Sofia


 * Sofia**

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 * Interview with Sofia**


 * BIOGRAPHICAL/GEOGRAPHICAL NOTE**

Sofia Carcamo Wirthlin was born in Chile on September 6, 1961. Her parents moved when she was 3 months old to Valparaiso, a beautiful city. But as she grew up, the government changed. In 1972, when she was 12 years old, a military coup was formed. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte was president at that time with very strict and harsh rules. She couldn’t talk about the old government for fear of her parents being taken away, tortured, and even killed. She was instructed to never speak on the streets and to go straight back home from school. There was even a curfew at 7 pm of when she had to be home and off the streets. The government relaxed a bit and it even changed with time. As the years went by, she continued to go to school, Lincoln College, by getting on her red color-coded bus to get to her school. In Chile, the buses were color-coded and she could go to any school she wanted as long as she paid for bus fair.

When she was 25 she left Chile and moved to Montreal Canada. But, she left behind her brother and mother. She stayed in Canada for two years, being young and single. She made many friends and spoke French quite well. She met Ralph Wirthlin at a church dance and decided that she wanted to marry him. So she went to get a fiancé visa to America.

When all the paperwork was filled out, in July of 1989 she got on a plane with her belongings and moved to America. She married Ralph Wirthlin and had two children, Andrew and Naomi. Today, she now is trying to get a visa for her mother to come and live in America. If all works out, her mother will come and live with Sofia **. **

** Sofia Carcamo Wirthlin **

Sofia Carcamo Wirthlin is from Chile where she lived for 21 years. She immigrated to Canada and met her husband, Ralph Wirthlin. They both immigrated to America and had two kids, Andrew and Naomi. Today she is working on her mother’s papers to come to America.

 // “Democracy is a beautiful thing, so you must feel very happy and lucky you live in a beautiful country like this with…the liberty you have to move wherever you want and park wherever you want and express your feelings whenever you want and nobody can say, no you cannot say that.” //

By Riana Wirthlin
 * A Time Not To Speak **

I walk home from school quiet and quick. Chile is a dangerous country now. I remember when I was a little child and Augusto Pinochet Ugarte took over Chile and made the military in power. There was a curfew where everyone had to be inside their homes and they couldn’t talk about the government at all. It was very scary. I continued to walk, eventually passing a group of guards. The guards stare at me, but I pretend not to notice. Momma forbade me to talk on the streets when I come home from school. The children behind me are talking a little too loudly about how amazing the government is. A guard walks over and asks them what they are talking about. I walk faster, dying to get behind my safe door. I still hear the tall dark guard asking those questions about their parents. I pray that they will be alright. But my heart knows differently. If I spoke about the government good or bad, Momma might be taken away, tortured or even killed. I shudder at the thought. I soon come upon our blue home and walk inside, careful to close and lock the door behind me. “Momma, momma, some children from school got stopped by a guard for talking.” “Never talk about the government Sofia,” she said. “Yes momma,” I replied. “How was school today?” she asked. “It was good. Today we learned more English and French. Maybe someday I will go to America or Canada!” I ask her if I can go outside. “No child, it is almost curfew! Go get ready for bed.” she said. I march off in my school uniform, pretending to be a guard on duty. I stop turn around and salute at Momma. She laughs and salutes back. I turn and march to my room. Only at home can we play this game.

By Riana Wirthlin
 * Hesitations **

“I’m nervous Momma!” I cried. “Sofia, it is time for you to leave Chile and experience the world. You are 21 years old! You can further your education in Montreal, Canada. Go for me, for me,” she pleaded. “But I don’t want to leave you alone with just Marcello. Who will care for you while Marcello is busy?”I replied. “I am well enough right now and plus, someday I may come live with you in Montreal or maybe even America,” she replied with a twinkle in her eyes. I pace the room, unsure of what to do. I can stay in Chile, or I can go see something new. I decide right there and then. I would go to Montreal. “I will go to Montreal. I already know French from school and I will go and learn more there,” I say. I feel like I am about to faint as I stand and declare that to Momma and Marcello. “Are you alright Sofia?” Marcello asked. “Yes, just a little dizzy,” I replied. “Why don’t you sit down?” Momma asked. “No, I’m going to get packed,” I said. I smile weakly. Is this going to be the last time I see them? I walk to my door and hesitate. Was this really a good idea? I tentatively pushed open my door. “Don’t think, just do,” I tell myself. I grab my suitcase from the top of my closet. It is dusty from no use, with a spider even lurking around in it when I open the top. I pack some clothes, pictures, and other things I will want in Canada. This is going to be some adventure.

