Ana - Translation of Transcript
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Transcript (English)
Ale: My name is Alejandra, this is Jared and Hayley. (signals to them). And I am studying Architecture at FIU, and she is studying English, and he is studying architecture too. And I was born here in Miami and my dad is Cuban and my mom is Colombian. And I am a mix of everything and I was born here. And where are you from?
Ana: What country am I from? Where I come from is called Guatemala the country of eternal spring. I live in the department of San Marcos in a municipality called Conmitancio.
Ale: A municipality, is that like a city?
Ana: Yes, a small one.
Ale: And that is not the capital? Or for the Capital?
Ana: No, the capital is called Guatemala City.
Ale: So you live in the country
Ana: yes, on the edges
Ale: So by the coast?
Ana: Yes, I am on the border of, México and Guatemala.
Ale: And you live by the coast?
Ana: No, on the north side.
Ale: So closer to México?
Ana: Yes, closer to México.
Ale: Okay, and how old are you?
Ana: I am 18 years old.
Hayley: Oh how young!
Ana: Yes! (laughs)
Ale: Yes, she’s a little girl, I'm 22 years old! And how long have you been here?
Ana: I left the house on February 9th. And I got here on February 23 at the “perrera”. And I came to Florida on April 20 and probably have been living in Florida for about 8 months, and 4 in the “perrera”. Almost about 4 months or 3 months.
Read: If you want, this is an example story.
Ale: This is what we are going to do with your story, we are going to draw from your city. I wanted to show you the final product because I am the one who is going to ask you the questions, and we have someone who is going to draw it. I'm not that good at drawing. And in Guatemala, what was your neighborhood like?
Ana: What I remember about …. My municipality is that it is a humble people. A very humble people. It does not have many possibilities to get ahead because the people there live more than anything else in poverty. And people with a level of education are rare and the government approves if they have the possibility of getting a job. The government ... uh ... It is very made to corruption.
Ale: yes? A and your school ... was it close to your house? That is what we are going to draw. Like a map of where ..
Ana: My school was about half an hour away from home.
Ale: So it wasn't that close?
Ana: No, it wasn't that close. And it was very, very good. Or very nice for me, because there I got friends… friends. Eh Simply the teachers were very, they were apt at the level of study, and they taught you eh, the quality of study that they had already received from the the studies that according to them they had already taken out. And it is very, it was an incredible experience for me. And I like to study. It is what I love the most.
Ale: Yes?
Ana: Yes, I love to study. But because of the needs that I saw in my family, of not having any future, I decided to come to the United States for my family. Especially for my mother, who is at home. For her, I fight day by day. For taking them forward.
Ale: Yes, my mother did the same, my mother came to Colombia from 16 years old and came alone. And she had 8 brothers and she because she was the oldest daughter, she came here. And she started working cleaning houses, she cooked in a school, and she sent money to the mother and all the siblings. And she is still the only one who lives here. No one else came but for her to come, I am where I am, and she has struggled too much. She learned English, and was able to get us ahead. And it could have been her goal, which was to help her mother because everyone is better for her.
Ana: Yes that is the good thing, and that is also why I am here.
Ale: But you can still study, and do what you like
Ana: Yes, it is what I am here, I entered this center to master the language. Because I love studying, it is what I love most in my life.
Ale: What do you like to study?
Ana: Eh in my country, what I loved the most was the English language. The English language. One of my dreams was always to experience the United States.
Ale: How good
Ana: And my dream has come true. I'm happy for me too ...
Ale: you are a fighter
Ana: ... Because I fought for what I wanted, however there have been sadness in ... in the past, but at last I can see the ... the light shine both in my life and in the life of my family and that is why.
Ale: That ... I love hearing that. That you feel good. And ...... then you can tell me more about Guatemala ... Or from your house ... and what did you do in the afternoon? Which was your favorite thing to do in the afternoons.
