New Americans project Reflection

New Americans Project Reflection
Wyatt Baquial

The purpose of the project is to learn about the experiences of immigrants from all around the world. We started our project with reading a book about an immigrant. My book was the book called Brother, I’m Dying which is based on a girl named Edwidge that emigrated from Haiti to America. I’m not entirely sure whether or not I liked my choice. It did show that for a lot of immigrants, it’s hard to immigrate to America. My book had good description but to me all the bad things that happened to her made me not want to read it anymore. It was a little predictable. The blogging for me was easy. I spoke from my heart and could connect to almost all the quotes I picked. The only problem I had with blogging was that my group members rarely posted their blogs so I had to respond to people in the other class.
For the art section of the project, I chose to paint what I thought was the theme of the book. I painted what I depicted the book was about. My painting had pictures of Edwidge and how she had to take care of her dad and her uncle while pregnant with a baby. I also painted a bridge going from America to Haiti with a gap in it to show that for a while she couldn’t immigrate to America to live with her dad. I was really able to connect to the intellect of the book. She was going through all these things that she didn’t anticipate but tried to stay calm and collected. When I am in a wreck I try to think it through and make sure I’m on the right track. I liked the final product on my painting. I think I captured the expression of depression on her face. I also think the colors like the grey and white contrasted each other and drew a lot of eyes. I think if I spent more time on details it would have been a more professional painting. I wish I used a skinnier brush for the face and around the countries. I think all the proportions were good but I could have spent more time touching up the painting. While reading the book I knew there were a lot of depressing things that happened, but until I put most of it on paper I really realized how hard it was for all the characters in the book. I learned that immigrating to America isn’t just a plane ride and you’re free. For millions of immigrants it was a long and hard journey for the ultimate gift. Some were detained. Some were turned down, and some didn’t even make it on the way to America.

The last part of the project was where we were assigned an actual immigrant who was a different race then our own and we had to interview them about their journey over to America. My interview was with a woman who works for my dad named Rose. My interview with her went really well. I didn’t see many problems with it and since we’ve known each other for so long, we were both comfortable. The only thing differently I wish I did was to have more follow up questions because some of her answers were answers like, “Not really”, “Probably not”, “Yes”, and “No”. I wish I had more open-ended questions. I didn’t really like having to do three different interviews but I know what their purpose was. I just feel like I asked so many questions at all these different times. I wish we just had one interview. I learned a lot of things about Brazil during the interviews. I learned that in Brazil during the 1980’s it was required to learn 2 years of English in High school. I had never heard of a place called Sao Paulo before the interviews. I learned that Sao Paulo was one of the richest cities in the world and is the business center of Brazil. I learned about Rose’s reasons for immigrating and all the things she did before she came here to America. I really liked the project and am grateful I got to interview someone I’ve known a long time

Quotes #6

Quote #1 said by Edwidge "Not even after my uncle died"


Now I get the name. I thought at first that it had too with Edwidge dying and her brother taking care of her. Then I realized that her father and uncle are brothers, and her uncle died. It is as if her uncle was saying "brother, I'm dying." I liked this quote because before it she said that they wouldn't let her see her uncle even after he died. I don't get that. They wouldn't even let her see her uncle to say goodbye.

I remember that my grandma wanted her whole family by her side in her final moments. We were allowed to see her almost whenever we wanted. She wanted us there and we were there. I would hate if I couldn't see my own grandma while she was in the hospital

My first question is:
Why didn't they let her see her uncle? or why don't you think they let her see her uncle?


Quote #2 said by Edwidge "In my father's dream, when my uncle calls him from Maxo's apartment the night he nearly died, my father actually makes it there on time to ride in the ambulance with him and hold his hands as the paramedics drill the tracheotomy hole in his neck."

I'd imagine that her father feels so guilty that he couldn't make it on time to her uncle. I know her father wanted to be by his brother in the ambulance. He probably thinks that his brother was scarred in the ambulance and wanted someone by his side.

I always have dreams about things that I never get to do. I don't know how to feel when I wake up. Sometimes i'm happy that the dream didn't actually happen in real life and vice versa. If I were her father I would only feel worse that my guilt turned itself into a dream.

My second question:
What were your final thoughts on the book?

Quotes #4 (#5 two below this one)

Book: Brother. I'm Dying

Quote #1: Edwidge narrated, page 145 "Tante Denise died from a massive stroke the day after my uncle's eighteenth birthday, in February 2003. She was eighty-one years old. My father and I flew to Haiti for the Funeral."

I honestly don't know how Edwidge and her family deal with so much death and sickness. I chose this quote because It shows that her family has a history of death and it seems that almost all of her family members die or suffer of sickness. She has her father and her uncle to prove this point. They are both sick.

