Following is the stories submitted to my blog by two young women who met an expat working in their country. As their relationship develops and the future is being planned they know ultimately they will be coming to Canada and leaving the country they were born in, as well as their family, friends, language and their culture, never realizing just how difficult it will be until they've arrived.
The first story is by my daughter-in-law Claudia Guzman Kozack and the second is written by her friend Mariana Perez Crow, both Mexicans married to Canadian oil workers..
My name is Claudia Guzman Kozack, I was born in Reynosa, Mexico which is a border town about 40 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico. My father and my brother both worked in the oil industry, my father dedicated more than 35 years of his life to PEMEX and so was absent from home for long periods of time. From a very young age I learned that life in the oil industry was full of sacrifices and satisfactions, his sacrifice was being away and his satisfactions were providing for his family and enjoying them as much as possible when he got home.
I studied at the University in my hometown and worked for some years for the Federal Government and then a twist of fate directed me to the oil industry. I started with Precision and later with Weatherford de Mexico in Reynosa and Poza Rica, Veracruz Mexico, It was in Poza Rica that I met Corey Kozack, I was working in administration and Corey was superintendent of 4 drilling rigs. We were both working very long hours with very little free time, but where there is a will there is a way and we did manage to work in enough free time to get to know each other very well socially, which ultimately led to our wedding plans. We knew that there would be a transfer sometime soon in Corey's future. so we set a date and started organizing, giving ourselves only three months until our wedding day. While on our honeymoon my new husband received notification that he was being transferred to a new project in Colombia. When we returned from our honeymoon I resigned my position and prepared to move to Canada.
I arrived in Canada on September 18, 2010 getting an unforgettable welcome from Immigration Canada., when the immigration officers saw that I did not have a return ticket and that I was coming to live in Canada I was held and interviewed at Canadian Customs for 2 hours by 4 immigration officers. It was very stressful and intimidating but at the end I was granted permission for my permanent residence and had also been given an orientation of the permanent residency process. I had passed my first challenge in this country , I walked out with a very happy smile on my face.
Just a few weeks after arriving in Canada my husband left for Columbia with a 28 day away schedule, unfortunately when it was time to come home his replacement was not available and because it was a new project he could not leave, he didn't get home for 10 weeks. I learned quickly how to survive in a country with a culture totally different from mine, while speaking a language that I did not dominate 100%. The blessing was that my mother-in-law Faye Kozack and I got along very well, her and her partner Doug Martinson were my greatest support and to this day I consider Faye a great friend and confidant. Thanks to the both of them I was able to deal with my husband's absences and overcome the overwhelming feeling of being alone. Faye showed me the city, directing me to the shopping centers, doctors office, hospitals and all of the important places in the city. I then learned how to use the public transport and managed it very well using it until I was granted my permanent residency at which time I was able to get my drivers license.
The first friends that I made were my neighbors. I bought some cookies, put them into boxes, included a card inside introducing myself and then went door to door delivering them. My husband was amazed when he returned from Columbia and found me out having tea with my now favorite neighbor Goldie Aguiar. The other neighbors greeted me and often stopped for a short visit when we were outside, Corey was amazed, as he had lived in this neighborhood for 8 years and hadn't gotten to know all of their names.
It is impossible to talk of Edmonton Alberta and not mention the weather. It does not snow where I come from and I had only seen snow once in my life so the night the forecaster on Edmonton TV predicted the first snowfall of the season beginning at 9PM that evening, I sat by the window with a large cup of hot chocolate anticipating this sight. I discovered that the predictions for snowfall by these weather people is not always accurate, at midnight there still was not a flake of snow on the ground and I fell asleep waiting. I awoke at 4AM to this beautiful white winter wonderland, I put on my boots and coat and ran out into the street playing with the snow, good thing the neighbors were sleeping or they would have called the police about this crazy woman,. My enthusiasm for winter has since ebbed!
My husband introduced me to the mother=in-law of a friend of his who was from Columbia, we call her Mama Maria, she in turn introduced me to 4 other Hispanic women. We would meet as a group for lunches once or twice a month and soon our group became 12, many of which I am still in contact with.
