Honduras to Albemarle: Sofhia
Interview with Sofhia
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.
- 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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