Episode 10: Discovering Her Peruvian Roots

Sarah is a young lady who has embraced her South American roots. She grew up speaking English with her Peruvian mother and American father, but through experiences with the Spanish language and travel to various countries, she began adapting more of her mother's culture. She discusses the impact of travel on her perspective, including becoming more appreciative of what she has. Sarah has traveled to Haiti, Romania, and Peru, and she shares her experiences in each country. She also discusses her journey to learn Spanish and the importance of embracing both sides of her culture. We have no weapons, we only have pots and pans. We have no power, we only have pots and pans. Beat the pots, bang the pans, this is our revolution. Welcome to the Pots, Pans and Gritos podcast, a voice for the English learner. I'm your host, Nolan Shigley. In this week's episode, we meet a young lady who has self-discovered her South American roots. Sarah grew up speaking English with her Peruvian mother and American father here in Virginia. But through experiences with the Spanish language, evolving relationships with Latin American friends, and travel to various countries, Sarah began adapting more and more of her mother's native culture. And throughout this beautiful self-discovery, she started seeing changes within her mother as well. Today, we hear an honest tale of finding and embracing a family's history. Along with Sarah's story, we continue discovering music from around the world. And unsurprisingly, the Lima, Peru music scene is thriving with innovative artists such as La Nueva Invasión. Their sound blends traditional with edgy modern. And today, we hear tracks from their album, Subele a la Radio. As always, our mission is to create an archive of meaningful accounts while sharing artists with similar experiences and cultural backgrounds. And now, here are their stories. Music Sarah, like me, you love to travel. Where are some of the places you've gone outside of the United States? So, out of the U.S., I've been to Haiti and Romania. And to Peru, correct? Yes, I've been to Peru. So, what did it feel like? Because I remember my first time ever out of the country, I crossed the border at Nogales, Mexico. And even though I was really close to the United States, I was leaving my comfort zone. And it kind of felt like this out-of-body experience. Did you feel something similar? I remember for the first time when I left, I was very young, maybe like seven years old. And it was very shocking for me. Things were very different from the U.S. I was 24 years old, so I had a lot more time in the United States and getting comfortable in our environment. How has travel impacted you? I would say it's really helped me see the world in a different way. It's made me more appreciative of what we have. I remember being in Peru. We had to wash our own clothes. And the water was timed. It turned off at a certain point of the day. So it just made me more aware of things. Like now when I take a shower, I'm like, this is really nice. When I returned from Nicaragua, and we call this kind of like reverse culture shock. When I was in Nicaragua, and you probably saw the same things when you're in Haiti. These two countries, as we know, are extremely poor. But when I got back to the United States, I turned on my faucet and I immediately felt guilty. Because why was I so lucky to be born in this area, in this country? I have clean running water in my house. And then I remember seeing my neighbor go out and turn on his sprinkler to water his yard. And I wanted to go out and scream at him and just say, why are you using clean water? I remember in the Dominican Republic, one of the questions they asked me was, why do Americans drink bottled water? And I was like, I don't know. Did you have any of that when you returned from Haiti or Peru or Romania, where you just saw your life and saw your surroundings differently? I would say it definitely gave me more empathy. I guess kind of relating to you for other people. Like if I hear like they're from Haiti or something, I can kind of relate to that shock. Maybe not on their level, because they actually lived there. But I feel like I can understand the difference between the two countries, because it's very different. So you have a different point of view than, say, your fellow American peers. Why do you travel? So most of these trips, like Haiti and Peru, I went for a mission trip. It was with my church. And one thing, I'm a Christian, and one thing we really believe is spreading the gospel. We have this thing, it's like to reach every tribe, tongue, and nation. So we go on these trips to like love on people and help people and to do that, to like share the gospel. Like, for example, in Romania, we did like basketball camps to like build relationships with kids. And then in Haiti, we did like a VBS to like play with them. Can you describe your experiences in the country? What was Haiti like? Because this is a nation I really would love to visit. I just remember getting off the plane and just feeling the heat, like already sticking to my skin. I remember coming out of the airport, and there was just lines of people like, oh, I can take your suitcase, and like the smell of like sweat, dust, and smoke. There's like stray dogs or stray goats, which I don't know. Stray goats? Yes, I thought that was very funny. Yeah, there's just like people everywhere. They have these buses called like tap-taps, and it's just like a truck just like full of people. What were some of the beautiful parts of their culture, some of the more positive things that you observed? I love all the people there, like so really nice to you. They're