It was that day. That day on August 15th, 1997 where I was exposed to the world. My first glimpse was in none other than the capital of Paraguay, Asuncion. It was because of that day that whenever someone would ask me where I was from, I would enthusiastically answer “Paraguay,” knowing I would catch them off guard. For one, most people don’t even know what Paraguay is. Loving to educate, I was the first to explain it to many people that I've met. And if they happened to know that Paraguay was a small country in South America, I would receive a skeptical look. That sort of look you get when you eat “Chipa Guazu” you weren't supposed to touch. Then someone asks you if you ate it and you reply with “No, the dog ate it,” when clearly corn grain crumbs are stuck all over your face. It might be because I don’t look Paraguayan, I don’t speak Spanish, and I only lived there for a year. But I still hold a special place in my heart for the little country. For every time I visit, I am received by my welcoming family. Although we share the complications of poor communicating thanks to the language barrier, I still enjoy their company. That is why to them I dedicate this book, because Paraguay would be nothing to me without them.
The following chapters are not just “Paraguayan tales.” They are tales of family, tales of friends, tales of happiness, tales of beginning, tales of folklore, and most importantly, tales of life.
One of my most recent trips to Paraguay was around 2009. This was back when no flight existed from Florida straight to Paraguay. The closest place to Paraguay you could land was in Sao Paolo, Brazil, one of Paraguay’s larger neighboring countries. When my parents had showed me our purchased tickets, I will admit I was qui...
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...like to drive too much if it isn’t for work).
In Asuncion, most major landmarks are related to history and politics, so as ten year old kids, we didn’t have any interests in visiting them. However, I do believe that they deserve an honorable mention. In the historic section of Asuncion lies the Riviera Block. It contains nine extremely old houses, one of them even dating back to the 18th century. You can now enter these houses and see historical letters, paintings, documents, statues, and more.
The National Pantheon of Heroes is most likely the most popular tourist spot in Paraguay, and the most widely discussed. With the two wars Paraguay was a part of, a lot of soldiers died in battle. As such, those deceased soldiers are buried there in the Pantheon. The front of the Pantheon adorns the Latin phrase “Fides et Patria” or “My faith and my country.”
“Se Habla Español,” is written by a Latin author, Tanya Barrientos; and Amy Tan, a Chinese author, wrote “Mother Tongue”. In both literate narratives the authors write about their experiences with language and how it impacted their lives. In This essay we will be discussing the similarities as well as the differences in the stories and the authors of “Se Habla Español” and “Mother Tongue”. We will discuss how both authors use a play on words in their titles, how language has impacted their lives, how struggling with language has made them feel emotionally, and how both authors dealt with these issues.
Enrique’s Journey is a book that I would never read for fun. It is completely different from most of the books I have read, and intrigued me because the story was about a boy. Most of the books I have read in school are about a girl who goes through many hardships, and difficulties but I felt I could relate more to this one because it is about a boy who struggles. While I may not have been left thousands of miles away by mother so she could send money back, it was great to see what life was like on the other side. In this paper I will be talking about the micro and macro cultures of Enrique’s town Tegucigalpa. The situation and context of the characters decision making and how they adapted.
As far back as Rigoberta Manchu can remember, her life has been divided between the highlands of Guatemala and the low country plantations called the fincas. Routinely, Rigoberta and her family spent eight months working here under extremely poor conditions, for rich Guatemalans of Spanish descent. Starvation malnutrition and child death were common occurrence here; rape and murder were not unfamiliar too. Rigoberta and her family worked just as hard when they resided in their own village for a few months every year. However, when residing here, Rigoberta’s life was centered on the rituals and traditions of her community, many of which gave thanks to the natural world. When working in the fincas, she and her people struggled to survive, living at the mercy of wealthy landowners in an overcrowded, miserable environment. By the time Rigoberta was eight years old she was hard working and ...
In a story of identity and empowerment, Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem “Borderbus” revolves around two Honduran women grappling with their fate regarding a detention center in the United States after crawling up the spine of Mexico from Honduras. While one grapples with their survival, fixated on the notion that their identities are the ultimate determinant for their future, the other remains fixated on maintaining their humanity by insisting instead of coming from nothingness they are everything. Herrera’s poem consists entirely of the dialogue between the two women, utilizing diction and imagery to emphasize one’s sense of isolation and empowerment in the face of adversity and what it takes to survive in America.
Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong somewhere? Do you know what it feels like to be told you don’t belong in the place of your birth? People experience this quite frequently, because they may not be the stereotypical American citizen, and are told and convinced they don’t belong in the only place they see as home. In Gloria Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Anzaldúa gives the reader an inside look at the struggles of an American citizen who experiences this in their life, due to their heritage. She uses rhetorical appeals to help get her messages across on the subliminal level and show her perspective’s importance. These rhetorical appeals deal with the emotion, logic and credibility of the statements made by the author. Anzaldúa
In Aria,” from Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez, Richard Rodriguez shares his autobiography of when he first entered his classroom at catholic school. He writes of his transition through emotions of fear, insecurity, and self-doubt as he transitions from the privacy of his home to the public world. Richard develops an understanding that his that private language that is used in his home is different from the language that is publicly acceptable in school. His school teachers pushed his americanalization which led him to discover his identity, since he indeed was an American but grew up in a Spanish speaking home. Through this journey of journey of assimilation he discovers that learning this new language brought him a sense of comfortability and acceptance. Richard Rodriguez heavily relates to the Crevecoeurian immigrant because he was willing to learn a new language, leave his culture behind, and embrace his American identity.
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
At the beginning of the essay, Anzaldúa recounts a time when she was at the dentist. He told her, “We’re going to have to control your tongue” (33). Although he was referring to her physical tongue, Anzaldúa uses this example as a metaphor for language. The dentist, who is trying to cap her tooth, symbolizes the U.S. who is similarly seeking to restrict the rights of minority groups. Nevertheless, the tongue is preventing the dentist from doing his job. Likewise, there are several minority groups who refuse to abide to the laws of dominant cultures and are fighting back. Anzaldúa also touches on a personal story that happened at school. When she was younger, she was sent to the corner because apparently, she spoke back to her Anglo teacher. The author argues that she was unfairly scolded because she was only telling her teacher how to pronounce her name. Her teacher warned her, “If you want to be American, speak American. If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong.” This short story provides an understanding of what Anzaldúa’s life was like. It demonstrates how even at a young age, she was continually pressured because of where comes
Demetria Martínez’s Mother Tongue is divided into five sections and an epilogue. The first three parts of the text present Mary/ María’s, the narrator, recollection of the time when she was nineteen and met José Luis, a refuge from El Salvador, for the first time. The forth and fifth parts, chronologically, go back to her tragic experience when she was seven years old and then her trip to El Salvador with her son, the fruit of her romance with José Luis, twenty years after she met José Luis. And finally the epilogue consists a letter from José Luis to Mary/ María after her trip to El Salvador. The essay traces the development of Mother Tongue’s principal protagonists, María/ Mary. With a close reading of the text, I argue how the forth chapter, namely the domestic abuse scene, functions as a pivotal point in the Mother Tongue as it helps her to define herself.
Another way the diverse Latin American culture has influenced many individuals, including myself, is with their ...
Rodriguez’s essay had a big impact in my personal life because I could assimilate certain situations described in the essay to my own life. I grew up in Brazil, and now I am living in the United States. I was able to approximate some of my personal experience to certain cultural challenges described by Rodriguez. What surprised me the most is the surprisingly, and ingenious thought that I could be the only person that has gone through internal conflicts between the culture I was forced to learn and the culture I choose to learn and adapt. Consequently, I am not the only that thought to be the only one as Rodriguez states, “. . . Then one day, leafing through Richard Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy, I found, in his description of the scholarship
Stepping out of my first plane ride, I experience an epiphany of new culture, which seems to me as a whole new world. Buzzing around my ears are conversations in an unfamiliar language that intrigues me. It then struck me that after twenty hours of a seemingly perpetual plane ride that I finally arrived in The United States of America, a country full of new opportunities. It was this moment that I realized how diverse and big this world is. This is the story of my new life in America.
The San Vitale is primarily built of brick with a marble and mosaic interior. The ground plan consists of a octagonal organization with a central dome supported by a tall cylindrical drum. Separated by clerestory windows, is a dome in a concentric form of clay tubed rings and seven curved exedras connected to vaulted semi domes. At the main entrance of this chapel is a narthax making it off access from the adjustment apsidal chapels. On either side of the narthax is two projecting towers, one being a spiral stair tower and the other a bell tower. Connecting the central dome area and the ambulatory is 8 strong masonry pillars. The outer prism incorporates two levels of galleries with eccentric mosaics from floor to ceiling. Whether marble or mosaic stone, the monument fills t...
In the movie Spanglish written and directed by James L. Brooks, is narrated from the point of view of little girl, named Cristiana Moreno. This movie is the story of young lady writing her acceptances letter to Princeton University, answering a very complex question. How has been the most influential person in your life? And she delightedly replies: My mother! And is when the story star to develop. The story began when her mother Flor Moreno decided to leave Mexico because her husband left her, but mainly to give her daughter of six year old, a better life. They made their first stop in Texas, that back in those days the Hispanic population was 34 percent, but Flor feel that in order to raise her daughter properly she needed the security of