From Mexico to Maryland: A UVA Student’s Story

Interview with a UVA student

by Eric Keener

This interview was conducted by Eric Keener with an undergraduate student from the University of Virginia who elected to remain anonymous for the purposes of this project. Both of her parents were born in Mexico. She was born in Mexico City and attended a French private school for her first few years of primary education. Soon after, she immigrated to the United States at the age of seven with her parents, brother, and grandmother. The family primarily left due to safety concerns, and managed to settle in Maryland.

The interviewee’s parents are very well educated, so their entrance into the country was smoothly granted. Upon arriving, her mother began to work in the World Bank, while her father found a position as an energy consultant for a private company. He has worked with corporations as well as the United States government.

The interviewee’s experience in Maryland was quite different from what she had been used to in Mexico. She recalls everything seeming so much more green than her hometown, and she mentioned how grateful she was to feel safe while walking around her neighborhood. Because of her lack of English language knowledge, she did not socialize much with the other neighborhood children at first. This was further exacerbated by the fact that she attended another French private school upon arriving, leaving her out of public education for many years. In order to help her pick up English, her parents sent her to a summer camp primarily populated by English speakers. The experience, while stressful at the time, as she recalled, it made speaking English far easier for her. The fear of making mistakes was practically gone at the end of the experience.

Once the interviewee reached high school, she was switched into a typical American public school. This came with several challenges, including navigating a very different form of curriculum from what she was used to. Her math knowledge was somewhat incomplete for the level of math she tested into, which was Algebra II. This struggle encouraged her greatly to study hard and suceed, and was one of the driving forces that led her to pursue a degree in mathematics. After high school, she managed to gain admittance into the University of Virginia, where she is working to gain her ideal degree in mathematics. In the future, she intends to continue her education into a prestigious Master’s program in mathematics.

The student has previously done much volunteer work, including work at her grandmother’s daycare service in Mexico and the Natural History Museum. The volunteer work at the museum eventually led to a job where she gave tours of the insect exhibit. Insects are one of her loves in life, so this was one of her favorite working experiences. She has also completed undergraduate research in the field of mathematics during the summer, and has mentioned continuing to work in the field on a separate project throughout the fall of 2018. The interviewee also participates heavily in on-campus community organizations, including the Native American Student Union (NASU), American Women in Mathematics, and a Christian organization, Chi Alpha. She also attends events held by the Latinx Student Association, although she had to step down from more responsibilities due to a busy class schedule and campus life.

The student identifies prominently with the Catholic faith. As she explains in the interview, her family certainly holds some from of Christian belief, but they are not particularly devout. Her extended family, however, is much more strict. When visiting, she and her immediate family have to be careful to mind all of the important traditions associated with Catholicism in Mexico.

As a fairly young immigrant, she brings a unique perspective on what it is like to enter contemporary America at a young age. Further, we discuss some current political issues to bring a more holistic perspective into the argument.

Interview: UVA student who immigrated from Mexico

[00:00:02] Eric: The date is October 27th, 2018, and I am here in Charlottesville. The time is 11:30. So, to get started, why don’t you just tell me a little bit about your family?

 

[00:00:12] Interviewee: Umm…I live in the U.S. with my dad, my mom, and my brother. My nanny also came with us. Uh…My brother is 2 years younger than. Umm…He’s currently in high school, which is interesting. (laughing) And, yeah, both of my parents are Mexicans and they were raised there their whole lives.

 

[00:00:42] E: So, um, what kind of drove your parents to come to the U.S.? If you know.

 

[00:00:50] I: Insecurity. Like, um…there was an incident with someone breaking into our house, and stealing- like like trying to get information. And my parents were just worried about like potential kidnappings, of my brother and I because luckily we were in school at the time. Yeah it was just like an unsafe environment, and my parents just wanted to. Get out of the.

 

[00:01:26] E: Seems fair to me. Um, so what time were you born?

 

[00:01:31] I: I was born in Mexico City.

 

[00:01:34] E: Woah, Mexico City. Do you have any memories of it? Or was it too early?

 

[00:01:38] I: Yes! No, I lived there until I was seven. Um, so…not too, not too old, but enough to remember quite a bit. Um…(chuckles) I also go back there twice a year for extended periods to see my family. And…(chuckles) that’s always been interesting (laughing).

 

[00:02:04] E: What kind of family still lives there?

 

[00:02:07] Ah, all of my dad’s family lives in Mexico City. All of my mom’s family lives in, um…Oaxaca, Mexico, which is in the southern part of Mexico.

 

[00:02:20] E: So when you go to visit I take it you visit both branches?

 

[00:02:22] I: Yes, one-hundred percent.

 

[00:02:25] E: Interesting! Um…so where did you first go to school

 

[00:02:33] I: Um…In Mexico? So in Mexico there was a French international school Whose name I honestly cannot recall (laughing). But, I started my schooling there from like pre-K up to…first grade. And so I moved here during second grade. Um…

 

[00:02:58] E: What were your first impressions upon making it to the United States? Did anything seem interesting, kind of stand out, or was it just sort of like, “We’re here”?

 

[00:03:07] I: Um, It’s very different because where I moved in Maryland it’s like very green, and it’s like very safe. Like, it’s just the idea that I can walk by myself and, like, not have to be worried. It’s very…like I have grown used to it, which is something that I am definitely very grateful for. Like, all the time. But it’s definitely not a given. Especially not when I was younger. Um…also TV (laughing). I watched a lot of TV when I was younger, and the fact that, when I got here, I didn’t know English, and like I could literally not understand what they were saying was very interesting.

 

[00:03:59] E: So, when you first came here, uh, what kind of school did you go to?

 

[00:04:04] I: I, uh, transferred to a French school in, uh, Maryland because my parents were worried about me going into an American school. Um…and that’s where I stayed…until the end of middle school.

 

[00:04:23] E: So with English, were you explicitly taught it in school, did you pick it up as you went along? How did that work?

 

[00:04:29] I: So technically our school did offer English classes, but the main priority was French classes so you only had English like once or twice a week for maybe an hour. I mostly picked it up because my parents (chuckles) put me in a summer camp with only English speakers. And they were like: (claps) go! (laughing)

 

[00:04:55] E: (Amused) That sounds interesting. Tell me about that experience.

 

[00:04:59] I: (Laughing) It’s more like, if you want to make friends, you gotta pick some stuff up (laughing). Um…And, obviously, my English was not…amazing after that, but it definitely got me to, um, to get out of my comfort zone and like to speak to other people. Um, So I grew very comfortable with English after that because it was like…once, once you go through that, you’re not really afraid of making mistakes anymore, cause you’re like (gesturing and laughter).

 

[00:05:42] E: That’s really cool. Um, so when you first move to the U.S., Describe the neighborhood. What was it like?

 

[00:05:50] I: Oh,um, it’s still the same neighborhood where my parents are still living in. And it’s changed…a bit in the last few,um, in the last few years. Um…I- since I went to the French school, which was a private school, I didn’t really know most of my neighbors at the time or like most of the people in my neighborhood. But, again, it’s like…a very green space with like a lot of like really friendly people. Actually when I first moved in, our neighbors came by and like dropped off brownies, and my parents and I were really freaked out (laughing). Uh, we were like, “Who are these people and why are they talking to us?” Um…so we didn’t talk to them for a couple of months (laughing). But, I Actually- I actually really appreciate them. They’re quite funny. But, Yeah.

 

[00:06:49] E: That’s really cool. Are there any neighbors in your head that kind of stick out as notable?

 

[00:06:58] Well, them, uh…quite frankly because…it’s different. Like you do know your neighbors back in Mexico, but um…it’s not. I mean, also I can’t make generalizations of every single neighborhood. But, in my experience, people don’t tend to like, have their neighbors over for dinner or like, go do stuff with their neighbors or community…like, just like a good sense of community, where you let people inside of your house just because they live next to you, you know. Um…I think that like has to be built on for a very long time before you have access to somebody’s house. Um, Like you can enter. But…that was like very different when we first moved in, where our neighbors were like, “Oh you want to come have dinner, you wanna, like do you want to play, like, basketball together?” You know? It was…very odd. Yeah I don’t- again, I didn’t really talk to most of
my neighbors when I first moved in because I didn’t go to school with our neighborhood kids or like, any of that.

 

[00:08:26] E: (Aside) Alrighty. Um, so when your parents first made it here, what jobs did they pick up?

 

[00:08:32] Um, well my mom, ah, was in the world bank and she still is. So she was able to transfer quite easily. My father used to work at um…at like this, like- He’s also an economist- but, um, it was like this governmental, like it’s not, like, in the government, but it works strongly with the government. It’s like a corporation on oil and energy resources, but when he moved here, like, he like let that go in order to like get us safely, you know. Um…and so, for a while it was like…kind of uncertain. So he started like working for this one company. But…yeah so like it was um, for a while it was like, not super stable, but then it got better.

 

[00:09:31] E: So that means your parents are pretty well educated upon arriving?

 

[00:09:39] I: Yes, yes.

 

[00:09:44] E: Um, alright. So, is religion a big part of the household?

 

[00:09:52] I: (Chuckles) Um, ah, not entirely. Mmm…both of my parents’ families are very religious, but my parents are not as much. So, if we are with the rest of our family, it’s like, very strict (laughing) like what you can and cannot say, but…like within my household, in Maryland, it’s, um….it’s a good time. (Laughing) They definitely encouraged me to like, look into religion and they um, they did go with us to…to mass on Sundays. Um, but they didn’t really push a belief on us, which is something that I appreciate, and has helped me like, make my own decisions about God which is very important. I think in faith like you have to believe. Somebody can’t believe for you.

 

[00:11:04] E: So do you identify with any specific denomination or just a believer?

 

[00:11:08] No, I am…I am definitely Catholic. Um, I’m part of a Christian group here on grounds which is like non-denominational, which has been a very interesting um…experience. Because…I- I had interacted with like, Catholics but also, there was a
lot of Jewish people in my neighborhood. And there was like- and I knew like a fair amount of people in Islam. But um…not other, like, Christians (laughing). Uh…and, yeah, I think it’s been good for me to like…learn about that, uh, cause if you don’t, like, there’s a lot of preconceptions if you don’t have education. So I’m glad for the knowledge.

 

[00:12:10] E: How’d you get involved with the group?

 

[00:12:16] I: My roommate (laughing). Honestly, I thought I was joining- like I- I was not going to join a religious group on grounds because I’d had, like, my own conflicts with religion, um…prior to coming to UVA. And…(chuckles) my roommate was very involved with this Christian organization. And she never like, pressured me to join, by any means. She did extended an invitation to another event and I decided to go, to make her happy mostly. And, um…I really liked it. Honestly, I thought- I thought there were all Catholics (laughing) when I first joined. But…yeah. That was not the case (laughing).

 

[00:13:19] E: Let’s go to some working and volunteering. What have you done in that regards?

 

[00:13:25] I: What do you define as working?

 

[00:13:27] E: Um, any kind of job. Something like that, something you did for an organization or whatever.

 

[00:13:33] I: During university or like in my life?

 

[00:13:36] E: In your life.

 

[00:13:37] I: Oh, okay, cool. Um, (under breath) where do I start? I…the first real job that I had was in high school, where I worked as a paid intern at the Natural History Museum, uh, mostly doing bug stuff (laughing). But, you know, like talking to people and visitors and just explaining a lot of specimens that we had and…just promoting knowledge, which is very important for me. I have done a lot of volunteering in the past. I think the first real volunteer experience that I had was, so my grandma, she, back like in Oaxaca, she and some of her friends started a children’s shelter for, like, children
who are…who the state doesn’t deem it, like, to be safe for them to stay in their households either because their parents are abusive or the families like too poor to actually take care of them, uh, correctly. Which is why it’s completely voluntary like they don’t, like, um…like there is an agreement, if the parents are alive, for them to stay there. And…I, uh, I would tutor the students there from- from everywhere in their elementary school. Um…and just like talk to them and play, because oftentimes I think people tend to forget that they’re still kids and that they still…they’ve gone through like some pretty rough things. But it’s important for them to still feel like normal kids, because their circumstances doesn’t…doesn’t dictate what they can be. Although it does heavily influence, but…that is a society issue not them. Um, And so I was very involved in volunteering all through middle school and high school, um, in organizations…like feeding the homeless, or I volunteered at the Natural History before I got my job. Um, I…picked up trash in a river once which is super interesting because then, like, you find out what people threw in the river and you’re like “I’m sorry, what?” One of the best days of my life (laughing). Clearly. Um, then the REU we did over the summer, and I’m currently working as a research assistant for one of the professors at UVA. Um…Yeah.

 

[00:17:04] E: That’s a good place to transition. So you’re attending UVA right now.

 

[00:17:11] I: Yes.

 

[00:17:12] E: Why did you choose it?

 

[00:17:19] I: That’s a fair question. I think, mostly because- I have known that I wanted to be a math, um, major, since I was in ninth grade. Um, and so one of the…and so I definitely wanted to go to Grad School for Mathematics and get a Ph.D. in that area. And one of the benefits of attending UVA is that there is a lot of, uh, help in that regard. There’s like five different majors within the math department, like different concentrations, right. And one of them is graduate preparation which, um, does put a little bit more emphasis in the classes that you should take before attending grad school. And if you have the- like if you are done with all of your requirements, then it’s kind- like before you have to graduate- then it’s heavily, um…recommended that you take Grad classes, which is something that is offered here, and that I, in the foreseeable future, hope to do. So, yes, mostly because of their concentration, their, uh, dedication to help promote their students to graduate school in mathematics.

