As we interview Daniela
Gavilanes, she tells us about her journey from the age of twelve. Daniela is
from from Quito, Ecuador and she moved to America because of her grandma’s
belief that America is the land of opportunity for a better life. As the interview
continues, Daniela reveals the importance of her family and how that shaped who
she is today. During the interview, she shares her culture, traditions, and personal aspects about her life in the United States.Her immigration story
sparked interest in us and we wanted to understand and learn more about
her identity and what sets her apart from being just Latina.
Grandma's Decision
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| http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/ecuador |
She(Grandma)wanted a better life for us(Daniela’s family). Umm, I was a little bit worried(about my grandma's decision for letting me come to us) because my mom was not coming with me. It was only my dad, my two brothers, and me. And umm, I was kinda scared because I was only 12 years old, and I don't know what to expect when I come here.
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| (1) |
Expectation of
America
I thought that everyone just like, they didn't speak Spanish (in the United States), I was kinda of afraid (that) I would not be able to communicate with the people around me. When
I came here, I was expecting to see just Americans, just white people. I realized that there’s a lot of different cultures and all of that (when I came to the U.S.), like “melting pot”. I saw Asians, I saw a lot of Hispanics, I saw a lot of different
cultures that I wasn’t exposed to before. We’ve been taught since we were
little kids like by our parents that American people have blonde hair and blue
eyes. That's how we pictured it and I don’t think I identify myself like that.
Maybe because I live here (U.S.), I kinda got use to seeing a lot of Americans.
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| http://www.tooopen.com/view/163922.html |
I was wondering how
school was going to be like in the United States. Was I going to have friends
that will only speak English to me? Was I going to be able to understand them
and all of that. In the classrooms, in my country when you disrespect the
teacher, they kind of hit you, they slap you or they throw something at you.
But here it was so different to see a student disrespect a teacher so bad and I
was shocked by it and I told my dad about it and he is like this is how
American culture is.
First day of America
I came here in 2008 in July, first I came to Chicago and lived at my grandma’s friend’s house. Umm, I was scared because I didn’t know what to expect. When I got here, it was a different smell like and it didn’t smell like my country. It was kinda like when you go to your friend’s house and it has a different smell from your own house, so it was different.
In my country, we don’t
say hi to anyone in the street because it’s awkward and dangerous a little bit.
But when I got here, everyone was (saying) hi, hey, how are you doing, and good
morning to you. I felt welcomed in that aspect.
My Culture
I love my traditions
that we celebrate, I think that makes us unique. Ecuadorians have
a lot of holidays like we celebrate one called Dia da las Vijas (2) which
is on December 31, where all the guys dress up as a girl, with boobs (laughs)
with mini skirts or shorts or whatever they can find. They even put makeup on
and they go in the streets to ask for money. They put a rope between the
streets to stop the cars so they can give them money. That’s like a huge
tradition in my country, it’s not that they are gays or anything like that,
just fun. We also have the Dia de los Muertos (3). We cook colada
morada (4) con guaguas de pan (5). We have one called Carnaval (6)
where we do water balloons and throw it at people. There’s a lot of water
involved (laughs) and we do a lot of holidays just for fun.
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| http://laylita.com/recipes/2012/10/16/easy-colada-morada-recipe/ (Above) colada morada and the guaguas de pan |
Since we don’t celebrate it here, I think it’s kinda hard to keep those traditions alive. We try our best like when we make soup, which is like fanesca (7). We make every year, even though we are not in our country, we still make it. Umm, for El Dia de los Muertos we kinda stop doing that because it takes a lot of work and we don’t have all the material, ingredients that we need to make colada morada and the guaguas de pan, so we have to go to an Ecuador restaurant to eat it, but it’s not the same. So I think maybe a fading a little bit, but umm we still try to keep our tradition alive.
My identity
I identify myself as
Ecuadorian because I was born in Ecuador and I lived there for 12 years and I
moved here so I have all of my values, my traditions, my cultures. And my own
way of speaking, umm, I don’t think I’m American-Ecuadorian because both of my
parents are Ecuadorian, so I think I’m hundred percent Ecuadorian. I don’t see why I
should be calling myself American, if I didn’t grow up here. I don’t see myself
having two identities because I’m myself, I’m Ecuadorian, that’s like a fact
and like I said I don’t celebrate American holidays and if I celebrated
American holidays then I can be like “oh yeah I do” then I become half, but I
don’t, so maybe that’s why I just see myself as Ecuadorian and nothing else. I
do like a lot of American music. I do listen to American music especially
Beyoncé. I think she is amazing. I do listen to Bruno Mars, he is so cute. I
watch some football games like Vikings and all of that.
