{"id":11926,"date":"2016-09-29T17:05:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T21:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=11926"},"modified":"2016-09-30T09:14:55","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T13:14:55","slug":"what-brings-us-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/what-brings-us-here\/","title":{"rendered":"What Brings Us Here?"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 2016 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

New residents share the stories of how they came to call greater Portland home.<\/span><\/h3>\n

We call it kismet.<\/span><\/h3>\n

By Sarah Moore<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"what-brings-us-here-oct16\"G<\/strong><\/span>ermans describe fernweh<\/em> as the yearning for another, far-off place unknown to you. During a long winter in London, longing for the ocean and a kinder city, and despite having never lived in America, I made the quick and weighty decision to leave London behind. Goodbye city noise and excitement, friends, impossible rent prices, and familiarity. Within two weeks I was standing at the Greyhound bus station in Portland, Maine, in the deadly silence after a blizzard, facing a new, blank page of my journey stretching as empty and white as the unplowed sheet of snow ahead. <\/span><\/p>\n

In a state legendary for its vast dominions of pine trees, Portland is an urban destination restless in its development. As we grow larger and more diverse as a population, the city becomes more dynamic and desirable. But what is drawing these individuals from all over the world to our small city by the sea? <\/span><\/p>\n

The destination may be the same, but our journeys are very different. <\/span><\/p>\n

Constant Rambler<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Vikki Walker<\/strong>, 34, has seen a lot of the world, but after working for long stretches on the road with the likes of Madonna, Elton John, and Lady Gaga, the only place she wants to come back to is Portland, Maine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI fell into the music industry around 12 years ago by complete chance. I started out on a private catering team for big musical acts\u2013I couldn\u2019t cook a thing,\u201d says Walker, who originates from a small town in the rolling farmlands of England. What followed was over a decade of near constant touring to every corner of the globe as a chef, assistant, backstage manager\u2013you name it. It was during these travels that Vikki met her now-husband Kyle, a native of Vermont, while they were both working on tour with the English rock band Keane in 2010. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan was that we\u2019d try and coordinate jobs so we could travel together, but it didn\u2019t really work out like that! We spent three years traveling in opposite directions around the globe. We\u2019d grab time together whenever our paths crossed. A month here in Berlin, another there in Lisbon.\u201d While the couple thrived on the nomadic, rock \u2018n\u2019 roll lifestyle, by 2013 they were ready to put down roots. \u201cWe\u2019ve been very lucky to see so much of the world, but after a while it gets tiring living out of a suitcase all year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With no idea of where their dream home would be, the couple decided to take a road-trip across America in search of somewhere to call home. \u201cWe\u2019d stop in these towns, go out and see how we felt there,\u201d says Vikki. \u201cWe drove all along the West Coast, but nothing won us over.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

It was a dark evening in the winter of 2013 when the couple pulled into Portland, Maine, on a whim. \u201cKyle had heard Portland had this great up-and-coming reputation, so we booked into the St. John\u2019s Inn one night and walked into town. I remember it was freezing. I think I wore every layer I owned all at once.\u201d Despite the chilly first impression, something stuck for the couple. \u201cThere was just something here that drew us in. Plus, the excellent Mexican food at El Rayo helped seal the deal.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Inspired, the pair began house-hunting in earnest before Vikki\u2019s job pulled her away for a six-month world tour with Lady Gaga. \u201cI came back to Maine in mid-summer, and I was just blown away by the city all over again. It sounds crazy, but I hadn\u2019t really appreciated the bay right on our doorstep. Having been fortunate enough to see so many places in the world, I can honestly say that Casco Bay is one of the most beautiful places I\u2019ve ever known.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

