Quote:
Originally Posted by Arsaret
to Katzpur:
It is very glad it to hear. We have fallen in love with State Utah and very much we want to get to you.
Tell how you have helped these families? Very interestingly.
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They came here as political refugees 18 years ago. At that time the Soviet Union was still intact. They had left Baku and had lived in Moscow for about a year before immigrating. They were Christian (Russian Orthodox) but had been unable to practice their religion in Baku. Many of their friends and acquaintences had been murdered. They were literally in fear for their lives when they applied for political asylum in the U.S.
They immigrated here with the help of what was then known as the Tolstoy Foundation. Sometime later, the same organization became known as the International Rescue Society (or something similar to that; I can't remember exactly). They had no choice as to where they would be relocated. When they arrived here, one of the first questions they asked us was, "Is Salt Lake City a big city or a small town?"
We met them for the first time when we picked them up at the airport and drove them to the apartment the Foundation had leased for them, but which we had furnished with second-hand furniture, kitchen supplies and bed and bath linens. We helped them learn to shop in American grocery stores, use the public transit system, get their son enrolled in school and find jobs. The man had been a renowed opera singer in the Soviet Union and his wife an opera coach and piano accompanist. Finding jobs for them in their fields proved to be something that we were unable to accomplish. We did, however, find people with "connections" who were able to help them. They eventually moved to Indiana, near Indiana University (which has one of the best music departments of any university in the U.S.). I also tutored them in English and helped them when the woman's father (her parents had immigrated with them) developed Leukemia and eventually died. We helped with the funeral and the burial. We just "hit it off" with them. In other words, our personalities meshed well, and we have remained friends for the 18 years since we first met.
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