Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Hunger of Memory
I've just finished reading "Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez". I found it to be an ok autobiographical read. I was somewhat disappointed in it because Rodriguez seemed to dwell too much on language (Spanish & English). However, there were other parts about the book that I liked. I liked his personal accounts of assimilating American values and his minority status in higher education.
Anyways, what I liked best was his portrayal of his mother. His portrayal reminded me so much of my mother.
- Family...a private matter. A lot of Hispanic families, especially mothers, believe that family matters are private. My mother used to tell me, all the time, that we don't "air dirty laundry". What happens in the family stays in the family. My mother would chew me out and pinch me if she ever found out that I shared some personal information. She hated it when I shared such information with my cousins. Of course, there were some things that were private and then there were some things that were not a big deal. I guess life as an open book is a foreign concept.
- Facial expressions. Hispanic mothers are experts with relaying the mood of the situation with their faces, especially their eyes. You knew right away if the situation was serious or if you were in trouble. Not a word had to be said. For me, it was worse looking at my mother stern eyes and hearing her hiss 'come here' That only made me wanna run in the opposite direction. But I knew that if I even took a step backward, it would involve my father and that was the last thing I would want. So, with "a tail between my legs", I'd go and face my mother's wrath.
Now, I just look back and laugh. I'd look at my cousins and I'd say, "you are so like your mother". Of course, that'll earn me a couple of cuss words from them.
For me, I'm not as limited as to what can be shared or not in regards to family matters. There are a few stuff that I'll tell KT, "don't you dare". Then, I'll re-evaluate and laugh as to why I considered a particular stuff as dirty laundry. I guess we all want a good life.
As for the evil eye, I guess I'll wait til I have kids of my own to use it.
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