A Day Without A Mexican

A Day Without a Mexican was an interesting movie. It wasn't the greatest of movies but I felt connected to it for several reasons. It was about Latinos in America and how much of an impact they have on the country. As for the quality of movie, I thought that it was low-budget but very humorous. I thought it was funny seeing the connections I had that were displayed in the movie. I am Mexican so seeing this film reminded me of how San Antonio functions. The Latino environment down in south Texas is alive and runs off Latinos. Losing all those people would definitely damage the economy, culture, and lifestyle there like in California.

I liked how the movie portrayed good points on the Latino culture and the impact it has on this country. Immigration is a huge deal in politics but these people who migrate from Latino countries seek opportunity. Why should they be stopped if they seek a better fortune?  The convocation for the Dream Act and the film made me think of how important it is for them to receive an opportunity to create a better life. People agree with this while others don't agree. I agree because I have seen the struggle of Latinos through the eyes of my friends, their relatives, and most importantly, my family. Some of my family members are not citizens. It is difficult for them to live because they always have to be on the lookout.  One of my relatives was detained by the police and now he is on his way back to Guatemala. Hearing from what my sister has said, he was hear for work and a better life. Now, my nephew is growing up without a father and it's sad to to see this in my family. Fathers don't come around in my family so to lose one to immigration makes it difficult for me. Seeing this movie made me think plenty about my family and my culture.

I want to comment about the prejudice activity that we had today. It was an interesting activity. I wish I would have heard everybody say what their prejudices where. It would have made me laugh to hear what people thought. Since I am Mexican, it was hard for me to come up with a prejudice against my culture. I did comment on something about me, though. I am tall, hairy, athletic, speak fluent English, play basketball, like rock music, and hang out more with white and black people now. When people see this, they say “you aren't the typical Mexican.” I ask why and they say its because of these reasons that I am not a “typical” Mexican. What is a typical Mexican? Is it how they look? Is it what they eat? Is it what kind of music they listen to? In the movie, Lila said she was a Latina at heart. Just because I don't play soccer, get the fohawk haircut, speak spanish all the time, dress differently, or speak with a “Mexican accent, doesn't mean I am not the “typical” Mexican. I am no different. I am Mexican at heart and that's what really matters. When people say that I am not the typical Mexican, it makes me seem like people think I am better than other Mexicans. It doesn't make me feel good about myself.

Bless Me, Ultima

This book was very interesting to me. I saw some things that were similar to my life. Antonio’s mother is a Catholic who is really into her faith tradition. She wants Antonio to be a priest. This sounds like my mother. My mother is always at church and she really is into the Catholic faith. She has told me numerous times that she had a dream about me being a priest. She always brings it up every time I talk to her and that it is a sign. I always respond back saying that I do not want to be a priest. Another similarity I saw was the character Antonio. Antonio was a child who thought, thought, and thought. He always questioned his faith, his parents, life, and his destiny. He just seemed like an emotional kid who would think about the situations around himself. For a kid to do this surprises me a little bit. Antonio worried about many aspects of his faith and questioned everything. I feel like kids should not be like this. They should live as they should not care about the struggles around their lives. Antonio is a special kid to be like this. I have a nephew similar to Antonio. His name actually is Antonio so I made that connection quickly. Both act the same way. They think about everything and seem to be emotional kids. That is really what made me like this book. I saw my nephew through Antonio and I couldn’t stop thinking about how similar these two are.

Ultima was a character who I liked and didn’t like. All her knowledge and magical ways made me think she was a witch in some way. I thought about it throughout the whole book. Is she a witch, even though it says she wasn’t, or she a worker for God? I personally feel like this is not Christian and it bothered me. She was a great character but her “curandera” ways is something that I struggled with.

As far as the book presentation, I thought Mandy and Zachary presented the information. They brought in great details about the background of the book. The discussions were good and the picture activity in the end was fun. As far as the novel, it was a great read. It is one of the few books I have read that had connections to my own life.  Antonio reminded me of my nephew. It made me miss home and my nephew.

Chicano Spanish, Sor Juana, and the Class

This past week has brought me closer to my culture. After reading Gloria Anzaldua’s piece about the different languages, I learned some things about the Mexican American culture that I didn’t know. I am familiar with standard Spanish and Chicano Spanish but I have never spoken with somebody that speaks pachuco or speaks Spanish with a northern Mexican dialect. There were words like “cookiar” and “rapiar” that I have never heard of and I wish I could hear some people speak these dialects.  I feel like it will bring me closer to the Latino culture in America, which is all over this country. One dialect that Gloria talks about more that the others is Chicano Spanish. I grew up hearing this dialect from my parents, siblings, friends, relatives, movies, and music. It does represent a way of life and only few understand it.

 

The Spanish in the I, The  Worst of All was not like I was used to. I understood most of the movie but sometimes the characters spoke a little too fast. Luckily there were the subtitles for me to stay on track.

I felt sorry for Sor Juana. Here is a woman who has an amazing gift but the church would not allow her to expand it any further. Coming from a Catholic background, I can see why certain members of the church reacted to Sor Juana’s intelligence. Men hold power in Catholicism. For a nun to have an effect of people like Sor Juana did is unheard of during this time. All the leaders of the church in the movie responded to Sor Juana by forcing her to give up her gift. Seeing this troubled me because she has a special gift from God. She should embrace and share it with others in the name of the Lord. Why should she be stopped? It just isn’t fair and seeing the ending made a nice story turn into a sad, depressing story.

I liked this past week. I felt personally connected to everything we have read and discussed about. It feels good to be in a class like this and I look forward to having another good week. 

My Name

My name is Octavio and for almost my whole life I never new the absolute definition to my name. I have looked it up and mostly what was said is that it means “eighth”. I know there is more to the literal definition but I cannot find what the entire meaning is. Perhaps I am being lazy in finding the meaning because it hasn’t been much of a bother to me. Actually, most of my life I haven’t been called Octavio. Most of my family and friends have called me Tavo, which is my nickname. I am so used to being called Tavo that I sometimes forget that I am Octavio. That is funny because I forget my own name and that shouldn’t happen to a person. I don’t think I have been called Octavio since elementary school so that probably helps me forget sometimes as well.  I actually wouldn’t mind if people called me Octavio but one pet peeve of mine is when people mispronounce my name and that happens more than I like in a place where people who don’t speak Spanish are the majority. 

I was originally going to be named Julian. The day before I was born, my mom said that she was sure that would be my name but it didn’t happen. My father wanted me to be named Octavio because of his brother, my uncle, who died when they were both kids. My father didn’t say much about who my uncle was but he said the name was a strong name. Based on my life experiences I can agree with that statement. Most of my life, I have seen struggle in my family and myself. I wont get into detail about the struggles but I can say that it wasn’t easy growing up in my family. I didn’t let those struggles bother what I wanted for me. I wanted to be the one that did something special and different. I didn’t want to be a guy that didn’t do anything with his life. I wanted to be the hard worker that does well in school, basketball, and be there for the family. All my hard work is paying off and I see results because I am doing what I want. My friends and family have noticed and they take pride in knowing me. I am the only “Octavio/Tavo” that they know so people of my generation understand who I am and what I am doing. One of my sisters named her son after me because of who I am and what I have done. 

          Based off my life experiences, I can say my name means strength, hard work, and unique. That is what people know me by back home and I hope people can see that when they hear my name. 

Latino Literature

By the looks of today's class, I can say that I will enjoy this class much more than I thought. I am a Latino male and learning about my culture through literature will help me connect more with the Latino culture in America. I am most looking forward to reading about the Chicano culture as I am a Chicano from San Antonio, Texas.