3-Context+of+Home+&+Family

Their small shotgun style house is situated alongside a large drainage ditch that runs down through this neighborhood from atop Iroquois Park. Within the past year the Metropolitan Sewer District has completed a project to strengthen and naturalize this ditch to improve drainage and prevent flooding along its borders. With this renovation came a widening of the ditch as well as large slabs of creek rock stacked along both sides to help maintain its form over the years.

The backyard of their home is very long in length, but average in width similar to the shape of their home, long and narrow. As we approached the rear of the home, rose bushes lined the side of the driveway adjacent to the house. Looking back toward the garage I noticed a couple of cars that appeared to be inoperable and some tools scattered about. Behind their house sat a couple of old appliances with bags of aluminum cans on top. Small seedling trays were visible atop a picnic table and a couple of goats were perched upon a mound of chopped firewood. Yes, I clearly meant to write goats. As Bill quickly explained, they were used as lawnmowers and milk production. He regrettably informed me that previously there had been three, but after their puppy got a hold of one and injured him, the male goat then finished him off with his horns.



Throughout the tour, their large 4 month old German Shepherd puppy continued to follow us and at times lead us through the yard. Curiously, their puppy was called by two different names, Chincita or Nina, depending on which family member was calling for her. When I asked why they chose two names, Bill told me that the girls like to call her Nina which means “girl” while he preferred Chincita which after a moment of thought he decided the name translated from a type of simple flat doll, similar to the ones he knew as a child that clothes could be interchanged upon, much like a paper doll I concluded.



Bill and Chincita showed us their 2 chickens, 1 rooster and many bunnies housed in their large pen along the garage where the goats were also locked up at night. As we went further back into the yard the rabbit hutch was pointed out and determined to be a source of food to the family as well as fertilizer for the garden. Making our way back to the garden past the kids’ trampoline and play set, I noticed a set of tubing and a large, blue rain barrel with a syphon. Bill proudly informed me that he uses the water from the drainage ditch to water his crops by syphoning it up into the barrel then out unto his crops that had previously be fertilized by the rabbit waste. According to him, this has been a big money saver and helped him build a relationship with his girls because they not only have additional pets, but also help their father grow crops as well.

As we made our way back to the house, Bill explained how the firewood was used to fuel their new wood burning stove he installed in their home this winter and how the goats’ milk was used in many recipes the family used. The chickens were a good source for eggs and meat although they had been working to improve their stock since a loose dog had destroyed many of their live chickens recently by scaring them so badly. While I talked to Bill about his property and how he lived off of it to the extent he does, the conversation naturally progressed back to his childhood because he had done so many of the same things then. He told me of his mother, a school teacher for over 44 years, and his father a lawyer in Cuba with a very young wife now that had been his legal assistant for a long time. For his family, education had always been valued and success following an education was expected. Around the age of thirty he and his sister began to discuss moving to the U.S. and his father was quick to suggest Louisville, Kentucky having visited here once in the past to see the Kentucky Derby. Based on his father’s recollection of rich ethnic culture and the possibility of many jobs especially near the track, his sister chose Louisville when they both came over on a boat. Bill, on the other hand, decided on Connecticut to be with a cousin that had previously immigrated. After only a year in Connecticut, Bill decided it was lonely without many Spanish speaking people in that community so he headed down to Florida in search of "Little Havana". Following a few years there he finally made the move to Louisville, Kentucky to be with his sister and settle down after meeting Christina here in Louisville.

My conversation with Bill dwindled as we entered their home as I began speaking directly to Christina and Bill’s sister. They had been cooking and baking from a recipe box and had many dishes being prepared at once. As I watched them cook, we exchanged lots of information. They spoke of their lives in Cuba and coming to America while I shared my desires for teaching and aspiration for learning about different cultures as a student.

Christina spoke of her family, growing up with two sisters and a mother with little education. That is until Castro helped the country out with reform especially with education. According to Christina, if not for Castro, her mother would not have been allowed to get any type of education because of her age. Under his rule, she was granted up to a six grade education which had opened many new doors for her economically. The conversation seemed to get louder at this point as they began to boost the effects of Castro’s decisions; Bill even called him the “Robin Hood of Cuba”. As for her and her sisters, she told me they studied English in middle school, high school and college adding that being bi-lingual was very important in Cuba and it didn’t really matter what additional language you chose, it just had to be one.

As the topic shifted toward the children, Caroline age 20, Stephanie age 13 and Julietta age 8, the conversation became very interesting. When asked about language acquisition, it seemed to vary more with each child. Beginning with Caroline at age 6, she had entered America primarily knowing Spanish, but had to adjust by learning English for school and the rest of society. When Stephanie was born, the family had already been in the country for a couple of years and she was being exposed to both Spanish and English from birth so her language acquisition was more blended. As her mother explained, “when she was born, the nurses at the hospital already talk English to her, how could she not learn?” By the time Julietta came along, the family had already been in the states for over six years and she was being spoken to in both languages and grew up in American schools just as Stephanie, so her English skills were very prominent. Her dad said she even tells him he talks “funny English”. In fact both of the younger girls are stronger in English skills than Spanish skills according to their parents. Unfortunately, Stephanie is not able to read in Spanish, but is a fluent speaker of both. While Julietta is fluent in both, she can read Spanish and she can read/write very well in English. In addition, she's recently learned how to write in Spanish too. During the interview, her mother pointed out once again the family really had no choice in the language used or spoken to their children because from the first moments of birth, all through school and in American society they were hearing both English and Spanish. She explained, as each year in America passed they became more and more blended into the English speaking culture by saying, doing and eating more American every day no matter if they were at work or home they could not, nor did they choose to isolate themselves from this culture.