always like, I guess, out in the streets like selling stuff. I thought whenever I go to a country, I think that's really interesting. The food is very good there, too. What was Romania like? Romania was a very different experience, I guess, like compared to like Haiti and Peru. I would say I was uncomfortable. I was out of my comfort zone, but going to Romania, the whole entire time I was comfortable, and I was like, wait, this doesn't feel like a mission trip. It was very beautiful. It was also different, like Europe. It was interesting seeing like Romania used to be part of the Soviet Union, so seeing like all those old communist buildings. It had like this like eerie feel, almost. Yeah, like zone. Yes, also like the food is really good. It's very clean. I would say at least Romania was like almost cleaner than the U.S., like the streets. Really? We were in a town called Craiova, and it was just like very nice. Everyone dresses really nice there. So, yeah, it was really different, but I really enjoyed it. Me and my sister went. We made very good friends with the youth there. We're still in contact with them, and almost everyone there knows English. So that was another very different thing. In Haiti, I would get frustrated because of the language barrier, but in Romania, like we were all able to understand each other. And your Spanish is very strong, and so that would not serve you well in Haiti. Yeah, in Haiti, no. But in Romania, there's actually a time where we were going to dinner at this Romanian family's house, and none of them knew English, and the bus driver didn't either, but he lived in Spain for like 20 years. So I talked to him in Spanish. So like we would like, I would like help translate kind of. Like I would go from English, Spanish, and then to Romanian, and then like he would talk to the family in Romanian, tell me in Spanish, and then I would translate it to English. Now Romanian is actually a Latin language. Yes, there's some similar words. So yeah, I was wondering if there were cognates that maybe you recognized when you were listening. Yes. Sarah, please introduce yourself. Hi, my name is Sarah. I will be a senior this year. So my mom is from Peru. My dad is American. I have a love for the world and for people. Where in Peru is your mother from? My mom is from Lima, the capital of Peru. Very cool. And when did she move here? Maybe at what age? She was like in her 20s. She was very young, and she came here, and I think she was like a nanny for her family for a while. She just wanted to like I guess just get out and experience the world. I think me and her are very similar. We both like really wanted to travel at a young age. And then she met your father here in the United States? Actually, no. They met online, which is very different. Oh, really? Yes. While she was in Peru? Yes. Really? Online was a thing then? I guess. Okay. I think that's how most people meet each other now. Yes. For better or for worse. Yes. Recently you've really reconnected with your Peruvian roots, and you had told me that you actually grew up not speaking Spanish. Yes. Why didn't your mother teach you Spanish at a young age? I think a really big reason why my mom never like spoke in Spanish with me is because for so long she, I don't think this sounds rude, but she lived like around white country people. My dad, he lived in like a rural place in North Carolina called Henderson. And so for so long she's had to like just adjust to the culture and like people there don't speak Spanish, so she's had to learn English. And I guess she just, part of it was she was maybe practicing her English with us, and she just also wanted to like fit in, I guess. If her children were bilingual, it would probably like look different to other families around her. When did you start learning Spanish? Because you did it more, you did it independently from your mother, yes? Yes. I would say definitely in middle school, 8th grade year when I started Spanish class, it definitely like... It kind of sparked something within you? Yeah, it sparked it. It made me want to learn it more. And also like I guess I had an advantage, like my mom is Peruvian, so yeah. Because plenty of Americans take Spanish, and we might be able to say hola, me gusta later in life. But what, I guess, what led you to become fluent? Another reason why I started learning more is because I realized how important it is to like embrace and learn both sides of my culture. Like I'm already born in America, I already live here, and I know the language. But I feel like to embrace my other culture more, like learning Spanish will play a big part in that. This is how I feel personally. I just, I feel like I can't like be like more Peruvian if I don't know Spanish. I had a friend, and he would always call me no sabo. No sabo. Yeah, no sabo kid, do you know what that is? No, tell us. It's like a person with like Latino roots, but they don't know any Spanish. And so, and they would like, you know, no sabo is like the incorrect form. It's supposed to be no se. Yes, yes. So, I thought that was really funny because I'd always get jealous like of some friends that I have who, like I know some kids like me who are like, I guess, like multicultural. Like their parents are from different countries. I met this girl in Peru. She was from Colorado. Like we were just sitting, like it was in my grandmother's town where she lives. And like there's no like Americans there or anyone. And just like I heard them talking in English. I was like, oh my gosh, where are you guys from? And just, she was like fluent in Spanish and English. And I was like, I don't know, whenever I meet people like that, I get really jealous. So, and also