Aly Jimenez

full interview

Hello, good afternoon. My name is Elena. The purpose of this interview is to describe the 1000 Dreams project. Hmm… It is an experience that is really valuable, so with your story, we hope to be able to help other people better understand the situation of migrants and refugees. You don’t need to identify yourself. If you feel like it… Hmm… You can give us another name. You can, hmm… The photos and everything we do in the interview will be available on the Internet and in the media. They can use it… Even your family can see them. Hmm… It’s so you have a full idea of how and where your story will be distributed. Hmm, now you’ll tell us a little bit more… Hmm, who are you? Where do you come from? Hmm… What is your name?
Alide Jimenez.
And where do you come from, Alide?
I’m from Cuba.
You come from Cuba. Hmm… Can you tell us a little more about how you define yourself? What is your strength? What are your abilities?
I define myself as a warrior and a person who has a lot of strength. And I have gained strength through learning and growing.
Hmm… You left… When did you leave your country?
I left Cuba in 1994.
Did you do so with more family members?
I left my country alone and arrived alone in this one.
What did you feel?
Haha. What didn’t I feel… I felt… I think everything an emigrant feels. I had fears and insecurities. Starting over, to be born again.
Hmm, did you have dreams? What were your dreams? What challenges did you have to overcome?
Whenever you come to this country, you definitely have lots of dreams. All emigrants bring them. The best dream is to be able to help your family, have a better economic situation, and aspire to be a person… Learn a language. But there are always lots of challenges. What is the challenge of an emigrant? Arriving, learning another language, driving, learning the system of a country that for everything has a structure and discipline and huff… Trying to fit in. You come from a third-world country to a first-world country and… my God! You know you don’t know anything. It all comes to learning, accepting, and flowing.
Hmm… Can you describe the conditions when you arrived and how you live now? What’s the difference? What are your strengths? You… How do you feel now?
At first, when I arrived… Thanks to all the angels, I’ve always said, for the help. You know, it’s a little apartment. You don’t have your car, you don’t know how to drive, and you don’t know the language. You don’t know anything at all, but little by little, you look and say, “Well… If I work, I can buy myself a car; If I study, I can learn English; if I try hard, I can learn a course.” And the only thing I did was always stay focused, and for that, I am grateful to the universe. I knew that if I studied, prepared myself, and was disciplined, that was the key to success in this country. But there are challenges, and God and everyone who knows me know that my strength lies in my family, especially my daughter. She was the one who… She was my driving force. She’s the essence of my soul. I said, “I have to push ahead for my daughter. I’m a single mom, and all I can do is push ahead, hoping that she will be better than me in the future.” I’ll do whatever I have to do. I had to push myself.
Perfect. That’s right, hmm… What are the things that bring you joy? What makes you feel happy?
Lots of things bring me joy, but I think that time… As time goes by, it’s incredible how excited I get when I can help a person, when I can serve, when I can see that that a person walked and achieved something because God, the universe, and all the things I believe in used them as an instrument. Many things give me joy, especially serving when you know that’s what you came to do. I learned that I have to serve out of unconditional love, without conditions. You arrive, serve, do your best, bring your light to people, and then you retire. I also really like music, I really like traveling, I love learning. I’m always learning something, I’m always taking a course, I’m always learning to challenge myself, I’m always doing something and well… And to see my daughter growing up, wow! She’s already a woman and she’s everything, just everything, that I dreamed of. Everything, everything, everything she is, and more. And my family. That’s it.
Has all this been very difficult for you over the years? Have you ever said “I can’t do it anymore”?
I think that when you come to this world, you come to this world with a… With a dharma and with a karma. And I think that for me, ever since I left when I was in Guantanamo, the word ‘I can’t’ doesn’t exist. Yes, it wasn’t easy. Of course, it was difficult. But things don’t happen if they’re not difficult. I’ve been through difficult times, like everyone else, but I’ve always known that there’s a light. Already, when I started talking about spirituality and learning about spirituality, I knew that it was my calling. I knew that if I vibrated high and that if I trusted me, and if I trusted that God would put everything, everything, everything… But I had to learn to trust something they don’t teach us. It’s about trusting the process. To get there, we have to be like diamonds, under pressure.
Okay. Perfect. This… How do you spend your time here? What do you work on?
Right now, I have a wonderful career. I have always loved that career, but now I have put more passion into it. I’m a master technician. I dedicate myself to doing… I am devoted to embellishing people’s spirits; I’m an emotional coach. It’s, well, when you talk to people with hope. I spend my time with… I have another business, a little store, that I love, too. I really like going to the movies alone. I really enjoy my solitude and I enjoy… The most important thing I enjoy right now in my life is my peace, but being with my family, spending moments with them, that… Wow! That doesn’t have… that’s priceless.
Do you have any dreams now?
My dream is… [Laughs] To have a sabbatical dream. To take a sabbatical year, go to Europe and travel all over Europe. That is my dream. And I know it’s going to come true because I deserve it. [Laughs].
Thank you. Thank you, Alide. Thank you.