Interview with Melody Fevrier
Introduction
“She grew and with that, came curves and contours, with that a feather broke through, the soft flesh of her back. With time the feathers… became a wing, never did she think a wing would become two, She knew not how to fly, but neither was she grounded, to the earth beneath her.” ~Melody Fevrier from Still She Grew (Angel Child)
It was more than enlightening to first handedly learn about the journey of someone from another country through personal experience and face to face conversation. Melody Fevrier was born in Saint Lucia, a part of the Caribbean Islands and first came to the US in 2016, and again in 2017 through a student visa, and has been here ever since. She and her partner, Teel, have been traveling all over the US since August 2023 and will continue to several other countries throughout the next year. Although they don’t technically have a home at the moment, Melody lived in Chicago, Illinois before her travels. I was able to get in touch with her through one of my very close relatives that intr
oduced us. Melody went to the same university in Chicago with my relative and one of my siblings too. It was really nice to have that sort of connection where we both know someone and can relate to something even before meeting; it made the interview more smooth and stress free. An underlying theme that came from this interview is how race played a role in the move to the US. It was one of the first things Melody noticed when settling here; that the idea of race in the US is way different than it was down in St. Lucia. Other than race itself, she also noticed that adjusting her personality and the way she speaks, which are all connected, would be inevitable, even if it was unconscious.
One thing Melody mentioned a couple of times was her relationship to time back in Saint Lucia compared to the US when I asked what is different about life in each place. She remarked that “Time made me more methodical,” when talking about how fast paced things are here compared to “island time” where it’s all slow in St. Lucia. Going deeper with the idea of time, Melody learned that it’s important for people to respect their own time and to show up when you’re supposed to, “people viewed your respect for them with how they respected your time,” which seems different back in St. Lucia, where showing up was good enough in some situations. Melody specifically talked about this within the university system when she came here on a school visa and learned pretty quickly that showing up on time is quite important in a learning environment. I hope that Melody eventually reaches a point where she begins to slow down again because of what she mentioned about how this fast-paced life is not very good for her emotional and physical wellbeing.
Going to school, meeting new people and traveling has put Melody in a position to have to make adjustments regarding who she is as a person. The first thing we talked about in the interview was how she came in with an accent, which she had to learn to adjust in order to hold a conversation. She talked about the amount of self awareness it created for her because of repeating herself or making sure people understood what she was saying. How you speak, what you say and the language you grew up with is connected to your personality, which Melody said is something she felt she had to hide parts of to “fit in.” Other than her accent, Melody connected her life in St. Lucia and the US by explaining her lack of feeling like she belongs after living in both places. Like we discussed in class, she feels like she has one foot in both places, not truly knowing her own community. For example, having to hide parts of herself and her personality based on how complicated race is here in the US and faking things that you normally wouldn’t have to in order to feel like you have a place and people just like you is exhausting. She refers to this situation as, “playing the game of where do you fit in,” which is harder for her who doesn’t feel like she fits in with white or black people since moving here. Being in the US for about 7 years, Melody talked about the lack of community like she had back in St. Lucia, “There was little to no Caribbean culture.” It’s hard for people from that area to really find people who share the same culture and shared experience because people tend to group together all cultures in the Caribbean without thought. Specifically with food, when asking about the
stereotypes, Melody brought up how people in the US tend to group Jamaican food with St. Lucian food even though they are completely different. Furthermore, I also asked her about the culture shock she felt when she arrived in the US. The idea of how we see race in America is definitely something that people notice when arriving and living here, “a persona based on my skin color was really strange to me.” The way it is so political and how much controversy that it holds is hard to ignore here. Melody talked about how we tend to group people together based on skin color and how she feels she has to “play the game” of where you fit in. This point supports the idea of not knowing where you fit in when you come here, especially as that first or second generation immigrant. Her friend from Chile, who immigrated here, described this feeling as “going through a portal, you’re stuck in that portal in the in between of this is not quite home where I live, and then back home is not quite home either because I’ve changed so much.” Even after being here for 7 years, Melody still feels the need to hide parts of herself to “fit in” so to speak, or as a way of feeling accepted by the people around her. This stems from the fact that going from St. Lucia to the US, Melody has changed parts of herself to where she feels unrelatable to both white people and black people in certain areas, making it even harder to find that community and truly feel accepted in her new home.
