Interview with Amy Maca

Interview with Amy Maca

by Nancy Haugh

Amy Maca (pictured in the back right) is a first year, Guatemalan-American student at James Madison University. She’s studying Health Sciences on a Pre-Med track with ambitions to go to medical school at Johns Hopkins University. Ultimately, she’s extremely passionate about providing health care those in need.

Journey to the U.S.

In a subversion of immigrant stereotypes, Amy’s physical journey from Guatemala City, Guatemala to Northern Virginia was a plane ride. In 2005, when Amy was 6 years old, her father realized that he had a calling from God to come to the U.S. and serve the Christian Latinx community there. The family had an uncle living in Northern Virginia who expressed that they would be able to stay with him. However, upon arriving in the U.S., those plans fell through and Amy’s family struggled to establish themselves. Fortunately, they were able to find a strong Christian Latinx community in Northern Virginia.

Early Life

Growing up, Amy imagined the U.S. as full of tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed people that could all go to Disney World. She credits these misconceptions to being a little spoiled by her relatives with toys from the U.S., and depictions of Americans she saw in the media when she was younger. When she first arrived in the U.S., she describes the difficulty she faced assimilating to American culture. Whereas in Guatemala she didn’t face as much pressure to look or even eat a certain way, in the U.S. it seemed like physical appearance dictated morality. Amy mentions the hardships and anxieties she faced public schools in the U.S., citing that middle and high school were especially hard because it felt like she was never able to establish relationships in one place. In terms of life in Guatemala and historic trends of immigration, Amy was largely not directly effected by the Guatemalan Civil War that lasted from 1960-1996. Her parents on the other hand, did grow up during this time of violence and instability.

Life in Harrisonburg

Amy is the first in her family to attend a university and thus faces the pressures that come with such a title. In her interview, she points to the fact that it was especially hard to move away from her family because of how close they are. Despite this, she knew she wanted to attend JMU and was determined to make it happen. Although she’d like to explore a little more of the town, she’s ultimately proud of how far she’s come in getting to JMU. An active member of LSA, Amy loves being able to hang out with her friends during her breaks between studying.

A Message to Her Younger Self

The interview ends with Amy sending a message to her younger self to live freely and openly without the worrying about the criticisms of others. She vividly remembers disliking features of her own body because they weren’t in line with euro-centric beauty standards. Because of this, she wants her younger self to know that it is ok to exist as she is, just do you!

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Interview of Paola Iturbide

Interview with Paola Iturbide

by Colby Mocarski

The following interview is between myself and Paola Iturbide, who came to Harrisonburg, Virginia from Guadalajara, Mexico. During our interview we discussed her reasoning for coming to the United States, how her experiences have been while here, and what her plans are when she returns to Mexico. I chose to interview Paola, because she is a younger perspective on immigration in the modern world.

INTERVIEW –

Colby Mocarski: [00:00:00] Hi my name is Colby Mocarski. I am a senior at James Madison University and today I will be interviewing Paola Iturbide. And so my first question is can you tell me your age and something about you?

Paola Iturbide: [00:00:16] I’m 25 years old. I was born in San Diego, California. But I moved to Mexico where my parents lived since I was a baby. My parents used to live in Mexico City. They met there. Then they moved to Tijuana. And they decided to just have me in the United States so I can have more opportunities like in the future. And so I do. I was just born there. But live in Mexico all my life and now I live in the States.

Colby Mocarski: [00:00:50] OK so can you tell me some about your childhood or your education?

Paola Iturbide: [00:00:56] My childhood I grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico. I was in a Catholic school all girls school and my friends were middle high class so they had money to give me the location that I needed and I learned English in school.

Colby Mocarski: [00:01:16] So you said that you went to a Catholic school so that was that your religion growing up?

Paola Iturbide: [00:01:22] Yeah. Because a lot of people in Mexico are Catholic. That’s like the main religion. So I grew up Catholic and I’m Catholic and I was raised in a Catholic school.

Colby Mocarski: [00:01:36] So what made you want to come to the United States?

Paola Iturbide: [00:01:41] The first thing is like there’s no jobs in Mexico because I mean I study a career. But I saw a lot of options but they don’t pay you well. You have to have a connection or know someone in the government to have a well-paid job. And also I did and say I did and I study a lot. Also I had to study more to be someone I think I was a little lazy in school. So that also was the problem. If you put a lot of effort in school you can be successful in Mexico. What a lot of people are lazy and that’s why they come to the United States because they think it’s gonna be easier. But I think you have to work at the same level that you will do it in Mexico or in the States.

Colby Mocarski: [00:02:44] What made you choose Harrisonburg when you came to the United States?

Paola Iturbide: [00:02:47] Because my sister and is in Bridgewater and I came with her and it was easier for me because she knew people because coming to United States not knowing anyone it’s difficult it’s difficult living here it’s difficult.

Colby Mocarski: [00:03:02] What what was your first initial reaction of Harrisonburg? Did you like it right away? Did you feel like you fit into the community right away?

Paola Iturbide: [00:03:20] I think it’s warm because I came from a big city so I prefer big cities. I fall in love withD.C. This is like not for me because it’s like living in a ranch but it’s really pretty. Just like for coming on a vacation I mean and people here are nice. I think there’s a little bit of racism racism. I think there is but I mean it’s it’s ok living here. I’m just not like a country girl.

Colby Mocarski: [00:03:53] So how was it finding a job in Harrisonburg?

