Todos Vuelven - Martha Davies

This Forum will present the experiences of many Peruvians who after living in the States for a long time, decided -or about to decide- to go back to Peru. We start with Martha Davies experiences.

I would like to share my plans and feelings about what will be a BIG change of life for me. For those of you that have already traveled this path, please, do send me comments on your frustrations, regrets and joys arising from your decision.
We all have different reasons for coming to the United States. And different reasons why we go back.
“Todos Vuelven” (we all comeback) is how a well-known Peruvian song begins. We all go back to the place where we were born…… Is this true? …and why do we go back?
Every has a beginning, a middle and an end. This is my story about how I came to the USA, and why I am thinking of going back to Peru. It will take me several postings to tell you my story. And maybe I will convince others to share their stories.
At the age of fifteen, I was a pupil at the Miguel Grau school in Magdalena, Lima, and a volunteer at the school library.
On one of my weekend visits home, I noticed a foreign envelope pinned to a calendar right above my mother’s sewing machine. It was addressed to my uncle, a merchant marine who was going through a messy divorce, which is why he was receiving his mail at our house.
Because I knew enough English to read and write, I wanted to write to this person, a friend of my uncle. When he came later to pick up his mail, I approached him to ask about his letter from the USA. “Oh, sure”, he said. “This letter is from a friend I met in Tacoma, and he has a cousin who is a newspaper lady”. So, I wrote to my uncle’s friend address but directed the letter to the newspaper lady.
A month passed, and no answer. The second month came and still no answer. Then, out of the blue, a letter addressed to me! Years later I was to learn that my letter had sat on the mantelpiece for weeks. The newspaper lady had only been visiting and was back at her home. My uncle’s friend felt sorry for my letter…collecting dust, and finally opened it. At this time, at fifteen, I did not know about pen pals. And yet, that was what was started with this first exchange of letters.
My chance to practice my English, his chance to practice his Spanish. I was fifteen, he was twenty six. I was an extrovert, he was a very shy person. I had a boyfriend at that time, and he had just finished a relationship with a Mexican lady. Nothing romantic at first.
A year and a half later, the tenor of his letters started to change. And, Mac, being such an honorable man, asked me to show his last letter to my mother. This act was to earn my mother’s life-long respect for all Americans, she forever believed Americans were such good people!
Plans were made for me to travel and personally meet my pen-pal/friend/soul mate.
I arrived at Seattle-Tacoma airport on February 14 (yes, Valentine’s Day), 1951. And I married the love of my life, father of all my children, on February 24th, 1951.
Next posting I will tell you my initial impressions of USA, and of my new family. It will take a few postings before I tell you of my present plans.
Martha Davies