Ana: My afternoon ... Well, in the morning I worked, I helped my mom at home. And in the afternoons, I had to go to school. And what I love the most, in the afternoon, at the time of recess, recess, playing soccer with my friends, fun things. But always, the center of my life has been my education. The improvement of my life that, sometimes, I cannot master Spanish because my tongue is stuck.
Ale: Me too haha.
Ana: But I try to do my best to have a good vocabulary, to have good manners, it is what ... what I try to do. And I am doing it.
Ale: Yes, you are doing super well. In Guatemala, your city was ... as it was.
Ana: I come from a cold land
Ale: Cold?
Ana: Yes, cold, where potatoes are harvested ... ... where everything related to vegetables, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, wiskil is harvested. And all.
Ale: And could you see the mountains?
Ana: Yes, what I loved the most to see in the morning is to go out to the patio of my house, to see the beautiful sun that shines between ... between two hills. My house was on top of one, or it is on top of a hill and where there are two hills, and one is heading towards now, and the other is heading towards there. (makes hand gestures). And the sun comes down in the middle of those two mountains. And I can see the beauty of the dawn. It is what I miss most about ... Guatemala. My house, my friends, more than all my mom and my brothers. And there are so many things that are unforgettable about Guatemala for me.
Ale: Yes, that sounds very different from Miami and Florida.
Ana: Yes, it is very different here, because, well, I cannot complain about my life because it is a dream come true for me, to come here. And also what I'm working on is a nursery. I love the flowers. I love taking care of them, it is what I love the most. Study and love what comes from agriculture, I love it, it fascinates me. This is what I'm doing here, now working in a nursery.
Ale: How nice ... ehhh (long pause) Was your trip to Miami easy? Or was it difficult? And your decision to come here was something you thought about a lot, right?
Ana: It's something I thought ……. I was thinking about it very well and for the reason why I was thinking day and night. Analyzing well what I was going to do with my life. (long pause) One day I said to myself "I have to see the future more there" and as I always say, it has always been my dream to be here in the United States. Most of all, I came here because of my family and I left home on February 9th. And I arrived on February 23 at the “perrera”.
Ale: And what is "la perrera"?
Ana: Is the one they call "la llelera" where, well, during the course of the trip, about 15 days I arrived in Ciudad Juarez.
Ale: In México?
Ana: In México, on the border of México, and the United States. And, and I am lost there in the city of Juarez. I had no one, they robbed me, they stole my money, they left me with nothing, and God is so great, God is late, but he never forgets. And the only thing I did because I found in my pocket, a 100 peso bill. And I don't know how it occurred to me to go and exchange it and I turned it into dollars. And what I did was, was to call my mom first. And my mom was crying, crying for me because she didn't know anything about me for 15 days. He had not heard from me and I met a woman with her son and her husband and they told me "come on, let's go with us, we are going to the United States too" but in México City there is a lot of crime both in and around my country It is similar to México City. And I had to cross a river. A river is a little big, I had to cross it, and I was about to drown in that river. But the lady's husband who came along with me, grabbed my shirt with his hands, and took me out of the water and they took me to the riverbank. And when, and when we left the river, I wanted to change my jeans, the shirt, eh but it couldn't. Immigration arrived, arrived at around 3:30 in the afternoon. And then they took me, and asked me if I was coming alone, and I said yes. And then they separated me from the lady who came with me, or who spoke to me, she only spoke to me and I came after them because I didn't know anyone. I had no one to turn to and it was the last time I saw the lady with her husband and children at the border. And then the immigration people took me in a car with other immigrants younger than me. Just like they came alone without their parents and all that. Then we got to “la perrera”. They took us to “la perrera” where our data and all that are recorded, and at first they treated me badly because the identifications that I brought were mine, but they came out on the computer that were not