 

[00:19:04] E: That’s good reasons. So you mentioned that since you were a freshman you wanted to be a math major. What inspired that?

 

[00:19:12] I: Um, When I first transferred from the French system to the American system like the first grade that I attended in the American system was, uh, ninth grade. I think I kind of hit a low in regards to my math schooling because I had to test into, like, my math class. Um…and so I studied for like a week trying to get all of the Algebra 1 and geometry curriculums down because the curriculum in the French school, in regards to everything including math, is very different than that of the American school. Um…So I technically hadn’t finished Algebra 1 nor geometry because they were done around, like, at the same time. Um…and so…but I wanted to see in Algebra 2 in ninth grade. So I studied in order to get there, and I did. But once I was actually in algebra 2, there was a lot that I didn’t know that…I needed to know in order to understand some of the, um…material that has been taught to us. And I think that was kind of a low in the sense that I was putting a lot of work in, but it was still very frustrating to not understand everything that everyone did simply because of my, uh…lack knowledge. But, it’s then when I realized that, despite the fact that I was, like, clocking in three or four times the hours that the other- uh, my other classmates were, I still really liked mathematics. And…It wasn’t necessarily that I loved it ’cause of the prestige it got me, because I obviously wasn’t understanding it as well as some other people, and it wasn’t that I found it easy so that’s why I liked it. I just- I liked the way things worked, and I honestly couldn’t have seen myself doing anything but that.

 

[00:21:42] E: That’s Really cool. So on campus, What kind of organizations are involved in?

 

[00:21:53] I: So that’s…So at the beginning of the school year, I was involved with a lot more, but I had to- I had to step down because of my classwork and because of…how I was more involved with some organizations. Like, I am vice president of the Native American Student Union which- which means I have to be attending a lot of meetings every two, three days. So that definitely takes away from a lot of time that I would spend on other organizations last year. I’m also, um, exec for American Women in Mathematics, which implies that I have two meetings and work on other stuff, which I’ve been slacking honestly, but (laughing), you know? And I’m part of, um, Chi Alpha, which
is a Christian organization, and that also takes quite a bit of time. Um…as part of my duties in NASU, Native American Student Union, I have to be involved in the MRC, which…I can remember exactly what it stands for but it’s like the minority coalition group. So, I have to be involved in their council, uh, ’cause we all like to get together and we talk about different things that are going on in the university. Um, and those are really my main involvements because I’ve had to step away from the other things while I get every- because I don’t believe in, um…not doing your best in what you’re currently doing. So I didn’t want to…take away the seat of somebody else in the other organizations that I used to be in knowing that I couldn’t commit as much time as somebody else could. But I used to be involved in LSA because we used to have a committee that I was in, but then, like, things got restructured, which is fine (laughing). Um, I still participate in some of their events, but I wouldn’t say that I’m…I’m not part of an, an executive board, which is very similar to a lot of the other LSA, um…organizations that I’m- I don’t consider myself part of, since I’m not in the decision making. But, we all have like a group chat and when there is an event that…needs help, and it’s something that I strongly believe in, I usually go and show my support. But yeah.

 

[00:24:53] E: And, uh, just to clarify the LSA is, uh…

 

[00:24:57] I: Latinx Student Association or Alliance. I’m not sure.

 

[00:25:02] E: Uh Busyschedule, busy schedule. So after you’re done with your education, what are your career goals?

 

[00:25:13] I: Oh my gosh. Um…honestly, I’m not quite sure, uh, given that I definitely want to study a Ph.D. in mathematics, but I personally couldn’t see myself as a teacher, nor as a professor, because I think those two are very challenging, um, in- in ways that are not necessarily my forte. Um, I personally…one of the things with being a math professor is that you have to…your research could take years, and you still couldn’t come up with- like, you might still not come up with a result. Um, and I feel like I need more immediate gratification than that (laughing), because it takes very specific type of people to be able to, like, bang your head against a wall constantly and still keep going. Um…so I’m not quite sure, but I’m still making my mind up.

 

[00:26:33] E: One last question about the university. What do you think about the campus? Are the people friendly, competitive?

 

[00:26:43] That’s a very complex question considering the amount of people that there is at UVA, like, just within my different social groups. Um, the people in each are very different to each other and have different priorities. Um…I would say that I’ve met good people and I’ve met not-so-good people (laughing). As in…I knew where you could go. Um, Unfortunately, I think, um, some of the not so good people seem to have a bigger voice than the general population, who is either neutral or like pro, uh…humanity, I’d like to say (laughing). Although neutral is not necessarily, like, the best stance on that point, but it is the truth. That’s definitely something that…I, Would hope, change Yeah, it’s- there’s good people and bad people everywhere (laughing).

 

[00:28:13] E: Fair, very true. To transition to our last little part, here, um, what are your opinions on the U.S. political climate right now?

 

[00:28:26] I: Um, I think a lot of things are oversimplified, in the sense that…I think media plays a big part in that. That, things have to be spoon fed to the public, and I am, um…I’m not above that, either. I will gladly admit that, at times, I tend to not do my own research, and it is just convenient to read the first article, um, instead of like looking into various. Um, but I do think that’s something that affects dearly what is going on, currently, in the U.S., and everywhere, if we’re being honest. There’s like a very…It’s…it seems like people, ah…think that, since some other people who are more influential are able to say whatever they want, that, that is their god-given right as well, instead of holding others to higher standards, um, and just trying to care for their fellow neighbors. Um…It’s, um, basically, I think a lot of people have been slacking off in, um, in doing their own research and that that also includes only reading things that correspond with your own political ideals. and… fact that, in the U.S., there’s only- there’s really only two main parties, is very much an issue because any issue should have more than two options. Uh, because there’s a lot of intersectionality with everything really. For example, If you have, um, a lot of the environmental issues mostly affect minority races because they’re not able to move away from the situations or they don’t have as big as a, like, a these things happen. And that also goes along with education, like if you’re in a place people don’t want maybe that place also, like, have the best education system,
and it’s just a very big cycle. Um, and people have to realize that any decision that you make will affect something else.

 

[00:31:26] E: Yeah, that’s very true. Um…what’s your opinion on this rising kind of anti-immigration sentiment? Is it…

 

[00:31:36] I: Um…I think it’s…very dehumanizing, uh…because, I think, since a lot of things have- a lot of hatred, um….has come about this issue and this unders– like not really understanding where people are coming from, but also the fact that people who seem to understand also…don’t want to, like, listen to people who don’t understand and they don’t want to listen to- there’s a very big breach of communication between…between both sides of the political system. And I think that has harmed very much the immigration policies because it’s no longer seen as people. It’s more seen like a political issue. And, it’s like, “Oh, no, we’re just debating about ideas.” We’re not debating as whether people should not be locked up in camps (laughing). Because these are real people who have real families, and even if they didn’t have families, they’re still people, and they should be treated as such. I think it’s less of a question about the immigration system as much as a question of…how unempathetic are we as a society in regards to, like, and it’s not just how unempathetic are we to immigrants, but how unempathetic are we to people who don’t understand the immigration problem we’re just like, “Oh, you’re just too dumb to understand.” That’s also very dehumanizing because not everyone has the same access to resources and understanding, uh, which by no means means that everyone who does understand must, um…is expected to teach others. You are a person. You have the right to live as you wish, you know? But…it’s two sides of the same coin. If you want respect, you must give respect. And, right now, I don’t really see either side doing that, and the immigration problem is just caught in the crossfires.

 

[00:34:34] E: That’s a very good perspective, I like that. I guess…that about draws down. One last thing about politics: the, uh, DACA. How do you feel about that?

 

[00:34:54] I: Honestly…DACA was only a temporary solution, like, even from when it first was, um…written into law. It was only supposed to be used as a means to get these people to more…stable conditions, and, in that sense, I think that it’s good that it was taken away. But it should have been taken away with, um, without leaving people in
limbo, right, and with providing people with actual opportunities who have contributed to the American society without, even like- ‘cause DACA, recipients, right, it was either people who- it’d been people who lived here their, like whole life, basically- and who had either…who were either studying or working. So they were definitely people who were contributing to the American economy and society. And, even if they weren’t, they’re still people, like- you still deserved to be treated as such and not be treated as…illegal, because that…makes no sense. Like, how can a person be illegal? Like, perhaps your status is, but that does not define you as a person. Uh, and I think that that’s also something that’s happened a lot in our political climate, like labeling. Um…and just reducing someone to one word. And, really, the only word that should matter is that you’re human. But apparently, that’s not enough. Um…so, I think that, yes, DACA has been essentially taken away, but I think that that’s also an opportunity to provide people with a more stable, uh…situation to stay here in the U.S. where they’ve contributed to society and could have their own families but definitely have their own communities.

 

[00:37:30] E: That’s a really nice thought. That’s about the end of this. Are there any closing remarks you’d like to make? Something you’d like the people to know?

 

[00:37:39] I: I think that people should be involved in all of these issues that we’ve talked about, regardless of whether you have…whether you’re part of Latinx community. Um…’cause this is, at the end of the day, like, a people issue, not one section, “I am this by blood so I have the right to speak about this.” Um, so, just empathy and involvement in the political climate regardless of who you are or which community you belong to. It’s more about treating others as humans and not about treating them as a label and a stereotype.

 

[00:38:33] E: That’s a very nice sentiment. So, that’ll be the end of this, so, thank you so much for your time.

 

[00:38:37] I: Yes, thank you.

 

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Interview of Father Miguel Melendez

Interview with Father Miguel Melendez

by Nicolas Gonzalez Ortega

The interview below is between myself and Father Miguel Melendez, the local priest at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia. In the interview, Father Melendez discusses his background, his relationship with the Catholic Church, and the role of the Church in Harrisonburg. I chose to interview him because of the increase of Latin immigrants to the area, and thought it would be interesting to get a perspective from a community leader who works with the immigrants.

Nicolas Gonzale:               00:01                     My name is Nicolas Gonzalez. It is November the 14th, and I am here with Father Miguel from the Blessed Sacrament. As we start, could you please tell me your name, your age, and who you are?

Father Miguel:                   00:16                     Sure. Father Miguel Melendez. I’m 34 years old, and I’m a Catholic priest from the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. I was ordained about a year and a half ago. I spent five years in the Coast Guard before six years of seminary, and then also I went to the Coast Guard Academy. Grew up in Blacksburg and Christiansburg, Virginia, and I love Jesus.

Nicolas Gonzale:               00:42                     What made you decide to become a priest?

Father Miguel:                   00:45                     Well, for that last thing that I just said, love Jesus and love of the church, and actually part of it was my interaction with Latinos. I went to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico and just seeing their devotion and their beauty and just the wider church, I think, helped me to fall in love more with them and more with the church and more with God. That was the biggest thing, just having a love for God and the church and having peace for giving my whole life to that as opposed to being married or being in a secular job, to actually to work fully and a hundred percent for the church.

Nicolas Gonzale:               01:32                     More on the Latino community helping you, so where does your family originate from?

Father Miguel:                   01:40                     My dad is from Chile, and my mom is from Virginia. My dad came to the States when he was six and grew up in the States. My mom’s side of the family, they’re very European-American, Irish, German, all sorts of different backgrounds, but basically American. Born in Corpus Christi, raised in Virginia, Blacksburg area.

Nicolas Gonzale:               02:13                     Could you tell me a little bit about your childhood, your education? Were you raised religious?

Father Miguel:                   02:19                     Yes. I was a cradle Catholic. We went to church every single Sunday. I would say that as we grew, my parents became more devotional, so with Lenten devotions, with reading the word of God. They also participated in some conversion-type experiences like going to Cursillo, like retreat conversion-type experiences, and that helped me. Also, listened to a lot of Christian music, especially as I got older. Then I went to public schools in kind of a Bible-believing area, and I think that also helped me with my Catholicism.

Father Miguel:                   03:04                     At the Coast Guard Academy I started praying the rosary and going to Bible studies and owning my faith for myself for the first time, and that also helped me to have that conversion experience. Then I left the Coast Guard, and I did six years in seminary. I have a master’s in divinity and a sacred baccalaureate in theology, essentially master’s degrees for ministry.

Nicolas Gonzale:               03:32                     All right. Then how did you end up in Harrisonburg?

Father Miguel:                   03:36                     That’s a good question. My bishop, yeah, Bishop DiLorenzo, he passed away about a year and a half ago. He sent me here. I didn’t necessarily have the choice. The bishop sends the priests. He might ask them where you’re interested in going, but part of it was having a background in Spanish and Harrisonburg having essentially almost a 50 to 60% Spanish, at least Catholic population.

Nicolas Gonzale:               04:10                     50 to 60%?

Father Miguel:                   04:12                     Of our Catholics here in Harrisonburg are Spanish, and so it’s kind of a requirement to be able to speak Spanish and be somewhat familiar with the culture. Ever since I started seminary, that’s been a part of my walk to be with the Hispanics in the Catholic faith.

Nicolas Gonzale:               04:33                     How would you compare religion in the community where you grew up and then religion in Harrisonburg, so in the sense of community? How was the community involved religiously where you grew up and how is the community, more so the Hispanic community, involved in religion here?