Paola Iturbide: [00:03:58] It was so easy. That’s the thing of the United States. It’s really easy finding any job well me because I have papers but I don’t know the people that are immigrants. I work for a week in a restaurant in a Mexican restaurant. The name is El Charo they get it. They they just have immigrants and they treat them like slaves. They made them work all day and they paid them nothing. Just the tips from people and I think people that come here as an immigrant it’s not worth it because they are treated like slaves. You have to have papers to be OK here or on have a decent job. If you don’t have papers is horrible. You are surviving, just surviving and maybe you are living a little better. We maybe in Mexico didn’t have a TV and you have a TV here with you. You have to pay it every month and you work here in the States. People that don’t have papers they work like slaves. They live better but they are their slaves.

Colby Mocarski: [00:05:04] So I know you came here also trying to get a certification to be a translator. Is that something that was offered in Mexico too?

Paola Iturbide: [00:05:16] No I just like look in here and I saw that they have the certification. I just did it.

Colby Mocarski: [00:05:25] So what is like your long term goals? Like what jobs do you want? Do You see you staying here, or going back to Mexico full time?

Paola Iturbide: [00:05:35] I mean if I pass the exam to be a translator. My plan my initial plan was to move here and find a better job, because having a job in Five Guys that mean you earn a lot but if you save it and you go back to Mexico. But here things are so expensive that if you want to leave here you have to have a better job than Five Guys cook. You know what my goal to have my certificate and to work in a hospital and get paid minimum 30 dollars per hour so you can be fine you know because if you have like a job you are not going to leave fine. You’re going to just survive. So while not my plan was coming here study that if I pass it I was going to leave close to D.C. because I fell in love with D.C. But now my ex-boyfriend is talking to me again. We’re going to meet each other and if any if what he proposed I’m going back to Mexico because he has a lot of money so I’m gonna have to worry you know. But if he doesn’t propose in New York I won’t. I’m going to come back and work as a translator in the hospital because in here I will have a decent life. And in Mexico I will be a slave just to survive. Like working in an office eight hours to get paid. I don’t know. Two hundred dollars per month. So it’s nothing. Per day I will get paid like 30 bucks.

Colby Mocarski: [00:07:17] So you said you worked at Five Guys did you ever feel like not being an American has affected you in your workplace?

Paola Iturbide: [00:07:27] No I don’t think so because there’s Mexicans there in five days. I mean Spanish speaking people. There are a lot of Spanish speaking people here.

Colby Mocarski: [00:07:39] So do you think that there are Americans that work in five guys that treat you differently because you are aren’t American?

Paola Iturbide: [00:07:48] No.

Colby Mocarski: [00:07:51] So how is Harrisonburg changed since you moved here. Have you seen any big differences or anything?

[00:08:01] Yeah I mean just because I had a car in Mexico and I have lived with my parents I was fine but what I saw the poor people that live in Mexico is a huge difference here because I’m going to put an example. The bosses here have air conditioner and in Mexico people have to wait in lines to get on the bus and they go squish. They have to walk thousands of miles to get to their jobs. And here is more access to all or it’s more accessible to have a car than in Mexico is impossible because of they because of what they get paid in there. In any job because jobs there if you don’t have a connection or if you know someone if you come from a wealthy family you screwed your whole life! Or you are very smart to become a successful doctor or you know in here you’re not that smart you can work two jobs and you are going to survive and live decently we have to be really smart to stay or to, to do it in Mexico.

Colby Mocarski: [00:09:20] So do you feel like there is a community within a community of immigrants in Harrisonburg because for example JMU has over 200 different countries represented within our campus. So do you think there’s a community within a community of immigrant students or people?

Paola Iturbide: [00:09:45] Yeah. There’s a lot of immigrants here because they told me Harrisonburg is the city that you don’t get deported at deported. I don’t know why. So they call their safe place so that’s why immigrants come here because if you don’t have papers you don’t get deported. That’s why there is a huge community of immigrants.

Colby Mocarski: [00:10:07] So do you feel like that you see a lot of other people reaching out like within that smaller community? Like do you feel like there’s a stronger bond between those people?

Paola Iturbide: [00:10:22] People that I have met makes you can with Mexicans, Chinese we Chinese like they don’t get makes a lot I think because of their racisim, and because of the language maybe they find it difficult.

Colby Mocarski: [00:10:39] So what made you end up working for five guys? Like what made you decide to work there?

Paola Iturbide: [00:10:44] Because it was close to my house and I don’t have a car it is a bad job. But I mean I will love to work in other place but it’s like you so hard to move here because their transportation is horrible.

Colby Mocarski: [00:11:02] So do you see yourself like staying with Five Guys? Are you going and try and look for a new job? Or try to start your career as a translator?

Paola Iturbide: [00:11:15] Yes. I just need the translated stuff I’m just doing my exam if I pass it I think I’m not leaving here because he’s boring. But I’m going to maybe move to Charlottesville, if my ex don’t propose.

Colby Mocarski: [00:11:31] So what Changes would you like to see in Harrisoburg in the nation in general as far as looking at immigrants?

Paola Iturbide: [00:11:45] Transportation people that don’t have cars so difficult. You don’t have transportation you don’t have transportation and Saturday and Sunday. It’s horrible.

Colby Mocarski: [00:11:56] But what about like how our nation views immigrants?

Paola Iturbide: [00:12:02] I think it’s really hard for people that immigrants. So I think they don’t have a decent job. If you are an immigrant you’re screwed. You’re going to leave this in but you’re not gonna live, you’re gonna be a slave. So people here treat immigrants that they don’t have papers as slaves they are slaves.

Colby Mocarski: [00:12:33] As a whole like especially under President Trump he’s been like extremely strict with immigration policies. So like how do you feel about our nation. Like right now he’s shown to appeal the 14th Amendment that says that if you are born in the United States you are a citizen even if your parents are not. So you shine to get that reversed. So like how do you feel about the way that our country is moving towards like a no immigrant population?

