Immigration video & a powerful compliment

On Monday night I returned to ICA after dinner to watch a movie called La Misma Luna (The Same Moon). It was a story about Latino families immigrating to the United States. The movie was supposed to have English subtitles, but it didn't, so I readily admit that there were several occasions when I had no idea what was going on. I was able to understand the point of the story, though. (I won't spoil the whole story for you, just in case, for some reason, you decide to watch a movie in Spanish!)

One of the most powerful parts of the movie was when the characters were talking about the US history test that individuals need to pass in order to become a US citizen. One Latino character said to another: The history of the United States is easy to remember. First, they screwed the Native Americans. Second, they screwed the Black slaves. And now they are screwing the Latinos. (The language used in the movie was significantly stronger than what I'm using now, but I want to keep a PG rating here.) I found that statement to be extremely powerful. Of course, it doesn't honestly sum up the full history of the United States, but it sums up areas that we sometimes prefer to forget. In the US we like to think that we have a proud history of taming a wild, uninhabited land. That's even what we teach in our schools. It's not the full truth, but sometimes we don't realize there are other ways of looking at it until we actually see, hear, and experience those other opinions. It doesn't feel good to remember the negative things in our history, but it doesn't do any good to pretend like they never happened either.

On Tuesday night during class, the student that Edwin (another teacher at ICA) was supposed to meet with was sick. Edwin and I are buddies, so he joined my teacher and me for the first two hours of class. I was lucky to have dos maestros (two teachers)! The three of us just sat there and chatted (in Spanish, of course!) for nearly two hours. We talked about the video I had watched the night before, and I asked them to share their impressions of the United States. While they were apprehensive about making prejudgements, it was quite clear that neither one shared a positive opinion of the US. They backed up their feelings with several examples, including the United States' financial support of the Guatemalan civil war. When I'm in the US, it's hard to imagine that people in other countries don't love us. Outside of the US, though, it's easy to see and understand.

While we were talking, Edwin gave me one of the most powerful compliments I've ever received. He said his view of the United States has changed since meeting me. He didn't think there were people like me (e.g. not arrogant, willing to admit that we do some things wrong, wanting to learn from people in another culture, etc. ) in the United States. Wow. That was a powerful statement, and I still can't believe he said it. I had recognized the fact that I am representing Goshen College on this trip, but I hadn't taken it any further to realize that I'm representing my entire country. I'm pleased to know that I've been a positive representation. They took the compliment even further when they said that it would be people like the three of us who will make a difference in a positive way in our generation. I was honored that they would place me, a gringa, in the same category as themselves. I didn't take those compliments lightly.

After that, the mood turned a bit lighter, and the guys proceeded to tell me over 20 chistes (jokes) in Spanish. The three of us had a great time laughing together.