By 2014, the pair had made the decision to escape the relentless demands of touring gigs. Kyle secured a job in merchandising for Mumford & Sons that allowed him to remain in the city, and the pair decided to pursue their dream of opening a bar. Maps opened its doors to Market Street in 2014. \u201cThe bar is our retirement plan! It\u2019s a way to anchor ourselves here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The inviting underground bar is plastered with atlases, maps, and Kyle\u2019s extensive record collection as a nod to their former life on the road. The atmosphere eschews pretension\u2013the majority of patrons are locals quietly drinking and listening to music. \u201cThere\u2019s something really personal about Maps. We\u2019ve met so many wonderful people in Portland. The bar is almost like an extension of our living room\u2013we just want to fill it with our friends and our stuff!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Despite Vikki\u2019s attempts at retirement, she continues to field numerous jobs offers from the music industry. \u201cI swear I\u2019m scaling back! There\u2019s an upcoming gig with a big band, a very big Irish band, that I just couldn\u2019t turn down,\u201d she says coyly. (Think Bonobo without the bo.) \u201cBut even when I\u2019m in one of my favorite cities in the world, I can\u2019t wait to come home to Portland.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Le Grand Voyage<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Afternoon light streams through the\u00a0 <\/span>West-facing windows of Chez Okapi restaurant on St. John Street as owner Raphael Kabata<\/strong> prepares for the night ahead. \u201cI\u2019ve had the restaurant for a year now. It was hard to get going\u2013I spent over a year searching for the right location. Portland\u2019s real estate has become very competitive in the past few years, so it was a challenge. But the city has also become a lot more open and diverse. There\u2019s a lot more opportunity for immigrants these days,\u201d says Raphael. <\/span><\/p>\n

