Chirinos, Astrid, 1960-

Desmarais, Melinda H.

Charlotte, North Carolina

J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

2002-09-11

1 audio file (1:01:00) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (21 pages: PDF)

Audio

spoken word

eng

Astrid Chirinos was a 43-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in her office in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1960. She was educated at St. Mary's College in Raleigh, North Carolina and North Carolina State University and was employed as the vice president of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce.

Astrid Chirinos discusses her experience as a Venezuelan immigrant to the United States. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Ms. Chirinos moved to Raleigh, North Carolina with the encouragement of her father to attend St. Mary's College. Ms. Chirinos shares her initial feelings of culture shock and disillusionment as a foreign undergraduate as well as her appreciation for cultural differences like the surprising generosity of her American neighbors and better job opportunities for women in the United States. Ms. Chirinos also explains the conflict she feels about her bicultural identity. Though she has claimed the United States as her new home, she shares how the Spanish language and culture of Venezuela are an inseparable part of her identity. She goes on to express her views of the Latin American community in Charlotte as business-oriented and made up of professionals who foster each others' success.

MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded on two minidiscs and reformatted using a Digidesign 003 rack.

Noise caused by microphone interference.

Chirinos, Astrid, 1960-

St. Mary's College (Raleigh, N.C.)

Businesspeople
Executives
Latin Americans
Hispanic Americans
Hispanic Americans--Social conditions
Emigration and immigration
Nationalism
Sex role
Biculturalism
Religion and culture
Cities and towns--Growth
Globalization

Venezuela--Caracas
North Carolina--Research Triangle Park
North Carolina--Raleigh
North Carolina--Charlotte

Interviews
Oral histories

1970-2010

Levine Museum of the New South

Latinos in Charlotte

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audio/mpeg

MU-CH0167

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/uncc:2203