mine. And then I said, "I was surprised, it can't be, it's me" and, and then, like here, this advance. They told me, if I wasn't going to tell the truth that they were going to give me prison for life and I, “it can't be,” I was left with the doubts, “it can't be, this can't, it can't be fair what is happening " And the only thing I did was ask a lot of God to get me out of the “pobrlemon” where he had put me. Imagine, being in jail for life? Unable to see your parents for the last time? It's a horrible thing. And what they did was that they scanned my entire body, they scanned my eyes, my mouth, my fingers, they took away the traces of everything and that's where the papers appeared to be mine. And then they put me in the pound for another 4 hours, and they took me to another detention. It was still cold, I was there for about 15 days, and until others from the migration arrived. Others came and we went out at about 2:00 in the morning to the home, where they had vacated, so many children they had identified and all that. So if we could go to fight the case, but it also took a long process. My social worker had to talk to my dad to get me out of there. And it was something… You see a story that I mark for life, my life. Because they just gave me 10 minutes to talk to my mom, 10 minutes to my dad. And it was something that wasn't fair to me. In treating me well, they treated me well. They never treat you bad there, they give you education, they give you clothes, they give you everything. The only thing that is not fair is that they only gave 10 minutes to talk to your family. You couldn't speak to anyone. It was just with your dad, or with your mom. And I said well, since? Since I'm here, what I have to do is just wait and what I did was wait. My dad fell behind with the papers but thank God he was able to fix it. My dad didn't know how to write, my dad doesn't know, he can't read. He just couldn't go to anyone because he didn't understand what they were saying or something he did. He only knows how to speak Spanish but cannot understand everything one has written on a sheet of paper. You cannot read it. That was why I was late and well. When they told me that my case was already over, half had already been approved by the government but they were missing. It was missing as another half to be approved by the government. They submit the case to you for once, and if the government doesn't approve it, that's fine. Then they resubmit it again and then it is where they just give you 72 hours to evacuate the home and go with your family. And thank God the case was approved and I came here. And right now I'm here in Florida. Never in my life did I suppose ... what I fear the most is the heights but when I came, from Houston to Florida, I saw that I left the home at 9:00 in the morning on a Friday and I came here until 11 : 43 at night.
Ale: The same day?
Ana: The same day.
Ale: And did you come by car?
Ana: By plane. Yes, it was where I said, "OMG" and the most fun was that I have experienced good things, and terrible things. But, up to here we are thank God. So far you have me. That is the story of my life.
Everyone laughs
Hayley: Thanks
Ale: Thanks! Yes!
Ale: And you have brothers? Or does your mom want to come? Or your dad?
Ana: No. My mom is already 46 years old. It would be like applying for a visa. But from crossing the border walking, no longer. Because the desert is very risky.
Ale: Yes, you did it alone.
Ana: I did it alone, and I don't want my mother to suffer what I suffered. And so that's why she decided to stay there. And we have also decided.
Ale: And you have no brothers?
Ana: I have brothers. I am the fourth daughter of my mom. I am the smallest. I have, this, I have a Sister who is 27 years old and I have another brother who is about 23 years old, and my other sister is 20, 21 I think. And I'm 18. My mom's fourth daughter. And a little brother who accompanies me. (laughs)
Ale: Here?
Ana: Yes, he is with me now. Hey, we are 5 children, and the two youngest are here.
Ale: So good. So are you helping your brother? Here?
Ana: Yes, and we are both studying here.
Ale: Are you studying?
Ana: We study here. Both. I have nephews.
Ale: Here?
Ana: Aya in Guatemala. The ones I miss the most are my two twin nephews. I have more nieces too. I miss my grandmother, my uncles. To all my family who stayed there in Guatemala because it is very different to live here. For example, when we spend Christmas
It was very sad. We did not receive the hug from Mom, nor from my brothers, it was just the two of us. My brother and my dad.
Ale: And your dad was here?
Ana: My dad is here.
Ale: And he came before you did?