The 35-year-old former lawyer from the Democratic Republic of Congo left his homeland in 2011 to escape the conflict that has plagued the landlocked Central African country. \u201cI left Congo and emigrated to Dallas, Texas. I was in Dallas for three months trying to get a job and a place to live, but without my work permit approved I couldn\u2019t get job or an apartment. It was a hard time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Raphael reached out to some of his friends from the DRC who\u2019d also emigrated for advice. \u201cMy friends encouraged me to come to Portland, Maine. They told me about an organization that would help you to get on your feet and start a life here. They said Portland was a good place to live and there were resources for immigrants. In my experience, places like this are rare.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Raphael journeyed to Portland in March 2011 and spent a year in accommodation provided by General Assistance until his work permit was accepted and he could begin work. The language barrier proved a challenge, as all the English classes on offer from General Assistance were at capacity. \u201cI had to teach myself English. I was lucky to have a small but supportive community of Congolese friends around me. In just the past five years I\u2019ve seen Portland\u2019s diversity grow so much. Dallas has a huge amount of diversity\u2013you can find every kind of nationality there\u2013but I didn\u2019t feel at home in Texas. It was so big, and the people were unfriendly.\u201d Dallas\u2019s only redeeming feature was perhaps its more forgiving climate. \u201cThe first winter I spent in Maine, I thought I wouldn\u2019t be able to stand the cold\u2013but I\u2019ve grown used to it!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea of opening Chez Okapi (Okapi is a mammal native to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the chez<\/em> a nod to his Francophone roots) developed in Raphael\u2019s mind as he warmed to Portland foodie culture. \u201cI wanted to create a place where you can experience not only great, authentic African cuisine, but also to create a sense of African culture and community. I\u2019ve met people from Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi\u2026but it\u2019s not just for Africans. I want locals to come here and share the experience. Portland is much more multicultural now. I want to see everyone mixing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Business can be challenging, but Raphael is happy to have set up a restaurant in the city he now considers home. \u201cAfter I\u2019d worked for a few years and saved up for the restaurant, I could\u2019ve moved anywhere in the country, but I chose Portland. I wanted to remain here,\u201d he says, glancing at his wife, Octavie. The couple were childhood friends growing up in Congo. Octavie moved to Pittsburgh 12 years ago, and the pair reconnected online when Raphael moved to Maine. Octavie made the decision to join Raphael in Portland in March of this year. \u201cI\u2019ve found Portland a really laid-back environment; it feels a lot more friendly than Pittsburgh ever did,\u201d she says. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the restaurant is successful I can see us staying here for the future,\u201d says Raphael. \u201cI\u2019d like to raise kids in Maine; it\u2019s a safe place; it\u2019s home. When people ask where I\u2019m from I say, \u2018I\u2019m a Mainer. I\u2019m Mr. Portland!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Golden Years<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When New Jersey native Judy Strano,<\/strong> 67, read an article in the American Association of Retired Peopl<\/em>e in 2011 that listed Portland, Maine as a top city for relocating, she dismissed it off-hand: \u201cToo cold.\u201d Little did Judy know that just three years later she and her husband, Rich, would be clinging to the side of Fort Williams Lighthouse in the middle of a raging Nor\u2019easter, blasted by the wind and rain\u2013and loving every second. \u201cIt was like watching fireworks. It was a truly magical experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The social worker of 30 years had spent her entire life in New Jersey, working, raising two children, even setting up her \u201cInteresting Women Group\u201d in Piscataway. However, Judy knew it was never too late for a fresh start. \u201cI thought that if I stayed in New Jersey, I\u2019d find it hard to adjust to retirement. It\u2019s such a busy, hectic place. I needed a change of scene.\u201d The initial plan had been for the couple to relocate down south, but Judy couldn\u2019t picture herself as a stereotypical Floridian retiree. The Stranos\u2019 son, Kevin, had moved to Portland from Brooklyn with his wife several years earlier to raise their young daughter. The desire to be nearer to her family and the thrill of adventure tugged Judy northward, and in August of 2014, Judy dragged her husband of 45 years \u201ckicking and screaming\u201d up to Maine. \u201cWe decided to rent an apartment. That way, if it didn\u2019t work out we could just leave\u2013no strings attached. Within just a couple of months I knew we were staying.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite her gung-ho attitude, Judy had some reservations about leaving behind the place she\u2019d known her entire life. \u201cI was scared about making new friends in Portland. Meanwhile, I was saying goodbye to a group of lifelong friends back in Jersey.\u201d Not one to linger in self-doubt, Judy joined two books clubs, the South Portland Recreation Center, Maine Audubon Society in Falmouth, and the Allen Avenue Unitarian Church. She even plans to launch a new chapter of the \u201cInteresting Womens Group\u201d here in Maine (her Jersey chapter still meets monthly after 20 years). <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years on, and I\u2019ve made the more dear friends in Portland,\u201d Judy says. Retirement hasn\u2019t necessarily meant a change of pace for the new Portlander, who starts each day with a walk to Bug Light Park and a swim at the recreation center, followed by voluntary work with Family Practice, Allen Avenue, and as a social worker to female students from immigrant families at South Portland High.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judy frequently recalls the busy, stressful lifestyle she once led on the fringes of New York City. Was promise of the great outdoors part of Maine\u2019s appeal? \u201cMy whole life I was a fan of the great indoors! I really wasn\u2019t interested in nature and getting out and being active. Now we hike, go to the beach. I swim every day. I\u2019m tan for the first time in my life!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cComing to Portland gave me the opportunity to reinvent our lives. It has made retirement so exciting. Every day is a new adventure. We\u2019ve probably seen more of Maine than most Mainers!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The lifestyle change has not only proved invigorating, it\u2019s also been healing. \u201cYou know, back when I was working, I walked with a cane. I suffered from sciatica, and I just didn\u2019t feel good.\u201d She sits poker-straight, slim, and full of vitality. \u201cIn part, the retirement has helped, but in a greater part, living in Maine has made me the healthiest I\u2019ve been in years.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The Stranos\u2019 daughter Amy, a Unitarian minister in New York, insisted that her mother visit a counselor as a condition of the move. \u201cShe thought I\u2019d grieve my friends and my life back in New Jersey,\u201d Judy says. \u201cAnd of course, in many ways I do! I went to the counselor, but after a couple of sessions he told me, \u2018Judy, you\u2019re going to be just fine!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Port in the storm<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You can\u2019t always choose where you land. But after fleeing escalating violence in Mosul, Iraq, the Abduljabbar family<\/strong> has found Portland to be an accidental Shangri-la. Sanaa and Aymen Abduljabbar, along with their sons Salim and Salar, arrived here in March of 2010. The family was\u00a0 <\/span>granted asylum from the United Nations after leaving their home in Mosul and spending several years moving around Turkey. \u201cI didn\u2019t know anything about Portland before I arrived. My brother had been living in Quebec, so we wanted to be close enough to him.\u201d A roll of the dice landed the family in the Pine Tree State, where they were propelled into their new life as Mainers. \u201cWhen we arrived in America, it was like being a newborn and opening your eyes for the first time. We felt like we knew nothing about life here. Luckily, Portland has been good to us,\u201d Sanaa says. \u201cI\u2019ve spoken with other friends who\u2019ve come over from Iraq and have settled in other cities in America. They say they worry about family\u2019s safety. I\u2019ve never felt that way here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

