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Decided to Move to America
Hi My name is Rosaria Russo, i am 23 and was originated from a small city, Marsala, Italy. All my relatives in my homeland died because of the Malaria, which was an widespread, life-threatening infectious disease, and I am the only one alive. Before my aunt died, she told me that her son, my cousin is a rancher in America. I decided that I am going to move to America and to get away from malaria disease, overpopulation, poverty, and growing taxes. -
Arriving
After three weeks of sea voyage, i have finally arrived to the new dream land of mine. Our boat headed for Ellis Island where we were supposed to get medical checks in order to enter America. I stayed in the medical inspection area for two days and finally became a legal immigrant. At this time, all the belongings i had were clothes, some old antiques from my grandfather, and a little jewelry I bought back in Italy. -
Winter
The winter sure is cold here, I barely survived the worst two weeks. All my belongings got stolen two days after I got to New York, so I'm forced to find a job. I got a job in a low wage bread factory earning $7 per week, and living in a filthy apartment in an Italian neighborhood, which i need to pay $2 per week. I only had money to buy to cheapest foods, and left me no money for warm clothes. -
Job
My working days in the factory went pretty smoothly, even though the wages are low, working hours are long, and the condition was bad. I heard about all kinds of things in the U.S. One day, I heard and got interested in the Homestead Act, where you can get 160 acres of land in the west for free and maintain it for five years, and I made the choice of moving west when I got enough money. -
Voyage to the West
I have finally gotten some money so I could travel to the west. The transcontinental railroads are so great, I got to know all kinds of people and different states. Surprisingly, when we were stopping at Arizona, I found my brother Antonio, the one my aunt talked about and I decided i would stay with him first, and get the land later. Arizona is completely different from Italy or New York, i am really looking forward to the life here. -
The West
We have finally saved enough money for the land from the ranching bussiness and my little antique bussiness. We headed to Oregon for land, and we got it quite smoothly, only I hurted and broke my arm while watching a fight in the bar. We have finally completed our dreams and can be free. -
Settled Down
It's been eight years since we moved here, and everything went smoothly. I got married to an Irish businessman three years after. I have three children, two boys: five-year-old Liam and three-year old Luca, and one girl, one-year-old girl Natalia. My family and my brother's live across from each other on our 160 acre field, and now we are the official owner of this land. It's been ten years since I moved to U.S, and the experiences have been truly amazing. -
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