Melody lit up with joy discussing the topic of food because of growing up cooking with her mom and sharing food from St. Lucia with her friends she met in America. One of her favorite foods is Roti, which is a homemade wrap described as “buttery” and “flaky” filled with Indian curry, chicken and potatoes. It was so interesting to talk about her native food, holidays and music like Soka that shed light on intense culture and celebration in the St. Lucian community. Other than food, Melody also told me about their certain holidays they celebrate that surround their history and their native language, French Creole. Although her favorite holiday is Christmas, which I can agree with, it was fascinating to hear about holidays that I’m not familiar with to gain insight on Melody Fevrier and her journey. One thing I realized throughout this interview was how much someone can remember about where they’re from, even though they are absorbing a whole new culture in a brand new place and it seems to only help your experience wherever you move to. When it comes to friends and family from home, it was unfortunate to hear about the lack of interest her friends seem to have in Melody’s journey in America. This, according to Melody, helped her realize how much she’s changed since moving to the US, like it “jolts’ ‘ you out of who you think you are and what you’re used to. She referred to this feeling as “reverse culture shock” as a way to describe the feeling of being back in St. Lucia after experiencing different cultures here. A highlight that Melody mentioned is how her relationship with her mom changed for the better after 2017 because of independently experiencing and learning new things in her time in the states. Going to school, meeting new people and exploring helped her realize that the social norms she grew up with within her family and community, might not be the same in every place. This seemed to be a good thing because the experience helped her to gain a new perspective on being more thoughtful, “which has helped open growth and closeness” with her family, and it was extra special to be there when she realized this. After talking about her new relationship with her mom and big brother, she ended it with, “I feel like I only just now realized it as I said it to you,” which I felt lucky to be present for.
When we were going over the citizen and green card process, I felt like Melody experienced a unique situation in which she had help with the process. She and her partner hired a lawyer to help with the papers. Even though she isn’t technically a citizen yet, she did receive her green card, which allowed the couple to do their traveling for the year. It was relieving to hear how smoothly it went for her, and she was surprised as well. After coming here for school, she started the process of receiving a green card. Melody mentioned that without the lawyer, it would definitely be a struggle and confusing process because they don’t give much information on why and where it’s going, but it has to be done. I did ask about other issues with this because even with a lawyer, it was still an odd process and, “the why’s we’re not very clear,” according to
Melody. I could sense the empathy in Melody’s voice as she talked about this experience compared to others, “I can imagine that’s really stressful to other people who don’t have that middle person who knows exactly what they’re doing.” There were also the questions that felt unclear, even with the lawyer’s help, so for anyone going through this, it can seem to be a very stressful and confusing situation, “without guidance, I think it would be more challenging.”
It was inspiring to hear about her travel plans with her partner, Teel, because it was a goal they set and they made it happen. I could tell during the interview that Melody was truly passionate about her career and degree in music. Although she isn’t working at the moment, she still makes time to volunteer for a program called the Human Values Collective. It seems that she wants to feel connected to that part of herself, even on the road and nomadic for the time being.
This interview was a really special process to listen to and interact with Melody. The experience shared through questions and answers helped me gain an understanding of the journey and people like Melody, who decide to immigrate and share their story. Because we learned about these types of processes in our class, I was familiar with these concepts about immigrating, but hearing a personal story and getting to know someone who went through that process, helped me gain a deeper perspective on the matter.
Sawyer: [00:00:00] All right. Hello, I’m Sawyer Peterson, and I am interviewing my close relative’s good friend.
Melody: Hello, I am Melody Fevrier, and I am happy to be here.
Sawyer: So first I just wanted to start out where are you from?
Melody: Yeah, I’m from, uh, St. Lucia, so that’s a Caribbean island close to South America.
Sawyer: Yeah, my parents have been there.