Paola Iturbide: [00:13:07] I think is fine if you like if their parents are not from here. I think it’s OK. What they are doing. I don’t know why people come here. They should fight in their own countries to be better and other countries should like fight so that their people have better jobs and not leave their countries. So I think America is doing the right thing not having immigrants here.

Colby Mocarski: [00:13:48] So you said that your family still lives in Mexico so what do your parents do to be successful and have a life in Mexico if finding jobs are very difficult?

Paola Iturbide: [00:14:01] Like I said I was not a very studious person. I didn’t study a lot. I’m kind of I like to study both my parents my parents my parents. My dad he’s he’s really smart so he become a lawyer so like I said if you are smart and you study you can be successful anywhere. But most of the time people are lazy. That’s why they are not successful.

Colby Mocarski: [00:14:30] So what jobs do your parents have in Mexico?

Paola Iturbide: [00:14:33] My father is a lawyer and he runs a call center he’s them. Like their manager of all Mexico. Like all the, the country because they have different call centers in different parts of the of their country.

Colby Mocarski: [00:15:01] And what does your mom do?

Paola Iturbide: [00:15:02] My mom right now she doesn’t work.

Colby Mocarski: [00:15:05] So what do you think about the overall view on immigration? Like what do you think about the American perspective of immigration.

Paola Iturbide: [00:15:34] What Americans think of immigration. I think that right now they’re really racist about immigration and I think they should stop immigration and not let people in. If they are were not born in the United States and or if they are born here and their parents are not from here they should not give them the papers because governments on other countries should fight for better education and everything like that.

Colby Mocarski: [00:16:11] So yeah it’s just America was built on immigration because everybody that’s ever really been here immigrated from overseas from Mexico somewhere. So it’s just like how is how are the times so different now where immigration is viewed as a negative thing and we’re trying to cut it off completely versus we were built on immigration. So like why do you think it’s like completely changed?

Paola Iturbide: [00:16:44] Because back in the days there was they were everything was building it was building like everything was not done yet. So all like Mexico was built because European people move to that country. So now that is overpopulated like they should stop immigration because everything’s done right now like people like countries have their own people so they should stop immigration.

Colby Mocarski: [00:17:17] So what do you think you will take for Mexico to, I guess become more like the United States where it has more job opportunities and higher wages and things like that?

Paola Iturbide: [00:17:30] When they when the government stops robbing has a robbing, because people are really really corrupt. That’s the problem that in other countries government is so corrupt and they steal thousands and thousands of dollars they don’t have the values like Americans have. They have honesty values here and Mexicans, they don’t have that because the government steals. The steals their taxes monies taxes money. So that’s why it’s like a circle, like it repeats repeats repeats the same stuff because if they don’t stop from the government, stealing the government give give them more opportunities. People will stop stealing to have a better life. So the government should start not stealing and have their values like America has more Americans have more of honesty. They are more honest. There is not a lot of crimes like in Mexico because of that because it starts from the government that the government steal. They don’t rob. They don’t commit crimes. So is everything. Start start start from the top like from the government.

Colby Mocarski: [00:19:10] So, with not a lot of job opportunities before you moved to the United States even if it was just for a short period of time. What job did you have in Mexico?

Paola Iturbide: [00:19:22] I was just like Secretary.

Colby Mocarski: [00:19:26] What. What did that involve?

Paola Iturbide: [00:19:30] What do you mean?

Colby Mocarski: [00:19:31] Like what were your tasks to do every day?

Paola Iturbide: [00:19:35] Just type things on the computer. Answer the phone. It was awful.

Colby Mocarski: [00:19:42] So how does that compare to like the salary you made in that job. How does that compare to the salary that you’re making in your current job?

Paola Iturbide: [00:19:51] Yeah it’s way like this is a bad job also. Also that’s the difference. Like I had a bad job over there and they pay me like thirty dollars per day. So that’s, no not thirty dollars like twenty dollars per day. And that was an eight hour shift in here a bad job. You get paid per day seventy dollars so that’s a huge amount of difference. That’s the difference. Working in Mexico than working here and in Mexico you work one day and you you can like if you work in that bad job for the whole month you can just buy groceries and that’s it. You don’t like you. You don’t have money to pay rent and to do other stuff in here. If you work a bad job you can’t pay rent. You can have food and you can live decent. That’s the difference between Mexico and the United States that you can live more decently having bad jobs.

Colby Mocarski: [00:20:55] In the span of comparing these two jobs. There is a difference on how far a dollar goes so even though you getting paid less in your other job your money probably went for the men in the United States because things are more expensive here right?

Paola Iturbide: [00:21:13] Yeah. But you can like, but it depends where you go if you to the dollar family store. It’s really cheap. Well it depends on what you do.

Colby Mocarski: [00:21:25] Yeah because the big thing in America right now is buying organic and buying one freshly grown products and going to farmer’s markets which can all be really expensive. So do you see a culture of like Americans spending more. Just because we have more?

Paola Iturbide: [00:21:43] Yeah. I mean here I can see like this consumerism, comsume. How do you say the word? Like you consume a lot like you just want to consume a lot of stuff. It’s a lot of competition. And because these are first world, first world country like they have everything and more so if you were to a store you just want to buy like everything because you can’t like you see everything it’s like you can buy with your credit card. You’re gonna pay it in, I don’t know six months. So it’s consumerism, you you people are buying and buying and stuff that they don’t need.

Colby Mocarski: [00:22:37] Right. So how are things like talking about stores and groceries and that thing like how are they different in the United States than in Mexico? Like do you see a huge difference, are things helps here in one place or another?

Paola Iturbide: [00:22:54] No it’s just like here. I see also the fruit and everything is really I don’t know the word, it is they made their fruit not natural because they don’t know the orange. It doesn’t have seeds. So I think food here is really processed, and in Mexico. No because of their consumerism. So a lot of competition. So people here the food is not healthy like natural like in Mexico and it’s expensive here also.

