Sometimes it takes a long time to find someone whom with you connect. I have been in Emory University since August 15th, but everyone arrived on August 23. That day I can say for a fact that I met a friend that for life. I was shy and lonely, because I didn't know anyone in my orientation group, when I suddenly heard this girl say she was from Panama. I immediately identified her due to her appearance, as someone I would definitely get along with. Due to all of these similarities I called her and asked her if I could interview her, she said yes without thinking it twice, and she immediately ran down the stairs, for her interview.
I started by asking her: "How does it feel to be a Panamanian in Emory or in the United States?" With enthusiasm and a smile on her face she responded: "I mean there are positives and there are negatives right? The great thing about it is that the Latin American community here at Emory is really close, so I've gotten to make a lot of friends just because of the fact that I am Panamanian. The negative aspect is that it is definitely a culture shock and things are very different." When she stated the negative aspect there was a sudden but noticeable shift in her tone of voice. I then asked her: "What differences have you noticed between Panamanian culture and the culture here?" Sofia responded: "There are a lot of things, for example the way we dress, in Panama, it is a big city so it's formal we are always wearing jeans, we don't wear shorts and we don't wear mini skirts. We are very formal when it comes to that. Here it is the complete opposite idea. When it comes to dating, in Latin America men just go to you, while here they don't. Boys here tell you, "I think I like you," and then they leave. In general Latin Americans are very direct people, while here Americans are very cold people. Latin Americans are very warm and friendly, so it is easy to befriend them, while here it is more difficult to make friends." I then said: " As a Puerto Rican sometimes I feel bothered when people here call me a minority, and are mean to me because I am not from the United States. Do you ever get rejected or do you ever get that type of vibe from people?" Sofia quickly replied: "Definitely, you get bullied. There are people that say, "Omg you're so cool!" but there's also people who say, "You got in through affirmative action," and they make the jokes without even realizing. The other day I was talking to a stereotypical white male who said "Yeah, because affirmative action." I don't think that's funny, because I got in that way. I also feel some sort of racism and bullying towards the fact of not being from here. I've been asked how I speak English. English is a basically the second language in my country, everyone speaks English. To them it is like "oh my good, you speak English."" I then asked her: "Do you feel like you have any language barriers here?" Sofia said: "I've been speaking English for a long time so definitely I am comfortable with the English language, but at the same time, Spanish has so many emotions and feelings that make it easy to express what you're feeling, while there's no way to express what you're feeling in English. For us there is an in between "I like you" and "I love you," it is "te quiero," and here there is no such thing, so it's difficult to express your feelings." I asked her: "How are you getting used to living alone, for example doing things like doing your laundry? Do you like the food and the way of life here? She answered: " Living alone is always complicated, I mean coming from a home where everything's one for you, everyone cares for you, and everyone's warm and loving, coming into a place so much colder where everyone lives for themselves and everyone does their own thing. It's definitely a shock and it's definitely different. Now I do believe that it is possible to get used to it. When it comes to food, I was telling a friend the other day that I miss roasted chicken, rice, and lentils, instead of just going to the DUC and having three different plates of three different foods. I mean it's wears and it is different, but I have to get used to it, because I'll be here for at least four years." |
I then asked her: "Does having a group of Latino’s here or people that actually understand you help you cope with being away from home?"
She responded: "It definitely does help me cope with meting away from home. It helps me feel more comfortable and safe. If some random American guy tells me let's go take a walk, I will run for my life, if someone from Puerto Rico tells me let's take a walk, I would take a walk and do it all over again later, because they make me feel comfortable and make me feel at home. I feel like, we, the Latinos here have created our own little home and family. It makes it so much easier." I then confessed: "I personally did not know anyone from this school before coming here. I was here a week before everyone and all Americans were like, "Oh you are a minority," then all these Latinos came a week later so I started feeling at home. In Puerto Rico not everyone speaks English, and since in Puerto Rico everyone says I look American, I thought I would fit in here. It is so different from my expectations." Sofia said: "Yeah, but it's amazing. Going to Kappa Sig to Julian and Pedro's room and putting Latin music on, that kind of thing makes me feel at home." I asked: "How do you feel about the fact that here the drinking age is not the same as in Panama?" Sofia responded: "In my country the drinking age is 18, and not only, is the drinking age 18, from before we turn 18, our parents teach us how to drink. So, by the time we go out to a bar, we know how to drink and how much we can have in order to handle ourselves. Not only the age is 21, in American culture, parents don't give their children alcohol before the age of 21. Once they turn 21, or more realistically once they get to college where they are more exposed to alcohol, they go crazy, because simply it's not American culture to teach them. It is very important for people to learn how to drink, because it is unsafe to drink without knowing the correct way to do it." I then commented: "I personally feel like I was raised in a culture in which children are given wine as early as the age of 13 on the dinner table, because it is proper and part of our traditions. In my culture parents train you since before you are 18, so that at home we start noticing how are bodies react to alcohol, and so that we can learn to take care of ourselves and know our limits, before going out to the real world. Here is completely different, because I cannot embrace my culture. On the contrary, teenagers here go crazy at the first sight of freedom." Sofia commented: "I was raised in the exact same way. At the age of 11 my parents gave me wine at formal dinners, and later in my teenage years my dad sat me down with a glass of vodka. Time passes, and you learn, my parents also preferred that I learn how I react to alcohol, while at home. In Europe it works in exactly the same way. This should also be implemented in the United States, just so that teenagers can be safer." After this discussion we both realized that our cultures are even more similar than we thought. We stood up and hugged each other. I am so grateful to have Sofia here with me. |