Where We Land

In this episode we share the Peruvian New Year traditions we’ve participated in over the years, from burning life-size dolls to flowering baths, we get into all of it. We also discuss our New Year’s resolutions and our shots at making them stick. Claudia shares the culture clash she experienced with the term 'cuffing season' and Luciana talks about how she's started the year in a decluttering phas...

Claudia Helms is the Program Director for Latin America & the Caribbean at the D.C. based think tank Global Financial Integrity. Originally from Peru, Claudia has been in the US for over a decade. Claudia shares how her career led her to immigrate, how a planned move to Australia was thwarted by a trip to D.C. and how a planned move to Boston was derailed when she met her husband. We also talk...

To close out the year, we share the origin story of the podcast: why we started it, how we put it together, and the difficulties along the way. We also talk about unexpected moments, what made us the most nervous, our favorite episodes to record and many more behind the scenes details.  Where We Land will be back with a new episode on January 11th (8 pm EST). WATCH on YouTube! LINKS TO EPISODES ME...

After spending her childhood in Haiti, Farrah Daniel moved with her family to the US. The next few years were marked by her struggle to quickly learn English, find her place within Black culture in America, obey her religious upbringing, keep up with her French and Creole, and do as her parents’ asked. It took several years, but Farrah has managed to navigate her way through, sort, and reckon with...

As immigrants living in the US, we haven’t always been able to go home to Peru for the holidays. While it can be rough to not go home, it also opens the door to celebrate in new ways. In this episode we share our experiences spending all kinds of holidays and important occasions far from home, and even family. WATCH on YouTube! REACH OUT: Want to share your immigration stories or have a question?...

At 30 years old, Marianna De Luca, a successful lawyer in Costa Rica, had just purchased a new apartment and had no plans to ever leave her home town of San Jose. Until, during a girls trip visiting a friend in DC, she fell in love. But how do you leave your life behind for the chance at something new? Watch our conversation with Marianna about taking a chance on a different life and the challenge...

Nobody Wants This is a show we binged each season of and couldn’t help but relate to the cultural differences and culture clashes shown on screen. In this episode we explore the complicated nature of dating someone with a different cultural background and the negotiations that come with that. We also discuss our favorite pieces of culture depicted in the show, and of course, we dive into what we e...

Carlos Meléndez is a writer/director of film and television specializing in the horror, thriller and fantasy genres ( learn about his projects here ). Born in Mexico City, Carlos sneakily made his way to Film School in LA at 18. But after finishing his studies he didn’t feel quite prepared to take on Hollywood just yet. After twenty years of painstaking work and success in Mexico, Carlos returned...

In this episode we talk about making friends in a new country. Specifically, making immigrant friends when you yourself have also immigrated abroad. We discuss how it’s easy to relate to someone who, like you, isn’t from here. We also talk about the additional ease of making friends with someone who moved here from the same country you did, and the difficulties of connecting with fellow immigrants...

Miguel Angel Hito works in marketing at Google, but when he was 26 Miguel had yet to fulfill his dream of going to college. Born in Peru, his first experience abroad was right out of high school living in Japan. After four languages, countless jobs and a move to Miami, Miguel finally made it to community college. There was still a way to go for him to feel ‘caught up’ to his peers, but he was on h...

The Summer I Turned Pretty quickly became Luciana’s favorite show, so we had to find a way to talk about it on the pod. We explore the ups and downs of Belly’s experience living abroad in Paris, and the multicultural moments depicted in the show. And of course, we dive into what we loved so much about the show. WATCH on YouTube! REACH OUT: Want to share your immigration stories or have a question?...

Zosia Garcia is a movie and TV producer based in LA. Originally from Puebla, Mexico, Zosia left her home town right out of college to pursue an acting career in LA. She quickly pivoted to producing and has been climbing the industry ladder ever since. Zosia shares her ambitions of winning an Oscar, what it’s like to constantly travel for work, and what producers actually do in Hollywood.  We also...

If you’ve ever spent time abroad, you might have noticed people eat different foods, have meals at times you’re not used to, or have a different idea of what constitutes an every-day meal. We’ve definitely noticed differences with how Peruvians and Americans each relate to food and we share them on this episode.  We also get into the culture clash of purses you can’t fully close, and Luciana’s cur...