Father Miguel:                   04:57                     When I grew up in Christiansburg, there really wasn’t a Hispanic population there at the time, and there actually is a Hispanic community going to the Catholic church now in Christiansburg in my home parish. I said I grew up in Blacksburg, but Christiansburg really is the town that I grew up in. There was a lot of Christians, and so a lot of people practiced the Christian faith, few Catholics. I went to a parish that was maybe 100 families. Here at Blessed Sacrament we have something like 2000 families.

Father Miguel:                   05:32                     So it’s a huge difference in the size of the church and the community, which we continuously try and build community, smaller communities, out of this big, big community, so that way there is more of a sense of community. But I do feel that the Spanish are very, very welcoming and generous and love community as well, but at the same time they’re not perfect. There can be jealousy and factions and divisions and stuff too, but I think for the most part they’re a very proud, supporting each other and the priests type of community as well.

Nicolas Gonzale:               06:21                     Now, where are most of these families from, would you say, what country or is it-

Father Miguel:                   06:28                     The majority are from Mexico and then a large population from El Salvador. We also have Guatemalans, some Hondurans and just an interspersing from all over essentially Latin America, a few from Argentina and Chile type area, the majority from Central America. And then we’ve got one or two Cubans and a number of Puerto Ricans, that type of thing.

Nicolas Gonzale:               07:03                     Then considering the population, would you say most of them are involved in the church? Would you say most of the community is religious or just some of it?

Father Miguel:                   07:18                     I would say we only have a fraction of the percent. We have on Sundays our largest mass is a Hispanic mass. There’s a ton of Latinos who come. I mean, we hold 600 essentially in our worship space, and it fills all the way to 600, sometimes 7-, sometimes 800. Very crowded, lots of kids. But in comparison to the wider Hispanic population that are Catholic, that’s probably a quarter or 10% of the Hispanic Catholics actually coming to mass.

Father Miguel:                   07:56                     I would say part of that is a lot of them work seven days a week, including Sundays, and/or they’re working 12 hours six days a week, so they’re I think exhausted. I think that’s part of the reason why, but another part is they watch soccer or they’re lazy. A lot of the guys, there’s kind of a machismo culture too, and they just don’t come.

Nicolas Gonzale:               08:20                     Then is it mostly women and children who come and also elderly people, and the men are either working or at home then?

Father Miguel:                   08:36                     You could say the majority is women and children, but there are a lot of men who come too. And there’s a lot of families who come together and, of course, elderly as well. Yeah.

Nicolas Gonzale:               08:56                     So changing the subject a little bit.

Father Miguel:                   08:58                     I would like to comment really quick though, sorry, on the religious sense of the Spanish people. Whereas it seems like the white culture, for lack of a better way to put it, might be hesitant to come to church or there’s more of a culture just not to go to church anymore, the Spanish still seem to have this religious sense, this kind of God sense, and they come regardless of what they have going on in their life a lot of times.

Father Miguel:                   09:33                     Even though we only have 10% of that community, in comparison to, say, the white American community, I’d still say that it’s a larger. They still have this sense that even if they’re not living within the moral standards of the church, they still want to come. Whereas it seems like white people, if they have something going on in their life, then they just don’t come anymore.

Nicolas Gonzale:               10:01                     It’s interesting that you mention it. I remember growing up in Chile we used to go to church every Sunday, but a large part of that was because nothing happened on Sundays. Meanwhile, here there are events on Sundays, many kids play sports or other things like that. Do you think the fact that traditionally Sundays are a religious day for Hispanics, you think that that influences just the fact that they come more, that for their whole lives they’ve seen Sunday as reserved for the Lord? You think there’s a different understanding? Let me phrase the question out of this. Do you believe that devotion is seen differently between the cultures?

Father Miguel:                   10:52                     Absolutely. I’m not so sure how much it has to do with Sunday. I talked about work on Sunday. If there’s anything that keeps them back, it’s work and probably, like I said, football, meaning soccer, and/or the machismo sense and some people just being lazy and just not coming. In terms of devotions and I think in terms of just being Catholic that in some senses for them it might mean more because they’re directly from their country where maybe the church was persecuted.

Father Miguel:                   11:38                     For example, I think there is this sense that the priest is very special because in Mexico they were killed by the thousands in, I can’t remember, in the early 1900s, but also the government persecuted the church in a number of Communist countries, including, I’m not sure if Nicaragua was one.

Nicolas Gonzale:               12:03                     Nicaragua, El Salvador.

Father Miguel:                   12:04                     But I feel like Guatemala or El Salvador, yeah. Because now you have that new saint, Oscar Romero, who very much fought for the church basically versus the government against persecution.

Nicolas Gonzale:               12:18                     And the church has always been a symbol of fighting back against that oppression. In Chile, the pope came when we had a dictator, Pinochet, and he spoke against oppression and that they had to stop. So I believe for a lot of Latin Americans, the church has always been a symbol of hope and has always been there for them in these times.

Father Miguel:                   12:37                     Yes.

Nicolas Gonzale:               12:40                     Bringing it back to you, how would you say your job within the church has changed from when you first got here?

Father Miguel:                   12:54                     Like when I first arrived in Harrisonburg?

Nicolas Gonzale:               12:56                     Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Father Miguel:                   13:00                     It’s a great question. I arrived in 2017, so I’ve been here for about a year and four or five months or so. I think when I first arrived it was just learning how to be a priest and getting to know the people for about the first six to eight months or so and without as many collateral duties. Now I’m very much a part of planning for many different, like adult faith formation, also the liturgy, meaning organizing the different ministries at mass, the readers, the Eucharistic ministers, the altar servers, but retreats, youth ministry, kind of all of these different things I’ve been given in the meantime. And I’m much more involved because I know more people. It’s nonstop.

Nicolas Gonzale:               14:04                     Now, would you say your role within the Hispanic community that you play has changed from when you first got here? Do you believe you’re more involved? You believe that your words carry more weight?

Father Miguel:                   14:18                     Perhaps. I think they’ve gotten to know me more since then, and I’m much more comfortable is maybe one of the biggest differences, so like when I preach in Spanish. I’ve been around them. I used to be so much more nervous, perhaps one part not knowing the community and then another part just being a little bit more shaky in my Spanish. But yeah, I think I’m more comfortable now, and it’s easier to go from an English homily, an English message to a Spanish message for me. I don’t know if that answers that question well.

Nicolas Gonzale:               15:04                     That’s good. Where do you see the church in 10 years in Harrisonburg? Where do you see the Hispanic community in 10 years in Harrisonburg, and where do you see the relationship between the church and the Hispanic community in 10 years?

Father Miguel:                   15:19                     Okay. I think we’ll grow, and the reason why I say that, there’s a couple reasons. The economy is only getting better here in Rockingham County and Harrisonburg, and I think it won’t stop because of the universities. As a result, the church will continue to grow, but also the universities but also the different distribution centers and the turkeys. It’s just a bustling economy. With more jobs comes more people comes a bigger church.

Father Miguel:                   15:53                     I think within our church too we’ll continue to grow, the Catholic Church that is, because we’re focusing more and more on discipleship and evangelization and walking with people and getting to know them and getting them more and more in these smaller communities. I think that will help. That’s the church and the church in Harrisonburg. What was the second one?

Nicolas Gonzale:               16:20                     The Hispanic community in 10 years.

Father Miguel:                   16:23                     The Hispanic community will grow too, absolutely. As Harrisonburg grows, so will they, but because this is a central location for Hispanics, so many of their families are here already, they’ll just keep moving in. More and more will come. Whether it’s from already within the United States or even if they just keep coming from Latin America, they’ll keep coming. Then within the church, Hispanics together, was that the last one?

Nicolas Gonzale:               16:54                     Yes. Do you believe that Hispanics will continue to be as active? Do you think they’ll be more active? Do you think that as time develops and they settle down from first being illegal and then the first generation, do you believe that their involvement will change?

Father Miguel:                   17:13                     That’s a really good question. It really depends on how we evangelize again, for lack of a better … Evangelize meaning spreading the gospel and good news-ing, giving the people the message of Jesus Christ. If we stick to traditional ways, then as they settle and, say, second generations start to raise up, they might leave more because that’s just what we’ve seen in America.

Father Miguel:                   17:42                     As people encounter a lot of doubt with religion and they’re faced with very difficult questions like the church teaches this but I have a different experience and society says this, I might want to leave, I don’t understand, instead of actually looking into it. If they don’t have this foundation of Jesus Christ and this kind of love for the church, they’ll leave. It really depends on us. If we’re able to help them build that and on what they have, then they’ll stay active, but if we’re not, they’ll leave just like every other generation. I mean, the majority, you could say. There’s people who stay, but a lot of people leave.

Nicolas Gonzale:               18:29                     An interesting point that you brought up, this love for the foundation of the church. What does the church do here to promote that love within the community?

Father Miguel:                   18:44                     What we do, we do church services, I guess. We believe that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist and the mass and in the church, in the sacraments, so sacraments meaning a visible sign of an invisible reality, of something actually happening and essentially these signs that Jesus left to be with us to walk with us on our life journey, so marriage, baptism, baptism being birth, marriage being that vocational or priesthood or being fed by the Eucharist, et cetera. That’s what we’re doing to maintain that foundation just normally, but also we’re trying to extend that baptismal sacrament, that sacrament of conversion into discipleship and evangelization.

Father Miguel:                   19:32                     So there’s this group called Kerygma, and they’re very charismatic. It’s a very, very kind of alive group, and then we also have these other two groups called Legion of Mary. They pray the rosary every week. They go out in the community, and they advertise for the church. We do retreats, and we also have Parish Council and that talks with the Hispanic community. There’s just a lot of different ways, youth ministry as well, religious education. All of these ways come together to try and foster that relationship in Jesus Christ and the Spirit.

Nicolas Gonzale:               20:15                     Two final questions, what are some changes that you would like to see in Harrisonburg in the Hispanic community to essentially, I guess, help themselves? What are some things that you think that the community in the area could do to help themselves within the church and also just within the general Harrisonburg area?

Father Miguel:                   20:45                     Like are we talking from a governmental standpoint or … ?

Nicolas Gonzale:               20:49                     Just getting involved more so. Do you believe that there’s a disconnect, first of all, within the Latino community from the larger Harrisonburg community?

Father Miguel:                   21:07                     I do think that one still exists, that language remains a barrier; language and culture remains a barrier. They bring their culture, and they live it out. But it seems that the predominantly white culture still maintains a distance, a separation from, and I think it’s natural. I think it just happens, but I do think that acculturation is happening. We’re seeing some Latinos even if they’re second generation be elected to city council. I think we just had one elected to city council. A number of them have jobs that are managerial positions and different things. Whereas the majority of them I think still work in blue collar, some of them are moving up to white collar positions.

Father Miguel:                   22:09                     I think what I would like to see is that that city help foster that and Rockingham County help foster those things and continue to welcome them as opposed to … I think the city does but as opposed to, “You’re not welcome here because maybe you came in a status that wasn’t legal,” or whatever the case is. Whereas these people have been here for sometimes 10, 20, 30 years, and they’ve only been adding to the community. They’ve only been working for the community and basically pumping money into the economy.

Father Miguel:                   22:53                     Within the church was the second?

Nicolas Gonzale:               22:56                     Yes.

Father Miguel:                   22:56                     For what changes I would like to see?

Nicolas Gonzale:               23:01                     Yeah. What changes would you like to see within this church to further help include the Latino community or help them out in a sense?

Father Miguel:                   23:17                     I would like our church to own that we have a ministry that is largely Hispanic and to really support it both by mouth and our welcoming presence. In other words, not only the Hispanic community, which does this, but also the white community, to really, really reach out and when you see a Hispanic person to say hello, to wave, to get to know them even as opposed to just letting them walk by and go to their functions. And continue to offer both Spanish and English services as much as possible, because you have to do that.

Father Miguel:                   24:15                     The youth is a huge thing too because we have so many of them. I think a lot of our programs are geared towards adults. We have one youth minister here, but our youth need guidance, and they need direction. I would like the Hispanic community to embrace that too, not just feed themselves but feed their kids and not just drop them off for religious education but help make things happen. I think that might be an area that we struggle with and that we can improve on too.

Nicolas Gonzale:               24:52                     All right. Well, thank you very much for taking the time out to do this interview today.

Father Miguel:                   24:57                     My pleasure.

Nicolas Gonzale:               24:57                     All right.

 

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Eric Keener

Eric Keener

Eric Keener

The name’s Eric. I’m a Mathematics major and Secondary Education minor with a passion for helping others. My interests include studying history, writing proofs, and teaching others! I aspire to be the best teacher I can be, so I constantly seek out opportunities to expand my horizons. More often than not, I will be hanging around on campus in the math department or one of the libraries.

Jose Carlos Ramos

Interview with Jose Carlos Ramos

by Cortni Potts and Megan Bennett

Jose Carlos Ramos

By Cortni Potts and Megan Bennett

My partner and I interviewed Jose Carlos Ramos to discover his story of where he came from, how he got to the United States, specifically Harrisonburg, and why. Carlos is from El Salvador and came to the U.S. in 1999. He went to university in El Salvador studying medicine, public relations, and even some English. He was one-year shy of graduating when his father had Carlos leave the country and its poor economic situation to instead go work with some people his father knew with jobs in America. He entered the United States illegally by the underneath of a truck, but now holds a legal status through the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) given to El Salvador from the United States government. Carlos first received this status two years after he entered the U.S. and still holds it today.