That’s awesome.
Melody:Yeah, it’s very pretty. Yeah,
Sawyer: and, um, when did you move to the U.
Um,
Melody: I moved to the U. S. in 2016. Well. I guess it’s like, what moved specifically? The first time, yeah, yeah. The first time I came was in 2016 and I did, um, like a, a summer music festival. Um, and then I spent some time looking at colleges and then [00:01:00] I, um, but then I left.
I auditioned for a college and then, uh, got in and then went back home. And then came back, like, as an, uh, a student, um, so a different status, I guess you could say, in 2017. Um, so first as a visitor in 2016, and then in 2017, officially moved as a student. Yeah.
Sawyer: Awesome. So you went to a university here?
Melody: Mm hmm. I, uh, went to a university in Chicago, Roosevelt University, and then transferred to North Park University. Oh, you did go to North Park. Where Judy was. Yeah, where Judy was. I mean, I was in there when Judy was there, but, um, yeah.
Sawyer: That’s where my sister went to. Oh, okay. Yeah. ,
So what was the like from your life in, like, St.
Lucia to
Melody:now? Mm. Where to begin? Um, well, I think one of the hardest things, um, [00:02:00] or I will start with one of the most immediate things, was just that I had an accent and it was hard to have conversation the first, uh, maybe month that I was there. I had to repeat myself a lot, um, in how I said things. Um, so for me, that took a lot of intentionality.
How I was speaking and what I was saying, um, like almost a self awareness, like more aware of myself in a strange way, um, um, so that’s one thing. Um, other things, um, just time, like relationship to time. In Saint Lucia, things are very slow, and we say island time where you ship like an hour late to things, which is not necessarily good, that can be frustrating, um.
And, uh, I noticed that things were very much like being five minutes late. It was not a thing, specifically in the university environment, I imagine it’s not like that every, [00:03:00] everywhere. I’ve been in various environments where it’s fine to be seven minutes late, um, but time is, was very, uh, maybe more methodical and, um, like people viewed your, um, your respect for them with how They respected your time.
Whereas, uh, back home, if you show up, that’s enough. , like, as long as you’re there, sometimes, uh, then that’s valid. Um, so that was a switch in my brain, which was not too challenging because My dad specifically was very, as a child, he taught us to be on time so we would get that two hours earlier than the actual stop time because we would be an hour earlier than the time it said.
Um, so it wasn’t a hard adjustment for me per se, but I It was something that I noticed, um, like people’s value on time was different.[00:04:00] , and just maybe the vastness of, um, diversity in the U. S. Um, back home, I think most people are St. Lucian. You know, there’s a few, maybe some people from India and some people from, um, Europe.
Um, but those are like just smaller groups of people. Um, and they usually blend into the culture. It’s either they blend into the culture more or they are very far off. Like I would say, maybe some people from Europe live like way in the hills with the big houses and we don’t really interact with them.
Whereas maybe here in the U S there’s a lot of, uh, different cultures, but also a lot of mixing of cultures that have developed into new cultures. Um, like New York, for example, um, as, uh, all kinds of. cultures there. , [00:05:00] and so noticing that there, it wasn’t super easy to find Caribbean culture depending on where I was.
Like, people say like, Jamaican food is like, they just group it as Caribbean and it’s like, no, St. Lucian food is different than Jamaican food and it’s only when I, uh, traveled to, uh, New York that I, Notice like things from back home, but in Chicago and Wisconsin or other places, there was little to no, um, Caribbean culture.
So that was a thing. It’s like why people decided to migrate. That’s where they bring their culture and that itself has developed into its own thing. Um, what else? I guess that’s all I have for now. I’m sure other things will come up. No, that’s
Sawyer: great. Well, I was wondering, too, , have you found that community yet?
Really, like, from home, it’s familiar and everything?
Melody:Yeah, not really. I would say I’ve met one or two [00:06:00] people along the way, like, oh, yeah. We connect well, and then a year later, they, like, move back home or whatever happened. Like, I don’t see them anymore. I don’t talk. We didn’t, we wouldn’t keep in touch for whatever reason.