Ana: If he already …… we didn't know my dad. I don't know my dad as a child. Until here I got to know him. He came to the United States when I was 2 years old, he came here and since that time, I don't remember anything. Nothing about my dad, just that up to here I came to meet him. And when he left us, we had a very terrible life. Especially the mistreatment of my uncles, towards my mother. As a child, there was nothing I could do. My dad too, took refuge in alcohol here and did not send us money. There are Abeces when we ran out of food but well ... that is in the past and then my late grandfather, what, what made the whole inheritance that my father has the house, my father's land. My late grandfather left them on top of my mother, and all of us children. I don't leave anything to my dad. Simply, he left everything to us and that's where on that day my dad thought. And that's where I was already reacting. He already sent us money, although not much, but he did send us for food, and all that. That is the, as I tell you, there are good people in this world, and there are bad people too. I have, I have uncles who are bad, who have caused a lot of damage to my family. And now what we are trying to do, what we are doing is not to take the same steps. We are doing, more than everything, we are fighting to make someone, a more different life where love, peace, tranquility breathes all that and I am proud of my family, it is humble. My family is humble but there is also pure love, pure happiness and tranquility. With what little we had, well I remember, they are tortillas and salt and a cup of coffee. The richest that can not be missing in my family, there was never a special dish. Our special dish is that, because my mother was supporting us with studies per what. What we did is though, or think even though we didn't have enough, but we were happy with what we had. Not much, not little, just a little to survive. And now I can say to my mom "go buy new clothes."
Ale: Do you send them money?
Ana: I send them money. I tell my mother “buy clothes, buy a pair of shoes, even if it is not the most expensive, but I give money to my mom and especially my brothers too. I give them money so that they feel as proud as I am of it and as much as my family is for me. That is what I try to do and I fight day by day to lift my family out of the poverty it has.
Ale: How good. And my teacher told me that you liked to draw? If you want, so that we have something of your memory of your house. Or what did your neighborhood look like? If you want to do me, here it is. You can talk to me and explain everything to me.
ANA: Well, this is my home. Four walls, one wooden door. And this is the kitchen where we are. And this is the little house that my father built. This is the the terrace. It has a door, and these are the stairs that lead to the terrace. We hang clothes here. And here is a hill, and the road is here. I live on the side of the road here. This goes to the municipality. And these are, this is the house of my neighbor. They had a store.
Ale: What type of store?
ANA: Where they sold gatorade, gauchas , all that.
Ale: Ah, a tiendita .
ANA: Aha, yes.
Ale: And all the houses were double?
ANA: Yes. There had to be one for the kitchen, and another one to sleep in.
Ale: And they were separated?
ANA: Yes, they were separated. And these are the mountains . And I live at the top of a hill like that. I do not think I drew it good
Ale: The drawing is cute! And then to go to school, was it by car?
ANA: No. It was feet.
Ale: On foot ?!
ANA: Yes. We had to go up and up [the hill]. Suppose this is me. I go with my friends, practicing. Let's go, and let's go, and let's go. The school is here.
Hayley: What year of school did you finish?
ANA: Nothing more than the preparatory. Like grade number 6. And here this is the school for kindergarten. I went through three schools. This road bring me good memories.
Ale: Right
ANA: Yes. Here were the trees, and the land of my grandfather. And over here was the mountains. Everything was mountains.
Ale: And that was like pine trees?
ANA: Yes.
Ale: You said it was cold right?
ANA: Yes.
Ale: Was it always cold?
ANA: No. Not always. Only when you wake up in the morning. It's something (shudders).
Ale: And in the evenings? So when the sun goes down?
ANA: Yes. When the sun goes down the weather is delicious. It doesn’t compare to how it is in Florida, but when it was hot the heat was strong.
Ale: So it was a mountainous climate ?
ANA: Yes.
Ale: And this is your favorite memory? Seeing the sun at dawn.
ANA: I went down here, where the animal house is. we had chickens, roosters. And when I went down at 7 in the morning, the sun was already up. If I woke up early, at 5:30, the sun was shining like a red, a red mixed with yellow. I would sit and watch it, and sometimes my mom would yell at me saying, “What are you doing? Why are you always watching the sun?” My mom knew I loved to watch the sunrise.
ANA: So, what I would do is I would quickly feed the chickens, cows, horses, and the sheep. It was us, and all of them needed to be fed. Sometimes my mom would call me the shepherd the sheep, so I would do that, which I also loved. When I did that I could see my whole house, and could watch the animals eat. Farther down we had apple and plum trees.
