Escape From the Congo
I loved the story "Escape From the Congo." I found it to just be great and probably the mosrt entertaining story for our class that I have read. I just really really enjoyed it!
I loved how we got the story and her emotions but also the history aspects of what was happening. I like how the language was mixed into the story as the mother spoke to her children. I could not imagine going through there situation. I would be so scared that I do not think I would even be able to concentrate, I would be too flustered and scared to even want to move. I would just want to sit still but I know that would have just got me killed. I respect them because they were able to go through the ups and downs of there country but still manage to live after. To start over and just live on. I know they never forget what happens an example of that being the main character who took ten years to cope with her mothers death and have a memorial.
In "for the time being" I like the second line at the top before the story even starts, "While I taught them English, they taught me about the power of hope." In reality the roles are usually swithched. Many children are translaters for there who being from a foreign country often of Asian or Hispanic descent cannot speak English. At my job i always ring customers where the child is translating and I think isn't that hard and at sti mes annoying for the child. having to almost chaperone their parents on every outing they wish to go on. From that line I now realize that even though it may seem like a tough task to be your parents personal translator they probably teach there children a lot of helpful things in return. It is not just a one way thing and therefore maybe it is not so horrible helping there parents in return.
Comments
My blog was like yours, I wrote more about the Escape From the Congo because it was so intriguing and different than any story we have read so far. The way the story was told as a narrative made you feel more in touch with what happened, it was not some vague text but very personal. Trying to picture yourself in that situation is scary, and there is almost no one else who could relate to what you're going through with your family thousands of miles away and no way to contact them. This is such a distinct example of not knowing why someone may be illiterate, because the process of learning English is part of the process of adjusting the American life too in this case and therefore is overwhelming. In the other article, I have seen how different it is for families who the second generation knows English and has to translate for the first and how it is both a struggle and an accomplishment. Both of these immigrant stories give what we've been learning more of a reality check, and something that effects us as many of these blogs have shown.
Posted by: Caitlin Priem | October 16, 2006 1:49 PM