Harrisonburg has been Carlos’s home here in America the entire 19 years he has been here. He has worked in the poultry industry in Harrisonburg for the entire duration of that time as well. Currently Carlos owns a home here and has two children in school, one of which is his daughter who was born here in America, therefore making her an American citizen. This is a current concern for him as his TPS status is currently being threatened, and if it is revoked Carlos would be deported. Carlos is very active in the local and national politics and very much loves the “marvelous city” of Harrisonburg. He was wonderful to meet and interview, and my partner and I certainly learned many interesting things about him and his life, and even some about our country’s immigration policies.

Methods

Before meeting Carlos, we knew that his English was not the best. I myself (Megan) am a Spanish major and consider myself decent at understanding and speaking Spanish. This was still a difficulty to consider since my Spanish is nowhere near perfect and my partner (Cortni) only had a basic knowledge. We received Carlos’s contact information in class one day and were only given a phone number. The first time I tried to call Carlos, I must have caught him at work because on the other end I heard a faint “hola” and then distant chatter and a lot of background noise. I tried to talk and ask if this was Carlos and explain why I was calling, but I was receiving no answer. After about two minutes of hearing people in the background speaking Spanish and having no one answer me, I hung up. Trying the next day instead I was able to actually reach Carlos and set up a time for the interview. He was very excited to do it and had been expecting to hear from someone in “David’s class.” We were able to set up the interview for the next day, November 7, 2018, at his house at 6PM.

Cortni and I met up a little early the next day to make sure we knew how to work the recording device. Once figuring it out we headed over to Carlos’s to do the interview. Carlos greeted us at the door and after introductions led us to the kitchen. We sat down at the kitchen table and had Carlos sign our agreement form given to us by our teacher to assure that Carlos was okay with being recorded and having this interview posted online to the website. As he did this Cortni and I set up the recording device and made sure to turn it on and see that all the audio levels were reading correctly. The interview itself went pretty smoothly. For the most part we did the interview in English, but there were words that Carlos didn’t know and some questions we asked that he didn’t understand at first. If he didn’t know a word, I attempted to understand what he was trying to say and see if I knew the word. If he didn’t understand our question, I asked it to him in Spanish, which we came prepared with the translations. His daughter did come in towards the end to sit with us, but it did not affect the interview. Overall there were no complications.

A small issue Cortni and I did run into was transcribing our interview as there were times where what Carlos was saying was unintelligible or neither of us understood the word he was trying to use. These spaces are marked as [unintelligible.]

Departure and settlement

Carlos left El Salvador in 1999, shortly after the Civil Wars ended. Along with the damage from the civil wars, El Salvador also experienced two earthquakes that pushed people including Carlos from the county and toward the United States with the hope to gain temporary protected status (TPS). Carlos explains that the economy of El Salvador after the war was “down,” “crime [was] up,” and “poor [was] up,” all of which contributed to his personal motivation to the leave the country. Another major motivation for Carlos to leave El Salvador was “The problem is the business of my father is down right. No have money and I had to take the position to go a United States, immigrate the United States right.” His father being in the fabric industry provided him with a network that Carlos could use in his advantage to immigrate to the United States. Carlos describes his father engaging in these networks by asking

“help me, I need my son to go a United States and immigration. My business is down, I don’t have more money and I need more better future for my son. And these people they say okay, no problem. You send your son I receive here in Harrisonburg Virginia.”

As Massey describes in the section titled “the social organization of migration,” networks play a critical role in the immigration process. Massey identifies three types of networks, one of them being friendships. Carlos’ father utilizes his friendships with immigrants in the United States by asking for support and guidance. Massey describes that “shared experiences create a disposition to exchange favors and provide mutual assistance that benefits both parties in the long run,”(Massey). We see this in the friends’ invitation for Carlos to come to Harrisonburg. Carlos continues to build on these networks as the friends whom “in the similar situation, have no paper” help him since he does not have family in Virginia and does not know anyone else. Carlos was able to continue the friendships and these networks because, as Massey explains, “a series of common experiences, customs, and traditions… permits easy communication and friendship formation,” (Massey).  

Crossing the border illegally, Carlos entered the United States in Phoenix, Arizona. He crossed the border hidden in a tractor trailer, describing the experience as

“the border de (of) immigration you look and it look nothing right, and the deposit is down the floor de (of) the trailer. In this situation I go.”

Once in the United States, Carlos made his way to Harrisonburg, VA where he settled down and has been ever since. He recalls that during his first day in the United States, he “cried” and for the first three months he “only watch[ed] T.V,” as he waited to receive his TPS. The process of assimilating into the United States, Carlos describes as “mental work.” With help from the people whom his father knew and the general community of Harrisonburg, Carlos was able to find his place and begin his new life. He compares Harrisonburg from when he first arrived to how it is now, saying that before there were only two Hispanic stores and now there are “maybe ten or fifteen.” Another change the he describes is the employment opportunities for Hispanic people, saying “they work in different businesses. Example, restaurant and example gas station and example and cleaning, medical cleaning. Before it’s not like nothing.” Regarding his own employment, he began working in the poultry industry since 1999, when he first arrived in Harrisonburg. When asked about the industry, he pointed out scars on his hands as a result of the taxing duties the job entails. He also shares a story conveying the working conditions.

“I had example no have time, example I need to go in the bathroom, el bano, say hey buddy you taking my position? No, I need [unintelligible] maybe one people, no, no, no, not in position, [unintelligible] , you say hey please I need break okay five minutes or two minutes. In two minutes to go to the bathroom. I said pee pee and come back. Right.”

These same harsh working conditions can also be seen in other poultry and agriculture plants around the United States. Workers in the Case Farms chicken plant in Canton, Ohio share experiences such as being disciplined for “leaving the line to use the bathroom, even though [the worker] was seven months pregnant,” (Garbell, 2018) Workers in the poultry industry also experience “carpal-tunnel syndrome at nearly twenty times the rate of workers in other industries,” (Garbell, 2018).  

Carlos still works in the poultry industry as a means to supporting his family and creating a future for his children. He explains how within six months of settling in Harrisonburg he bought his own house and explains how easy it was for him to purchase a car given his good record and ability to provide a down payment. He credits this opportunity to the idea that “the dealer, the restaurant they all tell the business no look in the people, oh no these people is immigrant, no, they look at the money.”

Attitude

It was easy to tell that Carlos loves Harrisonburg. When asked about how he felt received by the community he mentioned things such as “this city is the special city,” “it’s marvelous city, the people is marvelous people,” “the people muy carinoso (very caring),” and “here in Harrisonburg I repeat, the beautiful, the beautiful city.” When looking at the context of reception for Carlos, he seems to describe that the people were very welcoming to him from the very beginning. Of course, assimilation has gotten easier over the years, and the town has become more receptive as well. Since he has been here 19 years, he has seen the city change and adapt to the increasing immigrant population. He notes how he has seen more Hispanic shops and restaurants pop up, even how the roads have changed. His daughter’s school has created the first Hispanic dancing group which for him was a really big deal. This all shows how the town has adapted to its increasing immigrant community in order to better receive them and help with the assimilation process.

When describing his life in general at this moment, he said, “it’s, this state in my life is beautiful, I’m talking to other people. I have the real situation, the immigrants and the American people.” It was very sweet to see how much Carlos loves and appreciates his city as well as how involved in the community he is. Carlos does have some strong opinions on local and national politics, specifically focused on immigration, of course. But he uses this as a way to be more involved in the community. He told us about he and his daughter watched the presidential election together, and even followed the more recent midterm election. This is helping his daughter, who is considered a second generation, assimilate into the community as well.

Conclusion

Carlos’ story of immigrating to the United States conveys the stereotypical immigration story of coming to the United States in hopes to find opportunities leading to financial security, influenced by personal factors. The network system created by his father lead Carlos to Harrisonburg, Virginia. Where the demand for workers in the poultry industry provided him a source of income that he still depends on to this day. Although this line of work is demanding, Carlos appreciates the opportunity as it keeps in Harrisonburg where he can influence the community through political advocacy specifically regarding TPS. Carlos continues his active engagement in TPS as he fights for a better future for immigrants and his family.

 

Works cited

Grabell, M. (2017, May 8). Exploitation and Abuse at the Chicken Plant. The New Yorker. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/08/exploitation-and-abuse-at-the-chicken-plant  

Massey, D. The Social Organization of Migration.  

Interview with Jose Carlos Ramos

By Cortni Potts and Megan Bennett

November 7, 2018 at 6 PM

MEGAN

So you’re from el Salvador

CARLOS

Yes, my country is el Salvador

MEGAN

So obviously you were born there what was the country like when you were born

CARLOS

Alright and I born in February 26 de (of) 1972 and the city is San Salvador City the capital del Salvador. My family no is de (from) capital del Salvador, my family is de (from) San Miguel City the problema (problem) de (of) San Miguel is the city that we vacation in [unintelligible] del Salvador y (and) this area is very hot, right, and the weather is very hot maybe the weather is the 40, 38 degrees Fahrenheit every time. It’s the place that my city and it is dedication a agriculture, and the corn, maiz (corn), cotton, coffee, café (coffee), and cane, sugar cane, cane azucar (sugar). It’s the [unintelligible] the problem is, this area the people the majority of people is poor, es pobre (poor), right. The majority of people poor is the area rural in the country, in el campo (country). Is that most people poor. And the city and living the people in the middle position, right, professional, doctor, and the different professionals in the city in San Miguel City. [unintelligible] the different eating, clothes, ropa (ropa), food, comida (food), and restaurant. The different area de economy, right. My infant is regular right like the play and the different play in my country and I like the soccer, right, play the soccer. Play the soccer in the area in the street in the front of my house, my neighbor and all the children and the had the group, two teams and play the game, the soccer, right. I study in my college in catholic college, right, in the catholic college. My high school in el Salvador [unintelligible] is the institute de (of) commerce de (of) San Miguel. I had my title, I don’t know my titulo (title), the, my high school, high school…

MEGAN

Diploma

CARLOS

Diploma, right, diploma. And in the area natural ciencias (natural science). I don’t know, it’s the [unintelligible] in my life is studying in university right, and I’d been studying medicine, three years, well situation de (of) economic and situation de (of) war in my country, I can’t continue study medicine. And it’s necessary to take position at change other city and the capital San Salvador City and I begin other professional and de (of) relation public. Relation public I study 4 years, right, well the situation economic that my country, I no can’t continue right. My country the problem is that the 1918, 1992, had twelve years, wars, civil wars right. The civil war maybe die 75,000 people right, in el Salvador, right. I don’t know it’s…

MEGAN

So, you studied at university in el Salvador

CARLOS

In el Salvador yes. My English my little English is working now here its studying in el Salvador and received the different model the English, English 1, English 2, English 3, the professional English and the problem is the practice okay in el Salvador no have people to practice the English, right. It’s very different only the English is very grammatical right.

MEGAN

So, when did you come to the United States

CARLOS

The United States I come here um 1999, right

MEGAN

So, after the civil wars

CARLOS

Yes in el Salvador. In el Salvador here. The question is, the 1999 a (to) 2001, I no have paper, yea, I illegal, right, okay. TPS is the program that the government and the disaster, natural disaster, and war and all this situation, in my country, Mr. President George Bush give the TPS el Salvador and el Salvador had two earthquakes, terremotos (earthquakes), earthquakes. The situation, the earthquake, hit [unintelligible] sign the TPS to el Salvador right. The beneficiary el Salvador. De (from) 2001 and this day, I had legal paper in the United States, right. And here the United States, I live in 1999 right, and in 2001 I have the position legal. For 2 year, no have paper. De (from) 2001 a (to) this day, I have the paper, right.

MEGAN

So, what was it like crossing the border without papers? And why did you come up without papers? Como cruzo la frontera? (How did you cross the border?)

CARLOS

Oh okay, the crossing the border had the different [unintelligible] right and the maybe the [unintelligible] maybe crossing in trailer, right, the trailer had the compartment, [unintelligible], I don’t know English, is separate the border de immigration you look and it look nothing right, and the deposit is down the floor de (of) the trailer. In this situation I go.

MEGAN

In the bottom of the trailer

CARLOS

Yea

MEGAN

Okay

CARLOS

In my port of entrance is Phoenix Arizona

MEGAN

Phoenix Arizona, oh okay. So it was after la Guerra Civil (civil war) in el Salvador, so why did you decide to leave in 1999 from el Salvador?

CARLOS

My first city here that I stay or…

MEGAN

Por qué sale el salvador en 1999 por los Estados Unidos? (Why did you leave El Salvador in 1999 for the United States?)

CARLOS

Okay, yes, um, my country had twenty year the war, right. They had finish the war, the economy de (of) my country is down, right. No war, criminal up, the poor up, right. The situation de (of) opportunity de (of) war in this town is not good, right. Um, in this time in this 1999, 1998, is the first years that [unintelligible] de (of) original is the los Angeles California. These people de (of) Angeles California deportation del Salvador y these people trainer old people young right. These people young no living only they living they grandfather or grandmother, why? Because the father and the mother immigration the United States the situation de (of) economic situation. No have money a (to) eating, no have money a (to) study, no have money vestir (to dress)

MEGAN

Clothes, ropas (clothes)

CARLOS

Is very [unintelligible] the problem in my country. My situation is the similar situation. I study in el Salvador and I no have maybe the level [unintelligible] my level in the country is middle, middle level right. The problem is the business of my father is down right. No have money and I had to take the position to go a United States, immigrate the United States right.

MEGAN

Did you know anyone in the United States? ¿Conozco alguien en los Estados Unidos? (Did you know anyone in the United States?)

