From Where to Here
From Where to Here explores cultural exchange, languages, and connection. Hosted by French Canadian Alexandra Lloyd, each episode shares heartfelt stories and inspiring journeys that bridge cultural gaps and spark understanding. đđ
E31 Suerte Muchachos: A Peruvian Nephrologist Carried Lima All the Way to Birmingham
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Youâve probably moved cities once or twice. Javier has done it five times, in a country that wasnât his, in a language that wasnât his first, starting from scratch every single time.
He left Lima with a little money from his parents, no car, no social security number, and an uncertain place to sleep. By the time his first paycheck cleared at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, he had figured out lease agreements, shared an apartment with a group of strangers, and started building something real. Then he did it...
E30 Immigrants' Table | Some People Donât Expect Us: A Yemeni Familyâs Grill in Alabama | Makarios Kabob & Grill
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Some people don't expect a Yemeni family behind a Middle Eastern grill in Birmingham, Alabama. Noor explains why his family belongs here, and why no one who walks in is ever just a customer.
Immigrants' Table is a series from From Where to Here shining a light on immigrant-owned restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama, the people behind the food, and the stories that travel with every plate.
We sit down with Noor of Makarios Kabob and Grill, a Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurant. Noor was born in the United States...
E29 Immigrants' Table | She Grew Up Poor in the Philippines. Now She Feeds Her Whole City. | Café Baboy
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She grew up poor in the Philippines, where food wasnât always shared. Now Lea runs CafĂ© Baboy, a Filipino food truck in Birmingham, Alabama, and her one rule is: food is for everybody.
In this episode of The Immigrantsâ Table, Lea takes us inside Filipino food culture, starting with adobo, a national dish born from poverty with only three ingredients. She explains malinamnam, a Tagalog word that goes deeper than âdelicious.â She talks about salo salo, the Filipino tradition of eating together from shared plates, and how that became the soul of h...
From Lost to Nominated: Why I Started From Where to Here
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From Where to Here just got nominated for a Signal Award in the culture, belonging, and inclusion category, and I needed to tell you about it.
I started this podcast selfishly. I moved from Montreal to Alabama and spent years struggling to find my footing. No community, no landmarks, no idea how to belong somewhere new. From Where to Here was my way of working through that, and eventually, a way to give other people a stage to share their own versions of that story.
A nomination like this...
Between the Words | She Grew Up Speaking Two Languages. Then She Lost the Words for Her Own Pain.
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What does it sound like when a language has a word for something yours has never even tried to name?
This is Between the Words â a language-focused segment clipped from Episode 27 of From Where to Here.
Sheyla from Blitar, East Java, Indonesia teaches us five words and concepts from Bahasa Indonesia and Javanese that reveal something profound about Indonesian culture.
Maaf â the word for sorry that you never say just once. You repeat it until the situation moves on, and the person across from you keeps saying it i...
E28 Immigrants' Table | He Makes His Grandmother's Mistake on Purpose | Joseph's Table
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He left Lebanon at 16 with a picky eater's palate and his grandmother's recipes locked in his memory. Today, Joseph Matta is the Owner, Founder, and Head Chef of Joseph's Table in Birmingham, Alabama, a Mediterranean and Lebanese restaurant where every plate carries the weight of a border crossed and a memory kept alive.
This is Immigrants' Table, a series from From Where to Here shining a light on immigrant-owned restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama, the people behind the food, and the stories that travel with every plate.
In this conversation...
E27 Part 2 | She Lost Her Roots at 9. A Sourdough Starter Gave Them Back.
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Part 2 of 2.
If you have not listened to Part 1 yet, start there. This conversation picks up right where we left off.
In Part 1, Sheyla shared how she arrived in Memphis at 9 years old carrying two languages and spent years quietly setting them both down. In Part 2, she talks about what it looks like to find your way back.
This half of the conversation is about reclaiming. How she started looking into Indonesian history and realized she had never truly learned it. How sourdough bread became a way...
E27 She Stopped Speaking Her Language Because It Felt Safer. Now She Is Finding Her Way Back. | Part 1
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Part 1 of 2
She arrived in Memphis at 9 years old speaking two languages and spent years quietly setting them both down. Not because she forgot them. Because it felt safer.
