Chris Block
English 191 Sec 21
November, 16 2009
Interview Two: Jorge
El Salvador
In preparation for this interview I came up with ten questions, but after we had everybody’s questions I used some of those to help revise my questions. By doing this is gave me the best questions that I feel would be very effective during the interview. The questions ranged from political to personal to cultural. The next thing I did in preparation was to come up with some objectives that would assist me in having a successful interview. After some revision of the objectives from some people in class that helped make them better. Then I set out to look for my candidates. After locating them I have been keeping in touch with emails, and text. Then I started to do some research on their counties to help find out if there is anything that I should ask or not. After failing to get the other two people to respond I decided that I needed to go back to Laurence Hall and find more interviewees. With the help of a student we found two more and then conducted the interviews right on the spot. One thing that I changed from the first interview was instead of my cell phone I used a digital camera which was way better.
The Second time around of finding people went much faster than the first time. The first time I found three people but two of them seem pretty reluctant and not to enthused about it. To my surprise both of them failed to either show up or even respond to my emails. So once again I went back to Laurence Hall. I was lucky enough to run into Victor and he helped me find two replacements for the no shows. After a little chat with him about this class we headed off upstairs and we went to Jorge room and he seemed somewhat interested, but with a little encouragement from Victor he agreed to it. So my method of finding students and asking them was pretty upfront.
On Saturday the 14th I headed to campus in search of my last interviewees. The only reason I had waited so long was because I kept setting up times to meet with my previous interviewees. Then I met Jorge and we decided that we were able to do the interview right then and there. We went into the lounge on his floor and proceeded with the interview. The interview took a little bit to get under way I sort of talked a little before just to get to know him. At first the pace of the interview was pretty slow, but then he started to loosen up and enjoy the questions, so then the interview started to flow.
I interviewed Jorge Miranda. He is here on a scholarship through the U.S. Embassy. He I from El Salvador, and was very lucky to be selected as one of the few students that do get chosen. After this year he will have to return home and continue his studies there. He never had the choice of where he wanted to go to school here in the U.S., because the schools more or less pick who they want to come to their school. He plans on being an English teach when he goes back home. He had always wanted to come to America, but he knew he would have issues with Visas so he never was able to go.
What I thought about the interview was sort of mixed feelings, because sometimes he looked like he was just loving answering the questions, but after it was done he looked like he was so relived to be able to get out of there. I also noticed that he liked to talk about his life. I would ask him a question and he would give a quick response, but I would give him a little time and then he would just talk away trying to answer the question. He would do this time after time. It was fun to listen to him, because he would say something, and then he would explain and go into so much detail. All the questions that I asked him he didn’t really seem to have any issues with answering. He was pretty strait forward, and tried to answer them to the best of his ability. One thing stood out to me was how in love with English he was. He made it very clear that he was here to learn about the English Language and then go back home and teach it.
El Salvador, know as República de El Salvador, literally meaning "Republic of the Savior” (2) El Salvador has been a very aggressive country with several wars and a 12 year civil that only ended17 years ago. They have had several wars and lots of guerilla warfare throughout the country. Only until the last 2 decades have the rebels been signing treaties to stop violence. Geography wise they are a relatively small country about the size of Massachusetts. It is located in Central America, and borders Guatemala and Honduras. The Climate is tropical since they are near the equator they have a pretty steady weather pattern. The Land is mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau they are known as the ‘Land of Volcanoes’. (1) The country suffers from lots of natural disasters like volcanoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes. El Salvador is the smallest Country in Central America and the only one to not have coast line in the Caribbean Sea. They have just over 7 million people in the country. They have a very high birth rate, but also a very high death rate. (1) It is not a very developed country lots of the buildings are made out of adobe. They also have animals that just run wild, not just dogs and cats, like cows, sheep and horses. The government system there is a republic, which they are very similar to several European nations. They have everything that a normal military has like army, navy, and air force. One of their main problems is the use and making of cocaine. That is by far one of the biggest issues they face. Overall they are a developing nation that probably within the next few years will start to develop.
Transcript:
Chris: So what is your name?
J: Jorge Miranda
Chris: You said you were from El Salvador right?
J: Yes I’m from El Salvador.
Chris: So why did you decide to come to America?
J: Well I’m participating in a scholarship program through the U.S. Embassy. So I won a full scholarship to come here and study. The program that I got the scholarship from is called ???
Chris: What were your expectations when you came here?
J: I didn’t really have many expectations because I have been working with Americans for about six years now. Because of this I knew quite a bit about the culture but I didn’t know what all the places were going to be like. I had only seen them in Movies. So far it is pretty much how I expected it, the big houses, the big buildings everything is kind of big and all that.
Chris: Yeah
J: Before coming here I also expected the classes to be harder, harder than they are back home.
Chris: Oh really? So do you think they are easier here?
J: It’s the same actually. But I thought that everything in college would be way harder, but I find it almost the same. They only thing that is quite different here from back home is the time thing. Like, you have to be right on time for everything like classes and all that. Back home if a class is at 10 it will start around 10:15 or 10:10. But here its very…
Chris: Very punctual?
J: Yeah.
Chris: How long have you been here?
J: Since the semester started, so like three months?
Chris: Oh so this is your first semester here?
J: Yeah this is my first time here.
Chris: Ok, so do you think your way of thinking, or like your view of the U.S. has changed at all since you have been here?
J: Well, back home we study American sociology when you study English and all that, so they almost tell you how American culture is.
Chris: So your books were pretty accurate then?
