Author: Errick Spencer
Title: Reflection #1
Reflection To answer the question, who am I? I am a determined individual who is
#1: destined for success. I am a strong minded person who settles for
nothing less than what I deserve. I am a person who can be depended
on and who is the first to come to when my friends are in need of
assistance. I am a person who never back down or quit. I am Errick
Patrick Spencer, Jr a first generation college student who is going to set
a prime example for the future Spencers who will enter my generation
and family. What I will learn from doing this oral history is the
background of a person of another culture, religion and viewpoints. I
will learn how to professionally conduct a proper oral history project. I
have done oral history project in high schools, but I didn’t take them
seriously. I plan on going 100% on this oral history. I honestly believe
my may learn how to appreciate my life more, the interviewee life story
may make my life story look like an elementary book, and open up my
eyes to make me realize that I have a good life. I know for a fact that I
will learn about the culture of the interviewee. By me knowing whom I
am going to interview, I know we come from completely different
backgrounds and religions and I know this will also be an educational
experience just as it will be an informative and eye opening experience.
The reasons I have for doing this experience is to learn a lot more about
my good friend on a more serious and personal note. I have never
talked to him about his personal life being an immigrant from Mexico
or how it was growing up and living in Mexico. Joining LAST 395 I
didn’t know that we were going to have to induct an oral history with
someone, at first I joined the course because I needed the extra course,
but know I’m excited about the course and I am ready to get the show
on the road. I also want to conduct this oral history to inform others on
lives as immigrants; because this issue isn’t an issue we hear nor talk
about on a daily basis. The last reason I want to conduct this oral
history is because I personal believe that it will be a cool thing to do
and it could spark a new interest in my life.
Who: I am going to do my oral history on my good friend Ricardo Carrera. I
have known Ricardo since my sophomore year in high school. I met
Ricardo in my Pre-AP Geometry class. Ricardo has always been a smart
person. He graduate top of the class with me in high school, and unlike
most of the other Hispanics at Thornton Township High School,
Ricardo stood out as one of the brightest male Hispanic students. Our
friendship began to grow our junior year in high school having all the
same classes together and I began to talk to Ricardo more often. I know
that he was an immigrant from Mexico and he lives with his parents
and his younger sister, and they were all Mexican-born citizens.
Ricardo and I always have relationship conversations but never
conversations about our backgrounds. One thing I do remember is that
Ricardo told me junior year that he had to go downtown Chicago to get
his citizenship to become an American citizen. I want to do my oral
history on Ricardo, because he is one of my good friends and I don’t
know his background and I never talk to him about his life in Mexico or
how was it living there. This will be an interesting oral history because I
will learn so much about my good friend. I believe that this oral history
will make us become better friends. This oral history may be able to
reach out and touch other Mexicans or Hispanics fighting for their
citizenship. Ricardo’s story I believe will be great and I cannot wait to
begin. Unfortunately, I had to switch my oral history interviewee,
because I thought that Ricardo Carrera lived in Mexico when we has
younger, but I found out that he was born in Mexico and when he was a
few months old his parents moved to the US. So, now i am doing my
oral history on Alejandra Seufferheld. She is an outreach coordinator
for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the U of I. She is a native
of Argentina and was born in 1957. Alejandra moved to America in
1987, because her husband started graduate school. After his Master
degree she went back to Argentina in 1991, for one year. Then she came
back in 1992-93 for his PhD. After that she has been in the US. I found
Alejandra to be a very interesting person, and she was ready to give her
story during the pre-interview, and I had to stop her before she
revealed too much important information. I am ready to do the oral
history and present it at the EUI conference.