Colby Mocarski: [00:23:42] So did when you were coming to the United States did you also see it was harder or easier to find somewhere to live to find friends too?

Paola Iturbide: [00:23:54] Oh yeah. It’s really hard here to find like friends and it’s on where to leave also because they ask you for so many stuff like cosigner any of you don’t know anyone is really difficult. And I think people here live more by, they do everything they own and they find people on apps because they are so involved in just their job and just in themselves that they are not like involved in different stuff like in Mexico because here is expense here I’d like to go to our country club and people don’t do that here because it’s expensive just for rich people. The difference in Mexico is like to go to a country club it’s cheap so it’s more like people hang out more. You don’t have to meet someone like community. Yeah because this is cheaper. Like being middle class can go to our country club in here, middle class they cannot do that, people get more and more together. They have more time to do things with their friends. And here everything needs money and work work work work.

Colby Mocarski: [00:25:26] So what would you like when the public is listening to this interview like what is one main thing you want them to take away from your story?

Paola Iturbide: [00:25:38] To think about twice if you don’t have papers to come here you are going to have a better life. You are going to live decent but if you don’t have papers you are going to live like slaves. You are going to work. I work in a restaurant that they hire immigrants and they work from 8:00 in the morning to 10:00 at night and you are going to have a car you’re going to have more things that you’re going to have in Mexico where you are going to work a lot because here things are expensive here, than down in Mexico makes it you can leave poor but you are going to be free. So think twice. Call me here if you don’t have papers. You are not going to be happy. You marry an American or something like that.

Colby Mocarski: [00:26:29] So are also be students listening to the interview. So what do you think they can learn from your story? Like about your immigration experiences your work experiences your living experiences like what’s one main thing you want people and students to learn from your experiences? People are learning about immigration. So as an immigrant like what do you want them to learn from your experience?

Paola Iturbide: [00:27:04] Like I was. I’m not like kind of an immigrant because I have papers but my my friend that I meet here she was she was an immigrant and she didn’t have papers and she lived like hiding because she had to drive with no license. And she always had to be like hiding from the police. She had to work in a Mexican restaurant that they don’t ask for a social security number and anything. And she worked like a slave. So she couldn’t like anything because she didn’t know they, she she couldn’t go out of the country because her their papers were in process to be American citizen. So if you don’t have papers like is no worth it come in here is worth it. Like coming here for a while and then come back just like save money and then come back because here things are really expensive. So if you work like that as an immigrant you are going to earn money but you are going to spend, spend that all and leave just live by the day. The thing to believe you are an immigrant and don’t have papers work a lot and then go back to Mexico or that place that you are and do something there with that money that you earn here because living here is like you’re going to be living good but you are never going to be free.

Colby Mocarski: [00:28:28] Well thank you for this interview. It’s great talking to you and learning about your personal experiences!

Paola Iturbide: [00:28:34] Thank you! Bye!

 

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Honduras to Albemarle: Sofhia

Interview with Sofhia

by Zach Sims

Sofhia Pineda is a 17 year old high school student in Albemarle County, Va who immigrated with her family three years ago from San Pedro Sula, Honduras. This interview outlines her journey in transitioning lives from Honduras to the United States, as well as the climate which brought her family here. Also, she highlights the differences in education from the two countries. This interview helps give perspective on the experiences of people who immigrate while still being in school.

[00:03] my name is Zach Sims and it is October 14th. It’s about 12 in the afternoon and I am here with Sopfia. I’m go ahead and introduce yourself.
[00:14] Hi, I’m Sopfia Pineda.
[00:19] Yeah. So, uh, just general information, like how old are you? Where you live, what school do you go to?
[00:23] Okay, so I’m 17 years old. I go to Albemarle high school. I live in Charlottesville, Virginia.
[00:32] Yeah. Good. No, no, no pressure. This is just, we’re just talking. I can go back and edit if we need to. I can cut stuff out. Don’t worry about it. Alright. So, um, you are a Latino immigrant officially to the United States. So where are you initially from?
[00:50] So I am from some San Pedro Sula around.
[00:53] Ooh, I like that. That’s the way that he said that. Sorry.
[00:57] Um, yeah. Uh, I grew up in a very, what while San Pedro Sula is the most, it is industrial city and Honduras, I grew up there,
[01:17] so. Okay, so let’s talk about Honduras as a whole right now. So, what’s kind of like the situation going on in Honduras? Is it kind of like unrest or people like for the most part kind of alright or like what’s going on in Honduras right now? Because I’m not exactly familiar with that situation there.
[01:38] I’m so right now. Honduras is a very dangerous in some way. We have a lot of problems with gangs and robbery and especially where I lived we had, we were basically surrounded by the areas that were the most like that were attacked more frequently. Yeah. And, and yeah, it was. Well I grew up in a very, like I, I grew up segregated from the world basically. So, I like my childhood basically. I didn’t went out or like I didn’t hang out with friends a lot or I couldn’t go out and just like enjoy my childhood. So, I basically spend my whole time in it for, in like a bedroom with full of toys. And that was it. That was my childhood.
[02:35] Yeah, I know. I’m just. Because I know you, um, your parents are fairly strict. Would you say that was kind of common for people in your area or was really just because your parents were trying to protect you from, from stuff going on?
[02:47] So I guess more generally I feel like Hispanic parents especially, they’re very strict, but my parents kind of just like inherited that cultural thing. Oh, Hispanic community I guess. And um, well my, my whole life I grew up in a school that was Christian and we spoke English. We had every single class in English and we just had like one class in Spanish. Wow. Yeah. Um, so it was, it was basically from my house to school and from my school to my house. So like back and forth, nothing between.

