Moving to a new home can be a hassle.
Moving to a new home in a new country can be complicated.
Moving to a new home, in a new country while pregnant during a pandemic? All of the above and then some.
Franco Jara’s highly anticipated arrival in North Texas coincided with a worldwide pandemic. Originally scheduled to join FC Dallas at midseason, his July arrival came just before the MLS restarted its season.
Jara has so far delivered on the pitch, leading FCD with five goals.
But it wasn’t smooth sailing behind the scenes. Just ask his wife, Ruth Gabriela Rojas, who was about six months pregnant with the couple’s third child when they moved from Mexico to the Dallas area.
Jara and Rojas have been inseparable since the age of 13. The 32-year-old Argentine forward said they’ve been together since then, were married in 2018 and have three children together.
“It was a whole process, but I didn’t want to leave my family alone in Mexico,” said Jara, who came to FCD after scoring 66 goals in five seasons with C. F. Pachuca.
Complicated process
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the process in how FCD brings foreign talent into the club.
Davor Bezich, player operations coordinator, is in charge of filing all of the legal paperwork for players (and their families) to obtain their visas to live and work in the country. Bezich said getting the documentation together is one of the hardest parts of the process.
“There are a lot of steps, and you have to be as precise as possible with all the different dates and previous visas,” Bezich said.
In a non-coronavirus world, the paperwork could take up to a week or 10 days to process. Now, with limited resources, Bezich said it can take up to a month.
The players and those who bring their families have to be interviewed at the U.S. Embassy in the country from which they are coming from, Bezich said. With limited appointments for in-person interviews, this part of the transfer process has taken longer to get players approved to travel.
“The pandemic has complicated everything,” Bezich said. “In every aspect, not just with visas but also getting the players here safely and then them having to go through quarantine.”
Since Jara signed with FCD in January before his Pachuca contract expired later in the year, Bezich was able to get somewhat of a head start on the paperwork, which allowed Jara’s family to travel with him.
In other instances, players' families can’t immediately come along. Midfielder Andres Ricaurte’s loan was announced Aug. 14, and he arrived in Frisco from Colombia a few days later.
Ricuarte’s wife and daughter stayed in Colombia, but Bezich said the team is working to reunite them in North Texas.
Rojas said this was one of the first instances where she was able to join Jara when arriving to a new team, which she was grateful for. Pandemic aside, it was important she arrived as soon as possible because she was wasn’t going to be able to fly after entering the third trimester of her pregnancy.
Finding his rhythm
It took Jara a few games to find his rhythm with his new squad, but the transition went smoothly for him thanks to the coaching staff and his teammates, Jara said.
His first goal with FCD came on Sept. 2 against Sporting Kansas City a few days after he announced the birth of his son, Gianluca, on Instagram. Jara then went on to score four more times over a three-game span to become FCD’s leading scorer.
One of his goals came against the Houston Dynamo, the team FCD visits on Wednesday.
“We’re adapting to this new form of life with the coronavirus, but I was glad to convert and help this team,” Jara said. “I want to keep bringing joy, and I’ll be working to keep doing that.”
On the home front, Rojas said the move to the United States from Mexico was a complete 180.
At first she found it challenging due to the language barrier and getting used to living in a new city.
Rojas, who like her husband is from Argentina, was thousands of miles away from her family with two young boys and in a new city more than halfway through her pregnancy.
She said she was worried about giving birth in a new country during a pandemic, but didn’t want those factors to take away from the birth of their third son, who was born in late August.
“At first I was a little scared,” Rojas said. “Obviously because of the new place, and the language wasn’t my native language, but I tried to relax and once I got informed and the doctors and the support I got from the people here were really nice and helpful.”
Fortunately for Rojas and Jara, they were able to have family come and help in the final days before she gave birth after Argentina allowed international flights on a limited basis.
With a newborn and Francesco (9) and Constantino (6), who are currently doing school from home, and a husband who is traveling for work but being regularly tested for COVID-19 — there are a lot of things that could cause Rojas to worry.
But she isn’t letting the pandemic and a virus that has claimed more than 210,000 lives in the United States dampen her outlook.
“I try to focus on the good things the pandemic has given me because I don’t want to be bitter from this experience,” Rojas said. “If you let it get to you, it can drive you crazy.”
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