Family Story- A Look Inside My Familia!

My family, both from the Patron side (my mom) and from the Berrios/Melendez side (my dad), are HUGE! They are all crazy Mexicans and Salvadorians, but I love each and every one of them. Family always comes first. I have many stories to tell from either side, but I feel as if it’s more important to me to explore how I came to be in this world due to my family.

            Lorena Patron Berrios and Carlos Alberto Berrios had their first born daughter Vanessa Berrios on September 19, 1995 in Lynwood, CA. She has grown up to be an independent young lady. But the real story begins here…

                                                                                                                             My mom and dad:

            First, my dad, Carlos Alberto Berrios was born on October 29, 1973 in La Union, El Salvador. There, he was raised with his mother, her older half-brother, my Tio Ramon and his younger sister, my Tia Claudia. My dad lived in El Salvador for about 20 years of his life until he came to the United States. Here, he established himself for 2 years until he met my mother and had me.

           

My mom, Lorena Patron was born in Mexicali, Mexico on February 19, 1976. At the age of three, my moms’ family, my grandma, grandpa and an uncle and aunt decided to move to The United States as well. My mom grew up in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated from high school and eventually met my dad. Then I came along.

My younger sister, Emily (Vivi) Berrios was born on November 29, 1999. That was the day I was not the only child anymore, but I was fine with it. My sister and I have many stories to tell from ourselves. Although she’s irritating once in a while, she’s fun to be around. (I can’t believe I just said that).

This is me holding my baby sister Vivi when she was first born. I was 4 years old:

           

My mother once told me all about the amazing trip that the family took to El Salvador to meet my dad’s side of the family. I was five years old and my little sister, Vivi had just turned one. The plane ride there took about 5 hours to get there. It was a long ride that was worth it though. When we arrived, the first person I met was my grandma, Fidelina Robles. Then I met my dad’s sister, her husband, and their two daughters. My cousins, Ana Lizet and Catherine Vanessa were about the same age as I was. The whole two weeks that I spent there, I mostly hung out with them as we played on the beach and played around their house. Salvador is a really small country so there isn’t a lot to do out there. To keep us entertained and to keep our minds off of the hot weather, the whole family would go down to the beach and stay there until sundown. My grandma would always make pupusas, a very familiar food in El Salvador. The couple final of days that we spent in El Salvador, the entire family went down to Agua Park: a Salvadorian version to Waterworld here in the US. After going through a whole bunch of albums that I had not opened for years, I seen all the pictures that we took on our trip. There was one really memorable photo that stood out to me the most and I wish I could remember that specific day. Myself and my two other cousins were standing in a line side by side all wearing red. We are standing on a hill overlooking the ocean smiling. I don’t know why, but it sort of hit me that I have not seen these two cousins for over 10 years.

           

When I was 9 years old, I spent that summer with my dad. That was right after my parent’s divorce. I thought that I was going to stay in L.A the entire month, but my dad surprised my sister and I when he said that my mom and the entire Patron family was coming to pick us up at midnight. We were going to go to Mexicali for a week. This time, we had to go by car, but since we left at midnight, all me and my cousins did was sleep. I remember the ride there because I got carsick a couple times. The last time I had been to Mexicali was 6 years before on my third birthday.

I have a picture of my 3^rd birthday in Mexicali hanging up on my wall:

 It is so hard for me to remember all of those trips, but I just let my mom tell me the stories. It was exciting to see all of my cousins and aunts and uncles that I had long forgotten about. The most important person that I wanted to see was my great grandmother, Socorro. The entire week spent there was so much fun and I can still remember the meals! Yum! My mom’s side of the family is Mexican, so when someone says there’s going to be a party, they are always going to be there. That’s exactly what my great-grandmother did. She threw us a party when we first arrived. Since I was just 9 years old, me and all my other cousins went around the block. My grandma lived right next door to a dulceria, a candy store. Me and all of the younger kids went up to our moms and asked for pesos to buy some candy. I loved the tamarindo. It was hard to say goodbye to the rest of my family when the week was over, but it was a good time spent.

