One of the things you don’t know when you migrate is that you will have to face your own fears and complexes. One of the phrases that I have repeated to myself the most in the last 6 years is: « I didn’t know I could do this » or its variant « I never thought I would be able to do the other ».
And it is that when you emigrate and start from scratch you lose everything. You lose status and connections. You are like a child who has to learn everything again, things like winter boots must have a thick sole, or that coats are much better if they have a hood. You learn to dress, eat, buy, hug or not hug, speak, be quiet … and you also lose what I call « belonging ». Membership is that social fabric that tells us who we are, what place we occupy and what we can aspire to. People don’t know what to expect from you, some wait for a semi-wild with loincloths, others, at best, expect nothing.
From my point of view this is perfect. It is the perfect opportunity to become an ambassador for Guatemalans / Latinos who will come later. I want the memory that my bosses, colleagues and students have of me to be so good, that if in the future they know another Guatemalan they give him a chance as they gave it to me. I want you to think « I once met a Guatemalan. Guatemalans are good people, workers, professionals, and well-prepared ». I have a chance to make a good first impression, I hope I get it right. (That’s for me to be a good Guatemalan / Latin, my mixed accent is just an anecdote, the tangible proof of my road map.).
¿And the tamales? Somehow I have received from my culture the input that … domestic activities are not my thing, especially cooking. Making knives, plump or mole is proof that I can do more than my people think I can do. This is something I would never have done in Guatemala, why cook if I can buy it, but German philosophy is totally opposite, why do you buy it if you can do it yourself? And there is the detail young people, I have always believed that I could not. But living abroad has shown me that I am not just what my culture says I am. If the pale-faced natives can, I can too, and without 100% belonging to this society. ¿My super power? I am an emigrant.
