Post 4

Q: 1

“'We are a miscegenation-happy people,' Ed Morales concludes.” Pg. 231

First Miscegenation means crossbred. So now knowing this, I think that people have adapted very well in the US. They are mixing and assimilating well. Americans are more than accepting these new comers. People are adapting to the situation at hand.

I think that we now see the crossbreeds that they have created. Almost no one is full anything. I myself am some of almost everything.

How many people do you know that are a single race/culture?

Q: 2

“That's why I tell young girls, you have to stand up for yourself. Be bien preparadas. If you can't fight for yourself, how can you fight for family, your country your community.” pg. 262 Dolores.

I can relate to this because, my mother has always taught me to stand up for myself. Just like Dolores states “If you can't fight for yourself, how can you fight for family, your country your community.” Though I am an American I still need to be able to stand up for myself, my family, my friends, and my rights.

It must have been a challenge for young girls to be confident in their selfs when not in their own country. They already must feel like they don't fit in. But now on top of that they are shy and/or uncomfortable, as a teenager. Adapting to this culture as a teen ager must have been very difficult.

Have you ever had to stand up for someone or something?

Post 3

"All we got is what you see on our backs," one African American woman tells me, pointing to her two little boys in basketball jerseys with numbers on them.”

pg. 136

The journey coming to America must have been a hard trek for this woman and her family. They could not bring very much only what they can carry with them. They would have had to leave many things behind. It must have been very sad for them.

This reminds me of what my mother says in the grocery store. We only buy what we can carry. If you compare a trip to the grocery store to the hard trek to America, our life here seems pretty great.

Do you think that it is the same for people immigrating to the U.S. now?

“They keep the economy going, she concluded.”

Julia's Aunt pg.140

This reminded me of something that came up in class the other day. Someone said that immigrants help keep the economy smooth. I think that this is an interesting topic. Immigrants may help the economy by having more people to buy goods, but they also hinder the economy buy taking jobs away from the natives.

This person is acting like these immigrants are just here to help with our problems. “They keep the economy going,” she says. But they came here for a new life, not to be treated like extras to buy more goods from people.

Do you think that people feel this way now a days?

Post 2

“I do as many quinces a year as weddings,” pg. 92 Father Jorge Perez

I think that this quote shows just how many people maintain their cultural ties to their homeland while living in America. It also show how many people of this culture came to this part of America. This Father either has very few weddings, or there are a lot of people maintaining there cultural ties. This is an example of one church in the entire country. Think of how many Latinas there must be in the rest of the country. True it may be that this area has more Hispanic people in it. Still remains the fact that a lot of girls celebrate there quinces.

I am amazed at how well these girls are adapting to their new lives in the U.S. I am one to comfort new people and outsiders. I hope that people also did that for these girls and that is why they are getting more comfortable in America.

Why do you think that these churches are having as many quinces as weddings?



“If we could, we'd bring the whole family.” pg 124 Rosie

I feel bad that a lot of people had to leave family members behind. I hope that people like Rosie eventually get enough money to pay for the rest of their family to come to the Americas. This shows how hard it must have been to travel to the U.S. All the heart ache and the stress is unimaginable. I am glad that we have risen above that. Nobody should have to go through that, anymore.

I find this very sad that they could not bring their entire family with them. I can't imagine how it would feel to have to leave someone behind or to be the one that must be left behind. I am glad that it is now easier to bring your entire family over to the U.S.

What percentage of the families that had to leave members behind, do you think made enough money to get those members voyage to the U.S.?

Post 1

Most of the book Once upon a Quincenra, deals with people that are already here, not actual immigrants. The only person that was an immigrant so far, is the actual author of the book. The only quote that I have found that applies to immigration, was when the author refers to her family having moved to the U.S.

In 1963, when she moved to the U.S. She and her sisters had been told by passersby on the street who herd them talking loudly in Spanish: “Spics! Go back to where you came from!” Yet in spite of this and other racist incidents happening, there was no question that her older sister was still going to have a quince.

Pg.26

I think that this quote shows that the author was discriminated upon when she was young and is trying to show that despite any racist problems, the coming of age ceremony was still a very big part of their lives. I think that if she wanted to write about being an immigrant in the U.S., she could have just written her life's story. This book is not really about immigrants, but girls of a different nationality celebrating one of their traditions in the U.S. Despite the fact that she had trouble immigrating here, this does not mean that all immigrants had that bad of an experience in the U.S.

Why do you think that keeping to tradition is more important then fitting in?

If You were in the author's place would you still have a quincenra?