Sheyla grew up in Blitar, East Java, speaking Javanese at home and Bahasa Indonesia at school. She navigated an American childhood without a roadmap, picked up English, French, a bit of Japanese, and taught herself Korean through K-pop and sheer curiosity. She thought she might become a linguist. Life took her into tech instead. Today she lives in Birmingham, Alabama, works...
E26 Immigrants' Table | He Put a Samosa Inside a Burrito. Birmingham Has Not Been the Same | Curry Up Now
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Immigrants' Table is a series from From Where to Here shining a light on immigrant-owned restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama â the people behind the food, and the stories that travel with every plate.
Akash Kapoor grew up in Ranchi, India, was sent to Catholic boarding school at age 10, and built one of the most talked-about Indian street food restaurants in the country â Curry Up Now, now right here in Birmingham, Alabama. But the story behind the menu goes deeper than most people expect.
In this episode, Akash opens up about the...
E25 Immigrants' Table | Every Carne Asada Was a Reunion. Now Birmingham Gets a Taste | Trampled by Tacos
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Immigrants' Table is a series from From Where to Here shining a light on immigrant-owned restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama â the people behind the food, and the stories that travel with every plate.
Avlo Alvaro grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico where carne asada was never just a meal. It was the reason to gather: after church, at the park, on birthdays, at every celebration that mattered. Today he co-owns Trampled by Tacos in Birmingham, Alabama, and every dish on the menu carries a piece of that history.
In this episode, Av...
E25 Immigrants' Table | Every Carne Asada Was a Reunion. Now Birmingham Gets a Taste | Trampled by Tacos
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Immigrants' Table is a series from From Where to Here shining a light on immigrant-owned restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama â the people behind the food, and the stories that travel with every plate.
Avlo Alvaro grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico where carne asada was never just a meal. It was the reason to gather: after church, at the park, on birthdays, at every celebration that mattered. Today he co-owns Trampled by Tacos in Birmingham, Alabama, and every dish on the menu carries a piece of that history.
In this episode, Av...
E24 Without My Sister, I'd Be Lost: A Deaf Woman's Story of Family & Language
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In this episode: a woman diagnosed with hearing as a child, a teacher who kept turning her head away, and a kitchen conversation that dissolved into noise. That's the true story of an Alabama woman who lost her hearing as a girl and found her voice in American Sign Language.
This is the finale of the Language Legacy series on From Where to Here, where teenagers from Alabama sit down with elders from immigrant, refugee, and Deaf communities. Guest Mary Lowman, now 66, walks host Denay through losing her hearing, refusing a...
Beyond the Surface | Voodoo Isn't What You Think. Neither Is Africa.
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Loulou Guedou grew up between Ivory Coast and Benin, and this deep dive pulls the moments from her full episode that go past the guidebook: why hospitality there means being treated like royalty from the moment you arrive, why voodoo in Benin is a religion and not a warning sign, and why "I'm from Africa" barely scratches the surface when there are two very different countries behind that answer.
She also gets into the unwritten rules of greeting someone (three kisses in Ivory Coast, four in Benin, and the very real...
E23 The Wedding Where the Groom Has to Guess Which Bride Is His
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Louise "Loulou" Guedou grew up speaking a dialect with 63 versions in one country, got sent away from her parents at age 10 for boarding school in Benin, and later found herself standing in front of her groom while he tried to guess which veiled woman in the lineup was actually her.
In this episode of From Where to Here, Louise shares what it's really like growing up between Ivory Coast and Benin, two West African cultures with their own languages, greetings, and wedding traditions, and how she carried all of it with...
Between the Words | She Reads Arabic Dialects by Ear and Knows a Word English Will Never Have
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She left Syria speaking only "hello" and "how are you" in English. She'd been learning French. Then the passport showed up, and within a month, everything she knew was sold, packed, and gone.
Youmna Yassin grew up in Damascus, came to the United States with her family during the Syrian conflict, and arrived at an American airport overwhelmed by a world she couldn't hear and only see. No Arabic around her. No language to hold onto. Just her eyes, trying to decode a place that moved faster than she could follow.<...