By Riana Wirthlin
 * Silly Forms **

“Ralph, I don’t know English very well! I only learned it at school for a couple of years. I want to go to America and see new things, but it’s hard to leave my friends here in Canada. Plus, the papers are so hard to fill out! There are so many of them!” I exclaim. “Sofia, I will help you. I know English better and I can help you fill out the forms,” Ralph said. I turn into the corner, shielding my tears from my fiancé. What will he think of me, crying over forms? Ralph comes over and begins to rub my shoulders. I think about the time when I moved from Chile to Canada. That was two years ago! It seemed like I had only lived in Montreal for a couple of months. I had made new friends, continued my studies and went to dances. The people in Canada were so nice, never being rude to me or refusing to help me. I guess that I was so gregarious that people thought that I was a native Canadian, not an immigrant. Even at dances, I never got to stand around. Then at a church dance, I even met Ralph, my soon to be husband in America! I was now even twenty-five! Who knew that all that could happen in three short years? Ralph brings me back to reality as he says, “It will be all right Sofia. I promise. Let’s go to the table and start filling out those silly forms.” I smile a little and allow him to lead me to the brown rickety table where the forms were strewn about the top. I grab a pencil and sigh. “This better be worth it,” I think as I start on the first form.

//**CREATIVE WRITING PODCAST**//
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This is an interview with Sofia Carcamo Wirthlin. The interview was conducted on January 2, 2011 The interviewer is Riana Wirthlin representing the Dayton Regional STEM School.
 * //INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT// **

Riana: So I’m going to start the interview. And I was wondering if you could spell you first and last name for me, like your maiden name.

Sofia: Ok. My name is Sofia Wirthlin. My middle name is Carcamo. C-A-R-C-A-M-0 which was my father’s name. And that’s it. Sofia Wirthlin.

Riana: So where did you immigrate from?

Sofia: I immigrate from Chile. And to come over to U.S.A I came from Canada. I from Chile went to Canada and Canada here.

Riana: So did you live most of the time in Chile or did you live most of the time in Canada?

Sofia: I lived in Chile for almost all my life. From when I was born until 25.

Riana: So I was wondering where were you born like in what city and what county.

Sofia: Well I was born in a small city called Voncawa but it is not to be my my my home town. My home town is Valparaiso because my parents move to the city when I was 3 months. So Valparaiso is my hometown It’s a huge and beautiful city. It’s a port. We can see all over the Pacific Ocean And it’s very nice and very pretty. And it’s in Chile.

Riana: Could you spell the name of the city so that way I can get it down?

Sofia: Valparaiso?

Riana: Yeah.

Sofia: Ok Valparaiso is spelled: V-A-L-P-A-R-A-I-S-O.

Riana: V-A-L-P-R-A?

Sofia: No P-A-R-A-I-S-O. It’s a yeah it’s a long name but you know you can find Valparaiso here in the United States I think one city, I don’t remember what state it is but it they have a one city called Valparaiso and in north of Florida they have a small town or it’s an area they call it Valparaiso too.

Riana: What was the toughest part of moving to the United States?

Sofia: Excuse me I didn’t hear well.

Riana: What was the toughest part of moving to the United States?

Sofia: Oh! I think to it was the language because when I moved from Chile to Canada I learned French in Montreal so when I have to come over here I have to learn English. It was it was a little bit hard. I took English class in my country Chile and French too, But my my mind wasn’t ready in French so it was a little tough to learn my third language.

Riana: So did you speak French in Chile also?

Sofia: Well we didn’t speak French there but I learned French at the school.

Riana: So what was the journey like to come to America? Was it a bumpy ride or was it more of just boring?

Sofia: Well it’s very interesting(chuckles) I liked the journey I think it was nice I had a fun. I am a mommy so I have to take care of my children. I think it’s a normal life just like any other American woman.

Riana: So what were your emotions and feelings you had on your journey?

Sofia: Well you talking about my vase here in United States. How are my vase here in, my journey?

Riana: Yeah when you traveled from Chile to Canada and then to America. Like on the plane did you feel anxious or nervous about coming or just curious about the new place? Like what your feelings were?

Sofia: I was a little bit, what are different feelings? I was happy, but at the same time I was upset a little bit sad because I live in Montreal for 2 years and a half and I to me it was a wonderful time. I had a wonderful time there so it was a little hard was a little hard. It wasn’t easy to come over here and change my life completely again for me the second time I had to change my country I had to change my language and many things my friends and so it was a little bit sad to leave my life in Montreal.