ANA: Where I would go get the sheep, where they ate, I could go to the water well. It was a pretty well by my house where we got water for the land, and sometimes it would steam when it was cold outside. Sometimes you could wash your face and take a bath at the river. It’s something I enjoyed and miss the most.
ANA : Municipalities are like town centers. I live in Txolja. So, every time you go to visit San Marcos, you get asked which municipality you’re going to, and then you take the route to it. When I went to San Marcos, I always went with my mom to the market where people sold fruit. There’s also a fair where they sell cows, rabbits, and other animals.
ANA : Farther down there is a large cemetery where many people are buried. If I’m correct, there’s about 3000 people buried there.
ANA : Farther down is the large Catholic Church I went to.
ANA : By the church vendors sold elotes and cooked everything. It was at a park where everyone spent time.
ANA : There is a tradition when you’re 18 to go scream in the Acoustic Conch. Everyone watches and laughs. When you’re younger it looks like a big igloo.
ANA : Leaving mass, me and my mom would go shopping. She would always get me my favorite food, enchiladas. Because I was the youngest I was always with her and would always get enchiladas. M mom liked them as well.
ANA : Here is where tortillas are made. If we didn’t make them ourselves we would get them here.
ANA : On the way home we would see an ice cream truck. I was always the shy one and needed my mom’s approval to buy ice cream, which she always got for me. I always asked for chocolate ice cream, it was my favorite.
ANA : Higher up was my grandma’s house. We always went there on the way home. While my mom and grandma talked, I went to gossip with my uncle and aunt, the youngest ones.
ANA : And after we get to return home. My grandma was never rich. One thing that amazed me about her, something that I could never do, was kill a chicken. She always did it. Sometimes she would come to my house with one for me and my siblings to eat when my mom didn’t have food for us since she didn’t have a salary or job. She simply worked on our land with whatever we grew.
ANA: We were never without fruits because we had our own trees. And my mom grew corn and beans. Between me and my sisters we would prepare what was grown so we had food.
ANA : My mom studied in the mornings because she was going to school to be a nurse. She was never able to become a nurse because she left home to start working when she was 12. She gave up her studies. She worked hard to get what she has so she started studying late. My siblings came and the land needed to be taken care of, so now we have to help her out.
ALE: You have another language besides Spanish. What is it called?
ANA: Aha, mam.
ALE: And your name, how do you spell it? * Ana writes out her name * It's .. Ah! Yes.
ALE: And what is your mom working on ?
ANA: Only planting and planting vegetables. What we grow we sell. The only thing we didn’t buy is corn because it’s so expensive. It costs what is $15 over here, so I buy it for my mom now.
ANA: We gave my grandparents half of the corn, leaf ing us with half. We didn’t really buy meat because we usually wanted chicken. I never learned how to kill one. I’m the only one that couldn’t do it. My siblings good. It made me feel bad to be the only one that couldn’t.
ALE: I can’t kill one either (laughs)
ALE: Up to the point that I moved here I’ve never killed one. It’s something I’ve never been able to do and never will. (laughs)
ALE: What is the name of your community?
ANA: The name of my community is spelled like this. El Calvario. It’s in the municipality called Trona.
ANA: El Comitán is huge, it has a lot of farms. A farm is independent, not dependent on the Comitán. So, it doesn’t help the farms economically. There are like 82 farms in El Comitán. These farms are in small towns like El Calvario, which get aid.
ANA: Our clothes is made by hand and is worn by everyone. The bottoms are like a skirt, and the top looks like this. My mom taught me how to wear this type of clothes.
ANA: My mom taught me how to be strong. I come from a poor family, but we’re happy. But we’re happy. We’re humble. I’m working hard. If God offers me possibilities and opportunity, I’ll take it. I’m going to keep with the plan God has for my life. Whatever He says to do, whatever he decides, I’ll follow. I’m going to keep moving forward. I’m going to keep working for the person I love, which is my mom.