Lily

=Lily=

media type="custom" key="8164132"

Interview with Lily

Geography/Biography
The Dominican Republic’s total area is 48,670 square kilometers. The climate is tropical marine and they do not have snow. The major natural problem is the Dominican Republic is in the middle of the hurricane belt and is subjected to hurricanes from June to October. The Dominican Republic shares an island with Haiti.

The Dominican Republic is a poor country because of the population outnumbering the natural resources, it is in the middle of the hurricane belt, and it used to belong to Haiti. The communities are closer together th an the U.S. like Lily points out, “In neighborhoods where you live, it’s more like community life, you know your neighbors, you talk to them, it’s like a family too. Here in the United States, it’s more private and everything, you have to be very careful for various reasons.”

Lily was born in 1976 and came to America when she was 28. She moved here with her fiancé, Trent, and they got married here. She has two kids, both boys. She moved here in May 9, 2004. She saw snow for the first time that year, ” The first time I saw snow later that year I was amazed. I went outside to touch it to see what it felt like. Later that winter, there was a snowstorm that really impressed me. I had never seen or experienced anything like that in my life. I made sure to take many photos to send to my family. The cold also amazed me. Usually the coldest it gets in the Dominican Republic is around 70F, which is considered cold there because there is always a breeze on the island. I found it hard to believe that it could actually be much colder than a freezer, cold enough to freeze solid a bottle of water left in our car. It's hard to explain that kind of cold to someone who has never experienced it and it was worse than what people had told me. I had to buy a lot of winter clothes that year because I never had the need for any in the Dominican Republic."

=Creative Writing Piece= ** Moving On ** //by Aerin Cornn//

Marriage means goodbye Goodbye for all my family Goodbye to me.

There shall be two This is the first marriage In my home country

I wear the dress But sign no papers I will still be my own But joined.

We will sign In his land, America

** A New Life ** //by Aerin Cornn//

I see my children and I smile, I see my life that I left behind To start a new one

I love all my family Old and New I miss some and live with others

I miss the food I like the new food and the food we created

I miss my old life But I love my new.

=Transcript=  This is an interview with Lily Owens. The interview was conducted on December 21, 2010. The interviewer is Aerin Cornn representing the Dayton Regional STEM School.   Aerin: So, what brought you to the U.S.?   Trent: What brought you to the United States?   Lily: We met in the Dominican Republic. He went to a mission retreat. We fell in love and later, and that’s the way we came. We got married and I came here and we start a family.   Aerin: Did you get married in the U.S?   Lily: Yes, I got married in the United States.   Trent: Well, kind of explain how we had two   Lily: Yeah because he asked, the way, he request a fiancé visa, so that way I come here legally, single but in my country [Dominican Republic] we had religions, like a Christian church, we got married but not for papers.  <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Trent: We had the whole wedding in the Dominican Republic, like the tuxedo and the dress but by law- <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: Nothing legally <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Trent: But by law since she was coming in as a fiancé, we had to legally be married in the United States. The legal wedding happened here. <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Aerin: What port of entry did you come into? <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: New Jersey, New Jersey to Dayton <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Aerin: Did you come with any family? <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: No, just my husband <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Aerin: What’s life like in the Dominican Republic? <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: What do you mean by that? What’s different? <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Aerin: What’s different to the U.S <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: It’s a whole different world because the Dominican Republic is a country that belonged to the third world. So, we are way behind from the United States and life is a whole different up here, a sample here is you get sixteen, you get your licensee, and you got to drive. In the Dominican Republic, you ask most women, I came here with a 28 years old, I didn’t know how to drive. It a whole different because we use public transportation and if there’s not a car in the family, you don’t know how to drive and stuff like that and many other things. It’s a poor country and you don’t make as much money as here in the United States. In neighborhoods where you live, it’s more like community life, you know your neighbors, you talk to them, it’s like a family too. Here in the United States, it’s more private and everything’s, you have to be very careful for various reasons. There a lot of things very different in the Dominican Republic <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Aerin: You said it was a broke country, how were the schools like in the Dominican Republic? <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: I was private all my life in the Dominican Republic because public school is really bad, most public schools you don’t get well educated and most parents are going to do a very big effort to fixing up a private education. <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Paul: Most of the private schools are catholic? <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: Most of them but there are Christians too, but most of them are Catholic. <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Aerin: How was the transition into the U.S.? Did you have any struggles when you first came here? <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: Many, many things, especially the language was very, a huge problem because even I took English classes before I came here in the Dominican Republic. We could communicate kinda fine but when I got here and people start talking to me. It was really hard for me to understand them because for my English, it was too fast and people thought I was understanding everything. I was trying to translate everything that people told me in to Spanish in my mind and that made me very mentally tired. It took a couple years to really feel more comfortable with it. <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Trent: I found the same thing in Spanish because most Americans say that these forigners speak so fast. It’s not really that they speak fast but we are understanding it slowly. <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: It was a really big frustration. In the country, I thought I spoke English but no and I basically had to start at zero. It was a really big problem. <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Trent: She learned the Queen’s English and some terms Americans would find offense. She learned really quick though. <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Aerin: You said there was a language barrier, how hard was that? <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: It was hard, it took me two years to understand 89%- 90% what people were saying. <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Aerin: Do miss anything from home? <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: Yes, I miss my family a lot, I miss the food and I miss the community, environment but I still miss that but this is my home now. <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Aerin: What’s your favorite food from home? <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: Back home my favorite food is the fish that you can’t find in the United States. Something we call tosades. It was made from bannanas.. <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Aerin: What’s your favorite American food? <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Lily: Pizza <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Aerin: Thank you for your time, I have no more questions.

===<span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;"> Analysis: === <span style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">Immigrants come to America for many reasons. Many have sought refuge from the troubles of their home country. Lily Owens came here with her fiancé Trent Owens, already an American citizen, and got married here. Lily did not come here because of civil conflict but out of love. Unlike many immigrants she did not feel pressure from home to send money. Although she came from a poorer nation her family had good jobs and did not need help from her. Like many, Lily had trouble with the language but learned quickly. Some immigrants came here with loved ones but interviewing one is a whole different story.