Um, I would say I’ve, if anything, my community So there’s a lot of people who, like, I have a lot of close friends who married into, uh, like they are, um, each couple, or sorry, each person within the couple is from a different, I like to say international couples. So like one person’s from the US and one person is like from Chile or Costa Rica.
Uh, like I noticed I have a lot of, like, international friends, um, so that has grown to be my community and a mixture of people who are, like, from, who are American too, um, but I wouldn’t say I found, like, Saint Lucian or Caribbean people that I see often in my life, um, yeah. Mm hmm, gotcha. That’s a good [00:07:00] question.
Sawyer:, and if you don’t mind me asking, ,, where do you live now?
Melody:I don’t live anywhere now. I’m actually a nomadic. I’m traveling, um, for a while. That’s so cool. Um, yeah, and so, yeah, my partner Teel, Judy knows Teel well. Judy is, uh, good friends with Teel as well. Um, we got married in June, um, and then we decided to travel for a year. Thank you. So we are currently our home is the world, I guess, but we lived, we both lived in Chicago for a while.
So I would say Chicago, if I had to describe where home in the US, I would say Chicago is the closest thing to that currently, but in terms of like practical right now we are traveling so we don’t have a home.
Sawyer: That’s amazing. Is it like in like a trailer or , like a van
Melody: or it’s just it’s a Subaru that has [00:08:00] context.
Um, so it’s like a car, but there’s ways that we can camp in it and do things like that. Um, so we’ll do, uh, US travel until January and then we’ll hit some international places, um, starting February until August. Um, so yeah.
Sawyer: Wow, that’s amazing. I want to do traveling like that, um, going off track a little bit here.
I’m actually, um, I’m studying abroad next fall, and I’m going to Florence, Italy. Oh,
Melody:wow! That’s fun!
Are you going to Italy at all?
We are, actually. It’s on our list of places.
Sawyer: Oh, that would be so fun.
Melody:So maybe I should send you some recommendations. Yeah.
Sawyer: Yes, please do. I’ll take anything.. Um, I guess we can go into like more of the process of like the visa and green card and everything.
What was that like to become a full citizen?
Melody:Um, I would say I [00:09:00] was kind of surprised of how smoothly it went specifically so just to clarify I’m not a citizen, but I am, I did apply for like a green card.
Um, but yeah, moved from a student visa to a green card, which just allows me, um, what’s the word? It allows me to, to work and live in the U. S. Um, and there’s like a two year visa, uh, two year green card, and then a ten year green card. It’s like, so I have to reapply again and all the things.
Um, but I think because Teel and I hired a, a lawyer who also worked with some friends of ours who went through the same process. And so she did everything for us. We just, like She was like, send us, uh, pictures or whatever, like, email it to our office, and she was the one who mailed it in, and she sent us forms, and we filled it out, and she was like, make sure you get the medical exam, and I did that and [00:10:00] sent it to the office, and so I think it was an easier process because we had a lawyer who was really familiar, knows what she was doing, and has helped countless of other people, um, and and For other reasons I probably don’t understand like I don’t fully know how like how people make the decisions and like they didn’t even ask us for an interview which is usually a thing like you send in your application and then they schedule an interview to prove.
Uh, you’re, uh, like your love is real or whatever. Um, and they didn’t ask us for an interview. I guess our pictures were so good, I don’t know. Um, so yeah, the process was, I mean, there was a chunk of time where we were like, where’s the green card? We still, because it, we couldn’t, we couldn’t leave or we can’t leave the U.
- until we have the green card in hand. Um, so it would halt our travel if we didn’t have it. Um, so there was like [00:11:00] maybe a month and a half. So where we were kind of worried and that was a little bit scary. Um, but then it came and it was fine. So I would say I was surprised of how smoothly it went and it was a really good process.
Yeah,
Sawyer: yeah. Well, I guess I was gonna ask the second one was, were there any like specific issues in that, I guess you kind of just touched on. But if you want to share any others.