A year after I arrived in Canada my friend Mariana Perez whom I had worked with at Weatherford in Mexico had married Larry Crow and moved originally to Ontario. By the time she had arrived in Edmonton I knew how to move around this city like a fish in water and when she was ready I took the opportunity to show Marianne how its done. We have remained very good friends frequently visiting and enjoying each others families.
Twelve years have passed since I arrived in Canada. We are the proud parents of our beautiful 10 year old Mexican-Canadian daughter Amy. I have travelled back to Mexico a number of times and its always wonderful to see family and friends but I have never regretted the move here, Canada is a beautiful country in every way, although I do admit the one thing that I have not adapted to is the extreme harsh winters here and I'm not sure that I ever will. I never could have imagined that I would live in such a cold climate....... but here I am, .frozen but happy!! Thanks for everything Canada.
My name is Mariana Perez Crow, I was born and raised in Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico, 3624 kms. from where my home is now.
Poza Rica is an oil town in which most of its families have at least one member working in the oil industry and I was no exception. I was working for Weatherford, when I met Larry, my future husband. who was also working for Weatherford. After months of dating, many discussions and then planning, .it all came together and we left for Canada. We travelled to Ontario where most of Larry's family lived. and only 5 days after arrival Larry left to go to work in Alberta. I remained with his family for approximately 6 wks. of which the first four weeks I never left the house; it was all so new, so different and just so overwhelming. Fortunately I spoke and understood the English language well, but the rest was not so easy.
I then moved to Alberta, Larry had found a rental house on property out of town that was not too far from his office, he was now in the Office for Nabors Drilling, we felt that him working at home would be best because for one thing we lived in a rural area plus, along with everything else that was so new to me I also didn't have a drivers license. Larry's brother and his family lived in the town close to our home and would come and take me shopping for groceries or whatever else I needed. They were very good at making me feel welcome. The year that we lived in the rental house I did not meet one neighbor, I was far too shy and and no transportation.. The only family I had around me was my brother-in-law and his family, thank goodness for them. But my one true anchor was my friend Claudia who was also from Mexico, had worked in the same office and also married a Canadian. she too wasn't able to drive, so we would talk for hours on the phone. which helped keeping us both sane..
I was soon pregnant and that it itself was an emotional ride, I spent many of my days now, thinking of how my baby would grow up here and not experience growing up in Mexico, not doing the same things and not eating the same foods as I,( there are no taco kiosks on the side of the highway here) , finally I looked at it in another light: it was something to look forward to, we now would make our own traditions and together we would explore this new life that we had started to build.
. After our first child Ethan, was born this office job became too much for all of us as a family because it took him away all of the time, not always in person but he was permanently on call which meant he was on the phone all evening, most evenings talking with one or more of the rigs and then had rig visits away from home for 4 - 6 days every two weeks. This position was not the answer so ultimately Larry made the decision to go back out in the field as a Rig Manager., he now has a regular schedule so we know when he's home and we could make plans. We then purchased a house on a few acres of land near Beaumont, AB., so we were still out off town and I still did not have my license. When our 2nd child Bella was born, Larry's brother who was still coming and taking me grocery shopping, moved back to Ontario with his family. I now had to get busy and get driving. Larry is a very hardworking, dedicated husband focused on providing well for his family, thus he works a lot at a job that he loves.. Because of his goals and ambition, I am able to do the job I love best and that is taking care of my husband and raising our now three children.
I went back to Mexico for a few days one week after our third child Evan was born, as I had to have some important paperwork completed by a certain date and this was the only time that Larry could be home to take care of the of our three children, including our brand new 1 week old son. . It was very emotional flying into Mexico and seeing the flag waving at the airport, I sat sobbing in my seat. I had not realized how much love and pride I had in my country, didn't realize how much i missed heading up the national anthem, seeing a Maraiachi band or seeing my Country's flag, I admit that it makes my heart ache my each time.
My sister visited me for Christmas the first year we moved to Canada., she then married and moved to France but they have been here to visit us 4 times . I didn't see my father for over 5 years after leaving Mexico but he is now making annual trips to Canada, even braving a Canadian winter. We are building our family and our life.
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