Interview with Flor Vargas, History 150 Spring 2024, Conducted by Mikayla Vargas, March 24, 2024

 

Overview:

In the 1990s Peru no longer felt like home for many Peruvians. It was no longer safe because of the rising rebel/terrorist groups in the wake of the Peruvian Civil War. The Sendero Luminoso movement, or ‘Shining Path’, was a Maoist guerrilla insurgent organization in Peru. Founded in the late 1960s by Abimael Guzmán, the group aimed to overthrow the Peruvian government and establish a communist state based on Maoist principles. The name “Shining Path” was derived from a quote by Marxist leader José Carlos Mariátegui, who described the revolutionary vanguard as “a shining path” that would lead the proletariat to liberation. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the Shining Path carried out numerous attacks, bombings, assassinations, and massacres across Peru, leading to widespread fear and instability. This would push many Peruvians to immigrate for safety and a better future for themselves and their children. 

Peruvian culture is centered around family and family structure. In Peru, the concept of family extends beyond the nuclear family unit to include extended relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. These extended family members often play a significant role in the lives of individuals, providing emotional support, childcare, and assistance during times of need. Family gatherings and celebrations are common, providing opportunities for relatives to come together, share meals, and strengthen bonds.  “ The Peruvian Family” encompassed a family structure that is unique in comparison to the traditional American nuclear family we see today.  In the 1960s, Peru experienced a period of demographic transition characterized by high fertility rates and large family sizes. During this time, it was indeed common for families to have many children, often exceeding the average family size observed in other parts of the world. Traditional Peruvian culture placed a high value on family and kinship ties and having many children was often seen as a source of pride and considered a blessing. These cultural values will prompt extraordinary family dynamics no matter the context of the country itself. 

 Here I interview my mother and we discuss the extraordinary dynamics of her family structure and her unique upbringing. Born to Clemencia Farfan Neyra and Deyfilio Neyra,  Flor Vargas, holds the distinction of being the youngest among her 12 siblings. Growing up amidst such a large family was an exceptional experience, but being the youngest added an even more distinctive dimension to her journey. Within this interview I asked questions about the impact of her family structure on her childhood, and the comparison of her life within her family structure even after she immigrated to the US. During this interview, we highlight the complexity of uncommon family structures and dynamics between multicultural values and norms. As well as the motivations of immigration and the impact of Peruvian historical events (aspects of communism) on her life during the time she lived in Peru. 

Biography:

Flor Vargas was born in 1965 in Chala, Peru but grew up in Lima. She was the youngest of 13 kids (5 girls 8 boys ). Her teens were around the 1908s where she was the only one of her siblings to attend an all girls Catholic school. In Peru it was more common to send kids to private school because of the education, which is different from the US, however her parents could not afford to send 13 kids to private school. Boarding school was another alternative option which was cheaper than private school in the city. Flor’s oldest siblings would go to private school in towns outside of Lima.

Flor married Roberto Vargas  1989, before immigrating to the US. Roberto Vargas worked in Phillips which is an international company that makes light bulbs where he was a market manager for  human resources for 15 years. Flor’s first job was in Olivetti, an Italian international company made typewriters, as an assistant at the time she met Roberto Vargas. Once they got married, they were able to immigrate to the US through the Immigration act of the 1990s. Roberto Vargas’ experience and college education at the time is what prioritized them in the immigration system. Flor did not attend college in Peru. In the US, she went to Strayer University and then got certifications for Human Resources, and Project Management. She started her career in banking in 1998 in the US–she worked in banking for 20 years. She reached the “American dream” by starting as a teller and ending as a Senior Vice President after college.  She is currently working in the Fairfax County Health Department as a Deputy Registrar and has set new goals for herself. However, family has always been her priority no matter what stage of her career she was in because she learned the value of support and love through her own life. She uses the pronouns she/her and is Latin-American.   

Research:

In my research I decided to dive into 3 topics including the historical context of Flor Vargas’ childhood growing up in Lima around the 80s and 90s, the immigration circumstances in the 90s (when she would have immigrated to the US), and the distinctions between family structures in Peru and the US.

