Justin, looks like quite a journey you've had! My wife-to-be is from Somalia, and I'm trying to get her back to the US currently, so we've had similar challenges. We started this journey in 2015, and with any luck we will both be in the US at the end of next month.
Cheers!
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Give thanks @joshman. I'm glad you enjoyed the read. I'm always eager to connect with folks living interesting lives. I'm a new user and funds are limited, and so are my resource credits, but I'm trying to take time to reply to each person that genuinely enjoys my post. Once I get my first payout in Steem Power from this post, things will be much easier. We actually almost moved to Ethiopia when leaving SE Asia. I have several friends there, and Ethiopia offers a 90 day visa on arrival to Cambodians. It was a tough call but we settled on South America so I can be closer to my family in the USA as they get older. Good luck on getting your fiance into the USA. It's a tough challenge, one we know we could never do. That being said, I love life in Suriname so far. Take care and give me a follow if you want to stay updated. I'll give you a follow as well. Bless up!
I'm curious why this is the case, but would understand if it's personal.
PS I also just delegated 50SP to you and submitted you for a @steembasicincome share to help accelerate your growth. I'll leave that delegation on until you get to minnow. Keep on submitting great content like this post!
Cheers!
J
Wow man, give thanks for the surprise gift. I can't thank you enough. When I get some free time later today I'll take time to study @steembasicincome. I am still familiarizing myself with terms like "minnow" and other Steemit jargon. I am learning a bit every day. Basically we had a successful restaurant and school in Cambodia and we lost almost all our life savings in a forced exodus from Cambodia, having lost most of our funds to plane tickets and an Ecuadorian immigration nightmare. We are now here in Suriname trying to put the pieces back together, but we remain a united family here. For that we are thankful. I have time to give Steemit a go as I can't legally work while awaiting residency visa approval here in Suriname. As far as bringing my wife and kids to the USA, there are countless hurdles. Mostly I would say we can't go to the USA because my wife doesn't have the financial resources to impress an interviewer at an American Embassy. I mean this for both tourist, transit and residency visas. Also, I myself have very limited financial resources, so couldn't make a good case as to how I could sponsor or take care of three people and myself in the United States. I honestly don't know how I could take care of them in the USA either, I was only a day laborer in the United States before I left to go abroad for a better life. I was barely able to take care of myself. University was too expensive, the local jobs were either picking watermelons, mowing grass, working underground in a coal mine or going to the rubber factory. Another factor is I really did enjoy my quality of life much better in Cambodia than in the USA. We were quite successful by Cambodian standards, maybe barely middle class. I don't think my wife and our kids could adapt to life in the USA also. Even in Ecuador Sreypov didn't know what to cook because there wasn't the variety of fruits, veggies and herbs that she is used to in SE Asia. I am often reminded of why I live outside the USA when I go back home for visits. Even if I stay away for two or three years before going to the USA, when I visit close friends and family, it's almost impossible to have a face-to-face conversation. People are distracted by their phone and generally sitting in furniture that faces a television, instead of each other. I really feel like people are just generally not available, if that makes any sense. In Cambodia, I miss more than anything just handwashing my clothes in a big bowl next to my neighbor. Something that simple is among the most beautiful things in life to, just squatting outside scrubbing clothes while chatting with your neighbor. You just can't have quality human interactions like that all day in the west. Even here in Suriname, culturally worlds away from Ecuador, there is still a feeling that people live an indoor life behind closed doors. I miss in Cambodia how much the space between the street and houses is alive with activity. All in all, I can't say I regret coming to Suriname though. The people are lovely here, and it will be a good passport to give to my Cambodian family. Maybe one day if we thought we had a chance at getting American residency, I'd love to take them to Guam and give life a go. We would still be close to Cambodia, and live in Guam til she and and the kids could get American passports. I guess everything we do is ultimately for the future of our kids. It's my personal belief that I want to give them passports, languages, experience and knowledge more than money. I hope my random ramblings make sense and it's somewhat of an answer to your question. By the way, thank you again @joshman for your generosity.
Well congratulations on tapping into a new economy (of which STEEM is a small part) that was all but designed for people in your situation!
Living outside the US for some time as well, I can definitely relate to your sentiment on the human part of interaction that has been lost in modern society.