Melody:Yeah, I would say it’s not fully clear, um, the whys of things, like the lawyer didn’t really explain why, I mean, we had to probe and ask questions, um, if there was something we didn’t understand, which I guess is fine, um, but there’s just a lot of vagueness of things that aren’t super clear of the process, um, and I can imagine that’s really stressful to other people who don’t have that middle person who knows.
Exactly what they’re [00:12:00] doing. And so I would say, generally, I just wish things were more, uh, there was more clarity around the process for people going through it, uh, for immigrants who are, um, trying to do that process. Yeah. Um, cause I, I still feel like I don’t fully understand, like, who are the papers going to and Who’s reading, like, what, why are we sending this one form, or what’s the medical exam for exactly, to show that I’m, I don’t have pneumonia, like, I don’t understand fully, and I wish I understood that process better, because it would maybe put me more at ease or something.
Um, so I would say that’s the biggest thing, just a lack of clarity around the process itself, um, without guidance, it, I think it would. Be more challenging, but with guidance, it helps. So
Sawyer: yeah, that’s really nice that you had that. I’m glad you did. Um, how did your relationships with your friends and family from home [00:13:00] change when you came back to the US?
Melody:Yeah. Um, with my friends. So I left when I was 17. Um, I graduated secondary schools, the equivalent to high school here. So I graduated secondary school and I had like a core group of really wonderful friends. Well, at least I think I did. And then left like a few months after I graduated secondary school.
To start college and they a lot of them did that community college. I think I did one semester at that community college. Um, and then it was like, I think I’m leaving. Um, and so a lot of those friendships are no longer. I remember the first time I went back home and I tried to hang out with some of those friends and it was just they didn’t really care about.
My life in the, like, they didn’t ask me any questions. We just talked about other [00:14:00] people the whole time. And it was just this feeling of, like, I felt like I had changed so rapidly because of, like, being in a different culture. And as a person, it really changes you. Um, or jolts you out of your, who you think you are as a person or what you’re used to, your comfort zone.
And then all of a sudden I was back in and I was having this like reverse culture shock is what I heard some people say. Um, and then I remember being at Subway back at home in St. Lucia and the lady who was serving me, like making the whatever sandwich and stuff, she was moving so slowly. And I remember feeling angry at her for, like, wasting my time.
Like, how dare she, can she, it’s Subway, it’s supposed to be fast food, why is she moving so slowly? Yep, and so it was like, that same reverse thing of, like, my relationship with time, like, now I was used to this. Fast pace from living in the US for a while [00:15:00] and all of a sudden I’m coming back to a slow pace and it’s bothering me.
I feel like I’ve been, I’ve done a lot of reflecting since I graduated about that, like I’m trying actually to go back to the slowing down because I’ve noticed it’s not good for my emotional and physical health to be rushing all the time. Um, but anyway, that, that was an example of something. And then with my family, I think a lot of it has been, I would say, similar to my friends where things maybe that I thought were normal, like how my parents do conflict, for example.
Um, I, I was like, Oh, everybody does conflict that way. It’s just hard. Marriage is hard for people, I guess, which it is. But then I’ve noticed, like, oh, maybe this is actually not a healthy habit that they have, or, oh, this, this affected me in this way. Um, oh, counseling is actually, like, therapy and counseling is actually good [00:16:00] for us.
Like, things that I had never thought about kind of, um, I would say changed my, uh, perspective of my family and allowed me to, to be more thoughtful. And that has helped, that has opened, um, up growth and, and, uh, closeness. With my mom and my older brother, so that change of thoughtfulness that awakened in me and a change of perspective actually helped my relationship with, um, with my family.
So that’s an interesting thing. I feel like I only just now realized it as I said it to you.
Sawyer: I’m glad!
Melody: Yeah
Sawyer: did you have to change your ways of life to quote unquote fit in. When you got here.
Melody: Anyway, yes, I would say my [00:17:00] accent is probably not as strong because I’m about to change how I see things. So how I speak has changed. Um, I feel like I’ve had to maybe hide certain thoughts of who I am. Like race is complicated in the U.