J: Yes, we have to learn how Americans think. We also probably learn more about American culture than any other culture while studying English.
Chris: Oh that’s kind of neat. So back home what is the political structure of your country?
J: We have a president and a vice president and then a group of people that make choices for us.
Chris: So it’s kind of like a democracy then?
J: Yeah.
Chris: Ok. So are there equal rights between everyone in your country, like between women and men?
J: Yeah. But even though it is written in the constitution there is still a lot of abuse from men to women, like they look down upon them. But things have been changing in the past. Now there are people who are fighting for women’s rights, even though it’s written in the books women had never really been in politics before and now we even have women who are majors, and we also have some congresswomen so things are changing. Women are taking on power through different types of political movements.
Chris: What about your country do you think would surprise Americans the most?
J: Well if you are from the big city, our country is kind of a 3rd world country so we don’t have big building like there is here. In the cities in my country there are just a few buildings, and they are not big compared to the ones you guys have here. And then if you travel from the capital of my country to the city that I live in you will see very small houses made out of adobe. And if you would come to my hometown the streets are still cobblestone streets.
Chris: Oh really?
J: Yeah, so the houses are made out of adobe so they are white in color and they have big doors and all that but not metal doors. A lot of people leave their doors open too. And something else is that here you never see street dogs, like in my hometown on the streets you will see pigs on the street and cows on the street… even horses. And another thing that would probably surprise Americans is the way people live in community because there is a lot of poverty so when we bring people to the community they see dusty roads all over and stuff. So that’s a big difference the way people live and the income that people get also. Also the weather would probably surprise people to because even though it is winter there, it just rains for a little bit and the sun still shines and it is very hot.
Chris: So do you have a pretty dry climate there then?
J: Well we call it rainy season and dry season.
Chris: So I bet the dry season is a little bit longer than the rainy season?
J: Yeah.
Chris: So… Why did you choose St. Cloud State?
J: Well I didn’t actually choose it. Like I said before because of the scholarship they send out resumes to different universities and then this university said they wanted me.
Chris: Oh so you were selected then?
J: Yeah.
Chris: Are you happy with being here then?
J: Yeah, but at the very beginning I didn’t like the weather. Like I came here in the summer and one day I woke up and it was still dark. So I thought that the clock was broken or something but then I looked at the computer and it was right so then I was like oh man it’s really dark. And on days when it was really grey outside and the sun didn’t really shine it was sort of depressing but I guess I have sort of gotten used to it. And like the temperature would be like the coldest that it gets where I live, but I’m getting used to it. And like these trees outside here without any leaves in my country that would mean they were dead! So I was like “Oh all the trees are dead” and my friends were like “Oh no they just lose their leaves but the will come to life again”.
Chris: So are you nervous for winter to come.
J: Yeah! And like when I went shopping I just looked at normal weather clothes for me like t-shirts and stuff because that is what I wear back home but my friends were like “Oh don’t buy more of those you are going to need a nice jacket”! I thought jackets were for lawyers. And I thought that scarves were stupid but now I wear scarves everyday because it’s too cold.
Chris: Yeah it gets really cold. I think last year there were quite a few days below zero!
J: Yeah and I have never seen snow before either.
Chris: So what did your family members and other people around you think when you told them you were going to go study in America?
J: My grandma was happy, but my mom was sad. There were some other guys that got scholarships but they decided to stay so she though I wasn’t going to come. She thinks she will never see me again because it’s very hard for people in my country to get visas. I was afraid that I wouldn’t get a visa. But now my family is proud that I got a scholarship.
Chris: So is the scholarship what helped you to get a visa then?
J: Yes because it was from the U.S. embassy so they arranged everything so I could get it.
Chris: Do you feel that professors here are supportive of you since English is your second language?
J: Some of them do but in other classes they give us difficult lectures. And then like in my history of the English language class there are a lot of words I don’t know because English is not my first language. I don’t want to be stuck in the class because of this so I sit next to an American and ask them questions about words I don’t know. They will tell me other words that mean the same thing.
Chris: So if the teachers aren’t helpful the students are?
J: Yeah and in most of my classes I don’t have any problems.
Chris: What do you miss most about your home?
J: The weather, friends, and food, because the food here is very different. I see some stuff here that looks similar to food back home but the flavor is way different. And then here they deep fry a lot of stuff, like everything is deep fried, and has a lot of sugar in it. Back home we eat corn tortillas not like the ones here though. We don’t get a lot of food because we don’t have very much money so that is the main part of our food because it’s cheap. I really missed them at first but now I’m used to it.
Chris: So basically the food then?
H: And the weather. The weather here is depressing and I think it’s so cold so I put on a jacket and then everyone is like its warm out why are you wearing a jacket! And back home the sun is in the sky from six to six and I can tell what time it is by looking at it but here the sun is always changing. Sometimes it’s in the sky until 8 or whatever! So now I rely on my phone to tell me what time it is or maybe I should get a watch.
Chris: So how do you think what you learn here is going to help you when you go home.
J: Well my scholarship is only for a year so I go back in May and I’m going to be an English teacher so being here is really helpful. My English has really improved since I’ve been here. Since there are not many Latinos here I am forced to speak English so that’s good. And for some of the jobs back home you are required to have spent at least 6 months in America so it’s good I came.
Chris: Ok well do you have any questions for me?
J: No I don’t think so.
Chris: Well thank you!
Bibliography:
(1) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/es.html#top
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Salvador
No comments:
Post a Comment