[03:23] Was it a Catholic school?

[03:30] It was not, it was an angelic school, like it’s very similar to a baptist. Yeah. So we had and we had like a church and also in school.
[03:41] Interesting. So how big was the, uh, the town or city that you grew up in?
[03:46] Um, since it was the industrial city ah, in Hondurash, I guess it was very well populated almost. It was very big. Well, it is very big. Yeah.
[04:00] So you’re saying industrial, so there were a lot of factories and stuff around the people worked in to most people work in the factories, um, and kind of like I have some job connected to those companies. I’m kind of like how here in Charlottesville, like so many people work for Uva and like everybody seems like they do something with Uva. Um, was it kind of a similar deal there?
[04:20] Um, I guess where you live, it depends where you stand. It’s like socially I guess. Um, my, well, my family, none of us, we didn’t like grew up in like that kind of environment I guess, but I knew a lot of people that have worked in factories and yeah, it was, even though it was not the capital offender is a list like the second most populated city.
[04:55] Um, more things about Honduras, uh, what are some of the things that, um, you think are distinct? Honduras um kind of in comparison to the other parts of Central America. Um, so like whether it’s like a specific food or a specific tradition that you guys did, like is there something that you would say is specifically very like? Oh yeah, that’s obviously from Honduras.
[05:20] So what I think most people say about Honduras is like, Oh, do you want to know the most dangerous place in the world? Especially where I live and uh, yeah, I mean we are very similar to other countries in Central America. We basically have the same traditions. I guess we have our own food, we produce our own food and we have a do you want me to be specific? Okay. Um, we had food that is very popular, that’s called Ballatas a has beans, cheese, eggs.
[06:05] Then that’s like fried or is it just like a plate of food that you kinda like make up together?
[06:09] So it’s Kinda like a flour tortilla. Yeah, I guess. And you put the beans in there, you can even put chicken if you want to Yeah, it’s very good.
[06:21] All right, cool. So let’s start talking about a little bit of immigration working towards going to the United States. So what would you say were some of the main causes of your family deciding to kind of pick up things and leave?
[06:39] So kind of like going back to like,

wait, hold on, sorry. Not just you. How old were you when you guys moved over here?

14.

