birthday. I figured having the two dates together would make them easier to remember, although I did run the risk of double trouble should I ever forget.
My wife had lived in Peru all her life. She’d never seen snow. Ice was something you put in a drink.
Our plans didn’t include a return to the US. We had built a life in Peru as teachers in a private school. We needed a visa to come and see my brother’s wedding. Apparently I put a check mark in the wrong box.
“Here’s your residency visa.”
“Um, we just wanted to go for two weeks.”
“Well, you have six months to move to the US, or you can never apply for this visa again.”
America here we come.
I told my wife to focus on Disney World. That was easier to digest than leaving her home and country behind forever.
We flew into Miami before making our way up to Wisconsin. Miami is a travel hub for all of South America. Everyone speaks Spanish. My wife liked chatting with people just fine, right up until the dreaded question came.
“Are you staying here?”
“No, we’re moving to a different state.”
“Which one?”
“Wisconsin.”
Again and again the reaction was the same. Their eyes got big and they winced. “Oh, no, you can’t move to Wisconsin. It’s cold in Wisconsin.”
“Have you ever been to Wisconsin?” I’d interject.
Didn’t help.
By the end of our Florida trip, my wife was terrified. She didn’t know what to expect when we got off the plane in Minneapolis in November.
Her first impression was that of pleasant surprise.
“It’s not too cold.”
It was unseasonably warm. There was no snow and even some color in the trees yet.
“This isn’t too bad.”
And then disaster struck. The sun went down.
“Wait a minute,” my wife said, “why is it getting dark?”
“It’s evening.”
“It’s not evening, it’s 4 o’clock. What’s happening?”
I tried to draw a picture of the earth tilted on its axis to show the relationship to the sun.
Didn’t help.
As a human being, there are things you think you can rely on. I’m not talking about parents or friends. I’m talking about the fact that water is wet, a rock is hard, and the sun travels across the sky.
Imagine waking up in a new land where water is dry, rocks are soft and the sun is nowhere to be found.
It’ll break you. I’ve seen it.
Poor thing.
And then, days later, the cold hit. Snow, blizzard, ice.
I had to take her to Scheel’s for thermal underwear.
“It’s okay,” I said, “You just dress in layers, see?”
She didn’t see.
And then there was the food. If you’ve only had American chicken, you don’t know what chicken can taste like. Our processed, injected animals taste something like rubbing a bouillon cube on a piece of wet cardboard. Free range chickens have an intensity of flavor and texture that makes your mouth water.
“I can’t eat this chicken.”
It made her sick.
Then all the food started to make her sick.
There she sat in this cold, dark place with no sun and no sustenance.
“On the solstice the days will get longer,” I told her.
“How much longer?”
“A minute or two.”
She threw up.
The throwing up continued, so I took her to the doctor. He ran some tests and came back with a smile.
“I’m pleased to say you’re in perfectly good health, both of you.”
“You mean, me and my husband?”
“No, I mean you and your baby. You’re pregnant.”
Twelve months married. Twelve months trying. Long enough for concern to take root.
The miracle washed the worry away.
“Thank you doctor.”
He left us alone, the three of us. With Christmas just around the corner.
“This,” she said, “is the greatest gift.”
The Solstice hadn’t come but we’d already found our light to lead us from the darkest winter, and I knew we’d be just fine.
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Walter, fantastic story! Congratulations to your coming baby. We in Hungary still have real chicken, however KFC is taking over...
Beautiful !!!