Arrival

Estela with the rest of her family arrived in Tampa Florida in April of 1963. Tampa's economy at the time was struggling because they heavily relied on Cuba's tobacco industry. Estela recounts that "We left Cuba without one penny". Estela's whole family had no other option but to work in the service industry when they first arrived. Estela's first job was as a maid. She would have to walk miles to get to her job and back, she remembers saving a nickel so that on the way back she could get an Ice Cold Coca-Cola. Less than a year later she would move to Boston.

Estela first arrived in Boston on November, 11th of 1963 by bus. She recalls it being a hard time for the Boston community with JFK being assassinated 11 days after her arrival. Estela originally came to Boston because her sister had come up to work. While her sister was working, she was in charge of taking care of all the kids. Estela said, "It was a culture shock at first." and remembers catching a terrible sore throat the first time she went out because of the weather. However, she would slowly learn to fall in love with the city.