A New Experience

In class we read four stories about immigrants and their experiences. Out of all the stories the one that touched me and I could relate to the most was "No Speak English" by Sandra Cisneros.

Mamacita is the main character in this story. She is the new comer, "immigrant", in the new city. Mamacita later on starts missing her home very much. She paints her walls in her apartment pick like her old pink house. All she does all day, is sit by the window listening to the Spanish radio shows just so that she could hear songs that reminded her of her country to that she wouldn't feel so homesick. Then she realized that it actually made her miss it more. Then as time passes by, her baby boy starts talking in English and she can't understand, making her hurt badly.

I can definitely relate to Mamasita's experience to my mother's experience when she arrived in America, New York to be exact. My mom missed her home in Colombia very much. She would try to do or listen to everything that she though wouldn't make her feel so homesick but the realized just as well, that it made her feel even more homesick. My mom isolated herself from the world and didn't meet anybody for the first 4 months. My mom began thinking to herself during these four months, "How can you meet other people and make a new home a familiar environment for yourself if you never give it a chance and leave the house?"

Lately, I have been realizing that experiences like this are never easy. Feeling alone really hurts a lot of people emotionally, especially being different from everyone else around you. When you feel different from the new people around you, you begin to feel left out and all you want to do is run and hide. Doing this does not allow you to meet new people and experience new things. There is nothing wrong with your own kind or what you are used to being around but then you will never be okay in an unfamiliar environment. People need to learn how to make the best out of new experiences.

As you can see, no ones experience to a new place is easy. Margarita in "No Speak English", by Sandra Cisneros had a every hard time trying to get used to her new home just like my mother did when she just arrived to New York. Everyone feels more comfortable with what they already know, but remember life IS change and it's never too late to experience new things.