E22 Language Legacy | The Language Kathy Chen Refused to Let Her Daughter Forget
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Kathy Chen left China in 1981 with British English in her ears and a country she wouldn't see again for 15 years. Now a PhD-holding grandmother figure in Birmingham, she still speaks Chinese at home and still corrects herself when she spells "colour" the wrong way.
This is Episode 22 of From Where to Here, and it's part of something bigger than a podcast episode. The Language Legacy series pairs Alabama teenagers with immigrant and refugee elders to capture what gets lost between generations: the lullabies, the idioms, the unspoken rules of a culture...
Between the Words | From Basque to Catalan â Why Spain Is Not One Language and Never Was
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Spain has 17 regions. Most people know one language. What Ruben Raposo grew up knowing, and what he unpacked in his full From Where to Here conversation, is that Spanish is a family, not a single tongue. Basque has no Latin roots. No one knows where it came from. Catalan sounds like French and Italian had a baby. The phrases his father taught him, a former priest who left the church for love, are still living in the way Ruben moves through the world decades later.
This is Between the Words<...
E21 The Spanish Kid Who Showed Up With a Dictionary and Ended Up Staying Forever
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Ruben Raposo left Madrid at 15 with a dictionary, a host family he'd never met, and a one-year plan. Thirty years later, he's still in Alabama, and he never saw it coming.
In this episode of From Where to Here, Ruben takes us inside what it actually felt like to land in the American South with barely enough English to order breakfast, get recruited onto a high school football team within his first two weeks, and slowly realize that the life he was building here wasn't temporary anymore. He talks about growing...
E20 She Wasnât Free to Say No. The Reality of Human Trafficking Few Talk About
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EspĂ©rance means Hope. And somehow, across genocide, trafficking, and 20 years in captivity on American soil, she never stopped living up to her name.Â
In this episode of Language Legacy, a special five-part series from From Where to Here where Alabama teenagers interview elders from immigrant and refugee communities, Espérance sits down with a young interviewer named Kirby and tells a story that most people in this country have never heard. She survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide as a young Tutsi woman, lost both parents to assassination, and was trafficked to the...
E19 What Nobody Tells You About Japan: The Gift-Giving, the Loneliness & the Ritual That Stopped Us Cold
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Japan hit different when you go not just as a tourist, but as someone visiting family who's built an entire life there, and we had no idea how much it would change us. In this episode of From Where to Here, I'm taking you inside two weeks in Japan: Hamamatsu, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, and Tokyo â city by city, moment by moment, from the best to the worst to the ones I didn't see coming.
We visited family who've lived in Japan for over 20 years, attended a private maiko performance where I go...
E18 She Moved to Japan for a Visit⊠& Stayed Half Her Life
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Sarah moved to Japan, thinking it would only be temporary. Nearly half her life later, sheâs still there, raising a family and navigating two cultures.
What happens when a short trip turns into an entirely new life?
In this episode of From Where to Here, Alexandra sits down with Sarah Sawane, who grew up in Alabama and moved to Japan for what was supposed to be a temporary experience⊠but ended up staying for nearly half her life.
What began as an opportunity to teach English beca...
E17 In Translation: What the People Who Love Me See (That I Donât)
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What happens when you let the people who love you reflect you back to yourself?
In this first episode of a new solo series called In Translation, I celebrate turning 35 by reading handwritten notes from local friends and family answering two prompts:
Whatâs one thing I should try this year?
 Whatâs one thing I do well â or could do better?
From skydiving and Bollywood dancing to learning a fourth language, hosting more French meetups, and continuing to make people feel heard â this episode b...
E16 Language Legacy | We Came With No English: A 1950 Immigration Story
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Welcome to Episode 2 of the Language Legacy Project Series, a 5-part community storytelling initiative capturing the powerful conversations between youth from Alabama and elders from immigrant and refugee communities.
In this second episode, Alex D., a young interviewer sits down with Jack Schniper, an elder whose journey began thousands of miles away, arriving in the United States in the 1950s without speaking English, navigating cultural differences in the Deep South, and slowly building a new definition of home.
What unfolds is more than a migration story. Itâs a re...
E15 What Your Accent Says About Where You Belong (FernĂĄndez Family)
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What happens when you learn a new language later in life, and have to rebuild identity, confidence, and belonging from scratch?