  1. All right. So this was three years ago?

Three years ago. Yeah. So like free recently we, uh, so like I think the 23rd of October. No, September. Yeah, September just recently. Just recently. And let’s say so like Kinda like going back. My Dad, he was a lawyer for the government and then my mom was like, what? So um, he handled money for the government and then my mom for eight years, she was like, I guess you will call it a call her, like the superintendent here from like a district in Honduras. So after that and my mom, she was a principal at school at a, like a high school in Honduras, like on the afternoons and then in the morning she was like a regular Spanish teacher. So she had like two jobs and then my dad, he was still working in the same place. And then, uh, we have a very, we have an issue in Honduras, but like politically, uh, so if you’re from one party than if that party wins in the elections than like they take control of everything, you know. So where my dad used to work, he would he say a democratic liberal.
[08:11] Yeah. So what are the names of those two parties? Like the Spanish names, what would you call him in Honduras?
[08:16] Do you want me to say in Spanish? But the Liberal Party liberal team basically. And then the other party is like nationalists. Yeah. Okay. So my dad, uh, my family is very, they’re like, we were very like, uh, I guess integrated into politics. My parents had worked for the government. Exactly. So of dealing with stuff. Yeah, exactly. So I think it was the elections of 2013, 2014 around there that the nationalist, I won the election in injuries and uh, like they. So my dad had a job and like I said, right. And then like they tried everything they could to take him out of the job just because he was not from the same party as they. Uh, okay. So, um, so yeah, that happened. So he got fired. He demanded. Yeah. So he, um, so he, um, so he sued the government and he won the demand. So we kind of had a lot of money and like my dad was in the news and everything. Yeah. So like having a lot of money and also going on the news then people are gonna Think, oh family. Yeah, that family has a lot of money so we have to go and like about them or something.
[09:44] Say that you guys like it’s. Yeah, that’s, that’s like an interesting situation. It’s almost like, not quite like political refuge but like you guys were just gone in a sticky situation in Honduras and it really wouldn’t be great for you to guys to stay there because you know, another party who had control and your dad was very involved with politics and you just won this, the suit against the power of the party. That has a lot of control. That’s interesting. So would you say this is kind of like a, a deep in my maybe personal question? Um, uh, would you say that you guys were any in any like physical danger if you guys had stayed or do were, you know, do you think it was much less of something like that and much more just political thing?
[10:27] I think it was like a little bit of both because if you’re very like involved in politics then other people know that you’re involved in those politics so you kind of have to like take your risk and going out there. So once he was fired, we stayed like that for two years. So because he was a lawyer, so he, he like, he did some little stuff he seemed like he could handle, taking small cases for some people but we couldn’t stay like that.
[10:57] Yeah, all the time. So that’s interesting because a lot of times you just think like, I’m like monetary gain or like money. It’s like,
[11:10] oh no, you’re fine. Oh my God. Yeah, just do you need to know.
[11:24] So like normally you think of a like monetary gain being something you need in order to, to flee the situation and get out of the country, like you have to, you have to gather up as much money as possible and that’s kind of what’s holding you back. But with your guys’ situation, like you just won this lawsuit and all of a sudden you have this abundance of money and that existence of the abundance of money kind of pushed you guys out because like, um, it doesn’t look good for a political opponent to have a lot of money, you know, and kind of like. So That’s interesting. Um, all right. So what did the process, this is kind of like the nitty gritty stuff. What did the process of coming to the United States look like? Were you like, I don’t even know. It did take a long time for you guys in Honduras to be able to say like, let’s get on a plane and go. And then like once you got here, what did it look like? Um, so just give me the details of that, like how you felt, you know, kind of the whole way that you felt through the process is also kind of important.
[12:22] So let’s see. I was, so I was a bath so like I was about to get to go to high school basically when we came here. So we have been talking about that back in Honduras for like a year in something because we had a, my family, like Andrea’s has a family, like coming here for a similar situation. So we thought okay so if we go then we’re going to have like family support are there and everything but we stayed like that for a year. Like are we going to go, are we going to stay in something like that because like my mom, she was very attached to her work I guess. So it was like an like a struggle to convince her basically to like come here.
[13:05] I mean it’s a, it’s a big deal. You’re like picking up your entire life and leaving.
[13:10] Exactly. And I was like 14, oh, I already know what I’m going to do with my life or something like that.
[13:18] Yeah. All right. So, um, did you guys like apply for anything or did you just like get passports and go?
[13:26] So we already had, we already had this visa here, so I guess like an advantage for like for my brother and myself to like having this like fluent English school that spoke English. Yeah, exactly. And because we’ve been here like almost every Christmas we came here to visit. Yeah. So like we have family down in Rockville, Maryland. We also have family in New York and Miami, so we kinda like went all over the place during the holidays and we done, we went back to Honduras but this time we were like okay. So if we traveled with the visa thing, we’re going to go there and we’re going to apply for asylum basically. So that’s like the legal stuff that we did and still in process I guess.
[14:14] Okay. So you guys haven’t officially like gotten the paperwork that you need to be live here, but you guys are kind of just waiting for it to go through processing still.
[14:23] So we have like, we have legal, legal status a year. We don’t have exactly like the asylum, that’s the one that Andrew family just got like recently, probably like a couple of months ago. And so, um, I guess we’re still waiting for that. It’s been like three years and they waited like five years. So we are so like we’re hoping that something, some loss change through this because like there, there had been some news that some are going to be some reforms through immigration crap all over the place. Exactly. And so we are hoping something comes out but um, we like we were approved to like being the process of the asylum so we have our social security and that’s the way we can work in like say for taxes and everything. So yeah.
[15:14] So that’s really helpful that you guys came and visited every year for Christmas because you guys already had your visa is and you didn’t have to wait and stuff like that. Obviously you’re still waiting a lot of processing. Um, all right, that’s good. Um, so transitioning to the United States, you said already that you went to a school that spoke English, so you, your English was already good basically. What was life like coming to the United States and living here? Like what did you just tell me about it? How did you feel about it?
[15:44] So I guess in education it was like a lot different. I guess like teachers here have a lot of like, um, they’re very professional so like you have to have a year degree to a able to go and be able to teach and stuff like that. But backing Andrew is like if you know English and you know math, you’re going to be a teacher. So that’s basically it. So my, I remember like my math teacher back in Honduras, she had recently graduated from high school and then because she was really good at math, oh you’re going to be it teacher, that she was really good but it was not like professional I guess or like not teacher material. And so when we came here like teachers are very prepared for the classes and they know what they’re doing and like, so it was pretty great, like educated, like in the education side I guess. But then like making friends, it was so hard. It was really hard.
[16:48] So um. Okay, let’s go into that a little bit. So what was the best way I think that for you, what was the best way for you to make friends? Was it was like clubs or just like being in class with people and making jokes and saying hey, you know, like we have this thing in common, like, you know, whatever, what was Kinda the best way that you went about making it
[17:06] So I feel like more recently add fell more comfortable, like talking to like being, being open and talking to people. But back then, like two years ago, I didn’t talk to anyone, like I have my cousins with me anywhere in high school, so it was like during lunch we, we just hung out together and it was basically just asked, us, like talking to each other. So like the first few years for like kind of hard because like you, I, I didn’t, I just felt like that language barrier was like keeping me from like speaking up and stuff like that. But um, recently I just, it was just different I guess. Yeah. And I think like ever since Puerto Rico, I just felt like mean just go for it.
[17:58] So your senior year you guys take advantage of it

[17:59] Yeah. And like I’m doing everything I’m doing like clubs, cra the other way. And I just recently started a club called Latin acts. There’s one at Uva and one in Charlottesville. So we decided to open one in Albemarle and yeah, I just feel like, well we talk like 50 percent English, 50 percent Spanish and I don’t know, I just feel like being involved in like the school and given like the Latino community, like a voice in school. It’s, yeah, it’s been pretty good. It was very important.
[18:34] Shoot, had a question. Okay. So kind of like broader like stuff. Um, what were some things that like culturally speaking, coming from Honduras to the United States kind of you found is like shocking or like wow, I really like that’s, you know, almost exactly the same way that we do things in Honduras or like, um, so like what are things that like kind of shocked you, things that were like didn’t really surprise you and kind of just something you found interesting about the switch from Honduras?
[19:06] So we have a very different culture, very, very different. Um, especially for my family. We grew up like my brother and I, we grew up in a very religious family. So there were stuff that we couldn’t deal and stuff or we could do. And what I noticed is that, um, like people here in the US, like even though you’re a Christian or you’re not a Christian, you hang out with your friends when you go eat, you, you go eat with them or go catch a movie or something like that. Exactly. And then in Honduras I couldn’t do any of that. Like if I went out it was probably just with my parents or if I went out with her friends, it was basically they had to be there as well. So very strict.
[19:55] Wow. Okay. Um, so what was one thing that you kind of, or were there any things that you really thought like, hey, that’s kind of similar to or you didn’t really notice or you know, kind of something that just seemed the same.
[20:06] the same?
[20:10] because normally you highlight like, wow, it’s so different. Like we do all these things and under earth and you guys do all these things here. But I guess one thing that I thought might be a good question to ask is like if there’s any way that people act and kind of do things that’s the same, you know,
[20:27] whether it’s like even something as simple as like we eat the same time, you know, or like, um, I dunno, the way that we care about sports is the same even though it’s a different sport or something like that. Do you think there’s anything like that or.
[20:43] I’m like,
[20:46] yeah, probably sports we have a soccer and under is I guess it’s Kinda like, well it’s not a big thing in the US. I guess they like liked football better than they do soccer. But I mean they are very um, I guess like very into sports. A lot of people like we have a lot of like a small groups in hunters or like a football or soccer. I don’t know the difference. I mean I didn’t notice a difference but I don’t know which one you need. Okay. Uh, so we have a lot of, like different groups in Honduras and I feel like people are very inclined to follow a, a, like a certain sport. You didn’t hear a lot in Honduras, like someone playing tennis or golf specially golf. And so yeah, I guess like the, I don’t know is, it doesn’t really relate with my life I guess because yeah, my family, we are not very into sports as well. Not Me

