Ashley Laurent

Professor Skelly

English 21002:

Writing for the Social Sciences

 

•         I have permission from my interviewee to record the interview. The following is an exact transcript of the interview recording.

Dani is a close friend of mine that I met during the first year of high school. One thing I’ve always noticed about Dani is her appreciation for her culture. Dani is a proud Mexican American born an American, raised by Mexican parents. Dani is the same age as me, 18 years old. We have many similarities like being raised in a two-parent household, being middle class, American citizens, college students, and many other things. Even so, we are all different in our own way. Although she was born here, she knew Spanish as her first language, and it was hard for her to adapt to a classroom setting with kids solely speaking English. Her family is very cultural, unlike mine. I find it interesting that her family managed to embrace their culture within her. She shares Mexican candy and home-cooked food with me. She also gives different songs from Mexican artists to listen to. Dani managed to get me to learn a full song in Spanish. It’s amazing how much passion she puts into embracing her Mexican background.

Here I am sitting in Dani’s kitchen about to interview her. We are eating leftover nachos her grandmother made the other day while I hold my phone in the other hand recording then I start:

The first question I asked Dani was “What’s one word you would describe Mexican culture?” She described it as “beautiful.” Every culture is different which makes it as she describes “Beautiful” The uniqueness every culture holds is very beautiful. I would describe Haitian culture as “vibrant.” I think the energy we share is very lively and exciting.

My next question is “Why do you care about maintaining culture?” Dani responded, “I care about maintaining culture because it’s all I have ever known, losing it would be like losing a part of me.” As a person that is Haitian-American, I can relate to this. I can’t imagine being born without Haitian culture. In some parts of culture, there comes language.

“What was your experience knowing Spanish as your first language?” She told me how she struggled with adapting to a different setting especially at school. As I stated in my privileges, being able to understand the language from the country I live in is considered a privilege to me. My parents came to America without knowing much English. It took them years but after some time they can speak English fluently. What Dani and my parents benefitted from their learning experience is being bilingual. This is useful in jobs, communicating with others that may need help and teaching.

“What neighborhood do you live in and how would you describe it?” “Do you feel the neighborhood you live in allows you to freely embrace your culture?” Dani lives in Bushwick, and she describes it as “chill.” She stated that “There are many people from different backgrounds there and a lot of diversity, so she feels comfortable.” I can relate to Dani. I live in East New York. It’s very diverse there and everyone knows everyone. Whether it would be your local corner store or nearby hair salon, everyone is friendly and call out your name to say hello.