CARLOS

Yes, in the prior de (from) my father right. My father is administration de (of) fabric. The construction de (of) material de (of) construction in el Salvador. In the area outside the city de (of) San Miguel City. And this area had the different people that live in this area, right. And cerca de (close to) fabrics, the construction. These people immigrate here in the United States maybe 1994, 1995, right. My father talk on these people, say help me, I need my son to go a United States and immigration. My business is down, I don’t have more money and I need more better future for my son. And these people they say okay, no problem. You send your son I receive here in Harrisonburg Virginia. And these people is in the similar situation no have paper, illegal right. These people working in different plants and example, Rockingham corporation, and the Wampler. Now its different name [unintelligible] and the Wampler today the name is VVEC, the corporation right. These people working in this plant, right, illegal, right. These people help me and I know, in this city I no have nothing family. In this area Virginia, I no have nothing family. My family live in Texas and New York. Only I here. My first day here in United States is very [unintelligible] I cry right. Although my preparation no is the physical work okay no mental work. Example, ustedes (you all), your preparation is mental work, right. No is physical work. Y (and) is a big change for me, right. I’m trying my TPS. I wait my social security, I waive my [unintelligible] three months, no work. Only watch TV, [unintelligible] the people that receive the document, they work is very strong. Other situation is, example, the people the other country, el Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, no have more option, right. No have the option to study. No have the option to help the government, right. Only work y (and) work y (and) work right. Example, now, American people had to question, Carlos, you continue to study, no continue to study. My pride in this time is work no is study. It’s a big problem in the immigrant right. Example I, I had my four years, one year more y (and) graduate [unintelligible] Seattle and relation public. And for me it’s the psychological, this time is the big change right. Example I understand that only the study the university gets study in the university old people they say oh its easy, oh its easy. It’s mental preparation, it’s mental. the people no understand the situation, right.

CORTNI

So how did you, you said when you first came to the United States you were in Arizona, how was kind of the like transition from going to Arizona and ending up in Harrisonburg?

CARLOS

The travel?

MEGAN

Yea, de Phoenix Arizona a Harrisonburg, como era la… (From Phoenix Arizona to Harrisonburg, how was the…)

CARLOS

Transportation?

MEGAN

Si

CARLOS

Ah, in this, in 1999, no is problematic, the transport, right. Maybe getting home, maybe the flyer right, no problem. The problem in New York, the [unintelligible] center is more hard transportation de immigrant right. I need more document, I need ID, I need passport, and last time I go, it’s easy right. Maybe you buy the coupon a (to) go to Harrisonburg, I don’t know, maybe you remember before the [unintelligible] have the terminal here in Harrisonburg, now no. Before right, transportation [unintelligible] pass right, the boleto (ticket), here in Harrisonburg transportation.

MEGAN

Por que Harrisburg? Conoce alguien o hay trabajar, de Phoenix Arizona (Why Harrisonburg? Did you know someone or was there work? From Phoenix Arizona…), so why, how did you end up in Harrisonburg?

CARLOS

Harrisonburg, my decision de (of) transportation de (of) Harrisonburg I have a friend de (from) my father, right. There more opportunity Harrisonburg to work, right. This area, the big city is a small city, right. It’s less control the people. More work, no have distraction, no have example, casinos, no have party, no have the different situation, bar, the other big city, right. I look in the city in the first day and I say, oh I like it, the city. Its [unintelligible] problem, have work, right, y (and) I like it, the city. The other situation is I like it okay the city, its similar el Salvador right, it’s similar mountain and the rural country, it’s similar right. Only no similar is the weather (laughter).

MEGAN

So, you’ve been in Harrisonburg since 1999?

CARLOS

Yea, 1999 and 2000 we came here in the United States and we stay here, October de (of) 1999, pero (but), I repeat, de (from) 1999 a (to) 2001 the position is illegal, right. De (as of) 2001, I had the TPS right. The problem is, example, other interview they say, hey, Carlos how many time you live here in the United States. I live here 17 year in legal position with TPS. In the really, I here 19 years, right. In legal position I here 17 years. I don’t know you trying to take it, you trying to take it in 2001, you trying to take it in 1999, I don’t know.

CORTNI

How when you first came to Harrisonburg, how do you think the city kind of like received you, and has that like changed since you lived here a lot more years now?

MEGAN

¿Cómo siente recibido para la comunidad de 1999 o ahora? (How did you feel received by the community in 1999 or now?)

CARLOS

Oh okay, this city is the special city, right. I like it. It’s marvelous city, the people is marvelous people and the first day, the first year here in the United States, I no have American friends, right. Now, I have found the different [unintelligible] the benefits of community I’m talking of all the people American. Example, in [unintelligible] fathers and school de (of) my daughter and it’s [unintelligible] elementary school. It’s the first Hispanic group, it’s the first dancing group, it’s [unintelligible] right. For me, it’s marvelous right. Now have example, the TPS and have the national TPS [unintelligible] right. It’s, this state in my life is beautiful, I’m talking to other people. I have the real situation, the immigrants and the American people. Example, this interview is the [unintelligible] for you and for you and for me, right, why? You say, hey, I listen and then you [unintelligible] to these people, right. He is criminal he is [unintelligible] only bad situation. In the real, anyway, any group have bad people y good people. And the people in Harrisonburg like it, right. It’s the people muy carinoso (very caring), and the people muy (very) [unintelligible], amigos (friends), friendly city. In this area right, yea I like it.

MEGAN

What was the Hispanic community like in Harrisonburg like in 1999? La comunidad hispánico en (the community in) Harrisonburg in 1999 versus now.

CARLOS

Oh, it’s very, very big change. I remember here in Harrisonburg only have two market Hispanic, tiendas hispaña (Hispanic stores), only two. One [unintelligible] in the 11 route [unintelligible] y (and) the other is near the 11 route [unintelligible] y (and) only two market Hispanic. Now, maybe ten or fifteen and Harrisonburg market only the food mart, example, the food mart is for sell the eating product Hispanic. Before, nothing was out. Others market I remember any time buyer [unintelligible] Hispanic say chino. And then…

MEGAN

Oriental Café

CARLOS

Yea, Oriental Cafe. You see the market is very small, in this area you buy example cookie del Salvador and candy del Salvador, coffee del Salvador, different product del Salvador right. Other big change example, the people, they work in different business. Example, restaurant and example gas station and example and cleaning, medical cleaning. Before it’s not like nothing. And now you, I remember example, this is the eating and golden corral. No see people Hispanic, and now all people is Hispanic. Example you visit the [unintelligible] in the night all people is Hispanic. I don’t know maybe the people Hispanic is more in this time pero (but) this situation is [unintelligible] and the economy de Harrisonburg, right. I remember, before have only Walmart, y (and) the Walmart in the situation and now the target, right. But now have 3 Walmart, have one Aldi, have the target have the food lion, have the I don’t know the … here pero (but) the business is more big, more big, more big. Example I remember the street the Linda lane, the finish here y (and) now continue. Y (and) the [unintelligible] at school and this area, before is not only [unintelligible] it’s a good economy de this country, de (of) this city. The problem is now example, in this situation de (of) immigration the people have more fears. No example, the Hispanic people like a change occur every year right. I not happy change occur, why. Okay here maybe one year in the United States, the politic de (of) immigration and… Example [unintelligible] I no have inversion, why? Okay no have [unintelligible] one year living here or no living here. No sé (I don’t know), this problematic is no good but economy de (of) Harrisonburg, right. Wherever you looking oh, the whole [unintelligible] right. Example, I like the change the new [unintelligible]. At first right, maybe I [unintelligible] and you cooking and one year no here. Pero (but), here in Harrisonburg I repeat, the beautiful, the beautiful city and had opportunity the people they like it the work, right. The people no like the work, maybe no live in here in Harrisonburg. I look in maybe in the downtown and the afternoon, the people on the stop, the people on the poster “I am hungry,” “I am homeless.” Y (and) here, all the sites they say that they need people. One thousand [unintelligible] in six month, what? In Harrisonburg have people, Hispanic people. They like it the work, the problem is, no have legal paper, right. And the first days in my company, all the people is Hispanic people, they no have paper, only paper the people they have is the TPS. Y (and), down, down, down, quit, quit, quit, quit in the new people no like the work. Maybe people the other country, or maybe people the United States, porque (because) I’m sorry pero (but) the people the United States, I don’t know maybe the people the problem is [unintelligible] they say I American y (and) they won’t like it no work, no like it no work. No, your decision. Example for professional right, the student they say work no like it, the position I like. Pero (but) had the option cause you a student. You no student, no have nothing position. You say I no understand the people I hungry maybe the exit the route 11 the DMV, maybe in the downtown, maybe here. [unintelligible] Its inside here maybe VVEC o (or) [unintelligible] $500, $1000, or the bond was the had the application the work y (and) these people [unintelligible] y (and) maybe these people is young people, you no understand. I look in maybe Walmart, two people, two men and the one dog. It’s like, oh my god. What happened, this is America, really? What? Is America now is very crazy right, okay, okay, okay. I no understand the situation y (and) these people they say, no Hispanic people lost my work. No, I no lost my work, I work I work I work. Nothing in this is easy or need pay. Example I pay my tax, I pay my, example my daughter born in America. My daughter no have Medicaid, my daughter I have my insurance. Y (and) what happened people say, ah no, these people they [unintelligible] they pay the electric bill, they pay the water bill, they pay the taxes, they pay the Medicaid, [unintelligible] no pay nothing but I need the water.

MEGAN

So, you work in poultry, right?

CARLOS

Poultry right poultry

MEGAN

Did you get into poultry from what your dad sent you to get to America?

CARLOS

Mhm, yea

MEGAN

So you’ve been working in poultry in Harrisonburg since 1999?

CARLOS

Yea, Harrisonburg

MEGAN

What’s the industry like?

CARLOS

What like the poultry?

MEGAN

Yea, como la industria de poultry? (What is the poultry industry like)

CARLOS

Como es? (How is it?) Is very, no easy. Its very hard, maybe you look at my finger, right. My finger had the maybe … right, I had to pay … example you look. Maybe I work every time 15 grades every time, the problem, the beef maybe forty grades anytime very cold. I no had the more option, example in this kind of weather, in the snow in the morning, for me is no good. Why, okay I need maybe levantarme (wake up), wake up, more early, why because

MEGAN

Mas temprano (earlier)

CARLOS

I need [unintelligible] to clean the car and maybe looking oh my god, good or no good driver. The snow in the morning, early, for me, it’s no good. Why. Okay. I need maybe the [unintelligible]. Wake-up more early. Why.

MEGAN:

(Spanish)

CARLOS:

[unintelligible]  need to clean the car, maybe looking. Oh my God, it’s good, I’m a good driver.

Laughs

CARLOS:

it’s very, [unintelligible]  driving in the snow, in the morning, it is slow right. I had example no have time, example I need to go in the bathroom, el bano, say hey buddy you taking my position? No, I need [unintelligible]  maybe one people, no, no, no, not in position, [unintelligible] , you say hey please I need break okay five minutes or two minutes. In town minutes to go to the bathroom. I said pee pee and come back. Right. [unintelligible]  maybe the position the [unintelligible] I don’t know may other positions opposite. They take McDonalds, take the coffee, very different. Why. Example, I used at work every time, you use the book, maybe eight or nine [unintelligible]  home, he say hey [unintelligible] my foot very water, no it’s not water it’s (Spanish) I don’t know english.

MEGAN:

Um like dirty? Or.

CARLOS:

Yeah (Spanish) say oh my God. it’s very hard, very hard. No more options for me. right. maybe option for me, example, my daughter have a better position for me my future. I need work for my daughter. have future more better. example my daughter, she have teacher maybe [unintelligible]  

CORTNI:

Do you have any connections, like to El Salvador? Do you go back there? or talk to people that are still there?

MEGAN:

Al visitar El Salvador o tiene a conexiones en El Salvador?

CARLOS:

Oh, Okay. El Salvador. I had the TPS. Temporary [unintelligible] . You are looking in the finish letter. Not valid for reentry to USA. Right. The homeland security had one option to travel out of my country. Why this option. The option is they [unintelligible]  

MEGAN:

parole

CARLOS:

This parole, I need pay this application maybe, i don’t know maybe four hundred dollar for one year, one year. I need take my fingerprints. I need take my picture. I need to recheck my record. Is there no problem, sign my parole for one year. In one year, no use the parole, no refund the money, no nothing. Had this option to travel to El Salvador, the problem is this parole and the [unintelligible]  had the different [unintelligible]

MEGAN:

Okay

CARLOS:

he say, you this parole no has [unintelligible]  you reenter the United States depending on the officer control the border.

MEGAN:

Okay

CARLOS:

Right. The officer control the border this day no eating or last night maybe the wife (Spanish) is angry, he say oh you no enter the United States. You come back, you can’t. You see the officer he say happy, say oh it’s okay. I like you face, come into the United States alright. I visit my country, last year.

MEGAN:

Last Year?