           

When I was a little girl, I can still remember when I used to visit my grandma down in Oakland during some summers. She would always tell me stories of when she was my age living in Mexico. Although my grandpa was not alive to tell me his stories himself, my grandma helped the best way she could.

           

My grandpa, German Patron was born in Sinaloa, Mexico. My grandma, Maria Christina Quiroz was born in Sonora, Mexico. At some point in time, my grandparents met and my grandpa made my grandma fall in love with him. They then moved to Mexicali, Mexico where my aunt, uncle and my mom were born.

This is my grandparents and I:

 

           

Like any other Mexican grandparent, my grandma told me the story of La Llorona. That story kept me scared all throughout my childhood. My grandma told me that after the legend was established, the people of Mexico actually believed it and they were always scared to go out at night just as the story said not to do so. That legend is still alive now. My grandma first told me that the story was about this woman named Maria who had two kids and a husband. Maria found out one day that her husband was leaving her, so Maria wanted to be vengeful. She decided that she was going to kill her kids. As a result, she took both of them to the river and drowned them. After feeling bad about doing so, she ran down the river stream and began to scream for them, but it was too late, the stream carried them away, dead. After she tripped from running, she fell and hit her head on a rock. She died instantly. The legend lives on that every night, she haunts the children of Mexico at night still in search of her two kids. They gave her the name La Llorona because her spirit cries at night, “Ay, mis hijos” which in Spanish means, “My children!” Children of Mexico were taught not to go outside late or else La Llorona would come and take them away forever.

My grandma told me the story in which she began to fear of all La Llorona legends. One night, a friend had slept over my grandma’s house. After they fell asleep, or so my grandma thought, her friend woke her up around 2 in the morning and told her that she needed to go use the bathroom, but that she didn’t want to go alone. For some reason, my grandma told me that the bathroom was outside back in the days. After that, they both went outside and when the friend was done, they began to walk back to the house. Close by to my grandma’s house, there was a well. My grandma and her friend started to hear noises coming from the well. As they listened closely, but did not approach the well, they heard, “Ay, mis hijos!” they were scared that the legend was true. They immediately ran back to the house and they learned to never leave the house at night again no matter what.

A funny story that my mom tells me to poke fun at me was the story form when I was a little girl around 2-4 years old. My mom said that back then, I would come around to the living room and I would sit in front of the television and watch only the commercials. Whenever the actual show started again, I would grab my bottle off of the floor and walk away.

            A piece of history that was left out from me was my true ethnicity. I thought that I was only half Mexican and half Salvadorian due to my mom and dad, but I learned so much more. In reality, my dad is half Salvadorian and half Spanish which would explain his light features. As for my mom, my grandma’s grandfather also happened to be Spanish which would also explain the complexion of my moms’ side of the family. J

            My Interpretation: I believe that these small stories that were told to me to keep the tradition alive. In the Joy Luck Club, the mothers want their daughters to live the ‘American way’, but in my family, my mom, dad and grandparents have always taught me that our culture is beautiful no matter what and we shouldn’t be ashamed to learn about it. Each story that has been told to me had something to do with my family history and many of those stories were regarding trips that we took to visit our homeland. It is important to keep these stories within our family so we never forget about whom we really are and where we really originate form. All these stories shape my life and how I came to be the person that I am today, and I am very proud of all of that.

The Joy Luck Club vs. The Crazy Mother!

Between Amy Tan's, 'The Joy Luck Club', and Amy Chua's, 'Why Chinese Mothers are superior, there are many similarities as well as there are differences. Chua states that the Chinese parents constantly insist on their children to work hard at something and that their purpose for that is so that their children will excel in many ways.

"What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning, which is where Western parents tend to give up. But if done properly, the Chinese strategy produces a virtuous circle. Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence; rote repetition is underrated in America. Once a child starts to excel at something—whether it's math, piano, pitching or ballet—he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction."