W<\/span>hen Salim, then 12, first walked into Lincoln Middle School in 2010, he knew only a handful of English words. Six years on, the Deering Oaks High graduate is now starting his freshman year at Bowdoin and can even boast a TED Talk presentation to his name. Sanaa, 44, who taught biology to high schoolers in Iraq, impressed the importance of hard work on Salim and his younger brother, Salar, 15, from the moment they arrived. \u201cI told them, \u2018You\u2019ll have to work twice as hard to prove yourself.\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Salim admits he initially struggled with motivation during middle school. \u201cI felt like no matter how hard I worked I\u2019d always be at a disadvantage to the kids who\u2019d lived here their entire lives. I stuck around with kids from similar immigrant backgrounds to myself.\u201d Salim credits moving to Deering High, the most diverse high school north of Boston, and a summer spent with Seeds of Peace international camp in Otisfield to changing his mentality. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I realized I had this potential. All I had to do was work for it. I pushed myself in high school and made so many great friends. They made me feel like I was at home. They are my extended family in America.\u201d Apart from a maturity that\u2019s rare in most 18-year-olds, there\u2019s nothing to suggest that Salim is anything but your average Portland teenager, spending his high school weekends at house parties, in the Old Port, and driving to Scarborough Beach. However, he\u2019s always aware of the duality in his identity. \u201cI\u2019m in this gap between being American and being Iraqi.\u201d Is it a comfortable gap to inhabit? \u201cNot really,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I think perhaps it\u2019s made me more thoughtful.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Sanaa has made an effort to balance their American life with their cultural roots and Islamic beliefs. The Abduljabbar household is strictly Arabic speaking, and they eat food prepared in keeping with the family\u2019s Iraqi\/Kurdish heritage. Sanaa, who works as a Community Health Worker at the Maine Access Immigrant Network and as a Neighborhood Coordinator at The Opportunity Alliance, is quick to share her experience to the families she works with. \u201cI always tell them: You can keep your culture, your religion, your language. No one here will try and touch that!\u201d Meanwhile, Sanaa\u2019s husband Aymen, 47, works in manufacturing for L.L. Bean. \u201cHe\u2019s involved with making Bean boots,\u201d Sanaa says and laughs. \u201cIt\u2019s the most Maine job ever!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the family, the simple pleasures of the sea, the greenery, and the surrounding natural beauty have made adjusting to their new life on the other side of the world from their home and family that much easier. \u201cPortland is a small city, and there are so many tree and green spaces,\u201d says Sanaa. \u201cI would have hated living in a big city! We love taking our lunch to Deering Oaks or the beach. We plan to go up to Acadia National Park soon and explore. Iraq is my homeland and always will be, but Portland is home. We are happy here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

They may not have chosen Portland, but they\u2019ve thrived here. You could call it luck, hard work, fate\u2013or all three.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

October 2016
\nNew residents share the stories of how they came to call greater Portland home.
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