In this episode of From Where to Here, host Alexandra sits down with the FernĂĄndez family to talk about learning English as adults, navigating life with an accent, and building a sense of home far from where they started.
Rather than growing up bilingual, the FernĂĄndez family shares what it was like to:
- Learn English later in life and use it for survival, wo...
E14 Language Legacy | Leaving Taiwan at 18: A Journey of Language, Identity & New Beginnings
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Welcome to Episode 1 of the Language Legacy Project Series, a 5-part community storytelling initiative capturing the powerful conversations between youth from Alabama and elders from immigrant and refugee communities.
In this first episode, a young teen sits down with an elder who left Taiwan at 18, uncovering a deeply personal story about language, identity, family, and the journey of making a new place feel like home. Through guided storytelling and cultural exploration, they dive into memories of childhood in Taiwan, learning English in the U.S., navigating cultural misunderstandings, and the rich...
E13 From Damascus to Alabama: A Muslim Womanâs Journey of Faith & Freedom
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When Yumna "Yumi" Yassin left Damascus at age 13, she had no idea what life in Alabama would hold. From learning English and building friendships to navigating faith, identity, and belonging as a Muslim woman in the South. Her story is one of courage, reflection, and heart.
In this episode of From Where to Here, host Alexandra Lloyd sits down with Yumi to explore:
What it felt like to move from Syria to the U.S. during the warHow she found her voice learning a new languageThe emotional connection between Arabic...E12 Between Worlds: Cassâ Journey from Third-Culture Kid to Tech Leader
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Growing up across the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Cass learned to feel at home in difference and to see cultural fluidity as a strength. Her story traces how global events like 9/11 shaped perceptions of identity and belonging, and how being mixed race taught her to navigate worlds with empathy and awareness.
Now a leader in tech and host of the podcast How She Got Here, Cass shares how living between cultures became her superpower: helping her lead diverse teams, bridge perspectives, and champion representation for women in tech.<...
E11 The Untold History of Brazil: Language, Race, and Resilience
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In this episode of From Where to Here, Alexandra sits down with Dr. John Maddox, a professor of Spanish and Portuguese at UAB, to explore the intersections of language, culture, history, and identity. Dr. Maddox shares how an inspiring Spanish teacher set him on a lifelong path in languages, how games and stories made learning accessible, and why perfection in language learning is a myth. The conversation spans from classrooms in Georgia to study abroad in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, weaving in insights about colonialism...
E10 How One Colombian Woman Built Two Lives Across 2 Countries
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Join us for an intimate conversation with Juliana Madrid, a Colombian business operations director who transformed a simple dream of perfecting her English into a beautiful cross-cultural love story. Discover how she navigated building relationships, career success, and family traditions while bridging two very different worlds. Her honest insights about cultural stereotypes, the reality of immigrant life, and creating "home" in multiple countries will inspire anyone considering a major life change or curious about Latin American culture.
Key takeaways from this episode:
The "No Dar Papaya" mindset...E09 I Moved Countries for Love: What No One Tells You About Starting Over Abroad
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In this deeply personal solo episode, host Alexandra Lloyd shares her real-life story of moving from Montreal, Canada, to Birmingham, Alabama, for love. What began as a spontaneous connection on a tropical island turned into a long-distance relationship, a K1 visa journey, and a completely new life in a new country.
Alexandra opens up about:
E08 From Power Outages to Plant Power: Astridâs Journey from Venezuela to a Greener Life in the U.S.
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In this heartfelt and honest episode of From Where to Here, Alexandra sits down with Astrid, a tropical plant expert from MĂ©rida, Venezuela, now thriving in Birmingham with Vivatia Plant Care Services and Botanical Workshop. Astrid shares her moving journey of resilience â from growing up under a dictatorship marked by frequent power outages to grieving the deep friendships and community she left behind.
Amid stories of cultural shifts and workplace adaptations, Astrid opens up about the joys and struggles of adjusting to life in the U.S. â all while discovering, with...
