Where would I be today
I left DR 18 years ago. Having lived in the US most of my life, I have fully assimilated the american way of life. Most of my friends are americans. I think in english most of the time. I eat, drink, talk and sleep american. In fact I am considered quite successful by american standards.
I am an american citizen. Still, I am not really an american, although some might question that. I remain, like it or not, dominican. My childhood was dominican. Sometimes I wonder what would be of me had I not migrated to the US. My family wasn't poor, but it wasn't rich either. Nunca nos falto nada, we even had maids. So I guess we were comfortable.
But where would I be today, had I never left DR? I will never know that, but I'm sure I'd be a different person. My mother always encouraged my sisters and me to educate ourselves. Both my parents instilled religion and morality by words and deeds. But who would grown up Henry be today?
DR has changed so much in all these years, that it's sad to think that the fun memories of my childhood are nothing but history that cannot be repeated. Customs have changed, people changed, the economy has changed, the whole dominican culture is not the same. Unfortunaly, change is not always for the better.
All these factors considered, I know I would be someone completely different. After all, aren't we all products of our environment? The real question is: would I be a better or worse person today? I guess i can only wonder.
I am an american citizen. Still, I am not really an american, although some might question that. I remain, like it or not, dominican. My childhood was dominican. Sometimes I wonder what would be of me had I not migrated to the US. My family wasn't poor, but it wasn't rich either. Nunca nos falto nada, we even had maids. So I guess we were comfortable.
But where would I be today, had I never left DR? I will never know that, but I'm sure I'd be a different person. My mother always encouraged my sisters and me to educate ourselves. Both my parents instilled religion and morality by words and deeds. But who would grown up Henry be today?
DR has changed so much in all these years, that it's sad to think that the fun memories of my childhood are nothing but history that cannot be repeated. Customs have changed, people changed, the economy has changed, the whole dominican culture is not the same. Unfortunaly, change is not always for the better.
All these factors considered, I know I would be someone completely different. After all, aren't we all products of our environment? The real question is: would I be a better or worse person today? I guess i can only wonder.
posted by henry siteber at 4:20 PM
5 Comments:
I moved to NYC when I was 5 and back to DR at 12. Although I would come up almost every summer I resented the fact that we moved back in the first place. We lived comfortably too, but when we moved back we lost our sense of family, we never did anything together anymore. I also felt that opportunites I had here in school were taken away from me because of the move. I've always wondered what my life would have been like had we never moved and I always I assume it would have been way different and better than it is now. I have a lot of fond memories of my time living in DR (and a few not so fond ones) and if I were to be given the choice again I would have absolutely not left NYC.
Like you, I am very Americanized and most of my thoughts are in English too and most of my friends here (Latin or not) speak very little to no spanish at all. I can't say that I've ever sat down and listened to entire merengue or bachata record and I hate reggaeton and I've never been nuts about hip hop or this whole street postering that seems to be adopted by so many other latinos. That however doesn't mean that I don't own up to my ethnicity or that I'm not proud of my heritage as I have been accused of by some jerks I have gone out with in the past.
The culture where I live in DR is still too conservative and people still worry too much about what other people think and I can't live like that. I do miss my family and friends, but I would never go back there to live permanently. And although I try not to think of what might have been too often, the thought always lingers in the back of my mind.
Odisea, you are so right! People here are still too hung up on what others might think of them.
Henry, I’ve always lived here in DR, but have been to the US lots of times. My English is very good (spoken as well as written). Most of my friends tell me that my way of thinking isn’t that of a Dominican. They say that I’m too Americanized, whatever that might mean to them…I often do wonder…what if I had left here? I could have done it…how would I be like today? Mira que muchísimas veces ganas de irme no me han faltado, eh? Aquí las cosas no están muy bien y aunque mi familia y yo vivimos cómodamente, me duele la situación que atraviesa mi país.
What I’m saying is…you’ll always have a choice about every little thing, from what shirt you’ll wear in the morning to what car you’re going to buy…the thing about choices is that most of the time you think about that one that you didn’t take…the one that you refused…I can tell you this: a person can go insane thinking about “what might have, could have or should have been”…Judging by the person you have come to be, my guess is you probably made the right choice anyways, so live in the now, sweetie!!!
I've been told that I am not Dominican enough, and to an extent, I can understand that. Even during the few years that I lived in DR I never felt like I fit in. I think that it's not so much where yoa ure from but how you feel. I've traveled so much that I feel transnational. I dont' think that I am any more Dominican than I am anything else. At the end of the day, I am the sum of my experiences, as what most people probably are.
You are all correct. Annush you hit the bulls eye. I am the sum of my experiences.
Thank you.
Cool blog, interesting information... Keep it UP »
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