I can connect to this because my great aunt Ines died at the age of 80 in Trinidad. My mom and my brother flew down for the funeral. It shows that family is family and weather or not we're in another country we'll always show our respects.

Question #1:
Have you ever flown to another country for a family event?


Quote #2: Uncle Karl talking and Edwidge narrating, Page 157, " 'You'll see for yourself' Karl said, his face unreadable in profile. 'We're taking you to him now.' I wondered. Only a week after my father's diagosis was I being ushered to his beside to say good-bye? "

The significance of this quote is that Before that she was trying to make everyone smile by easing the moment with a joke because she didn't know they were taking her to the hospital, and when she found out she was going to see him her heart dropped with fear. I can imagine how she felt when she went from having a smile to having a fear that her loved one's life was lost.

I know exactly how she felt because once my brother fell on his skateboard and we were laughing but he wouldn't get up and his eyes were closed and we all thought something really bad had happened. My uncle made him wake up and was asking him all these questions about who he was and the date and time. I remember how funny the fall looked and then crying when he wouldn't get up. I knew I had to pick this quote when I read it because it reminded me so much of what had happened with my brother.

Question #2:
Has there every been a time in your life where you thought everything was okay but seconds after something made your heart sink?

Quotes #3

Quote #1: said by her father, page 123 " 'If i could do something else' my father said, ' I'd be either a grocer or an undertaker. Because we all must eat and we all must die.' "

I thought the significance of this quote was definitely to show how intellectual her father is. Although it may not sound so complicated, I still think it takes wisdom to think of something like that and take eating and dieing and compare it to being a grocer and an undertaker. Also, you would think instead of a grocer he would say something like a charity to feed hungry children. But instead he chose an easy primitive job.

I would also choose to be a grocer because it's so easy to be on. But the biggest reason is because it is sort of depressing to see hungry children and men and women everyday while trying my hardest to get people to buy them food. In a grocery store I would see smiles and people happy to see what I put out on the shelves.

Question #1:
What are two jobs you would want to have and why?


Quote #2: Narrated by Edwidge "the American consulate wrote to my uncle to see if we were in good enough health to travel to the United States. I was eleven year old."

I chose this quote because it shows that it really must have been an impact on Edwidge because she was only 11 years old and had to go through all these tests made by a country she wasn't even familiar with.

I have never been tested for big reasons like she was but I know that it I was 11 I would be so scared of the tests, and being my defeatist self, I wouldn't believe I would pass the tests. But if I knew it was from the country I wanted to get into I would try my hardest to pass them

My second question:
Would you be scared of tests by another country? or would you trust them?

quotes 5

Book: Brother, I'm Dying

Quote #1: Said by Edwidge, Page 206 "The next day, Friday, my father's health took a turn for the worse worried about my uncle, He hadn't slept the night before. His voice was so hoarse from coughing that he could barley speak when I called. His eczema and psoriasis had returned and he'd completely lost what little appetite he had."

The significance of this quote was that it once again shows that Edwidge may have too much to deal with in her life right now. It shows that she is in a stressful environment while pregnant with a baby. You can tell it's all taking a toll on her and that she's in over her head. With her grandpa almost dead, Her father sick, and her baby kicking her into exhaustion. But what it also shows, is that their whole family all care about eachother. Her dad couldn't sleep because he was worried about their uncle, and Edwidge was trying to take care of both of them.

I can sort of connect to this situation in the case that my mother couldn't sleep when my grandpa was in the hospital. I could tell she was stressed out and worried about my grandpa, and also that near my grandfather's end he lost his apetite and counciusness. When I was reading this part it reminded me of my own grandpa.


Question #1
Have you ever had an expirience like this?


Quote #2: Said by Edwidge and a customs officer (conversation), Page 213 " 'can I speak to my uncle?' I asked the customs officer who, it seemed, was patiently waiting for me to get off the phone. 'that's not allowed' he said. 'please,' I said 'He's old and--' 'He'll contact you when he gets to krome.' "

The signifiance to this quote is that I've always thought that officers and paramedics never trully care about what situation the people they're trying to help are in. This shows that even she thinks the officers don't really know what kind of situation is in and take people as if they are waisting their time.

However, alot of news casters report things like that, things like there are only bad cops and none good, I have seen some sincere officers. I've seen some go to a store and take money out of their own wallets to buy a family who's house burnt down some blankets and pillows. I've seen cops give promises to victims that they won't rest until they solve the crime. I think if this officer knew what kind of situation Edwidge was in he would let her atleast talk to her uncle. Or handled it in a nicer way.

Question #2
What got Edwidges uncle into llegal trouble?