like when my mom has friends and they talk to me in Spanish and they like, or like in the past, it's kind of a little better now. But like when they see that I don't understand it, they're like, why don't you know Spanish? I'm like, it's not my fault. It's my mom, you know. And also at work too, like there's some customers that come who don't know English. And so, that's another good way I can like use my Spanish. At Chick-fil-A, you're able to serve customers that are Hispanic. Yes, it's really cool. And I feel like another ways that I've, my Spanish has improved is through listening to music. I have like every genre I really like in Spanish. And then also Spanish class. And then leading into that question, friends. I feel like making these friends that are like learning English and that speak Spanish has really like pushed me out of my comfort zone. It's really helped me. I know you like Maria. She was like one of my first friends, like Latino friends. And one way we really clicked was through like K-pop. It's so ridiculous. So many of my Latino friends connected to K-pop, Korean pop. I actually have a story about how K-pop goes into friendships. But I can get that to another time if you want. No, go ahead. You've already intrigued me. Online, I made a friend. I know it's like bad to talk to strangers online. It is. But I had like this K-pop account. She did too. And we both were like this group. It wasn't that popular. But that's how we became friends. And now we've been friends for three years. And she's from Turkey. Really? So yeah, it's really cool how we like maintained that friendship. Just because of K-pop. So yeah. So back to your friends. Have you always had a large group or a large contingency of friends from Latin America? So at first I would say no. But then I remembered when we lived in North Carolina, I actually had like a Mexican friend group. And I don't know. I just like remembered that. Like I never really thought that I had like a Latino friend group since the beginning. But then like moving here and coming to elementary school here, it was different. It wasn't that diverse. Everyone was just white. So I kind of lost that, I guess. But then like coming back to middle school and then high school, it was more diverse. So then I can meet more people like that and make friends like that. Yeah. And leading into this, our after school program with Roanoke College, the Si Se Puede program, not only do you demonstrate your fluency in Spanish every day, but really it's a program for Latinos. And you kind of are declaring that you, yourself, you are Latina. Yes. I really like Si Se Puede. It really helps. It made me feel a part of the Latino community. And personally, I feel like maybe I like shouldn't be considering that because like I don't know Spanish or like I'm too like whitewashed. But I feel like being part of Si Se Puede has like helped me realize that I guess that's not true. I think a lot of our students are trying to find their identity. Yeah, it can be hard. Yeah, absolutely. And that's okay because you can embrace so many different cultures. You don't have to just put yourself in one little box, right? How did your mother respond to your newfound love of Spanish and maybe your Peruvian culture? I actually asked her, and she said that she's very proud of me, that I want to like keep the tradition and culture alive in the family because I feel like if none of us wanted that, like any of my siblings, like it would just disappear. That cultural aspect of your family, of your life. Yes, and she loves that I'm embracing it because like I said, like for so long, she's been having to embrace like this culture. And now that someone's interested in her culture and is embracing it, I think it's very special to her. So would you say you've actually encouraged her to return to her culture? Yes, I would say that. Is she speaking Spanish more in the household? Yes. Every time she talks in English, I'm like, no, talk in Spanish. That's amazing. Yes. So you started studying Spanish in middle school, but when did you kind of realize that you had these strong Peruvian roots? I would say when I got older because when I was younger, I never really thought about how I kind of looked different from like, I would say like a native American person. If that makes sense, I don't know. People started to ask like, what is your ethnicity? I didn't even know what that word meant. But then like, I don't know. Then it was like, oh, wait. It got you thinking. It got me thinking because you don't really like ask people that. And so because I never really thought about being Peruvian. It's just like it was something different about me. You were just never taught that. Yeah, I was. It was just, I don't know. I never thought about it. But then once people started asking me about that, then it made me realize like I guess I do look different from other people when I am different. So how do you embrace this Peruvian culture? So lately, now that the summer has started, I'm trying to cook more Peruvian food. I really want to like keep that in the family because it's, number one, it's very good. And two, it helps keep the culture alive. So what have you cooked lately? What have you learned to cook? Recently I cooked arroz chaufa. And that is like a stir fry with like ham, eggs, chicken, soy sauce. It's really good. And I cooked it by myself a few days ago. Congratulations. Thank you. Fantastic. I know I was not cooking at your age. Yeah. Another way I am trying to embrace my Peruvian roots more is when my mom, she like calls my grandma like every day. They do a good job of keeping in touch. Where is your grandmother? She's in Lima. Actually, no. She's in