Day 5 - ASB 2005

Wednesday
March 9, 2005

Of the days we've been here so far, today has been my favorite. We left in the morning for La Esperanza Home for Boys (a Southwest Key program) - a juvenile home for youth who've crossed the border illegally, caught by authorities, and sent to this institution while the government decides whether to let them stay or deport them.

(Harsh Welcome to Children Seeking Asylum - click to read an article about a boy who made it to La Esperanza home and through the process, plus: key findings from Amnesty International about unacompanied immigrant children).

They divided us to work among different groups. Julie, Dave, Lori, and I were in the level with zero english. We worked with the boys on mathematics (improper & mixed fractions). I felt in my element with these kids.

Much to my delight, there were 5 Brazilians at the home. I was immediately drawn to them and had the opportunity to practice portuguese. They knew no english and spoke little spanish...but then they can always understand a great deal of spanish since the two languages are pretty similar. The high of my day was being with them. Josefino didn't quite fit in with the rest, even within the group of Brazilians. For some reason he had gotten a bad reputation among them. He's the one I talked to the most. We talked about Brazil, music, sports, how he got to the US and where he hoped to go - it's crazy what he had to go through. Not only the travel from Brazil to Mexico, but then having to raise enough money to pay for a cyote to get across the border (that alone was about $5,000...about 15,000 reis - brazilian currency)...it's probably the first/longest real conversation i've had in Portuguese. Leonardo was the only one from São Paulo - the rest were from Minas. Dave worked one on one with him for a good while. It was a kodak moment. Renat, Fabio and Luis were more loud and outgoing.



During the lunch break, I sat on one of the couches in the classroom and a bunch of the boys gathered around to talk. They asked loads of questions and told me about how they got to where they are and family that they had hopes of connecting with in the states. These boys ranged anywhere between 13 and 24 and I was impressed with their maturity and ability to talk about certain issues. Of course, they were quite successful at acting as young boys too, hehe - poking fun of each other and flirting with the girls.

At one point, the Brazilians were seated at my right and some of the Central Americans at my left. I was speaking back and forth between Spanish and Portuguese. Haha, the immediate constant switch was a bit challenging! It's easier to switch from Spanish to Portuguese than it is to switch from Portuguese to Spanish, if that makes sense. When I turned to my left, I kept slipping up with "eu, eles, vou, posso, etc...instead of yo, ellos, voy, puedo, etc." But it worked out. Being in that environment made me feel much more confident about speaking both languages.

A sad part of the day was when I was in the middle of talking with Fabio, and he got pulled away to go to court. He stalled as much as he could, but he had to go. I was disappointed at his sudden departure.

I really hope that things work out best for these kids. I hated getting to spend part of the day with them, getting to know their individual stories, only to have to leave and never see them again, and never know what will become of them. That's why leaving that place made me so sad...because being around those kids made me so happy. I wasn't thinking about being hungry and I wasn't worried about whether my Spanish or Portugese was "good enough" for them - it's all the same...we were on the same plane. We shared language and an uncertain future...perhaps theirs more uncertain than mine.

My heart goes out to them because they have gone through so much to get to where they are, and I wonder about the conditions that they lived in and the circumstances that brought them to try to enter the United States. They stay at La Esperanza Home for anywhere between 72 hours to 9 months, alone - w/o family - waiting to find out whether they'll get political asylum and/or permission to stay. The future is so uncertain for them.
So, that was that. I wish we could've spent more time with those kids - at least a few more hours.

It's a strange double standard that I encounter in other environments. The moment someone sees me struggle with Spanish, they say "it's okay, I know English..." And I tend to resent that because I want to become fluent and that won't happen if people keep allowing me to speak English just because it's "easier." Let me struggle, let me make mistakes - then correct me. But at the same time, there have definitely been times when I have said to people, "está bien, hablo español..." - because it might be easier or be more comfortable for some people to speak that way...and many times, that has been the case.



After that, we headed to South Padre Island. Kind of like Ocean City...except not at all. We got there around 4pm and stayed for about an hour. It was nice to hit a beach during break. It was pretty chilly/windy, but the sun was out. Definitely some relaxation/reflection time



On the way back, we ended up going the wrong way on Boca Chica. We went the wrong way for about 30-40 minutes, so we probably had been driving in Mexico for some time. Nothing but cacti, flores de pita and grass for miles and miles. What I initially imagined when I thought of driving through Texas. No sign of civilization anywhere...except some dirt roads and a shady looking farm shack. Dave had a strong desire to get a piece of the flor de pita that Maurizio had told us about a couple days earlier. It's really prevalent in south Texas and apparently edible. A couple obstacles: They're at the top of a palm tree type trunk, the leaves around the flower are really sharp, in the area we were driving, they were surrounded by cacti on all sides, snake holes, and the fact that it was probably illegal to cut them down. On the turn around, we found one that was close enough to the ground and the road so Dave could reach it with his knife. Just our luck - while he poses for a picture with his new found prize, border patrol pulls up. Of all the times for them to be driving by, haha. Luckily the guy didn't ask too many questions and we went on our way.



It was pretty dark by the time we reached homebase. On top of that, we were locked out because the other van went grocery shopping after we had led them in the wrong direction and as we embarked on our "flor de pita" adventure.

After that, we all reunited, cooked pizza, played ping-pong, cards, etc, and did our routine of highs and lows for the day. 3 more life maps were shared and we slowly went to the bed after that.



Quotes of the day:

“have you guys heard of blue grass?” – Nader
“I’ve heard of Green Day” – kid from La Esperanza Home

“Dude! There might be mushrooms on the farm!!” – Jon

“La migra, la migra!!” – Nader…trying to warn us of the approaching border patrol

“we could wake up and be like…whoa” – Jon