During the late 1960s (around the time Flor Vargas was born) in Peru, General Juan Velasco came into power during the 1970s and  left Peru under Military dictatorship. He overthrew the democratic elected government in order to establish “ a fully participatory social democracy”. However,  what you would think would create stability for the Peruvian state, just made it more chaotic because the proclaimed “ fully participated democracy” was not enacted and there was pressure to return the power back to the civilians. This would only be the beginning of what would turn into a full blown civil war. The civil war officially began in 1982 however the rebellion that would initiate this war was created by a professor in the highlands ( Abimael Guzmán) who created a group called the Sendero Luminoso [Shining Path in English]. Their “proclaimed goal” was to “ bring economic equality to the region.” However, from their first attack to the Peruvian government, they became “one of the most violent rebel groups of the 1980s. This rebel group would be prevalent through the 1990s and the source for their stability was drug trade so they could secure rents for arms and provisions. This would cause many Peruvians to immigrate away from Peru because of the danger this rebellious group would promote and the deteriorating Peruvian government (having a corrupt president for the following a decade after Sendro Luimbroso was defeated). This was a particular take on the Cold War by the US. 

Motivation to immigrate to the US would grow around the 1990s, especially for Peruvians at the time trying to escape corruption and decorating democracy. The immigration act of 1990 provided ceilings for “permanent annual worldwide levels of immigration.” Formulas were enacted by certain categories of priority per foreign state. The preference system was family-oriented sponsors however based on previous knowledge this was not how my parents immigrated to the US. What stuck out for my parents circumstance was part 2 of this act being “Employment-based immigrants”. Their criteria for priority was based on the presence of different categories. This included years of training/experience in requested fields, aliens with extraordinary ability (“priority workers”), minimum number of new jobs, education, and certification. This information is important to me because it explains the details of how my parents were able to attain that work visa to be able to move to the US.

Finally, family structure between the US and Peru created distinctive norms that impacted particular values weighed more in small vs large house holds.  The “Peruvian family” is centered around the idea of kinship and proximity even in the sizes that seem alien to American culture. A generalization that can be made about these families is that no matter what their status, they show a high degree of unity, purpose, and integration through generations, as well as in the nuclear unit. The average size for this nation as a whole is 5 children, which is pretty high from what I know from background knowledge that the “American Family” average is ( 2-3 kids during the 60s). My mother capped off the number of 15 family members in her family and even though that is well above extraordinary the “average” amount of family members in her nation was already still pretty high.

Transcript:

Mikayla [0:01]: Hi, my name is Mikayla Vargas, and I’ll be interviewing my mom, Flor Vargas, and today we will be talking about what it was like being in a unique family structure. And being the youngest of 13 kids. We will also talk about her imigration from Peru to the US, and what that was like and how that impacted her family structure as well. Mom, do you want to introduce yourself?

Flor [0:20]: Sure. Hi, my name is Flor Vargas. I’m a mother of three. I was born in Chala, Peru, and I imigrated to Fairfax, Virginia in 1994. I started my career in banking for almost 20 years, and I’m currently working for the government in the health department.

Mikayla [0:37]: Okay. So the first question is, describe what your childhood was, like growing up with 12 other siblings?

Flor [0:44]: I can tell you, it was very interesting. You know, it was a lot of fun, a lot of challenges. Being the youngest of 13, you know, I was, I would say, it was a blessing in disguise because I would have 12 siblings who were always looking after me. One of the thing is, my mom assigned one of my brothers every day to take care of me. Even though we have to do a lot of chores, their major chore was to make sure that I was doing the right thing. Especially at school, they would have to take me to school, and have to drop me off. They have to pick me up, and make sure that I do my homework. Because as you can see with 13 kids, my mom even though she always was, you know, worried about us and pending all the time, we were a lot. But it was a lot of fun.

Mikayla [1:42]: How did you guys travel together?