- and sometimes I feel like I don’t fit in with any anybody. Like I don’t fit in with maybe white people or black people because I, there’s certain things about both those groups that actually aren’t relatable to me. And so at different times I’ve felt that I’ve had to. Fake things for each group. Um, like maybe fake being mad at a certain thing with, uh, with maybe, um, black people and then the reverse fake that I, I don’t know, I, I can’t think of specific examples right now, but I would say often I had to play the game of [00:18:00] where do I fit in and how do I It’s into this group at this point in time.
Um, so that I feel like I belong. Yeah. And in the end, I feel like I don’t fit in with with anybody I’ve learned. Once I find people who love and care about me for who I am, then it’s fine to not fit in anywhere. But with the people who love and care about me, you know what I mean? Yeah. Um, and that has taken me a while to get that.
And I’m still not fully like, I still doubt that sometimes I feel like I don’t belong anywhere. It’s kind of, I have a friend who, uh, describes it. He’s from Chile and he got married to his wife is from Chicago. And he describes it like, if you’re going through a portal to another world, you’re like stuck in that portal.
Like you’re in the in between of this is not quite home, but it’s where I live. Um, and [00:19:00] then back home is not quite home either because I’ve changed so much. Um, so you’re just kind of in both worlds. Like who you are as a person, um, at different points where you are physically, um, kind of shifts and changes.
So yeah, that in between is an interesting thing.
Sawyer: It definitely is. We learn about that in our class like for this semester. That’s what we learn about like second generation or. First generation. It’s just, it’s a very complicated thing. And yeah, definitely hard to do. So I’m sorry
Melody:um, yeah. Thank you.
Sawyer: how did you incorporate your culture into your lifestyle here?
Melody:I would say food is my biggest thing. I love to cook. Um, and I love, um, just the earth [00:20:00] and gardening and things. Um, it’s very, like my mom specifically loves. Who would talk to her plants and always needs more plants and loves her natural herbs. And so I would say, um, I’ve shared a lot of my, uh, food from home with friends and I like invited them over and we’ve had like a little potluck where I share some of my like native foods and, um, And even with Teel, I’m like, let’s make bouillon this weekend, which is like a soup, uh, in Saint Lucia, where it has dumpling and, and different things mixed into it.
Um, and so I feel like that’s what brings me, cause it, it feels good in my body. Like it brings my body back to that place by using the foods that I’m familiar with. And it’s also nourishing. Um, and then music, there’s times when I put on some soca. Soca is like a dance. similar to dancehall. I don’t know if you’re familiar with dancehall, [00:21:00] um, or like, or reggaeton is a, is a, is one that’s more popular.
It’s has a similar, it kind of falls like it’s cousins to reggaeton and dancehall. And so sometimes I’m, I like, um, well sometimes I randomly look up St. Lucian radio. I don’t know what’s going on the radio these days. Um, and I listen to it, I’m like, oh, this, it feels like I’m in St. Lucia right now. Um, so I have more like splits of moments where I go back to those things, but I would say the more consistent, the most consistent thing of bringing home to wherever I am in the U.
- is food, cooking, preparing food that I know.
Sawyer: Yeah. Do you have a favorite St. Lucian food?
Melody: Oh, it’s hard to pick a favorite. Um, roti is one that I really love. I’ve actually never made it here because it has a, so it’s similar, it has um, it’s [00:22:00] pretty much like an Indian curry with chicken and potatoes. Um, but then it’s wrapped in this, um, it’s wrapped in this wrap.
Uh, it’s so good. It’s just so good. Um, and uh, Yeah, there’s like some, um, Indian, uh, influence in, in Saint Lucian culture, actually. And so it’s, I would say it’s mainly from Indian culture but it’s, it’s turned into this own thing that is now Samoan culture. But I’ve never made it, uh, hair because I don’t, I don’t know how to make the, the wrap.
You, there’s actually a way to make the wrap and my grandmother was really good at making it cause she worked in restaurants and my mom said, My grandmother taught her, but she never figured out how, so my mom never really taught me, so I’m like, ooh, I need to learn now. So it’s like my favorite.
