The Cariboo Cafe : A Story Of Chicano Immigrants And A Central American Refugee

As an undergraduate student, the topics that emerged from writing research and essay papers were topics that I or others could relate to. The opportunity to participate in research came to me, I could not resist but to pursue being a part of it. I was in the developmental lab organized by Dr. Knifsend for the past two years of my undergraduate career.

Hello reader, I’m about to tell you a story of some of my life. I am not normally one to volunteer details about myself, which I’ll remain somewhat reserved or completely leave some events out of this autobiography. Nonetheless, I believe I can still make my story interesting for the reader. I was born 1979, in Tampa, Florida; which, is also the same day my biological father decided to leave my mother and I. My mother isn’t a native Floridian, but had moved there with her family when she was still an infant, and had spent most of her life growing up in Florida. Needless to say, my father leaving was not an exciting time for my mother and I. Although she was employed Jimmy Cater was president and had taken the nation into

Much to my own embarrassment, my Hispanic heritage had been a thing I hardly thought of. My Father left my family when I was young, and with him went the hopeful wisps I had of learning about myself. It’s not to say that I wasn’t aware that I was Hispanic, but rather, growing up in a mainly white household I didn’t think I had any right to claim my ethnicity. However, the more I look around me and learn about the community Hispanics have grown accustomed to, the more I find that I understand where I came from. To me, being Hispanic isn’t about what you were told when you were younger, or the traditions you grew up with. Rather, being Hispanic is about learning where you come from, and learning about those who share your same heritage. ‘Hispanic’

My Hispanic culture is exceedingly unique contrast to other cultures because we have countless of beliefs, holidays, lifestyles, etc. My world of Hispanic culture raised me to become an independent and determined person because being the first generation of a Hispanic family to attend college has my family beyond thrilled for me to put value to our heritage. Putting value in our heritage is a magnificent emotion because people anticipate Hispanics to fail; but, we prove them wrong when we accomplish our goals. The Hispanic culture’s strength is unbelievably astonishing because we are ambitious of our dreams and we don’t cease until we fulfill our wish. Including the Hispanic culture at University of Washington may open people’s mind that we

In the short story by Helena Maria Viramontes, “The Cariboo Café’, describes several of the key issues many immigrants face daily when living in the United States. The short story is broken down to three different narrative sections. Each section illustrates different problems that are being faced by the Chicano/a community. The story describes the lives of Chicano/a immigrants, a Central American refugee, and the owner of the café. Each part is given by different perspectives of the characters, which later all three narrations are place together to reveal the ending of the story. Throughout the three narrations multiple themes and topics can be connected to current issues about immigration. Viramontes is able to describe the scenarios and

He even finds himself wanting to laugh at his situation. After this, he goes into a reminiscing and even happy tone about what he thought life in Canada would be like. He states he used to dream of Canada and of the opportunities of a new life outside of his homeland. He recalled how he planned to get married, have children, begin a family with a house, maybe even a cottage on the edge of the city. Middle class was his goal, he’d provide for his family, a stark difference from the “hard-to-mouth” life he was used to. But then, all too quickly, this daydream is ripped from him as his feet pressed to asphalt, continuing his never ending search for a job. With each step, he finds his sense of revulsion increasing, and thus begins his doubts. He wonders if he was really happy on the island, happier than he even realized before reaching Canada. Again, reality tears him from his regrets and hopes and he knew he needed to find a job or he will starve. His tone quickly takes a sharp turn into humorous denial, perhaps another past thought of what he thought life in Canada would be like; “No one starved in Canada; that only happened in such places as India or Africa. But definitely not Canada!” For a third time, the reality of his starving, growling stomach brings him back to his current, unfortunate situation, in which he becomes slightly panicked at the prospect of actually not getting a meal that night. He suddenly feels out of place,

The American Dream for everyone alike is to prosper and succeed in a land that individuals are determined to call their own. Almost every immigrant that has entered the United States has done so in hopes of finding a better life for themselves and for their families. For most Hispanic-Americans, the goal was the same. Hispanic-Americans come from a variety of different Spanish-speaking countries. Just as the wave of immigrants from Europe came to the United States of America in the late 1800's and early 1900's, Hispanics came from places like Mexico, South and Central America, and the Caribbean Islands. Although everyone came with the same goal in mind, to make sure their families would have a better life in a new environment, each subgroup within the Hispanic community faced different circumstances once they arrived in the United States and have different definitions of what it feels like to be an American.