Flor [1:44]: Well, by that time, we had only one truck. And it’s funny because here it is prohibit, that you need to have a car seat. And the time, a car seat didn’t exist. So in summer time, you know, it was a pickup truck. So my brothers were in the pickup part of the truck in the back part. And we the girls, my mom and dad of course driving, were inside the car, you know, in the front seat. And it’s funny because we were like, instead of two, three, we were five, six, and then the rest in the back. It was having, we were having a blast. In winter, we would have to take turns, meaning like a different trips. You know, and usually my mom would do it by order. And I was always the youngest. So I would have to go with someone, so I couldnt go by myself, right. So my mom, at the beginning it was my older brother, So she would pick my older sister and me and my second sister and my second brother, like that. So we have to take different trips just to get to our final destination. But it was an adventure.

Mikayla [2:55]: Describe dinner time.

Flor [2:57]: Dinner time. Okay, It was one of the best time I can tell you, because I can still picture a long table and on one side inthe front front was my mom and the other side was my dad. All of us we were sitting. My mom started with my dad in serving the food. You know, and once we finish, I was the last one. You know, once I had and everybody had their food, we started eating at the same time. And we start talking. My dad would start by telling about his job and then ask how was the school? You know, my mom was telling us what happened in the Mercado, you know, and that was our quality time as a family. We take lunch and dinner together especially the weekends.

Mikayla [3:51]: Do you guys get to pick what you got to eat?

Flor [3:53]: Well for birthdays. That was so funny. Birthday’s, one of our gifts besides you know, that it was your birthday, we had a classic song for happy birthdays. So my dad used to put that song loud so everybody knew was your birthday. He he and my mom would come to your room and gave you a hug saying happy birthday to you. Given all the wishes. In that day besides your gift, you will eat your favorite dish. And even though let’s see I like what this dish called, lets see its corn with meat, You know, and rice, it is so delicious, and my brother didn’t like it, touche, they have to eat it because it was my birthday. And this is one of the way for my mom to make our day very special when it was our birthday.

Mikayla [4:50]: Can you describe your favorite childhood memory?

Flor [4:53]: My favorite childhood memory, oh my god, I have a lot but one I always remeber is … first of all, I can tell you, as you can see Christmas is my favorite holiday. Why? Because one of my best memories is that I remember my mom took me to, you know, the center of Lima, and there was this place called, Plaza de Armas. And for Christmas time, oh my god, you can see too many Santa Claus’s walking on the street. And I remember that day I was dressed in my white dress, wearing my white shoes, my bow, white Bow. And Santa Claus stopped us and asked me what I want for Christmas. And I was like, I only asked for two things, I wanted my volleyball ball because, as you know, I played volleyball and my blender. Oh, and little kitchen toys. So then when he asked me and I told him what I wanted, Guess what? Christmas time, boom, I had my three things. But my blender only last two hours. Because I put panettone with hot chocolate and I burn it. And yeah, but it was fun. And my mom said, Oh my God, you need to askSanta Claus Again. Yeah, next year. Maybe? That was my beautiful and sweet memory. Christmas.

Mikayla [6:33]: Were there other families that had 13 kids as well when you grew up?

Flor [6:38]: By that time? Yes. You know, not 13, we weren’t like most, interms of family members and family you know, having 13 Kids. I remember from my my mom’s side Yes. The highest they have beside my mom ,she had 13, was 8. That was the highest. But then when we moved to the Capitol, you know, I didn’t see other kids and other families like ours. We were like a huge family. The only other family who was living across the street. They had eight children. They had seven girls and one boy and my in my case we were you know five girls and 8 boys. But with my parents, We were number one, 13.

Mikayla [7:41]: Next question is can you describe reactions to your family from others?