Riana: So it sounds like you had a lot of fun there.

Sofia: Yeah yeah because at that time I was a single. So I was young, single, I had a lot of fun and and when I come over here I have to change my life. It was a little bit hard but at the same time I was happy and excited because I would marry Ralph and I will start a new life.

Riana: So did you bring a lot of things with you from Chile and Canada?

Sofia: Not too many. Only my personal stuff, my clothes, pictures and some of the stuff from my kitchen. But not too many, not too many, not really.

Riana: So it sounds like Andrew and Naomi were born in the United States, am I correct?

Sofia: Yes, they both born in Virginia.

Riana: So what was the hardest part about the process of coming to America like the forms and different papers?

Sofia: Well I think the worst was to start to fill out all those boring papers. Go to the doctor, do all those stuff, we have to fill out the papers and well it’s not very funny, but take time and stay and wait for answers and this part is not funny, but it’s okay, it’s not bad.

Riana: So I know there is a test you also probably had to take was that, were some of the questions really challenging or more of just like “why are they asking me these sorts of questions?” ?

Sofia: Hmm. I don’t understand very well your question.

Riana: Was the test that you had to take very hard to take or was it easy, how did you feel taking the test.

Sofia: About this test?

Riana: About, there’s like an immigration test.

Sofia: Oh immigration. Well we weren’t supposed to have an immigration test. It’s to to fill out the papers about my name, address, where I come from, but you know also they need to everything about, they want to know where we come from, where we born, we have to stand you know the papers we are legal here in United States and many details. When I was in Montreal I have to go to the embassy and ask for a visa. I come, I came from to I come over here with a fiancé visa and so it wasn’t very hard to do that. Many times we had to wait a couple months or something like that.

Riana: So did you, were you, are you glad that you came here to America or would you’ve rather stayed in Chile or Montreal?

Sofia: No. I’m I like it here I happy here. I feel very happy and this is my my country now. My family is here, my husband my children and very soon my mommy will come over to live with me. So no, no, no I feel happy I’m I’m fine. I don’t need my country like you know maybe many years ago I’m very easy going so I happy here. Very happy.

Riana: So were you ever treated poorly because you were an immigrant when you were going through the process of coming to America?

Sofia: No really. No really. I hear many histories from other people. They have problems. But not me. It’s very interesting because I never was treated poorly or I never have been looken (looked at) weird or something like that. I don’t know. I’m very friendly so I think of the people can realize, I am a normal person. I never have any problem with anybody. I’m here in United States 21 years already. I believe I have a good time and never have a problem.

Riana: I’m glad.

Sofia: I am glad too because I know…know everybody [doesn’t] have the same luck like me. Many other people sometimes they complain, because they have problems with American people – the other people. But not me.

Riana: Obviously you had some family members back at home. Did you have any siblings?

Sofia: Yes. I have one sibling. He’s my brother Marcello. He is from Chile.

Riana: Is he…does he still live in Chile or does he live somewhere else now?

Sofia: No, he’s still in Chile with my Mom.

Riana: And you said that your Mom is coming back – she going to move to America.

Sofia: This is what I want. Right now we are working on her paper so she can…because sometime in the past she came to the United States with a visa – but now I’m looking for her to come over here like an immigrant. Like a resident. Like tourist.

Riana: Was she supportive of you leaving when you were younger? Or was she not wanting you to go?

Sofia: What was my life when I was young?

Riana: Did your Mom want you to go to Canada and then come to America or did she want you to just stay in Chile?

Sofia: My Mom…she gave a good push to go into Canada. I wasn’t sure if I wanna go because I don’t want to leave her alone with my brother, but finally, she say, “Go, go to Canada. I know you will be fine there. And you can have a better life than here.” So she gave me a lot of support. So finally, I decided to do that. So I flew to Canada without my family but with their support.

Riana: Was the trip to Canada very long?

Sofia: Yes. It was. It was a very long trip…very long trip. First of all, I leave Santiago, Chile to take another plane in Argentina in Buenos Aries. And after we landed in Brazil. From Brazil, we went to New York. From New York to Montreal, Canada. It was a long way.

Riana: That would be a really long way.

Sofia: Oh yes, it is. It took me over one day because we have to stop in different places.

Riana: Could you describe a day that you had in Chile?