Map: After going over all the possible places that we can find Latin
American/Caribbean on campus we came up with a huge list. The
places that I am most familiar with are in the dining halls. I know that
there Caribbean and Latin American foods that are served in the
cafeterias on a daily basis. Another place we can find Latin American
and Caribbean places on campus are like our cultural dances. I am sure
that the U of I will be having something big for Cinco de Mayo. The U
of I always have little cultural dances and events throughout campus
that are quite cool. We also have the Latin American and Caribbean
house on campus. I believe that this is the greatest place to find out
anything about Latin America and the Caribbean. I also believe we have
la cocina which is authentic Latin American food that we can have on
campus. Other than la cocina there all types of types of authentic Latin
American/Caribbean restaurants on and off campus. One of the coolest
things I think is the houses for Latin American/Caribbean. The most
obvious choice to find places is to talk to students and faculty of Latin
American and Caribbean descent. They can help us learn more about
their culture and take us to some places that they eat at that have great
food. The students would be the best choice in my opinion because it’s
more of a hand on opportunity to learn more about Latin America and
the Caribbean. We also have the opportunity to study abroad and visit
the Latin American and Caribbean countries. We can study over there
and even earn college credits so it would be worth the money and the
time to travel and earn college credits. The study abroad would be
something I would love to do my junior year. I want to travel to either
Brazil or Argentina. Were we have our LAST 390 course is also a place
on campus were we can find Latin American and Caribbean because all
the foreign language classes are held there.
Connections: The diversity connection between U of I and the Latin
American/Caribbean is well documented all over campus. I have fliers
going around about special events containing both Latin Americans
and the Caribbean. They have special dances like salsa dancing where
you can come in and learn how to salsa dance and other types of Latin
American dances. Most of the foods served in our dining halls are filled
with Latin American and Caribbean heritage and culture. The U of I is
extremely generous when it comes to equally demonstrating cultures
on campus. I am not too fond to many Latin American and Caribbean
holidays but I am sure the U of I will have something for holidays such
as Cinco De Mayo and other Latin American Caribbean holidays. What
I like to see most around campus is the wide variety of flags people
have in their windows and in the university buildings, some flags in
which I have never seen before, and I find it very cool to see some new
flags. One the universities many websites students can visit and learn
lot about Latin America and the Caribbean and it may even spark an
interest in studying abroad. The U of I has tons of opportunities for
students to study abroad in the Caribbean and visit many Latin
American countries. We can find a lot of friends and strangers of Latin
American and Caribbean heritage through Facebook. Some of us can
network through Facebook and find a potential oral history
interviewee.
Think: After reading the required materials there are a few issues that I should
be aware of before jumping right into the oral history project. the first
issue is just having basic information of the country that the person use
to live in. having a basic preview of the country could broaden the oral
history and open doors to many different questions. For instance if that
persons lived in Argentina during the time period of the "Dirty War"
that could be a possible subject topic to focus on. Another issue I need
to be aware of is the classification/title I give the individual. After
having the discussion with Professor Maura Toro Morn I learned a lot
about names that have been thrown upon Latin Americans. I do not
want to offend my interviewee by calling him something that is
derogatory and start off the interview the wrong way. Personal issues
are other issues that need to be aware of. the interview may say
something that he/she were not suppose to speak of and it could put
them or possibly even their country in risk, so I have to make sure that
I am clear with all the information and let them know that whatever is
being spoken maybe used during the oral history. I also do not want my
interviewee to hid the truth from me, I want everything to be 100%
honest and be straight up with him and tell him everything he needs to
know, and let him know that no harm will come from the oral history.
One of the most important things that are needs to be taking into
consideration is the time periods. The oral history MUST be completed
so having daily or weekly sections will keep the oral history running
smoothly and information will be fresh and not choppy jumping from
relevant to irrelevant. Last but not least let the interviewee fully and
carefully read the contract so that they can be aware of all the
stipulations and once everything is done with he cannot complain nor
have issues because they read and signed the contract.
Background: So, for the background information the country I have to focus on is
Argentina. I plan on focusing a little bit about the Dirty War, education
in Argentina and the government around the time Alejandra lived
there. First, I am going to give some basic information on Argentina.
Argentina, is the second largest country in South America, constituted
as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires.
It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest
among Spanish-speaking nation. Argentina is a founding member of
both the United Nations and the Union of South American Nations.
Argentina is one of the G-20 major economies. The total surface area
1,068,302.7 sq miles, of which 11,700 sq miles is water. Argentina is
about 2,400 miles long from north to south, and 870 miles from east to
west. The geographic center of the country is in south-central La
Pampa province. The capital of Argentina is Buenos Aries. In 2001
census, Argentina had a population of 36,260,130 inhabitants.
