I am Nadia Kazacz. Living in a four story walk-up building on the lower East side of New York City is tough in nearly every way imaginable. Living as a woman on Delancey Street in this time and location is also a challenge. The neighborhood is not a nice one, nor is it clean or sanitary. I am a 31 year old woman who has just immigrated from Eastern Europe, specifically Hungary. My husband works as a merchant marine mariner and is away for months at a time at sea. Sometimes his wages reach me by mail and sometimes they do not. I have two children to care for and another on the way. All are under four years old. I am responsible for keeping them safe, clean and well fed. Earlier it was said that this was a challenge and this is absolutely true.
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I am a tiny 5 foot 2 inch woman, with brown hair and pretty brown eyes. I am the mother of two children and have one on the way. I have little or no support from my husband as he could not locate a good job when we came here, so the best he could do was a seafaring position, working long hours and I rarely see him anymore. My environment is far from being furnished with gold or even having money. We live in a single room apartment we can barely afford. The room has crumbling plaster walls, and we share a bathroom with a floor of over 40 other people. While we try to keep clean, we can't keep insects or rodents from coming into our home. They bring disease and it is very depressing to live with them, but I try and keep up my spirits for the sake of my children. Trying to feed my children nutritious food is a regular struggle. Getting to the market in order to get first pick at the fresh vegetables and breads is not something I can do without getting the children up very early. The other option is to leave them with a neighbor or else leave them unattended. While I am of Hungarian descent, the other residents of my apartment building speak a variety of languages including Polish, German , Hebrew and Italian. It is hard to connect with them as we can't communicate. Some communication takes the form of a smile or a hug, but I really need to confidently leave my children with someone I trust. ALthough they may be nice …show more content…
I get very little time for myself, to do anything fun. Hardly anyone I know speaks Hungarian. Women are expected to raise families and to not work outside the home. A typical day for me involves getting up with my children very early and fighting other women at the nearby market for vegetables, meats and flour to make bread. Sometimes we make it there, other times we do not make it. While the children play with toys such as sports balls, I do laundry and clean the house. I don't have a lot of time to play with them and it frustrates me. Our apartment is lit by candles which are dangerous. Electricity is in use, but is costly so we choose candles
I am a tiny 5 foot 2 inch woman, with brown hair and pretty brown eyes. I am the mother of two children and have one on the way. I have little or no support from my husband as he could not locate a good job when we came here, so the best he could do was a seafaring position, working long hours and I rarely see him anymore. My environment is far from being furnished with gold or even having money. We live in a single room apartment we can barely afford. The room has crumbling plaster walls, and we share a bathroom with a floor of over 40 other people. While we try to keep clean, we can't keep insects or rodents from coming into our home. They bring disease and it is very depressing to live with them, but I try and keep up my spirits for the sake of my children. Trying to feed my children nutritious food is a regular struggle. Getting to the market in order to get first pick at the fresh vegetables and breads is not something I can do without getting the children up very early. The other option is to leave them with a neighbor or else leave them unattended. While I am of Hungarian descent, the other residents of my apartment building speak a variety of languages including Polish, German , Hebrew and Italian. It is hard to connect with them as we can't communicate. Some communication takes the form of a smile or a hug, but I really need to confidently leave my children with someone I trust. ALthough they may be nice …show more content…
I get very little time for myself, to do anything fun. Hardly anyone I know speaks Hungarian. Women are expected to raise families and to not work outside the home. A typical day for me involves getting up with my children very early and fighting other women at the nearby market for vegetables, meats and flour to make bread. Sometimes we make it there, other times we do not make it. While the children play with toys such as sports balls, I do laundry and clean the house. I don't have a lot of time to play with them and it frustrates me. Our apartment is lit by candles which are dangerous. Electricity is in use, but is costly so we choose candles