Lina Salazar is based in D.C. and works in food security, a career she found her way into after working towards recovery from an eating disorder. Food, it seems, has been central to Lina’s life since she was a teenager (when her disordered eating started), eventually contributing to her wanting to leave her hometown of Bogota, Colombia in her twenties. From there, Lina’s life abroad began, but the...

If you were born outside the US like us, you’ve probably loved an artist that was huge in your region but completely unknown in other parts of the world. Or maybe there are certain US artists you’ve loved while living here and when you traveled abroad, discovered nobody knew them. So, why are some singers global sensations while others can’t seem to ‘cross over’? We talk all about this and share o...

Miguel Sagaz is an actor, host, journalist and client partner in the entertainment industry. Based in LA but originally from Mexico City, Miguel moved to the US to try to make it in Hollywood. When his first attempt didn't work, he moved back to Mexico, gained more experience, and tried again. This time, he found the success he was looking for.  WATCH on YouTube! REACH OUT: Want to share your immi...

The movie Sinners (2025) is layered with metaphors and symbolism that you can apply to a lot of different real world issues: racism, cultural appropriation, freedom, identity, systemic oppression, art vs commerce, etc. In this episode we bring our immigrant and multicultural lens to this film. WATCH on YouTube! REACH OUT: Want to share your immigration stories or have a question? We'd love to hear...

Johanna Arenaza is a psychologist based in Washington D.C. Born in Bilbao, Spain, Johanna left her home country at 18 to study at the prestigious School of American Ballet in New York City without knowing much, if any, English. In a few years Johanna went from a full-time ballerina who didn’t speak English, to a psychology student who would go on to get a PhD. WATCH on YouTube! REACH OUT: Want to...

If you’re a single, childfree woman visiting your conservative hometown, there are certain questions you tend to get asked: Why are you still single? Don’t you want to get married? How are you going to have kids? In this episode we dive into those awkward moments and how we navigate them.  We also talk about the culture clash of restaurant reservations and Luciana’s birthday celebrations! WATCH on...

Mariana V í lchez is an actress from Peru who spent 12 years living in Los Angeles and working in Hollywood before she had to move back to Peru when her talent visa didn’t get renewed. Mariana shares how the lessons in resilience and adaptability that she learned working as an actress eventually prepared her for the unexpected life changing event of having to move ‘back home’ to a place that hadn’...

As two people that have moved around quite a bit, it’s safe to say we’ve felt homesick more than once. So on today’s episode we share our experiences with homesickness and the coping mechanisms we’ve used. We also try –unsuccessfully– to figure out what the deal is with Christmas cards in the U.S. (what do they mean?? We still don’t know!) And one of us makes a strong case for why we should all be...

Andrea Moncada is a political analyst based in Oxford . She was born in Peru , but by 7 had already lived in three different countries. Andrea says she knew even as a child that her life would take place abroad . Now in her 30’s and expecting her first child , she feels very strongly about passing down her Peruvian heritage. In our conversation she details how her time in the U.S. as a young girl...

This week we talk about how immigrating often means starting your career all over again or at least having to endure a setback (unless you happened to immigrate for a promotion, of course). Navigating the practical and emotional aspects of what you hope is a short term risk for a long term reward is challenging. We share our experiences and the conversations we’ve had with countless friends who ha...

Fareeha Khan is a comedian and artist born in Pakistan who moved to the U.S. as a child. We spoke with Fareeha about the ‘family lore’ immigrant kids cobble together to fill in the blanks in their lives, not remembering stressful parts of your childhood, and mustering the courage to become an artist. We also talked about harsh immigrant parents and being a comedian. Fareeha is based in Brooklyn an...

In this episode we talk about the concept of ‘home’ and how it can take new shapes over time. Can you have more than one home at a time? Is home necessarily a place? We also share the different things that have represented ‘home’ for us over our lives (and multiple moves).  Additionally, we talk about the culture shock of U.S. credit scores and A/C, as well as our current faves: Alex Cooper on Arm...