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Maria Jaramillo plays the Fender Strat guitar her parents gave her for her quinceanera, her 15th birthday party.
RICK CHASE / Courier Staff Photographer
RICK CHASE / Courier Staff Photographer
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Kids can help parents adapt in many immigrant families
By JENS MANUEL KROGSTAD, Courier Staff Writer
Second of two parts The Courier explores the lives of two Latino families in Waterloo, one here legally and one here illegally in light of a pending immigration bill in Congress.
WATERLOO --- Like many children of Latino immigrants, Maria Jaramillo is her parent's official translator.
She accompanies mom or dad to the doctor's office, to the store and to the bank.
The ninth-grader at Columbus High School bridges the American culture they live in today and the Mexican culture she and her parents grew up in and left behind.
Mark Grey, director of the Iowa Center for Immigrant Leadership and Integration, said the situation is commonplace. Generally, children adjust to the U.S. quickly and are more likely to want to stay than their parents, who are conflicted about returning to their home country.
"Over the long term, because their kids are here, (parents) are more likely to stay," he said.
Jaramillo lived in Mexico until she was 8. A picture of Jaramillo on her first day of kindergarten in Mexico rests on a bookshelf in the family's dining room. She watches only Spanish-language television through satellite TV and eats her mom's Mexican cooking everyday.
She visits family in Mexico every summer, but she said her memories of her life there grow fuzzier each day.
"I'm starting to forget Mexico," she admitted.
Sandra, 20, has been in the U.S. since she was 15, so her accent is stronger and her memory of Mexico fresher than Jaramillo's. Sandra's last name is not used because her family lives in Waterloo illegally.
Though her memories of Mexico remain strong, she doesn't really miss her old home.
"Not really, because this has become my house, my home. The people that I love are here. My friends are here," she said.
While none of their respective parents speak much English, all of the children in both families speak it fluently. In fact, the younger children are less proficient in Spanish than they are in English.
Sandra said her youngest sister, born in Waterloo nine years ago, is the only U.S. citizen in her family. She speaks so little Spanish sometimes she doesn't understand what her parents are saying, which forces Sandra or one of her siblings to translate.
'Don't forget where you came from'
Splashes of American culture fill Maria Jaramillo's upstairs bedroom, which she shares with her sister. A CD by Billy Corgan, former lead singer for the Smashing Pumpkins, lies near the top of her music collection, which she stores in a shoe box. Her dad tells her to "bajale" --- turn it down --- when she plays the Fender Stratocaster guitar she received for her quinceanera --- her 15th birthday party.
Sitting in the living room with his three children while a soccer game played on TV, Jose Jaramillo, Maria's father, glanced at his fifth-grade son, Jose, playing a Gameboy and said he worries about his kids forgetting their roots. For example, Maria is interested in clothes, shoes and makeup --- nothing unusual for American girls, but unthinkable concerns in an impoverished Mexican pueblo.
"I tell her, 'Don't forget where you came from,'" he said.
"They don't want for food, clothes or shoes," said Margarita Carrillo, the wife and mother.
"Here you have shoes for every occasion," Jose Jaramillo added.
Maria protested, blushing.
"It's not true, it's not true," she said.
Jose Jaramillo and his wife feel like a fish out of water living in Iowa, and they don't expect to ever feel differently. They have everything they need here, but it's not home. Someday they hope to return to Mexico.
Carrillo misses the simple rural life with which she grew up. She didn't worry about so many bills, and she didn't fear getting fired for showing up a few minutes late to work.
The difference between her and her children, she said, is evident in their attitudes towards winter.
Carrillo feels trapped inside during winter months, only leaving the house to run errands. She spends the rest of her time "sitting inside getting fatter."
"For them, I think the snow is something natural, something to look forward to," she said.
For now, Jose Jaramillo and Carrillo stay in Iowa, giving their kids stability and an opportunity to live a better life. But someday they hope to return home.
"I'm growing old here, but I don't want to die here," she said.
Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.
WATERLOO --- Like many children of Latino immigrants, Maria Jaramillo is her parent's official translator.
She accompanies mom or dad to the doctor's office, to the store and to the bank.
The ninth-grader at Columbus High School bridges the American culture they live in today and the Mexican culture she and her parents grew up in and left behind.
Mark Grey, director of the Iowa Center for Immigrant Leadership and Integration, said the situation is commonplace. Generally, children adjust to the U.S. quickly and are more likely to want to stay than their parents, who are conflicted about returning to their home country.
"Over the long term, because their kids are here, (parents) are more likely to stay," he said.
Jaramillo lived in Mexico until she was 8. A picture of Jaramillo on her first day of kindergarten in Mexico rests on a bookshelf in the family's dining room. She watches only Spanish-language television through satellite TV and eats her mom's Mexican cooking everyday.
She visits family in Mexico every summer, but she said her memories of her life there grow fuzzier each day.
"I'm starting to forget Mexico," she admitted.
Sandra, 20, has been in the U.S. since she was 15, so her accent is stronger and her memory of Mexico fresher than Jaramillo's. Sandra's last name is not used because her family lives in Waterloo illegally.
Though her memories of Mexico remain strong, she doesn't really miss her old home.
"Not really, because this has become my house, my home. The people that I love are here. My friends are here," she said.
While none of their respective parents speak much English, all of the children in both families speak it fluently. In fact, the younger children are less proficient in Spanish than they are in English.
Sandra said her youngest sister, born in Waterloo nine years ago, is the only U.S. citizen in her family. She speaks so little Spanish sometimes she doesn't understand what her parents are saying, which forces Sandra or one of her siblings to translate.
'Don't forget where you came from'
Splashes of American culture fill Maria Jaramillo's upstairs bedroom, which she shares with her sister. A CD by Billy Corgan, former lead singer for the Smashing Pumpkins, lies near the top of her music collection, which she stores in a shoe box. Her dad tells her to "bajale" --- turn it down --- when she plays the Fender Stratocaster guitar she received for her quinceanera --- her 15th birthday party.
Sitting in the living room with his three children while a soccer game played on TV, Jose Jaramillo, Maria's father, glanced at his fifth-grade son, Jose, playing a Gameboy and said he worries about his kids forgetting their roots. For example, Maria is interested in clothes, shoes and makeup --- nothing unusual for American girls, but unthinkable concerns in an impoverished Mexican pueblo.
"I tell her, 'Don't forget where you came from,'" he said.
"They don't want for food, clothes or shoes," said Margarita Carrillo, the wife and mother.
"Here you have shoes for every occasion," Jose Jaramillo added.
Maria protested, blushing.
"It's not true, it's not true," she said.
Jose Jaramillo and his wife feel like a fish out of water living in Iowa, and they don't expect to ever feel differently. They have everything they need here, but it's not home. Someday they hope to return to Mexico.
Carrillo misses the simple rural life with which she grew up. She didn't worry about so many bills, and she didn't fear getting fired for showing up a few minutes late to work.
The difference between her and her children, she said, is evident in their attitudes towards winter.
Carrillo feels trapped inside during winter months, only leaving the house to run errands. She spends the rest of her time "sitting inside getting fatter."
"For them, I think the snow is something natural, something to look forward to," she said.
For now, Jose Jaramillo and Carrillo stay in Iowa, giving their kids stability and an opportunity to live a better life. But someday they hope to return home.
"I'm growing old here, but I don't want to die here," she said.
Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.
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