As I sit in Gabriela’s kitchen I’m in awe of her relationship with her 2 year old son as she chats away to him in Spanish. Like a lot of children of immigrants these days, he’s already bilingual.

We’re in rural Mayo, there’s not a neighbour to be seen for at least half a mile, Gabi’s house is cosy and lived in. Toys are scattered on the floor and the tea is flowing. Above us the rich, dark skies threaten to shower at any second. Even though she’s been here for over 10 years now, she hasn’t quite come to terms with the Irish weather, but that’s not been the only tough adjustment she’s had to make.

Gabriela is an incredibly intellectual woman. Our chat is laced with philosophical musings and interesting references. She wanted to study for her masters degree through the english language as an additional challenge for herself. She settled on Ireland as the location for lots of reasons, one being that her surname is Irish and quite unusual in Mexico so she was always curious about Ireland. She can trace her heritage back to two Meade brothers who travelled to Mexico before the famine and both had massive families.

Moving to Ireland has not been without it’s struggles for Gabriela. Even though she found a great love and had a gorgeous child, she still misses her friends and her network back home.

“Getting into a circle of friends is really, really difficult. Irish people are lovely, friendly, welcoming, but it’s difficult becoming real friends. They seem to have their friends circle locked down. The friends I met in Dublin in my masters course were all immigrants too. When I moved to Mayo, my circle got even smaller and I didn’t expect that to be so hard.”

Going from Mexico City, which has a population of 20 million, to Mayo Abbey, population of 1200, has to have been a huge culture shock for Gabriela, but she feels it’s the right move to raise her young son. “I don't want my son to be in a city. There’s too much noise, overstimulation, visual information. I think we've all gone very materialistic in the world. Now, we live very rurally. I'm happy that my son will be able to grow here, with some space and the freedom to slow down and appreciate nature.”

We hear a lot of immigration stories doing this daily podcast, people from all over the world who have chosen to settle in Ireland and call it home. We also hear stories about so many sons and daughters emigrating to Dubai or Sydney in search of work and sunshine. I myself am a child of immigration and I think it’s absolutely adorable that there’s a tiny child running around Claremorris speaking beautiful Spanish with a hint of a Mayo accent, like the Meade brother’s many children who ran around Mexico such a long time ago.