A similarity between The Joy Luck Club and Chua's article is that they both want the best for their daughters and that was their reason for pressuring them to do so well. In the section, The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates, in the Joy Luck Club, we have an insight view of the mother-daughter relationship between June Woo and her mother Suyuan Woo. The mothers' main goal that she wants her daughter to achieve is to become a prodigy. The daughter begins to play the piano and eventually fails. Even so, the mother still insists that she continues to practice to get better, "Only two kinds of daughters...Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind. Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter," (142).  This relates to Chua;'s beliefs that Chinese parents have to be persistent with their children. Suyuan would not let her daughter quit playing the piano although she failed miserably.

The difference between these two mothers is that Suyuan Woo did not insult her daughter when she failed at the piano; she didn't say anything to her at all. On the other hand, later in Chua's article, she tells of how she would insult her daughter and put her down when she did not get things right. She explains that this was her method along with many other Chinese parents who say things out of spite towards their children as their tactic to make them do better overall.

Amy Tan does not endorse the same ideas that Chua is making an argument about. Chua's article is completely biased and her points are not so strong. Amy Tan's novel suggests that the mother-daughter relationship is built to support the children whenever they are needed, while Chua suggests that Chinese parents are only strict to get what they want out of their children.

 

Joy Luck Club- The Meaning to the Introduction

The purpose for Amy Tan's introduction to The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates in the book, The Joy Luck Club,  is to foreshadow what mainly will happen in the next two chapters, Rules of the Game and The Voice from the Wall.

The introduction speaks of a mother telling her child not to ride her bike around the corner because she will be out of her sight and fall. The daughter questions this assumption made by her mother and the mother responds with, "It is in a book, The Twenty- Six Malignant Gates, all the bad things that can happen to you outside the protection of this house," (87). The purpose of the introduction is to show that the next section of the Joy Luck Club will be based on mothers protecting their children from the bad things that can happen to them and how they are trying to steer them away form that danger that lies ahead for each one of them.

In, The Rules of the Game, the main character in that chapter, Waverly Jong's mother wants to protect her from the dangers that can happen. After Waverly had won chess competitions, she was favored by her mother and she was always right above her, "My mother had a habit of standing over me while I plotted out my games.  I think she thought of herself as my protective ally," (98). A mother does not want to see her child fail in life, so in order to keep that from happening, Waverly's mother stands over her for protection from harm.

The second chapter to this section of the book, The Voice from the Wall, Lena St Clair's mother would make up lies to protect her daughter from the harm of the truth, "And I knew that was not true. I knew my mother made up anything to warn me, to help me avoid some unknown danger. My mother saw danger in everything," (105). Although Lena's mother still lied to her, it was her way of protecting her daughter from knowing the truth about certain things. Later on, we find out in the story of how Lena's mother had lost a baby that she kept a secret from Lena. It was an untold truth that protected Lena from going down the same path.

This section of The Joy Luck Club talks about the protection that a mother has over her child.

The Joy Luck Club Quickwrite

Shuyuan Woo changes her story about Kweilin various times. On one note, she ends the story talking about how the Joy Luck Club came to be and what they were all about. She spoke of how the women formed the club in times where they were struggling. The Joy Luck Club was a place where she got support from 3 other women and they felt close like a family. They would play games of mahjong and Shuyuan Woo was the main one who always won.

Another version to the ending of the story was when Shuyuan Woo abandoned her babies. June Woo, her daughter was complaining that she wanted a radio and Shuyuan Woo got angry. She finally told her the truth to her story at that point. When in Kweilin, an officer arrived at Shuyuan's home and had told her to run away before the Japanese came to take over Kweilin. After 4 days of running away, Shuyuan Woo's hands were bleeding from carrying two bags that held her belongings. After a while, she just dropped the bags that contained the food and clothing. Then, her story ends with her telling her daughter June that she left her two babies that she carried in her arms because she was tired. She told June that it was not her so that she had nothing to worry about.