Chiclayo, Peru. Okay. So she is in Peru. It's like the north coast. Yeah, she's still in Peru. And hopefully for my graduation they can come, which would be awesome because the last time she came was when my brother was born. Does she speak any English? No, she doesn't. So were you ever able to connect with her or communicate with her when you were young? Actually, when I was younger, that was one thing that was really frustrating was like the language barrier. It was really hard having a relationship with her. But I do remember like one time, like I think this is very beautiful. No matter like even if you can't speak the language, I feel like love is kind of like a universal language. I remember one time I like wanted candy or something and she just like grabbed me by the hand and she brought me to like this store and she bought me. And it was just so sweet. And now that I know Spanish more, we have a very good relationship. Whenever my mom calls her, I always try to say hi more. Because in the past when my mom calls her, like I never really cared or thought. But now it means so much to her when I say hi. Well, it's so much more difficult to communicate on the phone. So are you able to have discussions with her? Yes, I am. Meaningful discussions. Yes. It really blesses her heart because we also were her only grandchildren. And we live in the U.S. so there's like that just, I don't know, it's kind of sad how she hasn't really had her grandchildren with her, I guess. I remember like going back there and she would like, she hugged me and she squeezed my hand like the whole ride home and she just wouldn't let go. Leaving was really hard too. I think this story demonstrates even more empathy that you must have because you have a group of friends that are from, I don't know, just about every Latino country, correct? Yes. And so a lot of them have had to leave family. A lot of them have grandmothers. A lot of them have parents back home, whether it's El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala, Dominican Republic. And so, again, you can relate to that aspect of their life with your grandmother. Cumbia music Cumbia por la Reconcha su Madre Cumbia music One of the experiences that you had that really impacted you and really brought you back to your Peruvian roots was your actual travel to your mother's homeland. At night, I loved it. I would always like hear music like playing in the neighborhoods, dogs barking, people talking. It was like that in Haiti as well. And it just like made me so happy because I hear when I go to sleep, it's just like dead silent. But just like listening to that, just like, oh, like I'm out of the country. Like it just made me really happy. It just put that thrill in me. Also, I'm a big animal person. I love dogs. I just like seeing stray dogs everywhere made me very happy. Like I know it's like really sad. It's very different. But it was part of the thrill. It was just part of a different experience. Yes, different experience. And I know what you're saying because when I was in Ecuador, like I wanted to adopt every dog I saw. I guess that can go with like the countercultural thingy. When I came home, I was like little. That was the first time I went to Peru. I was like, okay, now I'm going to like raise all this money and help all these dogs in Peru. Another word I would describe is frustration. Main part because of the language barrier. There were kids in the neighborhood in my grandma's town, and they didn't know any English. So it was really interesting getting to talk to them. Also in the airport, I don't know. I just like wanted to understand what was going on, but I couldn't really understand because everything was in Spanish when I was younger. I mean, that's part of travel. Yes. I had that same experience when I was in Cuba. It's like you go through these little periods of highs and lows in travel, and you should never expect everything to be perfect when you're traveling, right? Yes. I always think that hopefully my experience will be phenomenal or horrible because if it's one of the two extremes, I'm going to have a good story when I come home. Yes. I feel like both play a big part. Absolutely. The reason I travel, it just opens my eyes. It makes me a better person. It makes me more empathetic. Yes. It reminds me that I have to be flexible, and I have to become a better Spanish speaker or learn more about a country before I travel there. Always remember that I'm in a different country. I need to adjust to that culture. In every neighborhood, there's a plaza or a park. It's like all the houses are around it. It's like this circle or square in the very middle, and people would go up there and talk and play. I feel like it just made a community. It made it more close. I love that. Yes. I feel like we miss out so much on that. We do. I remember coming home and people just sat at the TV. It's not like you go in the street and play with everybody. That was something I missed about Peru. We'd be bored, but then we'd see a kid playing in the park, so we were like, oh, let's go play with him. The sense of community. I absolutely agree with that. Meeting new family was very special. I remember we went on a hike as a family. That was really nice. We went to a waterfall. How much family do you have in Peru? You've already described cousins and grandparents. I remember in the beginning, I was like, oh, yeah, in Peru, all I have is my grandma and my aunt. But then when we went there, it just keeps going. Everyone is related to each other. I feel like my mom has just cousins of cousins of cousins. It was really nice getting to know all of them. But it made me sad that I don't have a really close relationship. Actually, last