CARLOS:

Yeah, last year. For one month. Had maybe 18 year, no 17 year no visit to my country. Very very different. Example the children no is man, professor, maybe my family my [unintelligible]  my uncle, my all very different. You look into the street [unintelligible] why. it’s very different. The situation in El Salvador now is different, it’s very dangerous in different areas. not all areas, different areas, alright. [unintelligible]  maybe the [unintelligible] maybe the area of the street. Maybe you look in the, maybe you look in one main, the entrance to one street, you talk to the [unintelligible] said hey these people no live here, you check it out. theres maybe two people, he say hey where do you live. no I live with example my friend live maybe in this house, maybe die or maybe the money. Why this situation. And they call on my friend and say I visit tomorrow, alright. I sit in the entrance they [unintelligible]  no problem he say oh is he your friend, okay go in the country, very very all the situation is the young, the teen year and they exit the school, they say to sell the drug, or they say hey you have part of the gang. I don’t like this, you have part of the gang, no, you no part of the gang? you die or you die for your sister or you die for your mother, or you die for your father. They say okay this part is very very difficult now in my country. maybe you look and you watching tv the caravan of people in central America. These people no have more option. no have no option. and anyway these people have bad people and good people. pero people and the children [unintelligible]  example the old people no have no option right. United States the problem is no have the politic (do not understand) for good. maybe in my country, after the war I need more [unintelligible] in my country. Example, I, he say hey Carlos, you like it work in the United States is small. yes. okay. this is the visa, you work 6 months. in 6 months you come back and all the 6 months you work in the United States, in 6 months you come back. right they say my paycheck no here in the United States, my paycheck, the money in El Salvador. Work in the United States how the economy the United States [unintelligible] the economy of my country, they don’t have this option. Example he say no can the people necessary to travel to the United States [unintelligible]  no have this option. No have, why. Example the administration Obama had the option the people example the children the TPS have the go here, the new administration down, quick, this option. the people don’t have no option. right the United States is the father that all countries America is the big brother they call come to America. These people. example, I working here in America, its [unintelligible] . no [unintelligible] no robbery, and the economy of America. I [unintelligible] economy of America. Right. Example, now I need change my car. I had big credit and good credit. maybe see in Toyota, Honda, hey Mr. Carlos, hey welcome, what do you need. Okay i need this car [unintelligible] they say okay no problem. How money you want down [unintelligible]  down pay. Um maybe 500 dollar. Okay, no problem. And I own, and this day. Carlos have new car. no problem for have good record. The dealer, the restaurant they all tell the business no look in the people, oh no these people is immigrant, no, they look at the money. Right. In this situation not understand this president. Example you say hey, i don’t know maybe you think in the food, the hispanic food, [unintelligible] tacos, you like it , the food. they say oh my goodness, the food is very, very delicious, then American food.

Laughter

CARLOS:

[unintelligible]  They say hey this food is cooking the immigrant people, I don’t care, really like it. Right you like it. you like the food. you like my work. you like my song. now you look in the song Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Talia, the different song, in english, in spanish, Pitbull, right. You listen to his music. This music of the immigrant. I don’t care, I like it. The problem is in America is made to immigrants, why the different, the different is maybe your beautiful, you beautiful. [unintelligible]  You say, example, your family, why is your grand grand father, what countries, Germany, Poland, Austria. Maybe you visited the college you say the question why is the country that you big big father. Oh my big big father is Poland, my big big father is Norway, my big big father is Germany. Oh my God nothing is America. Yeah it it is real. The people not understood these people not have the example my friend Michael [unintelligible] , the teacher in the Mennonite university he say Carlos you have more American then I, why decent is Germany, you is America [unintelligible]  say why the different the immigrant. The first immigrant in United States traveled in the boat, the big boat, way entrance in New York in the island Coney island in New York and the file, what your name called, okay now United States citizen, United States citizen. Why okay this time they needed people in United States, no have people in United States. Need more people, the people is the [unintelligible] the economy. The whole country. Right. the people don’t understand the situation, the last year 22 thousand people (spanish) in the city de Eastern [unintelligible] .

MEGAN:

Eastern Europe

CARLOS:

(spanish) 22 (spanish) right. El Salvador, Honduras, caravan 3 or 2 thousand people in the [unintelligible] . have 50 thousand solider on the border. these people he say I hope the United States, the United States is the big brother. The problem is the United States no help these people no help my country, and the time the war. The United States send my country 2 million dollar, why can this time, the cold war [unintelligible] , why Nicaragua is the friend the Union Soviet. Nicaragua help the area El Salvador. He say this time Ronald Regan, they send money El Salvador, why because El Salvador de Korea de taken the problem de country South America, take the problem the Union Soviet [unintelligible]  guns, [unintelligible] , fire, [unintelligible] , the war, they say Ronald Reagan maybe have Joe Bush father he say hey 2 million dollar in 10 years I no have solution. I need solution the dialog in the (do not understand) the conflict, nothing win nothing lost. Okay. The [unintelligible] El Salvador, had [unintelligible] .

MEGAN:

Peace treaty

CARLOS:

Alright. Okay. Very Good. Peace. Love and Peace in El Salvador no problem. United States [unintelligible]  other country [unintelligible] more money in El Salvador economy, [unintelligible] no nothing. My daughter. [unintelligible]  It’s a big problem in my country, you know in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, alright. Example, Guatemala no have TPS. Only Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador. Guatemala no have TPS. maybe you watch the news, I don’t know this year or last year, the volcano (spanish) people dying, maybe, I don’t know how the day maybe ten thousand people die, what happened to TPS, no TPS. Why. I don’t care, Guatemala is (not important) to the United States. Right. El Salvador now is the big problem, no have [unintelligible] . the people need immigrants. Okay Immigrant is the life, the universal life, example you say momma, papa I no like Harrisonburg, I immigrant say Costa Rica, or immigrant other country. Why, yeah it is my decision, okay. You immigrant, okay, you immigrant, your decision. No like it. Oh my goodness, United State very cold, maybe 10, 5, degrees. Oh my God. Right. No have more option. Say this two years old i visit a class, in elementary school, english class, have group people different country. The teacher had the question, how many time you have other partner, student for me. he say how many time you live here in the United State have 15 year [unintelligible]  he say 15 years, you no speak nothing english. Hey say hey I’m sorry I have a question for you, you work? no, I no work, I cooking, I [unintelligible] my children, I clean my home, okay. You have resident? yeah I have resident. In 6 months had my resident okay. Here have 15 year living here in the United States you no have resident. Why. I don’t know its a big question for the government. These people, hispanic people, no here in United States as student here in the United States work, Why. For my children, my children need eating. You maybe don’t have document, and me take it anyway position, maybe to clean the bathroom and to clean the i don’t know. The different paper, no I don’t clean the bathroom maybe work in the station in the restaurant, I don’t know may they say this [unintelligible] why the situation, real situation, the immigrant example in my country El Salvador, right. No work, travel here the United State, they like it, have more option, no more option, the option have the rich people, example the rich people in my country no study in the United States, study in France, Germany, England, United States, no. You like it United States. You look to maybe visit other country in Europe, maybe Germany or other country, it’s very different right. you look at example the street, example the interstate 81, only two lanes. You looking two lanes, one trailer here, one trailer there. Oh my God, right. Its America, in 18 years living here in Virginia, only two lanes. I look example on internet, example in (Holland) the street is plastic, [unintelligible]  no more gas car, the electric car. Why. What happened in the United States. Is the immigrant (Spanish), no the (Spanish). You and You, the future of this country, my daughter the future of this country, the women the future of this country. you know the movement MeTo, right. the MeTo, I like this movement, I like it. United State is necessary the women take it, the real position. The men is no good, the women. Example in the last election, I cried Hillary Clinton no win. What happened. Hillary Clinton had big opportunity and no win, I don’t know.

MEGAN:

Politics

CARLOS:

Politics, right, politics. example, in the JMU maybe no have the real idea the [unintelligible] . I like it the foreign the different, the interview, all people have [unintelligible] . example the country, the midwest have big problem in the war, why. in example my friend de Iraq say hey I have a question for you all right, you say Sudan Husain is a good president or a bad president, no he a good president, they pay [unintelligible]  300 hundred dollar for the people only work 60 year [unintelligible] the pension. right. the gasoline maybe 15 cents a gallon, why. you worry Sudan Husain is the bad people, the [unintelligible] people, no. This the good people. The dying the Sudan Husain taken the power over people now Iraq is down. Other problem is Libya, [unintelligible] in this control Libya. I say I don’t know if this war is very crazy, no, understand. Example my daughter last night she cry, say pap no win in Virginia.

MEGAN:

the election

CARLOS:

[unintelligible]  no hija, no. is Jennifer Lewis is only one represent. This morning the congress come to the (democrats) [unintelligible] . I don’t know. Why do you think?

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Mariana Lorenzana

Interview with Mariana Lorenzana

by Anna Clark and Evan Finley

Methodology
After a few emails back and forth, we finally met Mariana Lorenzana in her second grade classroom at Spotswood Elementary school right here in Harrisonburg, VA. She greeted us with a big smile and quickly admitted that she was a little nervous about the interview. We ensured her that we are also nervous, but there was nothing to be worried about. We sat down at a child sized desk and chairs, and began the interview after checking the recording device and signing the consent forms for the project. We started out with basic background questions. Looking back at our experiences it would have been nice to know a little bit about our subject in order to better customize our questions. Mariana was very excited to have the opportunity to share her story, but her nerves might have rushed her a bit and she skipped a lot of details at the beginning of the interview, so we had to make sure to come back to certain parts of her story to learn more about the timeline of her events.

Migration and Integration
Mariana was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. When describing her childhood in Honduras, she says it was “peaceful at that time.” She eludes to some violence within the public schools, but said it was better when she was growing up than it is now. Mariana first came to the US after graduating High School in Honduras. Through her church pastor’s connections, she was given the opportunity to participate in a program to learn English in Seattle, Washington. If she could pass all her English exams during the program, she could stay in the US longer and go to college there. Mariana said she didn’t plan on staying in the US for a long time and her motivation was her education, because she wanted to be a teacher. After a lot of hard work, Mariana passed all of her tests and was able to stay in Seattle and finish college there. She said this experience was a “dream come true.”
“I didn’t see that much of the city [Seattle] because I was always studying because I knew they just gave me six months to study to take the test and be able to go to college if I didn’t pass the test I was when I sent back home and I really wanted to go to school because what you guys have here or what we have that freedom and openings and all the chances, it’s not like that back in Latin American. You really have to work hard and it’s expensive. Even though universities here are so expensive, now that I have one [child] in college, it’s like, Ooh, but the opportunities that you have, it’s just there. So we, this people always ask us with my husband, how can you continue studying? I say because there is a chance to study. My husband just graduated with a doctorate in ministry and people say, why do you keep studying? Because there is a chance for us to study. If we were back home, we wouldn’t have that.”

After college, Mariana returned to Honduras to become a teacher at a bilingual school. After she got married, he husband was invited to come to the US by the Mennonite Church to work with the Hispanic community in New Orleans. At the time, they planned to be in the states for three to four years. She said she didn’t particularly enjoy her time in New Orleans, as they were only there temporarily, she couldn’t drive or work, so she just tried to enjoy her time working with the Church’s youth group. Eventually they were invited to become permanent residents through the Gulf States Mennonite Conference. Even though they only planned to be in the US temporarily, once they got their permanent residency status, they became more settled in the states and had kids. Mariana was worried that if they went back to Honduras, their kids would lose some of the advantages they have in the US such as educational opportunities and medical coverage for her adopted son.
After a few years in New Orleans, her husband was invited to move to El Paso, Texas and open a Mennonite Church there. “We fell in love with the place,” she said, “We really enjoyed it because we were able to go to Mexico and get some of the food, the spicy food and beans and the cheese and you know, at that time we just drove by and went to those expensive restaurants and they were not that expensive because we were paying in dollars and just the whole culture. It was a nice, nice place.” After being in El Paso for a few years, Mariana said that she and her husband began to feel more homesick and that it was harder to travel to Honduras from Texas, so when the opportunity arose for them to go Miami, Fl, they decided to move.
“It was more like being in Latin America,” she said. While her family was living in Miami, she started to work in a bilingual school. However, she and her husband felt that the Miami area was to “hectic” and unsafe, and her husband wanted to pursue another degree, that is when they found EMU and decided to move to Harrisonburg.

Harrisonburg
Mariana Lorenzana lives in Harrisonburg and is a teacher at Spotswood Elementary. After living in Louisiana, Texas, and Florida, she and her husband made Harrisonburg their home in 2004. Mariana Lorenzana has feels that Harrisonburg is by far the best place she has lived in the U.S. She said that once they moved here with her two children, they fell in love with the community, and that her kids feel that this is home for them. One of the most important factors for her about Harrisonburg bang the best place to live is that it is very safe. Compared to where they had lived before, Harrisonburg was by far the safest. She felt comfortable allowing her kids to play outside knowing they would be safe.
She also said that Harrisonburg was “a welcoming place.” Mariana Lorenzana was very connected with the EMU community. She talked about how she and her kids would walk around the campus and felt a real sense of community there. We asked Mariana if there were many other Hondurans in Harrisonburg when they first came and she said, “I think I didn’t know them because I was so involved in the EMU community, so I was not involved that much with them.” The Mennonite church clearly had the most influence over Mariana and her family’s experience in coming to the US and integrating here. In his article, “The Social Organization of Migration,” Massey talks about how voluntary organizations help facilitate migration, and this is true in the case of Mariana’s story. Since they have been here for so long, she and her husband, have branched out from the church and have become more integrated, but their faith is still an important factor that shapes their experience here in the US. “Now it’s easy, so much easier just to connect with other Hispanics because of the parents and at that time, not that much. We were new in the area.” She also had this to say about the EMU community: “EMU plays a big role because both of us graduated from there. So EMU has a special, you know, part in our heart and probably, you know, the connection.” This shows that all immigrant stories are different. Mariana Lorenzana didn’t know anyone when they came to the Harrisonburg area, but they soon found a community that was welcoming and safe.