[21:48] did uh, uh, Honduras go to war with El Salvador over like a couple of soccer.
[21:55] Yes, yes, yes. I heard about that. I, I don’t know the whole story, but I did hear about it.
[22:00] I don’t think it was actually about soccer games, but I think
[22:03] I like um, I, I heard about that they were fighting for an island or something like that and that’s like very close to El Salvador and like it’s what it’s like, it’s like right in the middle, in the middle of like El Salvador and Honduras. But what I knew is that Honduras bought, that island, but because it was like covering one side of the tub, either word, they were claiming that it was theirs. So
[22:28] Yeah. So that’s probably more important than like a soccer match, but it Kinda gets hailed at that because that’s really funny. So. Okay, here’s a good question. I’m kind of like with the sense of community in Honduras, I know you were sheltered so you probably didn’t see as much of that, but I’m sure you could probably be at least a little bit familiar with it was, were there any like major differences just between like people in the same neighborhood having, um, like ties or something like, you know, feeling like they’re close and bonded. Whereas like over here, like I don’t know anybody in my neighborhood for the most part, you know, versus like church groups that you had, you know, you feel really bonded. There is a kind of a, the sense of community. Is there anything really different or are harsh that you found in your, in from going there to here?
[23:23] So I, I guess I didn’t really live this, but I know a lot of people, like people from communities and like, uh, from neighborhoods, they knew each other. Like I guess if you didn’t have your keys to get to your home, you just go to your neighbor and stay there for like the afternoon till your parents got there. And it was like, people are very friendly and they’re very open with each other and they create a relationship like that. Uh, I mean I’ve read a lot of stories of like, oh, my neighbor, she’s my best friend or she’s like, I tell her all my secrets and now everything, everything. Right. And I mean, I didn’t grow up like that, but yeah, I, I,
[24:02] you kind of have like a little bit of a special story, I guess in that sense. Yeah. Okay. So what
[24:12] I want to phrase this, um, shoot. I had it in my head. I’m sorry. So, um, okay. So what was it like? I’m just being in the United States. Um, shoot. I lost my train of thought. I had it, I had it right on the tip of my tongue. Hold on, it’s coming back. I’m going to cut this part out. Um. Oh yeah. So coming in, you said that Andrea and her family, so you guys like New People in this area, do they live, do they live in Charlottesville when you guys were back trying to make the decision? Um,
[24:53] yes. So when they came here and they like they spend like one or two weeks in Brotha, Maryland with my other family but then they moved to Charlottesville just because he thought they was going to be better and they started working at a restaurant and then they start to move on from that. It wants to legal stuff starting this or starting to like uh, like take in like taking place in everything. So we were just looking at how they were doing with all, like how they were basically like moving on from like the harsh, like lifestyle or like the difference on like coming to this country now because you’re not doing the same job. Yeah, exactly. Like you have to really start over exactly like it’s basically like starting your whole life over and not, not just for like us as teenagers or young adults, but like for your parents that they’d basically be able to live there. So like her, her mom, like she used to work, like at the same, like basically the same thing that my mom used to work and then she came here and they started working at a restaurant like as a family, but then they started to like progress and like, um, so we kind of saw their example as to like think like a motivation basically to come here and like, like it’s like it’s hard but then you’re going to move on from that. It’s going to get better basically.
[26:15] So there’s um, kind of the theory behind him or that works with immigration and it’s called networking. So it’s kind of like once somebody comes and starts to do it and they can do it, like they don’t necessarily invite, but they influenced the other people that they know back home basically. And it makes it easier for them to come and like, oh, hey, I know this person, here’s a job here, like I can set you up kind of thing. And it just knowing people around makes it easier to live there and get stuff down. Definitely. So like once that first family does come and it’s successful. So like Andrea’s family, which is incredibly difficult to do just in general, um, like that kind of plays along with the theory. Like it just, I’m sure it made the decision a little bit easier knowing that they were here. Um, do you know of any other reasons why you guys came or would come to Charlottesville other than really you guys knew Rudy and his family came here and were successful.
[27:14] So, um, uh, when we came here three years ago, the first year we, we used to live in Rockville, Maryland guys, they look out there for a little while. Yeah. So we stay there longer than they did. But then um, we just thought that opportunities here in Charlottesville were like bigger for my family. And then like my, like under his mother, she got like a job at a preschool and so my mom saw it and saw that and she was like, oh, I think I can do that because my mom has like a greater mass or like a level of education that my, than my aunt. So she was like, oh, so if she did it that way, that it’s possible that I could do it the same way. So that was kinda like one of the things that we inquire, we chose to stay in Charlottesville the longest I guess. Okay.
[28:03] So, um, you guys have been in Charlottesville for two years then, right? So, um, you can answer yes or no for this. I’m not like pressuring you to answering like, oh yeah, but um, can you kind of feel like a sense of ownership and a sense of community with just Charlottesville itself or um, or that kind of in comparison to like back home or even in Rockville, you guys were there for a year? Um, because like certainly I’ve grown up in Charlottesville my entire life and I, I definitely feel a sense of like logging and like, oh yeah, that’s like Charlottesville, that’s where I live. That’s my home city. Do you kind of have any of the same vibes or similar feelings? We Charlottesville or you know, like is that, are you still like, Nah, that’s not really, just kind of where I live.
