This story is about a student’s move from Oaxaca to Seattle. The name has been changed as requested by the student.

Finding Home Away From Home 

When we first talked to Ana, a 19-year-old who has been in Seattle only 2 months, she was a little reserved. As we asked her questions about what she liked, we got to the topic of food and that really got the conversation rolling. She easily shared her top three favorites: pozole, mole, and tamales (the mole kind). And always, paired with a Mexican coke. 

Ana is from San Pedro el Alto, a small town nestled in the Central Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Her move to Seattle has her navigating a world very different from where she grew up. San Pedro el Alto is a close-knit community surrounded by nature, where traditions like Día de los Muertos and celebrations of the Mexican Revolution bring people together. “Here, those traditions aren’t the same,” Ana says, noting how much she misses the vibrant culture of her hometown.

The decision to come to Seattle was difficult for Ana. She had an older brother already living here, and her mom and younger brother were moving to join him. Her father, however, was staying in Mexico. Ana couldn’t imagine leaving her father alone, and at first planned to stay with him. Her little brother, who she helped raise since she was 10 years old, couldn’t understand why she wasn’t getting on the airplane with him. “He was so sad and asked me why I wasn’t leaving. He said he didn’t want to go if I wasn’t going,” she recalls. “I didn’t want him to go through that alone, so I decided I had to come.”

At first, Ana’s father was hurt by her decision to leave, and the distance has made communication challenging. Yet Ana is grateful to be with her siblings and to explore a new chapter in her life. She shared that it’s hard to live away from family, but she finds Seattle beautiful, and she’s been struck by the city’s abundance of nature. 

Each day, Ana takes the bus to school, where she enjoys her math and chemistry classes. Though math can be tough, she admires her teacher’s charisma, and she loves the hands-on experiments in chemistry. After school, Ana participates in Kandelia’s Job Readiness Training program, which is helping her build skills for her future. In her free time, she likes to play basketball.

Ana finds comfort in the little things that remind her of home: the sound of rain, the trees, and even the storms, which feel familiar. However, she’s not a fan of Seattle’s early sunsets and dark winter days. And while she appreciates Seattle’s beauty, the visible homelessness near her neighborhood worries her, a sentiment shared by many of her newcomer peers. 

Despite these challenges, Ana remains hopeful. She’s slowly exploring the city—from downtown Seattle to the city’s many lakes—and discovering what it means to make a new place feel like home. Her advice for others moving to Seattle? “Get used to the food – especially the tamales, which aren’t very good,” she says with a laugh. On a more serious note, Ana shared that she feels like Seattle is a good place for immigrants. Her advice is if people are coming to the US and plan to go to California, for example, she would say, “no – come to Seattle instead. There is protection and support for immigrants in Seattle.” 

Ana’s Seattle chapter is just beginning, and as she adjusts to life in a new place, she’s finding her footing and discovering what it takes to build a life in a new place—one step at a time.

With your support, Kandelia helps students like Ana find community and belonging in their new Seattle home. Donate today to support Kandelia’s programs.