John Michalides-3A transcription
In: michalides-3A - Final.pdf
Part four of an interview with John Michalides of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Topics include: John is happy with his life and his children. Why his children had a better life in the United States than what they would have had in Cyprus. How he feels about being an American citizen. ; 1 MICHALIDES: I will see. I was training to… more story, [speaking in Italian]. When I finish a story and when he said… he stand up, so I can see his two hands and he told me, "Father, from my bottom… from the bottom of my heart, I will graduate here. You are really a teacher. You are really a teacher." [Speaking in Italian] SPEAKER2: So you feel satisfied with your life? MICHALIDES: Oh, yes. SPEAKER2: You think you've done all you wanted to do. MICHALIDES: Very, very satisfied. Very satisfied. All my children are good. All my children has good works. I feel them as real. This one who plan to go for shoemaker, he get good job, could be this. SPEAKER2: You think your children had a better opportunity in America than in Cyprus? MICHALIDES: Oh, sure. SPEAKER2: You think you had better opportunity here, too? Yeah? MICHALIDES: Yeah, I think in Cyprus no opportunity because all the money, all the people can have no money because [no food], and besides no college in Cyprus. SPEAKER2: No? Not at all? MICHALIDES: No college. SPEAKER2: You'd have to go to Greece? MICHALIDES: Ah, yes. Go to Greece, go to Milan, go to France, different places. Most of them go to Greece. SPEAKER2: Do you think you had any special advantages as a citizen of the… how long have you been a citizen? MICHALIDES: Yeah, oh, for the… I think five years when I came here. Yes, after five years, I became a citizen. SPEAKER2: Do you think you have more say in America than you would in Greece as a citizen? MICHALIDES: Oh, yes, sure. SPEAKER2: Did you vote in Greece? Did you have the right to vote?2 MICHALIDES: To vote? SPEAKER2: To vote? To vote for… MICHALIDES: To vote? Oh, yeah. I have freedom of everything. Oh, yeah. It's like this, like here, I vote in the government and everything like here. And they can say that the only thing different is we have not in the Greece, in Cyprus, every state with all government. We have what you all got. See? Here, in United States has its own government, its own senators and so on; in our own, judges, you know, everything, senators. SPEAKER2: Yeah. Many times people say they long for the good old days like back when they were younger. Do you think you have… your life is better right now in these days or do you prefer the older days? MICHALIDES: Well, really, I like my country because anyone knows; I pray that he was born but it is… if I was younger, I was going down to see, to [speaking in Italian] but yet I know. I can't… I want to go, how I came. I don't decide because I am 90 years old. I don't know what to happen to me and daughter to spend money to bring here, because if I die there they have to bring me here because I bought a place and everything. I put up a store and another store in my name and my wife. SPEAKER2: When you went back to Cyprus, did you go by boat or by plane? MICHALIDES: When I go back? SPEAKER2: When you went back. MICHALIDES: Well, I went by airplane. SPEAKER2: What was that like? Did that scare you? Did that… was that scary? Did you… were you afraid of that? MICHALIDES: I bought… I went in an airplane in 11 hours to Greece, stayed to Greece with my daughter, from Greece to Cyprus with… just the same. SPEAKER2: Did you like riding on a plane?3 MICHALIDES: Oh, sure. If it was necessary to go, yeah, even when I was good, I was dizzy but with the airplane I did not feel at all. SPEAKER2: No? MICHALIDES: I thought it did not move. It was a very good airplane. I'm not at all stopping on planes. I see… not friends, nothing. But I remember very few. I don't know. SPEAKER2: But you're happy with your life now? You think you've accomplished what you wanted to do? MICHALIDES: Excuse me? SPEAKER2: You've accomplished what you wanted to do in life? You're satisfied with your life now? Yeah? MICHALIDES: I'm very satisfied. People here know me and I know them. When I'm going to church, I come out, my pupils, girl, boy gather around me asking, "How are you, father? How have you've been now?" They're so… SPEAKER2: I want to thank you very much for helping me with this. I took a lot of your time and I appreciate it. MICHALIDES: No, no. Thank you very much for coming. SPEAKER2: And you'll be a great help. MICHALIDES: I thought… I thought that you want me to do for others. SPEAKER2: No, just you. But you did… I really appreciate that. MICHALIDES: Thank you. SPEAKER2: Thank you./AT/jf/jc/ee
