Field Notes - Angelica (compiled April 5, 2011) Interviewee: Angelica Interviewer: Amelia Moore Interview Date: March 24, 2011 Location: Ephesus Elementary School, Chapel Hill, NC

THE INTERVIEWEE: Angelica has lived in Chapel Hill since coming to the U.S. from Mexico City five years ago. She lives here with her husband and son, but their wider family network includes uncles, aunts and siblings in the Chapel Hill area. She currently works at two different restaurants where she hopes to advance by improving her English skills. Having worked as a waitress in her native Mexico City, the transition to working in restaurants here in Chapel Hill was made most difficult by the language barrier. Her limited knowledge of English has meant that she works mainly in the kitchen, but her bosses are very supportive and encourage her to use what English she does know to get experience waiting tables. Although she works two jobs, her schedule allows for time with her son which is very important to her. She hopes her son will be able to attend college or the highest education she and her husband can provide for him, although she worries that he may drop out in the future due to academic struggles. While the transition to life in Chapel Hill was difficult at first, Angelica's son no longer wishes to return to Mexico. He is so content here that she says, should she and her husband have to return to Mexico, she would leave her son here so as not to uproot him again.

Angelica Angelica finished school through preparatoria (equivalent to high school) which is the minimum education required to be considered for work in Mexico. Since English classes were private and cost extra in Mexico, she was unable to learn much English before coming to the U.S. She cites the convenience and low cost of ESL classes here as resources that many like her fail to take advantage of. For herself, Angelica hopes to improve her English while here in the States not only to improve job opportunities here but also to advance once she returns to Mexico with a greater command of the English language.

THE INTERVIEWER: Amelia Moore is an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. She is majoring in International Studies, with a focus on politics and Western Europe, as well as Spanish. Interested in immigration law, she is currently enrolled in Hannah Gill's INTS 390 course titled "Latin American Migrant Perspectives." Her research project for the class focuses on Latin American (especially Mexican) migrant perspectives on education before and after migrating and compares sending and receiving society contexts. Her volunteer interests include adult ESL and adult GED tutoring

DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERVIEW: The interview was conducted in a local elementary school where I met Angelica through free ESL classes. I tutor once a week with a group of other UNC students, and I met her when she arrived as a new student. We discuss these classes in the interview which I have indicated with an *. The location was excellent for limited background noise. Brief and minimally distracting background noise

Angelica was mostly the result of Angelica's sister and niece being in the room. I also conducted an interview with Jackie, Angelica's sister two days earlier. I set up the interview with Angelica a week in advance, and I was glad she felt comfortable speaking with me after only knowing me for a short time. When I asked for the interview, I asked her sister Jackie as well, so the initially assumed they would be interviewed together. Although they clearly come from a very similar background, their individual interviews were interesting to me because their migration experiences have been different despite the closeness their family ties entail. Having been to Mexico, and Mexico City in particular, my Spanish speaking skills and knowledge of the country provided a degree of common ground. Though somewhat shy, Angelica was happy to share her story and thoughts especially on differences in life here in Chapel Hill versus in Mexico City. Her willingness to discuss both her own job aspirations as well as her hopes for her son was invaluable to my research around education and migration. She was personable and could provide a valuable perspective on education both in Mexico and in the US based on her son's and her own experiences.

CONTENT OF THE INTERVIEW: Having already interviewed Angelica's sister, Jackie, I was interested to see what would be similar or different about interviewing Angelica. Unlike her sister, Angelica worked as a waitress in Mexico City before coming to the U.S. and has worked in restaurants since her arrival in Chapel Hill five years ago. We discussed differences in the educational system here and in Mexico City based on her own experiences and those of her son. Her explanation of escuelas publicas versus

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Angelica particulares was particularly helpful to me in understanding how the two systems differ. The difference is quite similar to our public versus private schools. A portion of the interview also focuses on the social environment in Chapel Hill and how life here differs from life in Mexico City. Angelica noted, like Jackie, that the community here feels safer which she appreciates with an 11-year-old son. Regarding her own education, Angelica provides insight into how learning English could better serve her both in Chapel Hill and in Mexico. A large portion of the interview focuses on her work experience in restaurants in Chapel Hill.

NOTE ON RECORDING: I used the Olympus VN-6200PC recorder to record the interview along with ExpressScribe software for the transcription.

