What brought you to Alabama?

“I decided to come to learn English as a second language. I’m from north Brazil, Maceio, right below the equator, so it’s a very tropical area. I don’t like winter. I don’t like snow. In fact, at the time, I never had seen snow in my life, so I didn’t want to go up North. I was looking for small areas on the water because I’m a beach girl, my hometown. When I applied, Spring Hill College was the one that really kind of replied very fast. For my mom, she felt like, ‘She’s by herself, but she’s in a Catholic school.’ That’s why Spring Hill College caught our attention because it was right on the Gulf close to the water and, of course, the program was very good. When I came over here, I fell in love with this area. We have so much in downtown Mobile. We have the bay. We have the beach. A lot of my friends, when I go home for the summer say, ‘What are you doing in Alabama?’ Most people go to California, go to Miami, go to New York. I said, ‘This is my little secret place.’ People don’t realize what we have here. That’s why I’m so passionate about this area. I did the Ambassador Program with Visit Mobile because I feel it has so much history – the Delta, the water, Mardi Gras. It’s a nice area. I love it. I love the people here. Everybody’s so friendly. I used to go to Fairhope Park to go walking and everybody is like, ‘Hi!’ When you see somebody that looks down, don’t say hello to you, it’s because they are from another place. After a while, it’s like a small town, everybody’s connected.” – Silvia Skultety of Daphne.

Silvia Skultety came to Alabama to learn English and fell in love with the place and the man who became her husband. (Tamika Moore / People of Alabama)

Skultety is a broker and owner of Mobile Bay Real Estate LLC. She says moving here was her destiny.

“I came here to learn English and then I decided to stay here to go to college and I met the love of my life and we stayed here. We both graduated from South Alabama. We both have a degree in international business. In fact, he has his own company for almost 30 years. We love this area, Daphne. We’ve been living there for over 30 years. After we finished South, we decided to move to this side of the bay and this is home to us. He’s from Bolivia.”

In addition to place, Skultety loves people.

“I think friendship is everything. Surround yourself with people that you love, and they love you. I don’t think I would have survived because I don’t have my family here. I created a new family here. I think friendship is the most important thing because when you have good friends, that’s your family.”

These are the faces and stories of people from all walks of life who call Alabama home. People of Alabama is a Red Clay Media and Alabama News Center partnership.