In Cuba I Was A German Shepherd

Furthermore, in most cases, it may seem the United States has a system in which immigrants are not given the chance to form a bright future. In the novel, “Antonio soon found himself settling for jobs that were clearly beneath him. He stood under the baking sun at the on-ramp to the Santa Monica Freeway, selling oranges for two dollars a bag: a dollar fifty for the guy from the produce market, fifty cents for him,” (Tobar, 53). Many of the immigrants that live in the U.S. have little power that allows them to succeed. Some races have benefitted from it more than others. The Cubans, for instance, have had it much easier than most immigrants who have migrated to the United States; whereas, Antonio, a Guatemalan, had trouble finding a stable job that allowed him to sustain himself. In contrast to many other races, many Americans described Cubans as being visitors who represent, “all phases of life and professions, having an excellent level of education… More than half of their families with them, including children brought from Cuba to escape communist indoctrination in the schools,”

In the story, you can see narrator has a love for her Latino heritage but also tries to separate herself from the brazer who does not speak English. This is one of the struggles to this story. The other is Geraldo, who came to American, to make a better life and his struggle to adjust to a new culture and the separation from his homeland. This story was a symbol of what one's life is like as an immigrant to a new country and the stereotypes and

From April 15 to October 31 in 1980, over 125,000 Cuban migrants arrived in the United States. Family members from America ferried relatives and institutionalized Cubans from the Cuban port of Mariel, in what was soon coined the Mariel Boatlift. Mirta Ojito, one of these ‘Marielitos’, as they soon were termed, grew up to write “Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus”. In this text, the author provides a historic account of events leading up to the Mariel Boatlift, narratives from important figures surrounding the event, and a personal narrative describing the struggle of her family to gain freedom from the socialist dictatorship of Fidel Castro. Throughout the story of the years preceding the boatlift and the influence that living in Cuba held on her life, Ojito describes the positive and negative elements of the both the political climate and personal life on the communist island which led to her eventual emigration to the United States.

Author, Pablo Medina, in his reflective memoir, “Arrival: 1960” illustrates his transition from Cuba to New York as a young boy. Medina describes how his first impressions differed from what he thought he would encounter. He faced new challenges, involving his race, that never occurred back in Cuba. By reflecting on this experience in a first person point of view, Medina depicts the disappointment that he and other immigrants face while adapting to their new world.

The first story made me go back to my childhood. I hardly remember how I came to United State but one thing I do remember is my mom had the same reaction as Alma Rivera. All character made me feel like if I was coming back to the US. In the first couple pages, it caught my attention of how is actually telling what we the people that migrate go through. I enjoyed reading this book I can make some connection with the characters.

Throughout history, we have seen a plethora of people leaving their original lives behind for the new opportunities in America, but are let down by the harshness of our culture. In the story, Arrival: 1960 by Pablo Medina, we learn about a young Cuban family who make a great move to the United States, more specifically New York City. The main character begins the story high spirited and excited for their new home for it would contain new experiences. In contrast he begins to see the reality within the city and at his school further into the story. He discovers that his new environment is not at all what he expected and on top of that he is faced with a culture that is abstract to his previous beliefs of identification. His high

First of all, the setting of this novel contributes to the Rivera family’s overall perception of what it means to be an American. To start this off, the author chooses a small American city where groups of Latino immigrants with their own language and traditions, lived together in the same apartment building. All these immigrants experienced similar problems since they moved from their countries. For example, in the novel after every other chapter the author

It was a wonderful eye-opening experience to interview Carmen Anton, a Spanish immigrant for this project. I learned so many things about how she arrived in American as a small child with only her sister by her side and her strive to become American. The emotional struggles of Carmen and her sister, Elena, were real and I didn’t realize it was that emotionally draining to come to a new country. Her experience showed me how hard it is to fit into a new society knowing absolutely nothing about the world she was dropped into. The fact that she flew here with her younger sister and then live for three months without her parents to guide her in this unfamiliar setting, shows me how strong and brave Carmen was at the young age of eight. When she first came, she assumed it would be like

The author first makes readers feel cozy when he says, "Within its walls, my young parents created our traditional Cuban home, the very heart of which was the kitchen." The tone that the author uses makes the reader feel warm, giving them the joyful image of the cozy Cuban home. Then Rodriguez continues, "Here, the innocence of childhood, the congregation of family and friends, and endless celebrations that encompassed both formed the backdrop to life in our warm home." The author describes his young life to his readers, making them feel warmth by depicting the memory of the innocent and happy gathering of loved ones. Finally, Narcisco Rodriguez sets a warm mood by recalling his memories of how everyone helped each other out in their times of need. He says, "It was a close-knit community of honest, hardworking immigrants who extend a hand to people who, while not necessarily their own kind, were clearly in need." The thought of such a well-woven community of kind people spreads a warm feeling amongst readers' hearts. This relates to the thesis in the sense that the immigrants created a sincere environment for Narcisco and family. In brief, the story portrays a mood of warmth to its readers using its kind and joyful

The main theme is was how hard it was living in the U.S illegally. It was hard for them because they had to move from place

Every immigrant has a personal story, pains and joys, fears and victories, and Junot Díaz portrays much of his own story of immigrant life in “Drown”, a collection of 10 short stories. In each of his stories Diaz uses a first-person narrator who is observing others to speak on issues in the Hispanic community. Each story is related, but is a separate picture, each with its own title. The novel does not follow a traditional story arc but rather each story captures a moment in time. Diaz tells of the barrios of the Dominican Republic and the struggling urban communities of New Jersey.

Dinaw Mengestu, Richard Rodriguez and Manuel Munoz are three authors that have been through and gone through a lot of pain to finaly get accepted in their societies. They are all either immigrants or children of immigrants that had trouble fitting in America’s society at the time. They struggled with language and their identities, beucase they were not original from the states and it was difficult for others to accept them for who they are. They all treated their problems differently an some tried to forget their old identeties and live as regulalr Americans others accepted themselves for being who they are, but they all found a way to deal with their issues.

There are a lot of good stories in this semester but my favorite one is ‘In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd’. The story is about the attempts of immigrants to adapt new lives, and that is what happened to me when I left my home four years ago because of war. The characters faced many hardships in the country of asylum However, they gather to play dominoes and listen to jokes. I liked the story because it tells

He started out applying for a job as a dish washer but was not satisfied after 3 months because he was living in the same conditions he had been living in Cuba. He could barely pay the rent for his small apartment and bring food home every night for him and his wife. One night, he was walking home when he saw a guy on the street all beat up

I chose the story of (In cuba I was a German shepherd). It is funny story and interesting. The story about a friends, they usually meeting and playing dominos in the park. And one of this friends named Maximo, he was funny person and jokes teller, he is the main character of story. It is really a good story, I recommend to reading it. "It was that year after Rosa died and Maximo begun to see her at the kitchen table as she'd been at twenty-five."(Menendez, 2002, P.6). The little dog Juanito says, 'I would like to marry you, and have puppies with you and live in castle.' the white poodle has snount in the air. She looks at juanito and says, 'Do you have any idea who you'r talking to? I'm a refined breed of considerable class and you are nothing