Transcript - Angelica (compiled April 5, 2011) Interviewee: Angelica Interviewer: Amelia Moore Interview Date: March 24, 2011 Location: Chapel Hill, NC Length: approximately 44 min

START OF INTERVIEW

Angelica AM: Ok, entonces, seguimos. This is Amelia Moore interviewing Angelica in Chapel Hill on March 24, 2011. Entonces, para empezar, ^me puedes decir de donde eres en Mexico - un poquito sobre de donde eres? A: Yo soy de la ciudad de Mexico. AM: iY como es la cuidad? ^Es grande, hay mucha gente? A: Si, es una ciudad muy grande, hay mucha gente, pues - AM: ^Con quienes vivia en Mexico? A: En Mexico, vivia con mi esposo, mi mama, mi hermana, mi hermano, y mi hijo. Todos viviamos juntos en una misma casa. Y - AM: i,Y como viniste aqui a Carolina del Norte? A: Pues, yo llegue aqui porque primero, se vino mi esposo junto con mi tio. Ya despues de que se vinieron ellos, mi esposo dijo, "Porque no," decia, yo venir aqui con el a los Estados Unidos. Yo alia en Mexico trabajaba de mesera. Y, pues, no me puedo quejar porque yo ganaba 150 pesos al dia, yo sentia que tenia un buen trabajo, estaba estaba bien. Me daba pequenos lujos, estabamos todos juntos, todos estabamos tranquilos. Despues rue cuando mi esposo me dijo que viniera aqui porque aqui vamos a estar mejor, vamos a tener una mejor vida, y por eso fue de que yo decidi - decidi venir aqui. Entonces, ahorita yo estoy aqui en Mexic - - aqui en Estados Unidos junto con mi esposo y tambien conmigo esta mi hijo. Tambien mi hijo nos lo trajimos tambien de Mexico para estar aqui - estamos los tres juntos ahora. Y, pues, si tambien aqui en Estados Unidos, pues, si, tambien, pues, no me puedo quejar. Tambien me esta yendo bien, este, cuento ahorita con trabajo en la cocina. Este, trabajo poco porque - - bueno, yo, sinceramente, pues, quisiera trabajar mas para, pues,

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Angelica para poder tener mas dinero. O sea, no me puedo quejar, o sea, tambien no gano mal. Estoy bien, pero por lo mismo de que tengo, este, a mi nino, pues, no puedo trabajar todo el dia. Trabajo nada mas mitad-mitad del dia y mitad de la otra tarde. Trabajo nada mas por las mananas y la otra tarde se la dedico a mi hijo a este, a llevarlo a actividad. Juega a el le gusta mucho el futbol y pues, si, o sea, le gusta mucho aqui. Al principio, nosotros nada mas veniamos por unos cuatro anos - este, dos anos. Y, pues, ya, pues aqui, pues si me siento bien, mas que nada por mi hijo, porque ahorita yo le pregunto a el que pues, si quisiera regresarse porque a nosotros pues, no se\ a la vez quisieramos regresar porque, pues, se ( ) que la mayoria de la familia de mi esposo esta alii en Mexico. Y yo nada mas tengo a mis dos hermanos y a mi mama, o sea, la familia mas importante para mi son ellos y otros - - Todos los demas de mis tios estan en Mexico y mi hermana esta aqui conmigo. Pero yo tambien a la vez quisiera regresar a Mexico pero mi hijo ya no quiere. Mi hijo dice que le gusta mucho aqui y ya no quiere regresarse. Pues, uno, pues, si - - por la education de ellos, de que estan aprendiendo ingles porque yo, alii en Mexico, para que el aprendiera ingles, yo tenia que pagar, o sea, en escuela privada. O sea, yo le pagaba. Porque el ( ) estuvo desde el kinder en escuela particular para que le podian ensenar el ingles y nada mas estuvo el primer ano. Y despues fue cuando ya decidio, o sea, fue cuando ya nos venimos para aca. Pero entonces el ahorita es, pues mas que nada es por el ingles que - - O sea, pues yo quiero que el este aqui, pues, tambien, o sea, que estudia lo mas - lo mas lo mas lo mas - que se puede. Y entonces hasta tambien - hasta tambien hasta donde nosotros podamos darle. O sea, que quisieramos tambien de que el es tambien pues pueda llegar hasta el college. Sabemos que ahorita hay muchos problemas

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Angelica para que los nines estudien en la universidad. Pero en cuanto, o sea, que estudie lo mas que se pueda. O sea, precisamente para que, porque siento que va a ser la unica herencia que uno como padre le puede dejar a sus hijos: el estudio. O sea, para que ellos se puedan defender ante la vida, y pues, que no sufran tambien lo que uno esta sufriendo porque pues uno no quisiera que pasen por las experiencias que uno paso. Y yo me siento tambien a la vez un poco triste porque a mi nino ya me lo traje un poco grande y el todavia recuerda cuando - como pasamos cuando el llego, o sea, lo que yo tambien hace cuando tambien yo llego, pues yo tenia miedo porque yo decia, "El no sabe espanol - - no sabe ingles - Mi hijo,