Flor [7:45]: Oh, thank you for asking that. Okay. When we moved from the from Chala to Lima. In our neighborhood, like I mentioned before, we only have one family across the street that they have 8 kids. The rest of the our neighbors, they only have two, three kids. And there is always someone who they were seeing us and they will make us feel like we will belonged to another planet because we have too many kids. My parents have too many kids. So I remember one time when I was going with my mom, you know to help her with the groceries. So this lady was leaving three doors from my house. Every time when we were walking. She was telling, oh my god, I can understand how this woman have to many kids. I heard her to say that three times. Okay. And for me to see how much my mom loved us and take care. And we were happy family. I was thinking to myself, shame on you. You don’t know what this mean to have a big family. We are happy we are not suffering, we are happy, right? So then I remember I asked my mom. So why people are talking? My mom said don’t pay attention. So one day we were going and this lady said the same thing louder. And I stop. Turn around. And I said shame on you because you don’t have any kids. The lady almost had a heart attack. My mom apologize to the lady and made me apologize to that lady. Of course. How old was? I was seven years old. You know, and I didn’t want to but my mom made me do it. So when we went back home, I got grounded on top of that because I was disrespectful to others. And I said well they were disrespect to us. She shouldn’t talking to us like that. My mom then said, and I remember, you cannot make people like you, you have to respect them. And just don’t pay attention. So two days after, we went back, and I love my mom, because we didn’t go to the same sidewalk we went to across to the other sidewalk because she I guess  didn’t trust me. She thought that I will do it again. Yeah, but it was a challenged because people  are not used to it. To see how many people and how many members in only one family, right. Keep in my mind, my dad was working . He was the only one who was working and mom was home, taking care of us.

Mikayla [10:37]: How do you feel about having such a big family?

Flor [10:41]: I will say, but that time I feel blessed. You know, and I admire my parents, they were so strong. The strength. You know, well, we are Catholic. And even though one time I asked my mom, why were we too many? But then it’s a blessing because being raised in a big family, make you value what you have. You know, we are very, very close brothers and sisters. That was one of the thing my parents always make sure that we help each other. But also it was a challenge, because keep in mind that we could only have what was necessary? You know, to have we cannot ask for too much. You know, but I would say that they did a very good job.

Mikayla [11:38]: Describe what Peru was like during high school.

Flor [11:41]: Do you want me to tell you how was Peru as a country? Or how was Peru in the schools?

Mikayla [11:47]: Like how was Peru as a country like around that time?

Flor [11:50]: Around that time when I went to high school, Peru started giving signs of violence, terrorism, no security, nobody feels secure. Keep in mind that I went to Catholic school. So I was one of the few. I would say only one who went to Catholic school. But my sisters went to boarding school. So they went outside the city, I stayed in the city. And my brothers went to public school. So because I was the only one by that time going to private school, I had to take the bus. But for transportation, my school didn’t have a bus. And from my house to my school was 45 minutes. Taking a transportation I would have to do it by myself. My mom couldn’t drop me off. I couldn’t be picked up at that time. My brother’s school hours was completely different. So I had to learn when I started in ninth grade to go by myself, you know, and it was scary. Because I always I remember when I took my transportation, my bus number line color, you know, as soon as I get into the bus, I was close to the door and close to the window, because I didn’t want to miss my stop because I wanted to go straight home and I also wanted to be on time to school. So there was some days that I was fine. But there were some days were there were strikes and in the streets on your way. And we were running late, or they were accidents. Or the weather then it was in good weather. Yeah, it was a challenge. It was really a challenge.

 

Mikayla [13:45]: What made you want to immigrate to the US?

 

Flor [13:49]: What made to me immigrate to the United States? Well, keep in mind that my brother imigrate first. One of my brothers, and then he brought my parents and when my parents were here, peru was really really bad. I believe at one point I told you about Sendero Luminoso, Abimael Guzman. But that time, you know, your mom was already married. You know, I was leaving the house where I was living. Supposedly when you are living close to a police station, you should feeling safe. In our case, it was the opposite. Because every day we have to say, when we’re saying goodbye, when I will say goodbye to your dad when he goes to work and I’m going to work, we didn’t even know when we will see each other again. Because litherally you can hear when you were leaving, bombs. In your transportation everybody were thinking that you didn’t know that car parking close to in the street was a car bomb. You know, it was like that. As a matter of fact, In Peru it happen this big huge explosion in terratta. Terratta is a street that is in Mira Flores. Mira Florides is a city or we call the apartments over there departamentos and iis a middle class middle to high class

 

Mikayla [15:23]: like apartments to live?

Flor [15:25]:Yeah. So in that area is, how can I say, it’s like a like your Tyson’s Corner, right? like that, that area. So Terratta in Peru by that time was kind of that. If you compare, was Tyson’s Corner here.

