Bill Russell playing for the Celtics

Estela quickly fell in love with the city. She said it was because "It reminded me of old Havana." Although she recounts there not being a huge Hispanic culture or community, she said she was able to make a lot of friends through work. Estela really loved the history behind the city with Boston Common being her favorite place to visit. Estela is also a huge Boston sports fan with the Celtics being one of her favorite teams. She always lived somewhat near the city and always was able to live on Commonwealth Ave. Right now Estela lives in her Brighton apartment which she has lived in for the past 41 years.

After a year of babysitting her nieces and nephews Estela's parents came up from Tampa and she was finally able to find a job. She was very lucky and found a job at Aetna Insurance. She first started as a filer and after over 28 years of working there, she was promoted all the way up to department supervisor. After 28 years of working, she was able to retire at 50 years old. She describes her work experience as really positive and says that is where she met a lot of her friends that she is still close with today.

Estela said one of the hardest things about moving to the US was the language barrier she faced. By the time she arrived to Boston, she still didn't know the language. She said once she started working, she went to English classes after work. However, Estela said, “I really learned English at work, the key was there was really no one there that spoke Spanish.” Estela recounts that one of the hardest things about not knowing English was interacting with people over the phone. In contrast to a phone call, conversations in person were easier to understand based on context and facial expressions.