I think that Shuyuan ended the story with different changes and hid the truth from her daughter to protect her in some way. I assumed that she did not want her daughter to know that she was capable of doing that in the past: abandon her kids.

She only told June the real side of the story when she was somewhat angry at her. June wanted a transistor radio and Shuyuan told her, "Why do you think you are missing something you never had," (25), referring to the fact that she had her babies and had to give them up. Shuyuan Woo made a tough decision in leaving her children. The message that she is trying to pass on to her daughter is that she is lucky that she was not one of those babies that she had to leave behind. June does not realize how much good of a life she has. She is blessed, she lives in America unlike the two babies without their mother.

Chinese Parents Suck!

Wow! Why Chinese Mothers are Superior by Amy Chua.

What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning, which is where Western parents tend to give up. But if done properly, the Chinese strategy produces a virtuous circle. Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence; rote repetition is underrated in America. Once a child starts to excel at something—whether it's math, piano, pitching or ballet—he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction. This builds confidence and makes the once not-fun activity fun. This in turn makes it easier for the parent to get the child to work even more.

Personally, I think that the Asian method that this lady talks about is CRAZY! In her words, Chinese parents are tough and that is the way they got their children to do what they want them to. Their way of motivating their children is by talking smack to them and degrading them. She talks about having fun only when the children become good at something. Children are supposedly lazy and they do not want to do their work to improve on something. In turn, the Chinese or Asian parents have to be tough and 'encourage' them by being rude and calling them names for' motivation'.WTF!

Asian parents do not want to comfort their children, they want their kids to do as they say and go with it no matter how they feel about it. Chua is trying to demean the Western parents by saying that they are not tough enough and that Chinese parents are better in terms of being strict. That's so dumb. My mom does a great job wiht me and she isn't rude to me or call me worthless if I don't get something right.

The thing that kind of tipped me off the most was the fact that I almost got the vibe from this article that the Asian parents will only love their kids if they do something right. She says that the child will get praise and admiration for their good work. Parents should be there for their kids no matter what. Even if their child were to fail at something, then the parents should give support instead of the Chinese version of 'encouraging words'. I would hate my parents if they acted like these Chinese parents. I'm just saying.

Quickwrite- Animal Farm and Egypt

The main similarities between Animal Farm and Tunisia and Egypt were that both of the revolutions lead up to something bad. Even though the revolution was meant for a good cause they had they both led up to something unreasonable. In Animal Farm, we know how it ended and it was not a good ending how the rest of the animals could not recognize the difference between a human and a pig. They both did so much bad things to the animals that after they had the revolution it was like if they had it for no reason.

In Tunisia and Egypt, we do not know the ending of it yet but so far it has had its negative effects. For example how people were willing to burn themselves to death to be able to show what they think of their government and starting up riots that show they hate their leader in Egypt. Also how people were ending up sleeping on the wheels of a tank so the tanks would not be able to move an inch with out killing them. People in this revolution are willing to give up their lives and some all ready did a hope to God no one else would die do to the fact of the revolution.

So over all the fact that both revolutions in Animal Farm and Tunisia and Egypt had their bad effects. This is something that both of this revolution has in common.

Another thing that this two revolution have in common is that they both trying to over throw their leaders. In Animal Farm the animals wanted to overthrow the humans, Mr. Jones, who basically ruled them and had made the decisions of the animals. So basically, the humans control the animal’s faith. While in Egypt they also wanted to overthrow their leader. In this case it was the government and their leader. They were tired of him not doing anything about the economy of their country and did nothing to help them get better jobs. He did the opposite and took their jobs away. The people were getting tired of not seen a change so the decided to make their own change and the first step to this was to overthrow their governor.

These are some similarities that both the Animal Farm revolution and Tunisia and Egypt revolutions had in common.

Chapter 11- Vanessa and Carly

Me and Carly worked together on this thang!


http://bloggerroggers.blogspot.com/2011/02/ch11-animal-farm-carly-vanessas-story.html