“I like Arlington a lot,” Matthew says. “There
is so much to do in such a small place. I grew up in Cherrydale but Natalia and
I decided to live near The Pike because you don't really need a car. The Pike
is like an old trading route. Everything you need is here. And Cherrydale has
changed a lot since I was younger. Now its all massive houses nobody buys.”
“I compare everything to Bridgewater, VA,”
Natalia says. “It’s where I went to school and so I love the diversity here on
The Pike. There I was easily identifiable---there were no immigrants there,
leave alone undocumented ones. Here I feel comfortable. Here we have a support
group for Dream Scholars who have graduated. And it’s not just for Dreamers but
for all immigrants who want to share their stories. I really missed that in
Bridgewater.”
“Our son Carmelo is growing up around
diversity,” Matthew says. “Before Natalia got pregnant we planned to move to
Annandale---cheap houses, ethnic food, but higher crime. Cherrydale is quaint
and very wealthy---but I remember from my high-school days someone did get
stabbed. My mom was scared for a long time. Hasn’t been any incidents of violence
here but today a neighbor’s car got broken into.”
“When I was pregnant and we went looking for
a place everything was super expensive so we settled on this location. The DHS [
Department of Human Services] was nearby for prenatal care. I was avoiding
getting help for a lot of stuff, but this was very good. Matthew is learning to
drive and I don’t so this is like a super highway. I can walk to Giant and
Penrose Park and the library is right here. And the farmer’s market. And the Penrose
Square fountains—Carmelo loves that!”
Natalia adds, “A funny thing I noticed there
are a lot of fruit trees here -cherry trees, peaches, pears, apples and fig.
People have beautiful gardens, especially people from Bangladesh, like my
friend. Crazy amazing gardens!”
“When I go up to New York I miss the trees,”
Matthew says.
“And there are so many kids here!” Natalia
smiles. “I’ve lived on the Pike all my life. “
“I’m not sure of pre-schools, but I hope
Carmelo can go to the one I went to in Clarendon,” Matthew says. “My work
doesn’t pay very well right now but I’m really hoping this one I applied for
works out.”
“I’m going back to school,” Natalia says. “I
work part-time at the Target and that preschool has scholarships for low-income
families.”
“One annoying thing about Arlington is job
availability. We make just enough but are hoping to make more.”
“We met in high-school, freshman year. But
we didn’t talk…”
“Despite me trying,” Matthew smiles.
“I thought he hated me. I hadn’t figured out
how to shave my legs,” Natalia laughs. “I was super conscious. We met at a swim
thing.”
“Our friends group met at a cafeteria. We
were friends but dating others. Eventually we started talking more,” Matthew
remembers.
“But Matthew had cats so that was a plus. We
started dating in the last month of senior year.” Natalia explains.
Matthew remembers college. “I dropped out of
MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore), and I want to finish, but
not right now. I’m getting my certification for being a personal trainer.
Another big thing - I want to start doing my martial art again, but we have no
money now. It will have to wait till when I have a better job. I love martial
arts from Asia. It’s great when you can trace the lineage of your teacher.”
“I was very out there as a kid and there
were many mean kids,” Natalia remembers. “My sister had just started treatment
for mental health issues—she wore dark clothes and isolated herself—and they
would bully her. Maybe they knew we were poor. But I know I want to put Carmelo
in a Tae Kwan Do school ASAP.”
“I was bullied in elementary school a lot,”
Matthew adds. “I was weird; funny looking and with buck teeth. But then I stood
up for myself and that stopped.”
“But there is a problem if you do that too,”
Natalia says.
“Yeah - its zero tolerance.” Matthew adds.
“But if Carmelo does that I won’t mind. And
I’m not worried about school shootings.” Natalia says.
“We were friendly with our school resource
officer at W and L,” Matthew says. “He is armed with a gun and taser. He is
very nice. I was very friendly with them all. He was part of Arlington Police.
My mom felt I was safe at Science Focus then.”
Natalia says, “I want Carmelo to go to W-L
as they have IB. But Wakefield has more AP.”
“And they are changing the name of W-L,”
Matthew points out.
“Yeah, I’m excited for that,” Natalia says.
“We both are.”
“Lee was a great general and historians say
he didn't want to fight for the Confederacy but had loyalty. And Washington
wasn’t such a great person…” Matthew says.
“And I was confused because they weren’t at
the same time periods but we have both names and colors.”
“The school has a strong ROTC and it’s two
of our greatest generals in history…”
“I don't think we should have war themes in school
at all,” Natalia says. “When I was in Falls Church our mascot was a mustang - so
wild and free! And in W and L it's a white guy - The General. But then I’m
undocumented so I can’t fight in a war anyway.”
“Washington fought adopting Native American
warfare and that changed how the English fought. I’m fascinated by strategies.
Guerilla style worked with our terrain. And Washington learned this fighting
the French and Indian War.”
“Speaking of war,” Natalia says, feeding
Carmelo the delicious cake she had baked that morning, “I have met a lot of
military kids and a trend I have noticed is they are extremely patriotic. They
cling to their parents sacrifice and I get that, but school should not be like
that - like when I told them I was undocumented. Anything named after war sets
you up for not being able to see that.”
“My dad was on the wrestling team,” Matthew
remembers, “and so he was drafted for Vietnam. But he was a pacifist. And he
was in the Marines. We all know it was heavily protested and not a very popular
war, as war should be. My grandfather on my mom’s side was in the Navy as were
all his brothers. All five were in WWII. One was at Iwo Jima. But I
deliberately stayed out of that. I support and honor those who join the
military, but we can disagree on things too.”
Natalia navigates Carmelo’s toys and playpen
and puts the bowl with cake crumbs on the table. “When I first came here from
Bolivia the apartment we stayed in had bugs. We took out our toys and roaches
came out! We moved from place to place – we came to a church in Falls Church
and I started pre-school at Carlin Springs in Arlington. I was five and didn’t
speak any English and it was very stressful. We had one translator. But I
learned quick and was translating for new kids. We lived on The Pike; bounced
around from apartments to duplexes in the Pike area.”
“When I was in elementary school I remember
it was Mongolia that many people were coming from. Half the kids in my school
were from Mongolia,” Matthew says.
“We hope to move out of this apartment when
we have better jobs, but we plan to stay on the Pike.”
“I love this area,” Natalia says. “There is
so much to do here.”
“I love big houses,” Matthew says.
“My parents clean houses so I don't like big
houses,” Natalia laughs.
“My cousins all have boats,” Matthew laughs.
“It’s my measure of success.”
“I don't like boats,” Natalia laughs too.
“They are really expensive and cost as much as a house!”
After this interview was conducted, Natalia
received her green card, and now has legal status. As Natalia says, “There are
so many undocumented immigrants I have met in South Arlington, I think this
will give us the visibility we need and people will know that we are part of
this community for years.”
Interview by Sushmita Mazumdar of Studio Pause. Photography by Lloyd Wolf.
No comments:
Post a Comment