Argentina ranks third in South America in total population and 33rd
globally. According to the World Christian Database, Argentines are
92.1% Christian, 3.1% agnostic, 1.9% Muslim, 1.3% Jewish, 0.9%
atheist, and 0.9% Buddhist and other. Argentine Christians are mostly
Roman Catholic. The official language of Argentina is Spanish, usually
called castellano (Castilian) by Argentines. Argentines are the largest
Spanish-speaking society that universally employs what is known as
voseo. More recent immigrants have brought Chinese and Korean,
mostly to Buenos Aires. English, Brazilian Portuguese and French are
also spoken. English is commonly taught at schools as a second
language as are, to a lesser extent, Portuguese and French. The Dirty
War, from 1976-1983, was a seven-year campaign by the Argentine
government against suspected dissidents and subversives. Many
people, both opponents of the government as well as innocent people,
were "disappeared" in the middle of the night. They were taken to
secret government detention centers where they were tortured and
eventually killed. These people are known as "los desaparecidos" or
"the disappeared." After the death of the controversial President Juan
Peron in 1974, his wife and vice president, Isabel Peron, assumed
power. However, she was not very strong politically and a military
junta led a coup against her and removed her from office. This military
junta maintained its grip on power by cracking down on anybody
whom they believed was challenging their authority. Casualty counts
from this war range from 10,000 to 30,000 people. Although the
military dictatorship carried out its war against suspected domestic
subversives throughout its entire existence, it was ironically a foreign
foe which brought the regime to an end. In the early 1980s, it became
clear to both the world and the Argentine people that the government
was behind the tens of thousands of kidnappings. The junta, facing
increasing opposition over its human rights record, as well as mounting
allegations of corruption, sought to allay domestic criticism by
launching a successful campaign to regain the Falkland Islands. The
Falkland Islands have been a source of contention between England,
which administers them, and Argentina, which claims them, since
1820. The junta had thought that it could reclaim these islands
relatively easily, that England wouldn't mind their loss, and that the
government would regain its popularity and control over its people.
However, the government was wrong in its anticipations when 72 days
after the invasion of the Islands, the British military won the war,
having captured 9,800 Argentine POWs. This unexpected loss was the
final blow for the military regime, and in 1982, it restored basic civil
liberties and retracted its ban on political parties. The Dirty War ended
when Raul Alfonsin's civilian government took control of the country
on December 10, 1983. I’ve learned that a lot had went own while
Alejandra was living in Argentina, such things as the Dirty War, a lot of
different political and economic issues as well in which I will focus
more on during the oral history. Tell me a little bit about where you are
from? What was your hometown like in Argentina? What kind of
struggles did you go through while in Argentina? What age did you
come here? Parents background, occupation, social class (poor)? How
has your identity changed from Argentina to the US? Experience in the
US and Argentina? What are a few transitions from Argentina to US?
What brought you to the US? How was school different from here and
there? Was learning English hard? What do you miss the most about
Argentina? Did you have a main view point of US while living in
Argentina? Where you forced to come here? Was coming to America
your dream? Are you living the American dream? How did you
overcome struggles? What were your struggles? What struggles did u
encounter here and there? If you could have seen into the future and
witness your life in the US now, woukd you still have come here?