Sawyer: It’s a homemade from scratch wrap.
Melody:Yeah, yeah. And you put like split peas in the middle, and it’s just [00:23:00] like flaky, but buttery. It’s just so good. And then it like soaks in that curry
Sawyer: oh, this is, I, so you mentioned that you’re nomadic right now. Um, but what do you do for like a job?
Melody: Yeah, so I don’t currently have a job.
Teel and I are, uh, working through our savings. Um, so we saved up for this trip and, uh, some of our, like, wedding registry was sponsor our trip to Peru or buy us donuts in Paris. And so people just gave to our different spots. Um, and that’s, that’s how we’re, uh, getting by. It’s a really interesting thing to see our bank accounts slowly.
go down. It’s, we have to be really thoughtful, like, should we eat out today? Um, and there’s, there’s been times where I’m like, should I get a job, like a remote job? Um, but yeah, I went to school for music. So, uh, uh, before I, before we traveled, I did a lot of teaching and after school music programs and nonprofits.
And, um, and [00:24:00] then I volunteer with like, um, organization. I guess that’s kind of work, but I don’t get paid for it, but I’m still doing it as we’re traveling. It’s an organization called Human Values Collective, and we, uh, it’s about supporting teachers, providing, like, meditative and mindfulness practices and other resources to teachers, um, using a philosophy called education and human values.
Um, so I do a lot of, like, fundraising and administrative stuff with them. But outside of that, yeah, I don’t have an official job currently.
Sawyer: Well, you get to travel. It’s pretty good. I
Melody: know. It is nice. Um,
Sawyer: so what was your first language? I’m not familiar with the St. Lucian language.
Melody:Yeah, so English is the main language, but then, at least currently.
Um, but in my grandparents generation, it was French Creole. Um, which is still spoken on the island, but it’s kind of dying in [00:25:00] a way. Maybe it’s not dying. Yeah, it’s kind of dying. I don’t, because like I don’t speak it, like my generation of people, we don’t speak it fluently, sadly. Um, but French Creole is like a mixture of, it sounds most like French, but it sounds like broken French, like bad French.
Like somebody like is barely speaking it because it’s mixed in with like West African dialects. And some like Portuguese and Spanish is in there like it’s a mixture of a few things with the main influence being French. So yeah, it’s still spoken on the island, but my first language was English.
Sawyer: Yeah. Oh, that’s good.
Yeah, definitely easy for the transition to the US. Yeah. Yeah. Um, was there any type of barrier, from the language, like the English from St. Lucia to like here at all?
Melody:Um, outside of my accents, not really. I mean, so that’s a, I guess that’s another thing, [00:26:00] earlier you asked, um, what were some adjustments I had to, to make.
Um, and I would say in Saint Lucia we use a lot of jargons, like slang, like that’s like the normal way to talk. Um, but at home my parents will always, would always say, speak standard English. Um, so really it. I guess that’s a part of me that I had to tuck away in the sense that maybe I speak standard English to the teacher in school or to, um, like if I’m being interviewed on TV or whatever, but then with my friends I would just speak the jargons.
But here, like in the US, I couldn’t, even with my friends I couldn’t speak the jargon because they wouldn’t understand what I was saying. And so it’s kind of like that part of me was like pulled away into a dark corner. Um, and that was, I would say that was hard because I feel like it’s almost part of my personality when I speak a certain way and then [00:27:00] I’m not able to, um, because it’s kind of like, yeah, I don’t know how to describe it, like almost trying to fit the square block into the round thing, you know, those toys kids have.
It’s like, well, this jargon, even if it’s English, it’s not quiet. won’t fit into this conversation with this person. Um, so even if I could, I just never think myself to, like, I would call it silly because sometimes Teel would ask me, how would I say this in evolution, whatever, and I would tell him, but then I would feel silly saying it because it feels so out of context a little bit.
Um, so yeah, I would say maybe the
digital context, I felt like the, the Hardest switch.