The Chicano community has endured and overcome many struggles since the conquest by conquistador in 1491 and eviction from Atzlan. Race was used by the white community as tool to structure inequality for the Chicano community by classifying the Chicano community as white but treat them as a minority community. Chicano activist during the Mexican American generation found community self-determination by becoming actively involved in their community and taking hold of their own destiny. The Mexican American activists created a new way of seeing themselves by taking the term Chicano and making the term a symbol for who they truly are and who they want to become. The new ethos of the new identity of a Chicano is community

This is a narrative of one Mexican American woman’s experiences and her views on the importance of passing down the cultural beliefs of her ancestors. In the section of the country in which I live there is a large population within the community of Mexican American culture. Although I have frequent contact with people of Mexican American heritage either through employment or interaction out in the community, I have a limited understanding of their culture. For this reason, I chose to learn more about the population of people I have frequent contact with and as a professional work with as clients in the field of mental health counseling. The quest of finding someone knowledgeable to discuss the population, their cultural background and some of their necessities, as well as some past experiences, led me towards contacting a church. This took calling two different churches before the person at the second church informed me that I needed to speak with, Mrs. Socorro Garcia head of their Hispanic Ministries. Unfortunately, Mrs. Garcia was on vacation when I called, but I was able to speak with her over the phone the following week, setting up an interview in person at her office a couple days later. This was a relief because I was becoming concerned about locating someone for a personal interview.

Provided how squeamish I can be, I did not want to become a medical health professional despite my ancestral lineage’s commonality of such professions. This trend led my family to expect me to mirror my grandfather’s career and become a medical physician. My family viewed health care workers as the optimal profession for humanitarian purposes. However, my grandfather believed that an engineer creates solutions to human problems and thus can have a larger human impact than a health professional. I decided to major in chemical engineering as an undergraduate with his words in mind.

A life in the city of Seguin, Texas was not as easy as Cleofilas, the protagonist of the story thought it would be. The author, Cisneros describes the life women went through as a Latino wife through Cleofilas. Luckily, Cisneros is a Mexican-American herself and had provided the opportunity to see what life is like from two window of the different cultures. Also, it allowed her to write the story from a woman’s point of view, painting a vision of the types of problems many women went through as a Latino housewife. This allows readers to analyze the characters and events using a feminist critical view. In the short story “Women Hollering Creek” Sandra Cineros portrays the theme of expectation versus reality not only through cleofilas’s thoughts but also through her marriage and television in order to display how the hardship of women in a patriarchal society can destroy a woman’s life.

Helena Maria Viramontes grew up in Los Angeles where relatives used to stay and live with her family when making the transition from Mexico to the United States. This is where she got her first taste of the lives of immigrants in this country within the urban barrios. Viramontes's writing reflects this theme along with expressing her political opinions on the treatments of immigrants, especially Chicanos and Latinos. In her short story "The Cariboo Café," Viramontes brings these ideas to life through three sections narrated by different individuals tied into the story.

Throughout history beginning with the Spanish inquisition, Chicanos have been overpowered, underestimated, exploited, and forgotten. Chicanos have been ripped from their dignity and viewed as ignorant, lazy, and uneducated. It was not till Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez created a poetic piece, “I am Joaquin”, that would change the way Mexicans thought of themselves for all eternity. No longer were they this broken social identity, but now they embraced being both the Mayan prince, and the sword and flame of Hernán Cortés, as stated by Gonzales, ultimately giving birth to the life changing social identity of Chicano. Over the decades, traditional Chicano social identity practiced a specific and powerful definition, nonetheless excluding several

Helena Maria Viramontes grew up in Los Angeles where relatives used to stay and live with her family when making the transition from Mexico to the United States. This is where she got her first taste of the lives of immigrants in this country within the urban barrios. Viramontes's writing reflects this theme along with expressing her political opinions on the treatments of immigrants, especially Chicanos and Latinos. In her short story "The Cariboo Café," Viramontes brings these ideas to life through three sections narrated by different individuals tied into the story.

A mother drives her three kids to soccer practice in a Ford minivan while her husband stays at the office, rushing to finish a report. Meanwhile, a young woman prays her son makes his way home from the local grocery without getting held up at knife point by the local gang. Nearby, an immigrant finishes another 14-hour shift at the auto parts factory, trying to provide for his wife and child, struggling to make way in a new land. Later, a city girl hails a cab to meet her girlfriends at their favorite club to celebrate her new promotion over cosmopolitans. These people – the suburban soccer mom, the tired immigrant, the worried mother from the hood, and the successful city girl – each represent the