[28:46] Probably not. I mean that’s perfectly fine now you feel more comfortable when you’re around people that you’ve known your entire life, you know, and like people that speak your same language. So no, probably not, not yet.
[29:00] I mean, yeah, I don’t want to pressure you and be like, Oh, you have to love Charlottesville because like there are plenty of them,
[29:08] especially when the, I guess I’m really trying to like, just like to feel comfortable in a place where it’s not where I grew up basically.
[29:16] Yeah. Okay. That’s a great bridge into my next question. So like you mentioned the Latino Club that you started, what was the name of that again? Latin acts. Yeah. Um, and it kind of like being comfortable and like it’s not your first language and coming in. So how do you think I’m like that, like what, what does that feel like not being comfortable in like your own high school and kind of like your language and things like that and coming into a new country and then kind of after you answered that question, where do you see going forward and how can we make it better for people that are coming in or are comfortable and especially the Latino community. Um, kind of how we can make them feel more comfortable and you know, Kinda open up things so that they are better.
[30:03] So, um, the Lantin acts club was started this year and our goal is to give a voice to those, uh, uh, like Latinas at school and feel that um, they don’t have to go to school just because they have to get their classes done. But because it’s a place where they can gather together and make friends and like hang out and feel comfortable. Even though it’s not a place where you grew up that it’s not a place that you know, that you’ve had, have known like your entire life, you know. So our goal is our goal is to like integrate those people and give them like an environment where they can feel that they belong somewhere. So like event. And so I went on a leadership retreat this past weekend and I feel like I learned a lot from them from that because like they’re trying to get involved more and more people that are not just like American, you know, like when I was there this past weekend, it was just like five people that were in there were not from like from here. So we had I guess so yeah, like four people from Latin America and then another person from Afghanistan. And so what we’re trying to do is to get more people into going through those theater retreat in like feel that they belong somewhere and identified themselves. Like, oh, that’s Albemarle high school. I went there and like, yeah, I made. I made a lot of memories over there. So make them feel like they’re at home basically.
[31:40] Yeah. That’s awesome. So where do you think, what do you think we can do better? Kind of as a society or a Charlottesville or just as teenagers even, um, to make people feel more welcome and feel more at home. Um, and kind of get away from this idea of like, oh, I’m an American because I grew up here, I’m white, I’m redneck, you know, like, I kind of get away from that idea and into like, you know, this is your home, this because this is where you live and you should feel comfortable. How do you, how do you think we can like, do better at that?
[32:12] So I guess like we like the Latino communities and other people that are in nature that didn’t grow up in the US a day. We just want to feel that they belong somewhere when they come here. So I guess like we have to adapt to this new culture so that, uh, um, the weekend, like succeed or like move on from this or like, yeah, make work. Um, we can just integrate everyone, you know, because the, uh, one of my problems was like, I just felt like the school was very segregated so we had like this type of people taking honors or AP classes or this going to people taking like ESL classes or like they’re not allowed to take any other languages because they now have to learn English. So one of the thing, one of the things that I’m doing is that a, like regular classes like personal finance or this require P.E., those required classes that you have to take to like mix them together and create a sense that it’s not segregated and it’s more like diverse. So like include them in everything they do. And uh, this year what we’re doing in Albemarle is not like if we have a spirit week, we’re not just doing posters in English, we’re doing it in Spanish or in another or another languages we have around a school. So like making them feel more like integrated in it plays where I mean they, they didn’t grow up in. So like making them feel welcome.
[33:46] Yeah, that’s awesome. Okay. Um, all right. So I guess just one more big question, I’m kind of reflections that you’ve had as a whole kind of looking at the way that you felt during the whole process and kind of, um, the entirety of, of moving countries entirely different societies, um, kind of what you get from that. What do you get from that? Like, um, what did you learn from that? Was it good, bad, you know, not really that great experience and kind of just self reflections and like final thoughts kind of,
[34:24] um, it was pretty hard I guess when we came here because we didn’t have like a house to stay too, so, um, I dunno, I guess so the first year, like I said before and we stayed with my aunt down in Rockville, Maryland, so we kind of like lived in her basement for a couple of months and then we moved here. Um, but it was not like it was now you’re home. It was, it didn’t feel like home. So yeah, definitely it’s, yeah.
[34:56] Can’t imagine like picking up things and moving to China or something.
[34:59] Yeah. And I mean like we just like, we had a, like a bag with us and that was it. That’s crazy. Yeah. I mean all our stuff, all this stuff that my mom bought recently in Honduras. It was just gone
[35:13] know people say like, oh, it’s such an adventure, but. No, that’s terrifying. Fine. Yeah. Alright, well that’s pretty much all at all. I have, um, that’s 35 minutes of speaking. Thanks for allowing me to do this. I’m going to write a lot of stuff about this and um, yeah, that’s, that’s all I got. Okay.
[35:34] If you need more things, I feel like I like, I’m not telling it not. I mean we can, we can do this again and just like mean nothing. If I think of a good amount of big questions just like write them down, then we can do like a 10 minute supplements or something like that. That will be perfect.

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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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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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