Sawyer: I 100 percent agree with the, um, you’re like, the way you would speak kind of took away from your personality because I feel like is a big part of [00:28:00] everybody’s personality. So the fact that, like, you had to hide part of that definitely, definitely seems really hard and tough.
So, yeah. Um, are there any holidays that you celebrate from St. Lucia?
Melody: Um, we have Juné Cuellar, which is like a folk heritage festival kind of thing. Um, so there’s that. That’s usually in October. And that’s when we, like, tell stories from old, and, uh, they speak, uh, the, uh, Creole is the language I mentioned earlier.
People, like, they have things where they, like, people make these short clips where they speak only that, and it’s just a time to, like, go back to the past and celebrate our history and our culture. Um, and there’s dancing and local food and things like that. And then we have Christmas is, um, widely celebrated.[00:29:00]
Yeah.
Um, Christmas is widely celebrated, um, New Year’s, and then we have strange holidays like Week Monday. I don’t, like, some of them are related to, like, religions, or, like, Old English, because we were ruled by, uh, Britain for a few years, and then only gained independence in, like, 1979. So there’s some random holidays we have that aren’t really celebrated.
It’s no school. I No work on this day. Yeah.
Sawyer: Um, do you ever go back to St. Lucia to like celebrate those or to visit family?
Melody: Yes, I have a few Christmases and then I’m going back for a trip, because it’s usually in October when we have to travel back [00:30:00] home. But a few Christmas gifts and stuff. I do love Christmas. Um, that’s a holiday I enjoy. It’s more of a fuzzy feeling kind of thing. Um, so yeah, I would say Christmas is the main one I go back to.
I
Sawyer: completely agree with that one.
Melody:Um,
Sawyer: what was like the, if you can remember, what was the biggest, I guess, culture shock that you noticed, like, when you came here? Except for the time goes by way faster here.
Melody: Yeah, yeah. Um, I would say the biggest one was like with racial stuff kind of being grouped into, um, like a persona based on my skin color.
That was really strange to me. Yeah. Um, [00:31:00] cause it’s like, there’s Caribbean people and there’s people from all different parts of Africa. Like Africa itself is huge and there’s, um, you know, it was just like, I changed it, like, because of my skin color. Now, I’m like, I’m African American.
Like, that was. strange. Um, I didn’t, to this day, I’m still grappling, like, I don’t know what to do with that, um, or how to feel, or it’s kind of like people perceive me in a way before they even knew me, which I guess is life, um, but it was strange, like, based on, like, not based on how I speak or based on my hair, but mostly, like, based on because I’m, uh, I have dark skin, so I remember that being a little bit jarring.
Definitely.
Sawyer: And then, we’re getting to the end, but is there anything that you miss about St. Lucia?
Melody:Obviously, I miss my [00:32:00] family, but I miss the marketplace. We have like a market in town where it’s just, it just has like a vibe to it. Where there’s the market vendors, and they’re like screaming out to you, and they’re selling their food, and someone’s selling crafts and stuff, and you can buy your fish from the fishermen down over there, and they’re like faltering and quarreling about why it’s so expensive, or, can I get this for 2 less?
It just has like a life of its own. Yeah. Um, and I would say that something, um, I miss that it’s almost like a little community that on Saturdays you can walk through the market and get fresh. I guess that’s also connected to it. Just like fresh, really good fruit and, uh, food. Really good food is organic and it’s like really expensive, but in St.
Lucia, you can access really good food for affordable rates. I mean, now that’s changing a little bit. Yeah. [00:33:00]
Sawyer: That sounds amazing. I love those. Yeah. Like the farmers markets here, probably not the same, but they’re the best. Yeah,
Melody:it’s different. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Sawyer: Um, but yeah, that’s amazing. Well, thank you so much for doing this.
I really appreciate it.
Melody:Yeah, thanks for listening to my story and making space for me to share.
Sawyer: I wish, I hope you have the best time traveling.
Melody:Thank you. I hope time in Italy, the Florence, goes well, that sounds really fun. Thank you,
Sawyer: yeah, I’m really excited.
Awesome
This is a truly beautiful story and human being. Thank you for sharing her story!