Sofia: Well, a typical day in Chile would depend on what time of the year. You want a list? Like student…we have to wake up early, just like here in United States and we have to go to the school. It’s different than here because you are on a school bus, but in Chile you don’t have a school bus. You have to take a regular bus there and you have to pay to take the bus there. It’s not here. You guys here are very spoiled, believe me, you have many thing we don’t have in Chile or in other countries. Finally, we have to take the bus…another thing we can go to any school that we want. For example, if you want to go to a school in the other side of the city, I can do it. Here you are going from the school you have to go a school close to your house. But in Chile no, in Chile no, you can go any school that you want and you can do whatever you want with your education. This is something there. You can go to a private school or the government school but you can decide the school go. But we have to pay for our own transportation. And after, after the school, we can go to eat, sometimes you have to return to the school, but then you have more classes. Watch TV, visit friends. For the weekend, because we live close to the beach and we can go to see friends or we can go to the beach or go to the countryside and…we have a life very similar than here. Because it is a small country we don’t have, they don’t take too long to go from one place to another place and the transportation there is so different than here. Here is very hard, you have to wait one hour for transport, for a busses. There not. In Chile you have a lot busses. They have different colors so they…we know where the bus is going just for the color. And of course they have something in the front so you can read where you are going, but we know. It’s very close. Because we go any place and we can loan…we don’t have a car, we can anyways to reach other places, because in Chile not everybody have a car where at that moment in 2011 the life is different there. The people have more and more able to have cars, but in my times now, in my times were way back.

Riana: That’s really cool how the busses were color-coded.

Sofia: Yeah, for example, the green one, they were from my area. The red one they went to another area of the city and they have different colors. It’s very nice, and very interested. But what I like more is you don’t have to wait. They are running many, many busses, so if you miss one, you don’t have to wait one hour or two hours for the next one. You can wait only minutes for the next bus.

Riana: That’s nice.

Sofia: Yes, it is. It is. Here it’s not like that. If you don’t have a car, wow, it’s very hard. But not in Chile.

Riana: Just a couple of more questions. I was wondering is the government similar from in America in Chile or are they totally different? What do you know?

Sofia: Of the government. Well, it’s a little different. But we have a president, just like here. The people are going there to vote, just like here too. It’s democrat country. The people can decide what president they want. It’s just like United States. I grow up in a different situation. When I was 12, we have a military government. Pinochet was the military who the power of the country. Almost all of my childhood and my teenage years, when I was an adult, Pinochet was there, so we don’t have too much liberty like the people have here. We were controlled for the military. So it wasn’t fun. It’s not what the people want to live. This is not really nice to live in a country with a military control the country. Democracy is a beautiful thing, so you must feel very happy and lucky you live in a beautiful country like this with…the liberty you have to move wherever you want and park wherever you want and express your feelings whenever you want and nobody can say “no you cannot say that.” Nobody can so, “oh no no no, it’s dangerous you talking this way about the government, you can go to jail.” In this way, I wasn’t very pleased to live in Chile because we don’t have these kind of liberty, but finally Pinochet was there for 17 years. He stay in the government for 17 years and finally, my country have again democracy. I don’t understand very well about that but this is maybe your teacher can help you understand a little of what happened when a country have a military coup.

Riana: That’s a lot similar to what some countries are happening right now, like in Africa, in some of the countries in Africa.

Sofia: Exactly. Or for example Cuba. They have the same president for the last 40 or 45 years. It’s been many many years. And this is not right. Not right. Believe me. Right now, we have a good country again. For many years we have different presidents, so this is something nice. Chile have again democracy and the people can decide whatever they want to do.

Riana: It sounds like you lived close to an ocean. Did you live - I’m sorry, I forget the ocean – the Pacific Ocean.

Sofia: The Pacific. Yeah, the Pacific Ocean.

Riana: So did you basically have the beach in your backyard, or did you have to walk a while?

Sofia: Valparaiso, the place where I growing, it’s a huge city. So anyplace you are in Valparaiso you can see the Pacific Ocean. And it’s very nice and it’s very pretty. Valparaiso is huge city but it’s not flat. It have a hill. Valparaiso have 42 hills. And it is so big. And the houses, I will send you a picture so you can see how Valparaiso so you can understand more what I talking about right now. You can see the city. The city and all the whole ocean it looks so pretty and especially at night, the hills are all illuminated. It’s very nice. We don’t have the ocean next to our houses, but we can go to see the ocean anytime – anytime during the day.

Riana: Did you have a religion in Chile? I know you do now, but did you have one in Chile or in Canada?

Sofia: No. When I was born, I was Catholic. And after when I was 16 years old, I changed my religion and after – you know I’m LDS for all those years, from 16, when I was 16 so far.

Riana: I just have one more question for you. I know you said that you were in Montreal, what was your favorite part about the two countries?