year, when me and my sister went to Romania, my brother and my mom went to Peru, which made me really jealous, but I sat down for when I was like, instead of being jealous, what can I do? I wrote 20 pages of notes to all my family, just writing to them, and they all wrote me back, which was so sweet. I guess you have many more trips to Peru in the future. Yes, for sure. Also, something very interesting about Peru was seeing a new mom. I feel like my mom kind of changed when she went to Peru. I would say she was more relaxed. She was more carefree. I feel like maybe just being in her country really comforts her. So she kind of had her own epiphany, if you will. Yes. It was so cool. She knows her way around everywhere. Really? She would show me, oh, yeah, that's my old school. That's where I went to do this. That's the store where I did this. She can't do that here. That's what my dad does when we go to his hometown. But I'm never used to seeing my mom like, oh, yeah, that's where I did this. That's where I did this. So when we went to Peru, just seeing her like that, that was very cool, and also meeting her high school friends and stuff. So you got to see this beautiful transition within the mother you knew as a young girl and the mother you know now as a young woman. What is this exciting program that you're going to be part of next year? So next year, I'll be doing a learning and internship, teaching and learning internship. That's what it's called. It's new this year. Tell the world what you plan on becoming. I plan on becoming an ESL teacher or EL teacher, which is teaching English to people who are learning it. And through this career, I really want to travel the world. That was one of my biggest goals in life. I was like, I don't know what job I want, but whatever job I have, I just really want to travel because you get so many really good experiences. I never regret traveling. I feel so productive whenever I travel. I feel so happy, even through the moments where it's frustrating, like in Peru, or it's sad, like in Haiti. Just every part of it is so valuable and meaningful, and it really helps you look at the world in a different way, and it changes the way you think and view things. So you would like to live overseas and teach English as a second language? I do. I would love to live overseas for at least a year or two and teach. Being an EL teacher is extremely rewarding for so many reasons. Yes. Other than travel, is there another inspiration behind becoming an EL teacher? I'm very interested in other culture, languages, meeting new people. I did research, and teaching English has all of that. It absolutely does. The world comes to you. Yes. For a while, I was a teacher. I don't know. I can't really see myself teaching people, but recently I had this opportunity to help teach English at El Faro. I don't know if you know. It's a community center. Maria and her church, First Baptist, they're part of this. They just threw me up there like, okay, you teach. I was like, what do I do? For most of the time, I was the native speaker there. It was Maria and her mom. They just told me to just say words because when you hear it, and then the students would repeat after me. Just meeting the other students, they were mostly adults, but just meeting them and what countries they're from was very interesting. Also, when they said the word correctly, it just put joy in me. You had an immediate impact on their lives. Yes. I was like, I can see myself doing this. It's very rewarding. If you find a job where you're happy, and you're happy and getting paid for that, that's really nice. Yes, being paid to be happy and impacting lives. I would say some inspiration I've had was I have a neighbor who lives down the street. Her name is Mary Kay. She just has this really big heart for people. She actually used to be a missionary in Spain. Her husband used to teach English in Japan. They have a lot of overseas things. She's been such a big part of my life, and I just want to take after her and her love for people. What Mary Kay does is she helps teach English to Virginia Tech international students. At Virginia Tech, there's a lot of international students. Some days, I'll get to go with her. I've got to learn a lot about Chinese, Japanese, and Korean culture. Very cool. I've got to try their food. It was really nice. Also, the classes are just very interesting. I just really fell in love with what she was doing and how she was helping the students. She even has yard sales where she would go around collecting things, and then she would have it just for the students. She would sell things at very low prices for them. They really value that. They value that friendship they have with her, and that's something that I want to do, like bless other people's lives. Sarah's bilingualism, passion for helping others, and overall sense of adventure will make her a very successful EL teacher one day. Like Sahar, our guest from a couple weeks ago, Sarah's faith has played a large role in her desire to improve the lives of others. Whether it's Christianity, Islam, or another belief system of our guest's culture, religion can certainly be one of the strongest aspects of their story. Thank you, Sarah, for sharing your experiences, and I look forward to working with you next year as we improve the language acquisition of our EL students. Thank you, La Nueva Invasión, for graciously allowing us to use your creative music that blends Andean folk with modern sounds from your capital city of Lima. And thank you, listeners, for joining us on another episode of Pots, Pans, and Gritos. But as always, thank you for being an ally to English learners everywhere. Pots, Pans, and Gritos