{"id":2711,"date":"2018-07-19T14:55:20","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T18:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/?p=2711"},"modified":"2018-08-09T13:55:37","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T17:55:37","slug":"after-dinner-debates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/2018\/07\/19\/after-dinner-debates\/","title":{"rendered":"After Dinner Debates"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was really interested to hear more about my host family\u2019s views of America.\u00a0 They were in an interesting position to weigh in, seeing as they had been hosting exchange students for more than 10 years.\u00a0 The majority of these students were from the US, but over the years they also hosted a significant number of students from other Latin American countries.<\/p>\n

I decided to ask the members of my host family about their opinions of America in the middle of my stay.\u00a0 At this point, there was also an exchange student from Brazil, Mayara, staying with us.\u00a0 Throughout the course of Mayara\u2019s stay, I had engaged in many impromptu conversations with her and my host father, Sandro, about politics, specifically about the immigration policies of Peru and the US.\u00a0 As a result, I already had an idea of their opinions of the US, but wanted to know more.\u00a0 I was a little saddened, but not at all surprised, by the responses of my host family and Mayara.<\/p>\n

Sandro acknowledged that he and his family were in a unique position for forming their views of the US since they had worked so closely with American students over the years.\u00a0 It was nice to hear that his personal experiences with American students contradicted the opinion he developed of the US from the news and public sentiment.\u00a0 However, he was sure to let us know that the majority of his peers, and even our neighbors in the apartment below, did not share his same amiable feelings towards US students coming to study in Peru.\u00a0 Sandro felt that over the past few years, especially during the Trump administration, the US has increasingly adopted a \u201cme first\u201d attitude, as he calls it.\u00a0 He mentioned how he struggles to reconcile the view he has developed of the US as a internally-focused, culturally insensitive country with the curiosity and openness of the students he has worked with.\u00a0 He imagines that this discrepancy is probably attributable to the media presentation of mainstream politics versus the behavior of individuals.<\/p>\n

Sandro cited the ever-increasing population of Venezuelan immigrants in Cusco and the harsh US immigration policies to justify his sentiment regarding the US.\u00a0 He explained that in recent years, there has been a significant influx of Venezuelan immigrants into Cusco who were barred from entering the US.\u00a0 Mayara relayed similar experiences in Brazil with increasing populations of immigrants who were attempting, but unable, to enter the US.\u00a0 She harbored a similar sense of disappointment with the US and its treatment of other countries and peoples.\u00a0 Our conversation repeatedly returned to the issue of immigration and I wondered if this was indicative of the gravity, or the incessant media coverage, of the situation.\u00a0 Regardless, I felt disheartened but lucky, to get the chance to see the effects of our immigration policies on other countries which aren\u2019t on the forefront of current immigration debates.\u00a0 This conversation also made it abundantly clear to me just how influential US immigration policy is on the global stage; something I will be sure not to lose sight of going forward.<\/p>\n

\"\"Gabi answering my questions, using any excuse to avoid her math homework<\/em><\/p>\n

Gabi was another story.\u00a0 When I asked her what she thought of the US, she told me of all the friends she has acquired over time from the US and how she wants to visit New York one day.\u00a0 She also made sure to tell me how hard it would be for her to get all the necessary \u201cpapers and autographs\u201d she needs to be allowed to visit the US; an echo of her father\u2019s frustration with the visa process that I found both endearing and upsetting.\u00a0 It was refreshing to hear her 7-year-old view of the US that was not as riddled with frustration and lacking in hope.\u00a0 I also imagine it helped that I asked her what she thought of the US shortly after explaining to her that Meaghan Markle was the first American to become a princess.\u00a0 The influence of a good real-life princess story shouldn\u2019t be underestimated.<\/p>\n

I feel really lucky that my host family was always so open to discussing some more highly-charged subjects with me.\u00a0 It was not uncommon that Sandro, Mayara, and I would discuss economics, politics, social trends, and public policy after dinner.\u00a0 Initially, this mainly meant that I would listen, try and pick up as much new vocabulary as I could, and chime in when possible.\u00a0 But eventually I got the hang of it and these conversations were some of my favorite moments of my trip.\u00a0 Abuela, the undisputed head of the household, would often sit in on our conversations, but rarely offered up her own opinions and mainly sat silently observing our debates.\u00a0 One night Abuela interjected mid-conversation to ask me how I learned Spanish.\u00a0 I was caught off guard, somewhat nervous that she would follow up with some pointers for me.\u00a0 Instead, Abuela quickly commended the progress I had made and returned to her tea.\u00a0 I can honestly say this was one of the most exciting moments of my trip for me! To be complimented by Abuela, a woman of very few words and even fewer compliments, was extremely encouraging! I knew in this moment that my immersion program really was helping me improve my Spanish skills, even if it wasn\u2019t immediately apparent to me.<\/p>\n

\"\"The most amazing host family<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was really interested to hear more about my host family\u2019s views of America.\u00a0 They were in an interesting position to weigh in, seeing as they had been hosting exchange students for more than 10 years.\u00a0 The majority of these students were from the US, but over the years they also hosted a significant number … Continue reading After Dinner Debates<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3003,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[210747],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peru"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3003"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2711"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3461,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2711\/revisions\/3461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}