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Tales of a Recent Immigrant
Juan Guillermo Tornoé created Hispanic Trending, a Latino marketing and advertising blog. He also heads El Mago de la Publicidad, the Hispanic division of Wizard of Ads, a marketing and advertising consulting firm.
February 01, 2005
By Juan Guillermo Tornoe
I'm a 30-something-year-old guy born and raised in Guatemala, transplanted to the United States just a couple of years ago. I was lucky enough to begin learning English during preschool. I've been watching American programming on cable TV since my early teens, have listened to music in English for all my life, and even though I love and crave traditional Guatemalan food, I've been going to McDonald's ever since I can remember.
Many foreign-born Hispanics are very well acquainted with many aspects of American culture, especially those portrayed in the media, and selectively choose to adopt them.
Still, the early "American" experience of many first-generation Latinos catches them off guard and takes an emotional and physical toll, affecting not only them but their loved ones. It is hard to leave everything behind just to find out that not everything is peaches and cream. Don't get me wrong. I truly believe this is the land of opportunity, and that it offers many wonderful things, but there is definitely a price to pay.
Many things that for Americans seem like no big deal, for new immigrants are certainly overwhelming and can wear on your patience and composure.
Did you have good or bad credit back home? It's irrelevant for credit card companies, banks, car dealers and Realtors. You must start from scratch. Simple things like getting the basic utilities can be nightmarish experiences, not to mention health care (a real shocker), insurance, school system, taxes, Social Security, Medicare and so many other things.
Even if you have a decent knowledge of the English language, you find yourself desperately "fishing" for the correct terms to use while engaging in everyday conversations. Then you must deal with a lack of warmness, a "touchy-feelyness," if I may, from the new culture that surrounds you. It's not good or bad, it is just different. Within Latin American cultures, you basically go a couple layers deeper in intimacy, familiarity and appreciation at every level of human interaction. It doesn't take long before you begin longing for all this, which you may have previously taken for granted. Besides the nostalgia, there is a new sense of pride that arises from within. It did not take me too long after moving to the United States, and being away from all that was familiar, to develop more pride than I had ever had for my Latin American heritage.
There are countless new situations one faces after establishing a new life in America: new people, new realities. Many are great, others a challenge. It takes time to get acquainted with them, but it's quite an interesting experience.
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