Membership
When asked about the decision to naturalize, Mariana Lorenzana’s said the decision came quite easy. She made the decision because her residency was going to expire. They had always postponed the step of becoming a citizen because it was expensive. She said that they never really had the money to change their immigration status, but that they basically had no choice. They either would become citizens or leave the states. This made the decision quite easy. She then took us through the process of becoming a citizen.
She made the decision around 10 years ago and said that she took a class to prepare. She also bought a book and studied on her own, going through the questions in preparation. Some of the questions she was asked was about politics and about who her Representative and Senators are, and jokingly told us not to ask her who they are as she can’t remember. She also said that she was very nervous for the interview and that you need to be prepared and professional. She also thought that the people who interviewed her were very nice. The interview consisted of five questions, and if those five questions go well then that’s it, you pass the test.
She said she had one regret about the whole process. The regret she had was that she couldn’t keep her maiden name or her own last name. They told her that she could only have one last name and not a hyphenated last name. She regretted not fighting for it. But, like she said after this, it brings to attention how much you don’t know when going through the process of becoming a citizen. She felt that she had no choice but to listen to the people helping her with the process. It does seem strange that they wouldn’t let her have two last names but she didn’t want to cause any problems so she decided not to fight it. After the interview, the process continues. This consisted of getting fingerprints, going to the doctors, and conducting a background check. Overall, she said that the process was easy, but a long process, which was around a year.
Next, we wanted to get a sense of how much she goes back to Honduras and if she misses anything about Honduras. Since coming to the United States, she has gone back to Honduras four or five times. At first, she would go back to visit her parents and other family member. But since becoming an American citizen, she was able to request her parents to come live in the U.S. she said that this has made things easier, and has caused her not to want to go back to Honduras. She still has siblings in Honduras, but she doesn’t feel the impulse or need to go back to Honduras, because she has her parents here now. Massey talks about the importance of Kinship a social base of network migration and Mariana bringing her parents here is a good example of this. Massey discusses how family members are our closest ties and that is why it is one of the most popular network that fuels migration.
The last question we had for Mariana Lorenzana was if she feels American or more Honduran. She thought this was a good question, and we could tell it really made her think deeply. First, she jokingly said that her husband thinks she can be too American sometimes. But her answer was interesting. She said that she feels like both. Sometimes she feels very Honduran but other time she realizes that she has changed a lot since coming to the United States. She does feel that she has embraced American culture but that she has also brought her heritage with her. An example of this is when she spoke about her daughter coming home from college on break. She said that all her daughter wanted after coming home from college was rice and beans. This resonated with us because it shows that she has brought her heritage into the house and embraces it too. Mrs. Lorenzana said she felt a lot of joy when her daughter asked for rice and beans, because it means that she embraces her heritage and feels it’s a piece of who she is as well. This speaks to the experience of raising children as an immigrant, as well how the second generation creates their own identity, as discussed in the article “Becoming Ethnic or Becoming American,” by Min Zhou and Jennifer Lee. They point out the struggle that the second generation and their parents go through where they don’t want to lose their heritage, but feel pressure to be only one or the other (Honduran or American). However, many feel they connect to both as Mariana and her daughter feel.

Conclusion
Since Mariana Lorenzana has been here since 2004, we were curious to know how she saw Harrisonburg change over the years. She said that a lot had changed. There are more roads and streets. She also said that a lot more immigrants have come to the Harrisonburg area since she first arrived. She has seen more immigrants from not just Latin America but also Asia and the Middle East. She also said that there are more stores, where she can get the food she craves, and by this I think she means more stores that have Hispanic food. She appreciated that immigrants are bringing their heritage to Harrisonburg. She appreciates this because she tries to the same in her own house. Another change that she was excited about was that Harrisonburg schools have a bilingual program. She said, “kids are learning English and Spanish at the same time and I think that’s a plus that brings a lot to the community and it’s not that the Hispanic or taken over, it’s just we’re teaching the community to be open to new cultures, to new languages.” She was proud of this because she was one of the founders of the program when it was only in one school. Now the program is in every school in Harrisonburg, except for one. This goes to show how much Harrisonburg has changed and embraced the immigrant community.
Harrisonburg offered a welcoming, safe home for Mariana and her family and she has appreciated calling Harrisonburg her home. We share that same appreciation for Harrisonburg and how it has changed and how it has offered for us as a great place to get our education. We also truly appreciate the opportunity to listen to Mariana Lorenzana’s story and get to know her. It has shown us that immigration stories are different and listening to these stories helps us appreciate being American. The United States provides many immigrants with the opportunity of education, work, and safety and it was very humbling to listen to someone who can give us a first-hand view of an immigrant experience.

