Bonus Content: To learn more about our guest simply click "read more".

"My name is Carolina Hernandez Macias, with two last names, two family names, like most Colombians.

I’m from Bogota (Colombia), a crowded city that was my home for 40 years.

I like cats, fall, trees and fresh fruit juices.

I don’t like whisky, insects, white lights, and Sci-fi movies.

I come from a Bogota’s middle-class family with a generous father, a disciplined mother and two younger brothers that are two amazing friends too.

As kids, with my family we used to travel a lot for vacation, mostly by car, driving for kilometers to our destination, stopping in small towns for lunch or to stay the night. I bear lovely memories from those trips.

I studied engineering, management and I have a master’s degree in occupational safety. I follow my father’s professional steps and now I’m the manager of the company he founded, Riesgos y Soluciones—which you can translate as "Risks and solutions”.

I have worked in our company since 2011 but I made a recess of two years to work in a different field and studying English. I returned to the company because my father got sick and passed away, very fast, unexpectedly, very painful, a goodbye that I never finish to say.

I have a lot of friends in Bogota. They’re my support group and my advising team. I really enjoy their company and the different types of conversation that I have with each of them. I met my friends mostly in my K-12, at college, and at the gym.

I married my husband Alejandro in 2021. He’s an amazing human being. He is also from Bogota and maybe because of that, or maybe because of luck, we have a lot in common. But it is because of him that I live in Spokane. He has been living in this country for a long while and we decided that I could move here if I move my job online, so by now, I am a Latina in Spokane, a wife without kids, with two cats, and my company’s manager who works remotely.

Besides my work, I enjoy learning and having activities that enhance my creativity and knowledge and that allow me to connect with more people and with more diverse topics. For example, 5 years ago I learned how to and became a homemade soap maker, focusing my design skills in colorful and fun soaps. I have been going to the gym for about 20 years, training a good deal on weightlifting. I’m part of a book club here in Spokane and I read a book per month, in English. I also like running, and I’ve participated in tree 10k runs (two in Bogota and one in Spokane) and in two Bloomsday runs. I have also learnt how to make apple pie from scratch, and I love to make pies in fall and winter."

In this episode, Glen talks with Konyongo Akour from Ethiopia. Konyongo left Ethiopia at age fifteen and entered a refugee camp in Kenya. During her twelve years in the refugee camp, she married and gave birth to two children. In 2016, she and her husband and two children arrived in the United States as refugees. In 2019, she gave birth to her third child. In addition to making delicious Ethoipian cuisine, Konyongo has succeeded in getting US citizenship and a stable full-time job. She and her husband now own a home and are both active members in their community.

Teresa Sorroche talks with host Glen Gardner about her experience immigrating to the United States of America.

Brief Bio: Teresa is a Spanish native who was born into a large family near Barcelona, Spain. At 18 she established her own textile business, producing fabrics. Then in 2014, she moved to the United States. She has lived in North Carolina, Minnesota, and now Washington state. While in Minnesota she hosted a Latino radio station and while in Washington state has written and published a book entitled, "Si No Es Ahora Cuando?" which is available on Amazon. Teresa currently works at Mujeres in Action, a non-profit dedicated to advocating for survivors of domestic violence and/or sexual assult while helping them reach their full potential and educating the community from a Latinx perspective to end family violence.