E07 Afghanistan Beyond the Headlines: Shabirâs Untold Story
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Afghanistan is more than a country in conflict â itâs a place of resilience, culture, and untold stories. Shabir Kabiri shares his powerful journey from Kabul to the U.S., reflecting on what it means to call two countries home, the impact of decades of conflict on Afghan identity, and a message to those who only know Afghanistan through the news. Listen in as he challenges misconceptions and shines a light on the strength and spirit of Afghan culture.
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đ Links & How to Connect with Shabir Kabiri
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đ G...
E06 Empowering Latinas in the U.S.: Diana MartĂnez GarcĂa on Identity & Change
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In this powerful episode of From Where to Here, host Alexandra Lloyd sits down with Diana MartĂnez GarcĂa, an immigrant rights advocate and cultural connector who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border as a child. From navigating two identities to lobbying in D.C. for DACA, Diana shares her journey of resilience, advocacy, and uplifting young Latinas in Alabama through her work with Virtual Promotoras.
We explore what it means to belong in two cultures, break down stereotypes about Mexican identity, and dive into the unspoken challenges immigrant communities fa...
BonusâWhat Do People Really Know About Culture? | Street Interviews at Pepper Place Market
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đïžđ What do people really know about cultures, languages, and QuĂ©bec? We hit the streets of Birmingham to find out! đšđŠđ€ From Charles Barkley to ranch dressing obsessions, this Vox Pop is full of surprises!
From Charles Barkley to poutineâthis Vox Pop had everything! đđđšđŠ Some answers were spot on, and others⊠well, letâs just say QuĂ©bec needs better PR. đ What was your favorite response?Â
Make sure to check out episode 04 with Chris Bertrand to learn more about his interest in the Québec culture and language.
Big thanks to everyone who took part i...
E04 Canoes, Courtrooms, and Cultures: Chrisâs Southern Story
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In this episode of From Where to Here, we dive deep into the personal and cultural experiences that shape oneâs connection to the French language and QuĂ©bĂ©cois culture. Chris shares his unique journey, from the moment he fell in love with French to his exploration of his French ancestry and his deep connection to QuĂ©bec. Get ready for an insightful conversation filled with stories, culture, and practical tips on staying fluent in a language.
Hereâs what youâll be learning in this episode:
Engagin...E01 The Art of Learning a New Language as an Adult (Solo)
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The Art of Learning a New Language as an Adult | From Where to Here Podcast đïž
Learning a new language as an adult can feel overwhelmingâbut it doesnât have to be! In this episode of From Where to Here, I dive into the myths, challenges, and strategies behind language learning as an adult. From personal experiences to research-backed insights, youâll walk away with a new perspective on how to make language learning work for you.
đč What Youâll Learn in This Episode:
âïž The bigge...
E02 From Ukraine to Alabama: The Sweet Journey of Cake Honeys and Finding Home Through Food
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From Ukraine to Alabama: The Sweet Journey of Cake Honeys and Finding Home Through Food | From Where to Here Podcast đïž
What does it take to rebuild a life from scratch in a new country? In this episode of From Where to Here, host Alexandra Lloyd sits down with Lisa Strelnikova, a Ukrainian immigrant and owner of Cake Honeyâs, to explore the emotional journey of adapting to a new culture while holding onto home.
Lisa shares how baking became her bridge...
E03 From Germany to the South: Navigating Culture, Language, and Business with Johannes Eff
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From Germany to the South: Navigating Culture, Language, and Business with Johannes Eff | From Where to Here Podcast đïž
Whatâs it really like to move from Germany to the Southern U.S.? In this episode of From Where to Here, host Alexandra Lloyd sits down with Johannes Eff, a German professional who relocated to Alabama for work. He shares his experiences adapting to American culture, navigating cultural differences, and maintaining his connection to Germany.
Johannes dives into first impressions of the U.S., <...
Official Trailer - From Where to Here
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Hi, Iâm Alexandra Lloyd, a French Canadian who made Birmingham, Alabama, my home in 2017. Welcome to From Here to Here, a podcast where we explore the rich diversity of languages, cultures, and the stories that connect us all.Â
Each month, I'll sit down with guests from different backgrounds and sometimes from around the world to talk about their cultures, their languages, and how we can break down cultural barriers. Plus, weâll tackle fun, common myths in our Cultural Mythbusters segment!
Are you someone who loves learning new langu...
