Spanish Graduate Assistant Juliana Loaiza, who grew up in Manizales, Colombia, a medium-sized city within the coffee region of the South American country, is grateful for the opportunities she is now pursuing in Reno.
“Because of the difficulties of making a living there, people get excited to get by. They have a lot of gratitude because it’s not easy there,” said Loaiza.
On the flip side, there are many aspects of Colombia she misses. “It’s not uncommon for people who just met to hang out with each other. It’s a very close culture,” she said.
After growing up in Manizales for most of her childhood, Loaiza first came to the U.S. in 2013. After this visit and having problems in her home country, she decided to come to the U.S. for the long term.
“I was struggling in 2021 in Colombia. I wasn’t earning enough to live and travel,” she said.
Due to this predicament, in her early 20s, Loaiza decided to move to the suburbs of Houston, Texas, in her aunt’s home and learn English. Her experience with learning a new language during this time was hard, but she also had experience learning it in school in Colombia. “I tried to learn by listening to podcasts and reading,” she said.
With this practice, she eventually became proficient in English. Still, though, she sometimes has a hard time speaking the language. “The most important thing is practicing speaking since people are afraid to make mistakes. Sometimes I do feel ashamed of how I talk because I know I am making mistakes,” said Juliana.
This experience didn’t deter Juliana, and she was eventually able to start teaching preschool in Colombia once she received her TOEFL certification. After this, she returned to the United States, making it to the University of Nevada, Reno, where she now teaches Spanish to students while working on a master’s degree in Spanish Literature and World Language.
While completing her degree is a big goal for her, Juliana loves to teach Spanish to students at the university, despite her fears at first. “I feel like the young people respect me. Showing them pictures and experiencing how they discover my culture. I love it,” she said.
Now, Juliana is settled into life in the U.S. Despite this, there are still aspects of her home country that she misses. “Everything. The culture, the people, and the food. I miss the food so much,” said Juliana when asked about what she misses most about her home country.
One aspect of America that Juliana doesn’t like is its reliance on cars. She misses being able to walk to places in Colombia and not having to drive everywhere. “I miss the familiarity of the people and the infrastructure since everything is really walkable. I was living in the suburbs of Houston, and if I wanted to buy an egg, I would need to take a car and drive for 15 minutes,” she said.
Even though she misses Manizales, Juliana is still able to find qualities within Reno that remind her of home. In particular, she finds the nature dominant aspect to be similar. “It was really similar to Reno because we had a volcano near the city,” she said.
Juliana also appreciates many aspects of life in America, that, according to her, are absent in Colombia.
“Coming to live here has taught me a lot about organization and goals. That’s something we all need in our lives, to know how to set goals and make plans in the long term,” she said.
In terms of her future, Juliana remains uncertain, but knows she can be adventurous and wants to keep teaching, whether it’s by staying here or going elsewhere.
“I really don’t know. I’ve been thinking of studying for a Ph.D. here in the U.S. or Spain, but I know that I want to keep teaching. I really want to teach history and literature,” said Juliana when asked about her future.