My Education at the University of Minnesota
I
chose the U because I love diversity and the University of Minnesota has a lot
of programs that I really like. I like to learn more about languages and I also
chose the U because it was the first college visit that I went to when I was in
middle school. When I came here I kind of really liked it and I was like this
is the school for me, so I applied and then I got accepted. I was feeling a
little bit confused because I didn’t know what to expect because I consider
myself as first generation student because my brother dropped out like the third month of college. So he didn’t have that experience and he didn’t tell me what college looks like or the experiences he had. So I kinda have to experience
it by myself. So I'm kinda like on my own and yeah. I really want to finish
college even though it’s overwhelming, and I don’t get enough sleep. But I
don’t know, I’ve been taught to get a higher education and keep going until I
get what I wanted.
By listening to Daniela’s story one
would benefit because they would hear the story of Daniela’s immigration. One
would learn of Daniela’s expectations coming to the United States, her story of
her first day in America and later on the education Daniela is trying to
pursue. More importantly one would gain the knowledge of ecuadorian culture and
Daniela’s identity.
FOOTNOTES:
1.Document: The legal documents that you need to come into the United States.
2. Dia da las Vijas: “Day of Old Women”, it is a holiday in Ecuador when males dress up as females and ask around for money on December 31 as a fun way to celebrate New Years.
2. Dia da las Vijas: “Day of Old Women”, it is a holiday in Ecuador when males dress up as females and ask around for money on December 31 as a fun way to celebrate New Years.
3. Dia de los Muertos: “Day of the Dead”, it is a holiday celebrated on November 2 to honor and remember loved ones that have passed away.
4. Colada morada: Traditional Ecuadorian drink.
5. Guaguas de pan: Traditional Ecuadorian sweet bread that is commonly decorated as a small child or baby.
6. Carnaval: “Carnival”, a celebration when people gather to watch a parade.
7. Fanesca: Traditional Ecuadorian soup.
IMAGE CREDIT:
1. Gavilanes, Daniela (left side) Family Photo, Quito Ecuador, Provided November 29, 2013.
Brenda Hernandez, Paige Haley, and Xin ling Zhuo
Great story! This story offers another aspect of immigration and really shows the importance of keeping an individuals culture. This interview really captured the narrator's story and showing how they kept their culture. This interview helps me realize how lucky I am to be in a safe country where I don't have to worry about taking my culture with me.
ReplyDeleteThis story really shows the reader that it is some how hard for immigrants to keep their culture sometimes. Many immigrants comes to the United States leaving some of their cultures and traditions behind. It's surprising to read that Daniela doesn't consider herself American at all but 100% Ecuadorian
ReplyDeleteGood job at conveying the interviewee's voice. Shows the reader clearly of expectations immigrants have before coming to America, and how she was able to live in America but still identify as an Ecuadorian, keeping her culture and value intact.
ReplyDeleteThe interview was all about the narrator’s voice and the expectations that she had before she came to U.S and how she keep her tradition when she came to the United States. The story is great and it show that some immigrants doesn't leave their culture like Daniela. There are a lot of immigrants that leave their culture and accept the new culture for some kind of condition and they consider themselves as American. Spending many years in this country Daniela consider herself as Ecuadorian not American. The story teach that wherever you are from it is important to keep your culture.
ReplyDeleteAfter spending many years in America, a lot of immigrants are assimilated by American culture and they have binary identity. It was surprised to hear how Daniela identified herself as a hundred percent of Ecuadorian even though she came here when she was so young. I like the way she treats her own culture and identity.
ReplyDeleteIt was very unique to read how connected to her Ecuadorian roots Daniela is. I enjoyed reading how she maintained her own identity.
ReplyDeleteThe interview reflected that immigrants faced language problems and they also need to adjust to the new environment which is really hard.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to keep their own tradition here in the U.S. and that's really sad
Education is really a big reason for them to come to the U.S.
I found it interesting in Daniela's story that she did not know of the, as she put it, melting pot the United States is when it comes to people of different backgrounds. Daniela believed that the United States would be full of white people, when in reality, she encountered, whites, Asians, Hispanics, etc. I also was intrigued by the fact that she was not accustomed to having people say hello in the streets and greet her in the way that Americans so often do. It was interesting to hear that that did not happen very often in Ecuador, and could sometimes be dangerous. Lastly, by Daniela noticing the different smell of the U.S., I came to the conclusion that we subconsciously have a sense of comfort with the way our environment surrounds us. This including smells, sounds, visuals, etc. We grow accustomed to a certain combination of everything and when put into a foreign place, everything is mixed up and different than we feel is the norm. I'm curious to know more on why Ecuadorians do not greet in the same way people in the United States do. For the United States as a hole, are we sometimes too friendly? Do we over-advertise how culturally diverse we are? Or is the opposite true?
ReplyDelete