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/ar.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/argentina.htm
http://www.facts-about.org.uk/history-and-events-timelineargentina.htm http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107288.html
Reflection I assume that reflection 2 is a reflection of everything I have learned so
#2: are in the course and what I have learned during the oral history. As of
now I have learned a lot in both the class and from the oral history in
class I learned one of the most important things I believe and that are
mapping Latin America and the Caribbean. I pretty much know where
the countries are and their capitals. Also by reading Catching Stories it
helped me conduct my oral history in a professional manner and I am
proud to say that I have officially conducted an oral history on a college
based level. This course is way funnier than I expected it to be. It is
more hands on which makes it more active and fulfilling. With the
other reading and when Mrs. Maura can in and spoke to us also helped
me understand the different meanings between names like Hispanic
and Latinos. As stated earlier I had to switch interviewees because my
friends Ricardo was born in mexico but didn’t have any memories there
because he came to America when he was a few months old. So, I had
to change interviewee and I had Mrs. Alejandra and she is a native of
Argentina. She came to the U.S in 1987 with her husband. While in
Argentina she earned her bachelors in architecture and later on her
master in architecture. As a class we had to do background research on
our country and while in class I heard some students bring up the Dirty
War. This was an automatic light bulb moment because I love history
and war history, and I was hoping that Mrs. Alejandra was living in
Argentina around the time of the Dirty War. She told me that during
that time it was a time of insecurity. There were a lot of terrorism going
on, and she heard bombs exploding and didn’t know if here house
could be the next target. During that time period Alejandra told me that
it was a very scary time and also there were a lot of people coming up
missing is what I read during my background research. While she was
there in Argentina the economy was suffering also. For example I was
told that you could be in line at the checkout and you would hear a
voice over the intercom saying all price have risen 10% or 20%. During
the oral history I learned a lot. I learned that the schooling system in
Argentina is a complete 180 from the U.S. while here in America we
have grammar school, junior high and high school, in Argentina they
only have grammar school which consist of kindergarten through
seventh grade and high school which is 1st through 5th year students.
Another difference is that in Argentina all public universities are free
you, you have to pass the placement exams to enter the university, and
the public universities are more prestigious than private universities
which is the complete opposite in America. A simple thing that I found
out was that the currency for Argentina is the peso, which came to be a
complete shock to me. Alejandra said that the toughest thing for he was
the language barrier. She was taught a little bit of English while in
Argentina, but when she came here she was totally surprised. Her
husband knew English and he came here for his masters in
engineering. She said that it took her at least 8 years to feel comfortable
in America using her English. Mrs. Alejandra says that she will always
feel Argentinean no matter what, and that the only thing that she really
has Americanized was the cleanliness of America and the traffic, and
that when she goes home to Argentina it’s not the same as it here
cleanliness wise and traffic wise it’s more of a mess in Argentina. When
she goes home she says that everyone think that America is some easy
and everyone is so happy, but it’s not that easy, the salary in America is
better, but you still have to work hard to earn a descent salary. Mrs.
Alejandra does have a daughter and she says that he daughter is
bilingual and she teacher her daughter her Argentine culture. Overall
the oral history went well it lasted and hour and thirty minutes and I
believe that we could’ve talked for another 4 hours if we had the
chance. This is just a little reflection on the things I have learned so far
in class and I know that the semester is almost over but there is still a
lot of work left to do.
Reflection I have learned so much from conducting this oral history. At first I
#3: didn’t think I would learn a lot from the oral history, I just wanted to
get it done just to receive my letter grade for the class. I mainly learned
the life of an Argentine woman’s struggle to make it in America and her
life in Argentina. I also learned the education system in Argentina. One
of the interesting aspects of the oral history was when we started
talking about the Dirty War and how it had an impact Alejandra’s life.
The information during the research process was pretty much
discussed in class. But some information that I didn’t know was that
Argentina is the second largest country in South America. It is the
eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among
Spanish-speaking nation. Argentina is a founding member of both the
United Nations and the Union of South American Nations. Something I
found out during the interview that I had no clue of was that the
currency in Argentina is pesos; I had no clue of that and only thought
that pesos were in Mexico. I’m not a Latin American immigrant but I
could conclude that there are numerous struggles and barriers that one
must overcome to make it in America. The first thing that I would
recommend to future students would first to read the oral history book
that we had for class. That book will guide them through all aspects
they need to complete the oral history. Another thing that I recommend
is that the students do background information on the country that
there interviewee is from. By having the background information it
would make the interviewee feel as the person takes the oral history
seriously and is well prepared. Also, I would recommend if possible
that the person interview someone from somewhere that they have
interest in, by doing this it would make the process of all the research
and the actual conducting of the oral history an easy process and you
would enjoy it a lot more.