Mikayla [15:41]: In Fairfax Virginia?

Flor [15:43]: Yes. So the thing is that this building they have like 15, 16 floors that were apartments in the center of imagine where Capital One building is right now in Tyson’s, you know, those apartments close to Tyson’s two, those apartments imagine? Yeah, like that. So what happened is your mom, like I also say, that wasn’t my day. I was there in the morning. And then I have to come back to do something. I don’t remember what. Wait I’m lying. I went to a class because I was studying English, but that time, my institute was close and we left early. When I took my transportation to go home, okay, guess what? It blew up. The building.

Mikayla [16:52]: Did you pass the building?

Flor [16:53]: Yes, I was already past the building.

Mikayla [16:56]: But you said you were already there earlier?

Flor [16:58]: I was there early first to do something. And then I have to come back. I was passing the building. I was not in the building, I’d have to pass to the building to go to my classes. So I went to my classes in the afternoon, and I would have to pass it back to take my transportation. Right. So I took my transportation, I was almost home and guess what, boom, the whole building blew off. So that was one of the majors attacks that we have in the capital by that time. So we said, You know what, this is not life. That’s when I was traumatized. It shocked me when 911 happened. Because when 911 happened here, in the United States, I was working by that time in Springfield, and that sensation that I used to have, when I was living in Peru, it was really bad. You know, and as one of the reasons we move is because we wanted to feel secure. We are looking for a place to live without fear and give you guys the best opportunity.

Mikayla [18:22]: Okay, the next question is compare your Peruvian lifestyle to your American lifestyle after you immigrated?

Flor [18:29]:Well to start, not everybody can go to, buy my time, to college in Peru. You know, we have a lot of private colleges and Public a few. And transportation. Transportation over there, you don’t have your own car. Because you couldn’t afford to have your own car. We have a lot of transportation though. If I compare here, here having a car is a necessity. Right? And you if you want to go to college, you have different opportunities. Even since you are starting in high school, you can start you know, planning your future. Over there I didn’t have that opportunity. In regards to groceries, over there you are limited. So, for example, where I used to live, I could walk to the market or Mercado and my mom has to pay, you know to buy stuff, but she was praying a little more high price. But there was another places that you will need transportation, where it’s gonna be more affordable. But if you don’t have the transportation you couldn’t go.

 

Mikayla [19:44]:How far away was it?

Flor [19:45]: It was like two hours. So here you have different sources, right? to go. Depending how much your income is. Over there, basically you are limited to two. It’s even close to your house, pay a little more or go farther and pay less. Even though the thing is, keep in mind my mom never work. So we have only dads income, you know, and she was very bright and smart just to make sure that we can afford everything that we had. I always say I feel so blessing. There were some families that I I knew, because my mom was talking with my father, they didn’t have the money. So what they need to do is go to the market and ask the people who were selling the product to get a loan. So meaning, they were getting the products and at the end of the month, when they get paid, You know, they going back and pay them. This is the other big difference. In Peru you only get paid once per month. Here at least you get paid every 15 days.

Mikayla [21:15]: What about Christmas?

Flor [21:17]: Oh my goodness. The other thing was Christmas. If you compare Christmas in Peru. And this is when you asked me first. What is the feeling to be the youngest right? Well, because I was the youngest. I have three gifts. In Peru you only have one gift for Christmas. Only one. And dont take me wrong, it not like oh my god, poor me. No, it is because the way how I’ve been raised is that it is not like a big demand. Here you can have 10, 15 gifts It’s a different times. You know, it’s just like a different income. Different size of family too.

Mikayla [22:19]: What was your family dynamic like after you came to the US in comparison to before?