Sofia: About Montreal? Or about Canada?

Riana: About Montreal? I’m sorry.

Sofia: My favorite thing was, I think of the people. The people are very nice there. I really enjoyed my time in Montreal. I was…I feel happy there and is very interested place. The people like good music. They high culture. It’s very culturated country, Canada. In Montreal, they have a lot of French culture. Was very interesting to me. I really enjoy that. And I learn a lot about another … about Canada and the French culture. At the same time I really enjoy the people. The people in Montreal are very nice. Of course, sometimes some people are not very nice, especially if you don’t speak French. They really like you when they speak French. After, when you are learned the language, the people are very kind, very nice.

Riana: Have you gone back to Chile and visited your mom and your brother or have you just stayed in America?

Sofia: I have stayed here and never have returned to my country. But we are thinking to do that. We don’t know exactly when, when we are thinking, now Andrew and Naomi, my children, are big enough, are almost adults. Andrew will be an adult this year, 2011. We’re thinking to plan a trip to Chile. Chile is a long country, very long. It’s skinny. But we are thinking to see some places so Ralph and Naomi can know more about Chile and because the north is very very pretty. I used to live in almost in the middle of the country. The south is beautiful. It’s very green, beautiful white mountains. Chile’s a very beautiful country. It’s very very nice, very beautiful. And the south is very cold in wintertime. So we are thinking to go in summer. There, right now, it’s summer in Chile, so probably our next trip 1 or 2 or 3 years, I don’t know yet. We’ll have to plan and find out because it’s a long trip and it’s very expensive. The plane tickets are expensive. We will see.

Riana: Thank you so much for letting me interview you about your immigration to America.

Sofia: Thank you, thank you. I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to talk with you and your teacher and your classmates about Chile. I hope they understand my accent. I know I cannot speak very well, not fluently, but I…to me it’s very interest to speak and talk about Chile. I will send you pictures and some other things I have here in my computer about Valparaiso so you can see for yourself about my city and about my country and I know you will like it. And maybe one day you can go there with me.

Riana: I would love to.

Sofia: Yeah. We will. We have a lot of immigrants in Chile. A lot of people from Germany. French. France. What else? England. From the first and second war, the people immigrate from Europe to South America to escape from the war. It’s hard, the war. So the people immigrate, so we have a lot of immigration. People from Italy. So this is why we have…we are very different, but at the same time, finally we are only one country, just like here. This country, they have people around the world, and finally we are only one country, one nation, and we are all American. So it the same in Chile, the people that immigrate there, especially from Europe. This is why in Chile we have many different roots, when we look in our genealogy and we look at our ancestors we can find a surprise sometimes with how many people from Europe we have in our line. But I feel so happy for this interview. Thank you Riana. You are a wonderful girl. I feel so happy to help you with your homework.

Riana: Thank you so much. I will make sure that I will call you with the results of my project.

Sofia: Yes, because I hope you have an A plus.

Riana: Is it all right if I call you if I have any more questions?

Sofia: No problem.

Riana: OK. Thank you so much.

Sofia: OK. Bye.

Riana: Bye.

**//ANALYSIS//**

In class we learned about immigrant experiences. Many had a hard time, being discriminated, or trying to learn English. We learned how they were on ships that were very crowded and how the trips were so long and that every one got sick because of the living conditions. We learned about the Irish immigrants how they were posed as evil and wanting to kill American children and to fill their heads with evil thoughts, new religious thoughts. There were cartoons that posed the Irish as drunks and horrible people. In reality, they really weren’t like that. They were discriminated and treated unfairly just because they were an immigrant. Even though the Irish had a bad trip with sickness spreading, Sofia Wirthlin had a totally different experience. She just had a long journey. “Sofia: Yes. It was. It was a very long trip…very long trip. First of all, I leave Santiago, Chile to take another plane in Argentina in Buenos Aries. And after we landed in Brazil. From Brazil, we went to New York.” She was never treated poorly or discriminated. ”No really. No really. I hear many histories from other people. They have problems. But not me. It’s very interesting because I never was treated poorly or I never have been looken (looked at) weird or something like that.” She acted very friendly and I’m sure many people thought, “She is an immigrant, but she is not bad.” Even Sofia said herself that “I’m very friendly so I think of the people can realize, I am a normal person. I never have any problem with anybody. I’m here in United States 21 years already. I believe I have a good time and never have a problem.” In conclusion, even though other immigrants had a horrible time getting to America, Sofia Carcamo Wirthlin did not. She never has encountered any problems with being treated poorly and probably never will.