Partlow, Joshua. “’We’re Left with Nothing’: Mexicans in Quake Zone Wonder How to Begin Rebuilding.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 10 Sept. 2017.

This past Thursday, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.2 struck the coast of Mexico and its nearby cities. The aftermath has left many Mexican residents with dilapidated homes, human loss, fear of aftershock, and a struggle to rebuild as they wait for relief efforts. This article gives its readers a look into what many of the residents of Oaxaca have to say about the damage that this earthquake has caused.

One resident by the name of Eneida Jimenez remarks, “Our house is now this almond tree.” Most homes are simply debris and little infrastructure remains. Residents like Jimenez are in a state of limbo as they patiently wait for rebuilding and repair assistance. This is quite different from the United States as most houses in Mexico do not have insurance. As a result, their only means of aid comes from the government and/or one’s relatives. Many residents have invested a lot of time and money into their homes over the span of many years, and to lose such an integral piece of their lives has been a huge setback.

The fear of aftershock is also greatly justified as a number of smaller earthquakes have struck nearby areas, including one that occurred close to Oaxaca this Sunday with a magnitude of 5.2. Consequently, several cities like Oaxaca, Juchitin have been deemed as “disaster zones” as they are less developed and many deaths from the earthquake originated from them.

Something particularly tragic about the earthquake is that cemeteries lay in ruins and tombstones are cracked and broken. A woman by the name of Margarita Degante was laid to rest in her tomb after she and her family members were in their hotel sleeping when suddenly the earthquake hit, the building collapsed, and they became trapped inside. Her husband, a survivor of the incident, also returned to his home to find it torn to the ground. At his wife’s funeral, the only words he could speak were, “I’m sorry. I can’t.” The devastation was unfathomable. Unfortunately, dozens of deaths and a lot of heartache have resulted from this natural disaster.

An earthquake of such magnitude will be difficult to recover from. As of now, a waiting period rests upon these Mexican residents. They continue to use whatever they can to get rest and reassemble.

You may ask how the course theme of identity can be related to a natural disaster. One’s identity can be said to be comprised of a series of experiences in addition to one’s beliefs, background, and culture. This experience was obviously a traumatic one for many people of Mexico, but it most probably led to groups and communities coming together to overcome such an obstacle. It is likely that this interaction strengthened bonds between these people, leading to a revised identity where working together is an important part of their lives.

Link to article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/were-left-with-nothing-mexicans-in-quake-zone-wonder-how-to-begin-rebuilding/2017/09/10/d88d9f72-9635-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html?utm_term=.a049d12ab908

CNN Mackintosh, Eliza and O’Sullivan, Donie http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/americas/caribbean-reacts-hurricane-irma/index.htmlCNN. 12 Sept. 2017

This CNN article talks about the devastation that hurricane Irma caused in the Caribbean. The article has a survivor’s story and concerns for each island that Irma hit. All the survivors are currently on the island and now all of them are worried about what happens next and their families’ safety. In the islands that were hit hardest they are running low on food and water, and the people who lived on the island are left with nothing. In most of the islands there isn’t any power or telephone poles left. Many of the survivors are walking several miles each day to call their loved ones. Some of the survivors mentioned how people are beginning to loot and fear it is going to get worse. One survivor on the U.S. Virgin Islands says their friend was robbed at machete-point. Some of the survivors mention how they have been hit by pervious hurricanes in their life-times, but nothing compares to the destruction that Irma has caused.

Most of the article is quoting the survivors. This adds a level of reality to the devastation that Irma has caused. Reading about damage from a journalist or columnist is different than reading about it from the actual people whose lives have changed. The people in the article mention how desperate they are for food and water and this causes the reader to want to do whatever they can to help the people in the Caribbean.

The article connects to the class’s Identity theme. Mentioned throughout the article is people saying they have never experienced a hurricane this bad. This means the Islanders are used to having some hurricanes which could be why the stayed instead of fleeing. Also with most of their houses and belongings gone the people of the Islands find themselves lost, confused, and scared. The Islanders feel as if they have lost their identities.

Read the posts by Dr. Holt & Asha.

Come to class prepared to discuss the readings, and the following questions:

1. Why do you think bilingualism or Spanglish (as showed in advertisements such as the ones listed in Professor Holt’s article, and in songs such as “Despacito”) has become as wide-spread as these articles suggest? Do you think this has anything to do with the rise of Donald Trump like the “Despacito” article suggests?
2. What are some examples of bilingualism in everyday life that you have seen that may or may not have been mentioned in the articles?
3. Some of the people interviewed in the NYT article are opposed to Spanglish.  What are their objections? How do the concerns of English and Spanish speakers different about this issue?
4. How do these articles connect to the course’s central theme of identity for Latin Americans living in the United States?

For context, here is a 2013 Pew Research Center study of “The Future of Spanish in the United States.”  The authors show that while the total number of households that speak Spanish is growing rapidly, the number of Hispanic households that speak only English is also growing (and expected to continue rising).

Spotify has a DespaSummer playlist that includes many of the songs mentioned in Asha’s LA Times article, including “Mi Gente” and “Me Rehúso.”

Romero, Simon.  “Spanish Thrives in the U.S. Despite an English-Only Drive.”  New York Times, 23 August 2017.  Read the full article here.

In this August 23, 207 article from the New York Times, journalist Simon Romero examines the persistence of bilingual Spanish and English communities in the United States.  Romero argues that even in a political climate that is increasingly hostile to non-English speakers and Latinos (whether immigrant and native-born), bilingualism and Spanish language cultural forms remain  vibrant.  Drawing on examples from businesses, advertisements, television, and music, Romero depicts a “vast laboratory showcasing the remarkable endurance of Spanish (Romero).”  This continued cultural vibrancy is a result of many interrelated factors, including the deep historical roots of Spanish in the Southwestern U.S., the large numbers of Spanish language speakers worldwide, and the patterns of migration and return migration that bring native speakers to the U.S.

While the first part of Romero’s article examines dual-language communities where everything from signs at banks, restaurant menus, and laundromat instructions are posted in both Spanish and English, he quickly turns to discussing the growing number of places where fully-bilingual young people conduct their daily lives using both languages.  Indeed Spanglish, whether people just pepper their conversations with phrases from one language and then the other, or switch from speaking Spanish with their abuelos to English at school, is more and more common.

Unlike many traditionalists who see this linguistic fluidity as degrading both Spanish and English, Romero depicts Spanglish as a new cultural form reflecting the hybrid cultural identities of its speakers.  Among the proponents of Spanglish Romero quotes is Professor Ilan Stavans (who has published some very interesting graphic novels on the history of Spanish Jews in colonial New Mexico in addition to his work on Spanglish), who describes Spanglish as “a mestizo language” vibrant and reflecting the lived experiences of its millions of Speakers in the U.S. (Stavans, as quoted by Romero).  Romero’s approach emphasizes cultural resistance in a time of political hostility.

I  see many links between this article and our class themes.  First, it reminds me of our discussions of Thomas Holloway, and the constantly-renewed historical links between Latin Americans and their diasporic communities in the U.S.  It also reminds me of our discussions of Buissert’s Creolization in the Americas.  The couple in Telemundo’s soap opera who switch effortlessly between English and Spanish as they drive to their appointment are certainly artistic representations of a modern way of expressing ideas and feelings in an evolving cultural context.