Flor [22:26]: Oh well keep in mind we are 13. Right? So for us family always has been our main purpose. Regardless. That’s how I’m being raised, this is how he saw my parents. love family, anything is possible until you set your mind. And we of course were Catholic, we believe in God. We went to church. It’s funny, because we went to church every Sunday regardless and you can see that my mom, dad, and 13 Little ducks were in order in one isle. And even now when go to church, and I see families with seven kids, it reminds me of when I used to go to church and sit with my parents. And listen, sometimes the preist were talking too much. Once my brothers get married, they have kids, they leave the nest. You know, it was a tradition that they have to, wherever they are, if they are still living in the Capitol, they must to come and see my parents on Sunday’s. Sundays we have even lunch or we have dinner. It was still an important day. Okay, then my brothers start coming from Peru, and then my parents. So when I came to United States, with me, we were four brothers, that we were here. Besides my mom and dad. In the United States. In Peru, there were nine, right? So now 2024 We are eight here and five in Peru. And still, mom and dad are not anymore. When dad passed away. You know, my mom decided to stay in Peru. She didn’t want to come and if we, whoever were living at that time here, we were traveling to go and see mom. But there is one thing that mom always asked for her birthday. Only one thing. She never asked for any perfumes or clothes. No. She only asked for her kids to go for her birthday. Her birthday was November 23. And we are blessed in my case, and in our case who are living here, that it is Thanksgiving. So we were able to fly, we were able to plan ahead. I can show you pictures, I can show you videos of how happy my mom was to see her kids. And then I can see my mom sitting and can picture her right now seeing all of us. We were taking pictures with my mom in the middle and the 13 of us there. And remember all the things that we used to do when we were little. And there are sometimes I completely forgot. Did I do that? No, I don’t remember that. Yes, no. Yes, you did. So that’s, that’s my dynamic. She passed away in 2021 because of COVID. She died on April 16. So, up to today, every 16 of each month, we having a mass in honor of my mom and my dad, every single month. We hear mass every 16 of each month, and we are flying to the cementary even for her even birthday when she passed away the day, on April 16 of each year. And besides thanks to technology we have zoom. So we have reunions, we set up times and we see each other and we start laughing and we can start joking talking, you know four two, three hours at least once every month. Usually it’s the last Friday of each month. And sometimes when someone cannot do it on Thursday we’ve chage it to Saturday. As a matter of fact, next Friday. Next Friday. I have my my son with my brothers cannot wait because it’s gonna be a lot of fun.

Mikayla [27:42]: Is there any advice you’d like to offer me

 

Flor [27:45]:The only advice I can give you is to pursue your dreams. Never stop. Dream to believe in yourself. Anything is possible. Be a fighter. You know don’t give up. And always you know if you already have your goal, set up your goals. You need to be a smart to whatever you’re doing. It’s always nice to be good to keep close your goal. You know, then fight for your goal. If not you will have to change and the most important thing I will tell you is two more things. My mom always told me you are no more than anybody and you are no less than anybody. You are only you. So don’t let anybody telling you that you cannot do it when you believe in yourself.

 

Mikayla [29:02]:Thank you

 

 

Bibliography:

The Case of Peru and Sendero Luminoso, www.usip.org/sites/default/files/files/case-study-competition/20130322-Natural-Resources-and-Recurrent-Conflict.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar. 2024. 

“About USIP.” United States Institute of Peace, 9 Oct. 2023, www.usip.org/about. 

S.358 – 101st Congress (1989-1990): Immigration Act of 1990 | …, www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/senate-bill/358. Accessed 7 Mar. 2024. 

Peru – Family Life, countrystudies.us/peru/43.htm. Accessed 6 Mar. 2024. 

“About This Service  :  Federal Research Division  :  Services  :  Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/services/federal-research-division/about-this-service/. Accessed 6 Mar. 2024. 

 

Overview of technology and process:

My interview was recorded in person. Flor Vargas lives in Fairfax, Virginia which is where I went to interview and record with her. I currently live in Harrisonburg Virginia so I went down to visit her and asked to conduct this interview. The meeting was recorded via Voice memos and saved and converted the audio file as an Mp3. I then used Otter.ai to transcribe the interview and then edited the transcript manually.

Reflection:

After conducting my interview, I was shocked at the context of the country and time my mom grew up in. I did not know she grew up in a time of terrorism. I also did not know how influential her family structure has been on her life after being an immigrant to the US. This interview has made me respect my mother even more than I already do because her extraordinary experiences have shaped an amazing woman. This interview has also exposed me to more Peruvian values the have centered my family morals as a Latin-American which now I can understand better.