What does it mean to be "dreaming in Cuban?" In class we discussed that it involves an aspiration of using our dreams to fulfill the needs of a Cuban. Their is the revolution, Celia's love for Gustavo, or Pilar's desire to go back to Cuba. These dreams involve being apart of Cuba. When I read this novel, I tried to compare the dreams in here to my personal life. What does it mean to be "dreaming in Mexican?"
How can I be dreaming in Mexican? I haven't been to Mexico in nearly 10 years. The last time I went my cousins wanted to fight me. They didn't like me. For 10 years, I haven't had the desire to go and visit my family down in Zachatecas, Mexico. It was mostly my father's side that went to Mexico and I wasn't really close to him. When I read this novel, I thought about this. However, I feel like I am thinking about it in the wrong way. I take pride in being a Mexican from America, especially during a time where being a Mexican is depicted a an illegal.
So I guess I should be thinking, what does it mean to dreaming in "Mexican American." I see the similarities in dreaming like this like it did in Bodega Dreams and the mirror essay. My aspiration to not disappoint and make something of myself is my dreaming in Mexican American. The different generations in my family have influenced me. I took all the negative and positive and use it as a driving force to build a new path. I also recognize that my ethnicity plays a huge role in this. The brown skin says plenty about me. There is so much that goes into the skin color. The culture, values, and dreams are apart of the skin color. That is what makes it dreaming in "Mexican American" than just dreaming.
Tavo, I thought a lot of the same things. I was trying to figure out what it means to "dream in American." I feel like often times, we automatically assume this with the "American Dream" but yet I feel there is a big difference. However, when I try to figure out what it means to me, I can't really define it.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you can take pride in being Mexican from America. I cannot even fathom what it feels like for people to think you are illegal. I can't fathom what it feels like to be treated like an outsider. This is where I think that some people who are in that white category need to get out of the United States. I know that most other cultures are much more accepting that what the United States seems to be on the outside. However, I think that people need to realize what it feels like to be treated like an outsider.
Thanks for posting your thoughts on what it means to “dream in Mexican” and to “dream in Mexican-American.” The questions we discussed in class made me think about what it means to “dream in Cuban” and about the American Dream, but I hadn’t really thought about what the book can teach me personally – what it means for me to have a particular (little D) American dream of my own, or to think about my mom’s Canadian family and to think about what it means to “dream in Canadian.” While I certainly don’t have a physical appearance that makes people brand me anything but a standard white American, I think there is something to being partially Canadian that must have seeped into my dreams somehow. I’ll have to ponder what that is.
ReplyDeleteI liked your point that you are Mexican American and are dreaming in that, especially during a time when some are not making the distinction and trying to label many different groups of people under one umbrella title. You are taking your past and merging it with now to find your own way and make your own dreams. In some ways you are similar to Pilar, however you have chosen to take a different path with your dreaming. Instead of perhaps trying to make her life her own, Pilar is trying to grasp at her Cuban heritage in order to connect with her grandmother.
ReplyDeleteTavo, thanks for sharing your own "dreams" as you take "all the negative and positive and use it as a driving force to build a new path." If Pilar, the New Yorker, dreams in Cuban, it is her attempt to try and make sense of her roots in another place that has shaped her family so profoundly. The journey back is not always easy or pleasant, as you examples show, nor is crossing generations and encountering family who don't know you. But the process of building a new identity out of both the past and the present is one that makes you stronger. I'd like to hear more about how you--and Pilar, character in the novel who is most like you--are also part of the American dream.
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