Anna : So we’ll start with um, when, and where were you born?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Date and years. I was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Did you say date?
Anna : You don’t have to…
Mrs. Lorenzana: Yeah, I was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Anna : Okay, and what was it like growing up?
Mrs. Lorenzana: I think it was kind of peaceful at that time and I remember taking public transportation, going to school and now if we do that it’s kind of dangerous, but it was, you know, free. And the only thing I regret is girls could not play soccer and I was a pretty fan of soccer and I couldn’t play because girls were not allowed during that time. Now it’s fine. Um, so people decided either you go to a public school, public school or not like this, like the ones in the state. Sometimes kind of hard, you know, because everybody goes there and sometimes can be lots of violence and my parents will not accept that. So. So it was peaceful and not the way it is now.
Anna : Um, when did you first come to the US?
Mrs. Lorenzana: My very first time was just right after high school, uh, I came to learn English and I have the chance to go to college. So they said you take this course and then you take a proficiency test and if you pass it then you can enter college. So for me that was my dream coming true because I always wanted to be a teacher and I had the chance of coming in and becoming one. So I did that. So I was able to go to college, graduated and then I went back home. That was the first time.
Anna : So you were here from about 18, 17, something like that?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Yeah. And for like four or five years or five years.
Anna : Nice, and was your main motivation for coming to learn English education?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Yeah, basically I wanted to learn English and I wanted it to be a teacher.
Anna : So, um, what happened next when you went back?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Then? I went back home and I got a job as a teacher at a bilingual school and I was happy. We got married and then we were invited by the Mennonite church to come and work with the Hispanic community. My husband is a minister, so it was a chance for us to plan churches and just basically to work with the Hispanic community. So we came up, basically it was, we thought maybe only three years we’d been 25 now after we get the kids. And so.
Anna : How old were you then when he came back to the US for the second time?
Mrs. Lorenzana: I came back, got married when I was 30, 31 I think.
Anna : OK Yeah.
Mrs. Lorenzana: Yeah. So I was an adult.
Anna : Um, so when you came back here, and your husband was preaching or?
Mrs. Lorenzana: We, we started as a youth pastor. See in the Hispanic churches is not as um, they don’t have that many people working full time. So he was the young, the young pastor and he functioned as an assistant pastor to this moment.
Anna : What were you doing during that time?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Just helping him because we didn’t have our permanent residency. We were just in the process of getting one, so I couldn’t work. I couldn’t drive. He had a driver’s license because he went to school, were in that area where we used to live that was in New Orleans, so I couldn’t drive, I couldn’t work. So I waited until I was enjoying just working with the kids and, and a church.
Anna: So at what point did you decide to become a permanent resident?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Well, we were, uh, we were invited, as I say, we were invited by the Gulf States Mennonite conference, something like that to be, I think it was a religious visa and then we were asked, would you like a permanent visa. We didn’t understand exactly what we’re saying and say, yeah. So we got the visa and, but the idea was to be here for three years. But then kids came along and our oldest son, he got asthma. So medical expenses were really high, almost $400 per month. And since he was adopted, the government paid for that. So we thought, what can we offer him? I mean going back home, we couldn’t afford it. Yeah, you know, his for his health and then we thought about education for them and how much we had the chance to have an education and we want to offer that to our children. So that’s how make us decide. Let’s go for the permanent resident.
Anna : So was that in the Harrisonburg area?
Mrs. Lorenzana: No no, that was Harrisonburg is our fourth place that we live and the longest.
Anna : So kind of take me through that journey.
Mrs. Lorenzana: We started, we came to New Orleans, we were there for I think three or four years and I was not working. We were just, I was helping my husband at church and just getting around and it’s not the same like I went to school in the north, all of north and, and then um, he was invited to open the church in El Paso, Texas. So we went to visit and we fell in love with the place. It was in the on the border with Mexico and we could go to Mexico if we wanted just to visit. So we moved there and that’s where we have our kids in El Paso. Um, and then we decided we were beginning, we were starting to get homesick and it was kind of far away traveling to Honduras from El Paso and they were not that many Hondurans there and just, we just began getting homesick and the kids now that we had the kids, we wanted them to be closer to home so he had an opening, there was an opening in Miami, so we went there and it was more like being in Latin America. However, I didn’t like the area because it’s too hectic, but I began teaching again in a bilingual school, so I really loved it, but I didn’t like the area and my husband always wanted to, uh, he always wanted to get a higher education. So he came to visit EMU and there was a chance for him to get his master’s degree. So we said why not? So let’s move. So we came with our two kids and we fell in love with the area and we’ve been here ever since. And for our children, this is home, Harrisonburg. It was a nice move.
Anna : How did you feel you were accepted here in Harrisonburg compared to other places and was there a community of people from Honduras here at all?
Mrs. Lorenzana: At first, not really. Not that many Hispanics that we met and we were not connected with any Hispanic churches because my husband was going into the seminary so it was mostly his classmates and going to church. And then I began working. I was working in the county my first two years. It was hard because I feel like I was not being accepted that well just because I was Hispanic. I even have comments of people saying, oh, but how come you, can you be a teacher when you were Hispanic? And I was like, why not? And people assume that my husband was an American because he was getting his master’s degree and I say how come a Hispanic can’t do that? So those two years were kind of hard trying to figure out because I never experienced that and after awhile you learn to deal with that. Then I got a job with Harrisonburg city school and I feel like this is where I belong because I was able to give back something to the community. Then I met others like me and I’ve never felt that discrimination from the administrators or the staff. Nothing. It’s like it’s me. Whether I have an accent, whether I looked different it is just me. One of the other teachers.
Anna: And, what year was it that you got to the Harrisonburg area?
Mrs. Lorenzana: We came 2004.
Anna : Okay, great. And how was it raising kids in this area?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Well, I will say Harrisonburg. Harrisonburg is total different than other places. We came from Miami and even though there were lots of Hispanics in the area, at some point it was not that safe. Having kids outside here. It’s such a great community. We live in the park view area. So for us having the kids outside playing on their own, riding their bikes, that was wonderful. That was great. It was, we felt like it was a safe place and a welcoming place and we never told the kids that, oh, you’re Hispanic, but we never mentioned that word because we didn’t want to feel them different than anybody else. And even though we made the rule at home only in Spanish, not English, they never questioned why. I mean, for them it was just natural.
Anna : Were there any norms that you saw in the U.S. that it took time to get used to or that you found kind of weird?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Um, the individualistic part sometime, even now it’s hard because we’re in a collectivism community. Everybody’s into everybody’s business. I’m probably that part in. It was interesting seeing how people treat us and I talk about the plural because I’m including my husband. We noticed when people knew we had some kind of education, people started treating us differently and it was that, wow, that’s as soon as we mentioned, Oh, you know, I’m a school teacher. Oh, okay. Oh, there were a couple of people at the beginning thinking, oh, so you were an assistant assuming that just because I was Hispanic, I couldn’t have. So that part. I remember one time my husband was mowing when the lawn and one of his coworkers drove by us, oh, so this is, you have a part time job. And I said, no, this is my house, this is where I live, just because he looks Hispanic. So that was kind of different and trying to learn to deal with that and, and helping our children to learn that they don’t have to react when people treat them differently. Um, Harrisonburg’s a nice place to be. It is, its a, it’s a great community and, but that was something we got to our attention why people treat us different when they know the education that we have.
Anna : Um, have you been back to Honduras? How many times?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Since I came to Harrisonburg?
Anna : Or I guess since the US.
Mrs. Lorenzana: Since the U.S. Not that many. Probably last time I was home was last year and after that it took me almost 10 years. So probably four or five the most that had been home.
Anna : And was it just to visit family and everything?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Yeah, just a family. At first I wanted to go home because my parents lived there so I wanted mostly for my parents even though I got siblings back there, but then when we became Americans citizens, then I was able to request my parents so they came and lived with me and so that made it easier, not so urgent to go back home because I had my parents with me.
Anna : So when did you make the decision to naturalize?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Oh, our residency was going to expire. So basically that because it was pretty expensive, just changing the status. So we never, we always postpone it because we never had the money basically. So it was either becoming an American citizen or keeping keep it right in and say, you know, what, let’s go for the citizenship. And we did it and I’m glad we did. Especially now with this environment. Yeah, it’s pretty hard.
Anna : Uh, so what was that process like?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Ah, we, let me see if I remember of 10 years. You have to take a class and, and they asked me some questions. I think I, I bought a book and I studied on my own, the questions and just prepare for that. Then we had an interview separate, you know, my husband went side and me and you have to be ready, you know, they asked you about politics and they ask you about who are your Senators, your Congress. So I have to learn that. Don’t ask me now who they are because I can’t, I don’t remember and, but I knew, you know, the basic history, so that was not that bad, but it’s always so tension, know, so nervous going in and, to have that interview. However, I felt like they were really nice people. Very nice. In our interview, the only thing I regretted is I wanted to use my maiden name and they didn’t allow me to do that. They say no, that’s the last name. You cannot do that. And of course you know, you’re getting into the process. I didn’t feel free to fight for it because it’s like, okay, then they’re not going to give me my citizenship because I wanted to keep my own last name. And they say, no, you use only one last name, your name and last name. So, yeah, now it’s like, how come I didn’t fight for it? I mean now that I know, but during that process you don’t have so much of a choice. It’s like, okay, whatever you say, I’m going to do it because I’m in this process. Probably the, the people that helped me were being like that. But the interview, it wasn’t that bad. It was only five questions. If you pass the five questions, that’s it. And then you know, all the process, the fingerprint and going to the doctor and background check and everything. So it was a long process. I think now it’s harder. I think that’s what I heard and it was expensive. I can’t remember how much but almost a thousand dollars probably for each one of us.
Anna : How long did that process take from start to finish?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Probably no more than a year. No more than a year I think.
Anna: And how old were you then? What year was it?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Uh, I was in my forties.
Anna : Um, Evan?
Evan : Um so you first came to the, to the New Orleans area?
Mrs. Lorenzana: My very first time, no.
Evan : When you went, where did you go to school?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Seattle, Washington.
Evan : Nice, Seattle’s cool.
Mrs. Lorenzana: Yeah.
Anna : Um, how did you get the opportunity to study in the US? How did you find out about that?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Through my pastor. The church was a church connecting.
Anna : Um, I guess, what do you miss about Honduras the most?
Mrs. Lorenzana: What I miss? Know, it’s kind of hard because for me, if I have my family with me, I don’t miss anything. But what I miss about Honduras is that friendship for example, this time of the year. Oh, it’s the best going home because everywhere you go it’s music. There’s music and just feel the Christmas spirit that here we don’t and that part, the friendship. Having lots of my friends in always getting together because here you’re busy and we’ve been very lucky for having good friends, good people. We have met good people, but we’re always busy.
Evan : So the first. So after you went back, after coming from school, you went back to Honduras and then you said your husband got a job in New Orleans. Okay. Um, how’d you like the New Orleans area or it was like…
Mrs. Lorenzana: I didn’t like it at all. So we were there only for 3 years. It’s kind of gloomy and I don’t know, just, you know, Mardi Gras. I was not into that. Now, the food is good. I mean there were a lot of visitors but I was not really so excited make New Orleans my home. I know it was just temporary compared to El Paso and here. Those have been my best places.
Evan : And how’d you uh, was the reception in New Orleans? Like, when you first came did you see differences in the reception between New Orleans and like El Paso or Miami?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Every place that I’ve been, even though there are some Hispanic, since Hispanic is such a broad, you know, culture and, and, and in New Orleans there were a lot of Hondurans and we spent most of the time with the people at Church. My last year that I was there, I began working in a public school, so that’s I feel like I have. That’s the first time I experienced the American culture and it wasn’t that bad. I was taken well, of course you know when you have an education and you have a degree, people respect you. So, we learned that. I don’t know how we can sense that the people start treating you differently just because you have a bachelor’s degree, you have a master’s degree. The other day my daughter was telling me, I always remember you always saying when you go to the store, just try to look nice because I always tell her, you know, people are going look at you like, oh, look at that sloppy Hispanic and now with this environment people treat you differently. And, and you know, one of my kids, my son, my son, sometimes he looks more really Hispanic, dark complexion, black hair, and he has felt some people treating him differently. Just the way he looked. Even though he was born here. Both of my kids were born back there. I just remember one incident in New Orleans my first day at school. Um, I went pretty early and one of the teachers. Really Nice Lady. She came and greet me and say, Oh, you’re the new custodian here. Just assuming because I was Hispanic and I say, no, I’m the new bilingual teacher. So you know, things like that, incidents like that I had experience. But you learn, you learn this, not me with the problem is the other one that doesn’t understand. So New Orleans is, I didn’t like the area that much, no particular reasons. Just El Paso. We really enjoyed because we were able to go to Mexico and get some of the food, spicy food and beans and the cheese and you know, at that time we just drove by and went to those expensive restaurants and they will not that expensive because we were paying in dollars and just the whole culture. It was a nice, nice place.
Evan : So in El Paso, did you have permanent residence while you were in El Paso.
Mrs. Lorenzana: Yeah, yeah, well yeah.
Evan : So it was pretty easy to go over the border and come back?
Mrs. Lorenzana: During that time, that was, my daughter’s 18. Yeah. 18. Almost 20 years ago. All you had to do is show you a green card, drive by. That’s fine. Sometimes they just. Do you live here or are you an American citizen or say no, we’re just permanent residents. Okay. Just go. That was that easy. That the trust that people now probably is not that easy. I don’t know. I haven’t been there in 20 years. Yeah. But it was a neat experience just being able to go to two different countries.
Anna : How have you seen Harrisonburg particularly changed from when you got here?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Oh, a lot. A lot more streets, you know, more new roads and more immigrants. I think a lot of immigrants, not just Hispanic, um, Asians and from the Middle East during that time and more stores and now it’s easy for me, whatever I’m craving that I have, you know, from home all I have to go to one store and I get it a little bit more expensive, but I get it. So in that way for like, oh, they’re bringing a little piece of my country here and I want my own children to experience that. My daughter just came from college. And what do you want to eat? Oh, just make me some beans, mom. So like I was, I was, you know, it means a lot to me because like wow. So she’s bringing that, because I don’t want them to lose their heritage. I wanted to keep it and, but at the same time they are Americans, so they need to experience what this culture brings. So it’s a mixture. Yeah. What else? Yeah, the um, the school in the school system now we have a bilingual program. Now it’s in every single school in Harrisonburg cities, except one. We have the bilingual program, kids are learning English and Spanish at the same time and I think that’s a plus that brings a lot to the community and it’s not that the Hispanic or taken over, it’s just we’re teaching the community to be open to new cultures, to new languages. I’ve never been in Europe, but you know, people speak lots of languages. Uh, my husband and I are fan of soccer, so we’re always listening to this European soccer. And like, were so impressed that a lot of them, they speak two, three, four languages and, and, and you listened to like, wow. So hopefully, you know, it will change the whole mentality of not because you’re white, you’re better than someone else. Yeah.
Evan : So within the school and do all of the kids go through the bilingual program?
Mrs. Lorenzana: No, no, they, it’s an, it’s an optional thing.
Anna : Do most people opt in?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Um, it’s probably more and more people wanted to get into the program. When we started 10 years ago, uh, it was a waiting list. I used to teach at Smithland, so I was there 14 years and I started that. I was one of the people, to choose to start the program. So kids drove from different places just to get into the program. Now you go and you don’t have to travel. I mean you don’t have to, you, you can be in your own district and you find a bilingual program. And I think the first group, it’s probably seventh or eighth grade, the first group that started. So more and more people are getting more used to and eh, it’s neat seeing like in parent teacher conference or, and PTO activities, that interaction is not the white or the Hispanic is just parents come into school, kids learning a different language no matter what language it is, it’s just they’re kids. So in that sense, I see a change. You find more Hispanic churches or other cultures. I don’t know what other cultures will be, but you know, that brings more respect to diversity.
Evan : Um, so it sounds like the, uh, the Methodist Church was a big organization that helped…
Mrs. Lorenzana: Mennonite church.
Evan : Excuse me. But it sounds like they had like a very influential part of your immigration story.
Mrs. Lorenzana: Probably, yeah, I will say. Yeah.
Evan : Would you say that, um, it’s like the biggest organization that, um, that helped you connect more than Harrisonburg and um, or were there any other organizations within Harrisonburg that kind of helped you get more comfortable with living here?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Since my husband, a Mennonite minister, probably I will say so, EMU plays a big role because both of us graduated from there. So EMU has special heart especially, you know, part in our heart and probably, you know, the connection. You may people you met there, they’re friends for life. I was telling my kids the friends that you’re making there are for life, you know, those friends, that mentor. So I would say probably the Mennonite church. Um, yeah, EMU, EMU and Harrisonburg city schools in my personal case, because I’ve been teaching here since we came.
Evan : Were there, I think you said this, but there weren’t that many Hondurans in Harrisonburg when you first came?
Mrs. Lorenzana: I think I didn’t know them because I was so involved in the EMU community, so I was not involved that much with now it’s easy, so much easier just to connect with because of the parents and at that time, not that much. We were new in the area, and it takes a while now I feel like this is home for me. I feel that I’m part of this and yeah.
Anna : Do you have anything to add?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Thanks for doing this. I feel like you guys want to educate the community and it’s not a matter of a race or where are you from it is just a person and some people are so caught up on how you look and that will determine who you are and it’s not just one, you know, to bring something good to this. Because we had Americans back home. People decided to move back home. And our faith brings us here. So I know there was a purpose for us to be here and which I want to be the best and help and I always tell our kids, don’t look at the color of the skin. Look at the heart. In fact, yesterday we were talking with my daughter and say, you’re going to marry someone that has a good heart. That’s all we’re asking. Good heart don’t look at…I don’t care what color the person will be, but I’ve learned to say that it’s not easy. You know, at first you were so prejudice even for me thinking, my kids are going marry an American. They’re going to change, no. So I’ve learned that it’s not whether they’re Americans or Hispanic it is just about who they are. My son married an American, but Victoria, I don’t see as different. I mean besides the language it’s learning, but yeah.
Anna : Thank you.
Evan : I thought it was interesting how you said, uh, people seem to kind of be nicer or maybe pay more attention to you when they found your education background. Is that you think just a U.S. Thing or have you seen that back in Honduras?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Oh, uh, probably everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. And probably we feel it more because the tension there is in the environment now that I remember when we were thinking about starting to dual program, there was an article or an interview, I cannot remember the exact thing, but um in the news that we’re thinking about bringing Spanish into education and so many comments of ignorant people. I’m sorry for the word ignorant people, but you know, our languages, English, they’re not going to learn English and all of this. And I remember one particular comment people saying, but send those cockroaches back home, back to Mexico and it’s like, I’m not from Mexico. So you know, those comments really hurt and I’m not saying that all immigrants are the greatest people. But anywhere you go and getting back to your point, I found a, we found it here, not so much of a tension whether you have a degree or not. Like for us, when my husband went to the seminary and people started calling their first name to the teacher, like, oh, you don’t call the doctor. So for us was, it was a shock because back home you have to call someone Dr. so and so or Mr so and so. And here you could call them by their names. That was a shock for us and say, Oh this is neat. And in we don’t know if it’s the mennonite community, that EMU community that was so relaxing and friendly and welcoming. Or it’s just Harrisonburg. I mean so, but you can tell people treat you different. And I don’t know if everybody feels the same way. If they know, Oh, you got a degree also, so we’re big on education, for my husband. We push education, and our daughter now just started college at Mary Washington.
Evan : Mary Washington’s a big education school, so.
Mrs. Lorenzana: I gave up, I wanted her to attend EMU. They said mom it is so close to home and when my, my husband used to work there so my kids were little so they used to be in EMU the time. So they grew up there. They need a break and like, so I’m glad she picked one that is not that far away and yeah, it’s been good. I heard good things and she’s excited for whatever she’s going to study at Mary Washington is close by and she can do some internship or whatever. I didn’t want JMU because it’s too big. It’s still thinking like, no, I can’t do that. Even though I heard good things, but I don’t know. That was my mom’s side of it.
Evan : Um, another question, um, with 2016 being a big election, did you see any kind of differences after that? Or Harrisonburg kind of been more of a vacuum and stayed friendly and a better place or…?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Um, that’s an…I just feel like now it’s kind of hard talking about politics even with your friends because you don’t know who they are. You think they believe like you, but they don’t. In fact, one of my best friends here at school, we’re good friends, but we don’t talk about politics because once we start talking about politics, there was not a common point. So we decided, you know, that not even mentioned. Not even say that I went to vote. Nothing. That’s not part of our relationship because it’s hard. We don’t think about things the same. And I think it’s been harder now with this last election. People are more intense and I don’t know why we just feel there was more tension. We just feel like we have got to be careful now. I don’t know why, but even speaking Spanish in public, I never thought about it, but now it’s like I’m kind of concerned because you don’t know how people are going to react. I was offended when they say Mexicans were criminals because even though I’m not Mexican, I’m Hispanic, I’m one of them and I say I’m not a criminal. That was really hurting me. And just so you know, when you hear those negative comments, it really hurts. It does, because you cannot judge people just by the way they look or how they speak.
Evan : So you said you’ve called Harrisonburg home. Would you say that you feel American or, uh, you still feel more Honduran?
Mrs. Lorenzana: Um, that’s a good one, that a good one. Sometime my husband thinks I’m too American. I will say both. I think we both, what’s the word you acculturate, right? Is that the word acculturation? I think. It’s when you embrace the new culture and it becomes part of you, but you still bring your heritage. Um, it depends. Sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I’m still very Honduran and there are times I feel like I’m, well look how much I have changed. Especially going back home and after 10 years being away, you know, here you are in a restaurant and you don’t like something you can say I don’t like it, it’s not what I ordered and you’ll be fine most of the time. Back home is like, you eat it fine. And um, I have to remind myself like I don’t like to waste food. And I think here we waste so much food here and I think I bring that spending part of me like I cannot waste, especially food. It’s insane how much they waste. Yeah. That’s good. Yeah.

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