Julia: Um so I guess can you tell me a little bit more about your background in relation to um to your position as a representative.

Jason: Yep.

Julia: In East Hartford and Manchester and kind of how you obtained that position and all of that.

Jason: Got it yeah sooo I’ve been in the legislature now five terms this is my tenth year. Umm I was elected in 08 in the Obama big year. And it was the third office I had held. So I started office in 2003 running for the board of education in East Hartford, where I grew up. Then I moved over to the town council and after the town council seat opened up and I ran for it and here we are today where I’m a legislature. I’m chairman of the finance, revenue and bonding committee and I also serve on the planning and development committee which deals largely with municipal issues.

Julia: Good, thank you. Ummm so I guess another thing I was kind of reading your bio beforehand and it said you were a Board Director of the Southside Neighborhoods Alliance and then like a member for the board of trustees for the Boys and Girls Club umm soo.

Jason: And most of that is done through my work here at Trinity.

Julia: Oh really?

Jason: Yeah so I switched over to those boards because of my job here at the college. Yeah.

Julia: Can you tell me a little bit more about those institutions and kind of how they help the community in Hartford?

Jason: Yeah so SINA which is the Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance it’s actually a partnership between Trinity, Hartford Hospital and Connecticut Children’s Medical center. It’s been around for almost forty years now. And we mostly do housing redevelopment here in the neighborhood around Trinity. So we go out and we buy properties or get control of properties, get public funds, rehab the buildings and put them back on the tax roll and try to provide home ownership opportunities for low-income and moderate-income families here in the neighborhood. So School and Colonial Street, right across the street those are the houses or new houses that we did. Essentially, so that’s the primary focus of SINA. Obviously, the Boys and Girls Club is the Boys and Girls Club. And we have one here on our campus that Trinity College owns.

Julia: Umm yeah and I guess you kind of mentioned this um beforehand but some of your policy interests they include finance or municipal cooperation and education. So what initiatives have you taken in sort of your constituencies related to these issues.

Jason: Yeah so you mean finance is obviously is taxation right and taxation makes the world go round or doesn’t yeah so I’m always trying to see how we can improve our tax systems to try to encourage economic growth, but also provide an equitable way to raise money or revenue to fund services for government. And then municipal cooperation is something… are you from Connecticut?

Julia: Umm I’m actually from Massachusetts.

Jason: Oh okay, well here in New England you know only in New England do we operate the local government at the micro-level. Every town has its own department- own fire department, own police department- whereas around the rest of the country people do things on a regional level. Or have county governments. I’m always trying to incentivize communities to work together to try and save money.

Julia: Great yeah umm okay so I guess you mentioned this in your email to me as well so you represent majority sort of white communities. So what has been your experience in meeting the needs of the growing latino community populations within them.

Jason: Yeah well I’ve found in my experience if you try to meet the needs of everybody you end up meeting the needs of particular demographics within a larger community. Primarily, I’m really focused on education and providing access to reading resources or trying to get children from kindergarten to third grade to be at reading grade level. Those are some of the main things I’ve been trying to do. We’ve really worked on affordable housing which is a huge issue in New England and Connecticut and Massachusetts too where our housing costs are really really expensive. So trying to adjust affordable housing always criminal justice issues are important to people. For taxation, I think that runs across all demographics.

Julia: Yeah (laughs)

Jason: Whenever you talk about taxation whether you’re low-income or high-income you’re worried about taxes.

Julia: Yeahhh. That’s fair. Ummm and then I guess specifically for this class we’ve kind of umm talked with like ummm members of the Hartford community and Latino members of the Hartford community. And I guess like one of the issues that’s universal in these interviews is that Latinos feel that the state of Connecticut needs to better understand sort of the Latino demographic and others have kind of expressed concern about Latinos getting ahead and social mobility and that type of thing so can you elaborate a little bit on these issues?

Jason: Yeah well I think a lot of that has to do with Connecticut being so economically and racially segregated. We’re one of the most segregated states in the country and because of that you have a lot of pretty inequitable economic situations too where you have Hartford which is probably one of the poorest cities in the country surrounded by immense wealth. But yet you see all these disparities in terms of health outcomes, educational outcomes, economic outcomes for people of color in particular the latino community being really really poor in the midst of all this wealth and opportunity. I think that’s really the big question is how do you create access to that opportunity? It’s not so much about transferring money from this person to that person, but as much as providing opportunity for everybody to access the opportunity to make money because there is clearly money to be made here right? We are one of the richest states in the country- how is that those opportunities aren’t equitably available to everybody. It’s a matter of kind of trying to address those issues.

Julia: And I think a few people that we’ve interviewed as well have kind of brought that up umm the issue of money coming in, but it kind of leaving Hartford and people having access to it so exactly what you’re kind of talking about.

Jason: You know look at all these major corporations downtown and there aren’t  a ton of Hartford residents who are going into those buildings everyday. It’s the folks from the suburbs who are driving in and who are driving out.

Julia: Yeah, yeah. The capital isn’t staying in Hartford. Yep. So um I guess how can this issue sort of Latino representation um be addressed in Connecticut’s state legislature or what are some of the initiatives that have taken place.

Jason: Yeahhh, wait ask that question again?

Julia: Sorry yeah that was unclear so I guess um so a lot of people have expressed this sort of issue of Latino representation so how can that be better addressed in the Connecticut State Legislature?

Jason: Yeah I mean the biggest thing is Latinos just need to run for office right and I faced that in my first run. So when I first ran my district was 95% white and for me I don’t know if it matters all that much, I think people read too much into that and it is was a question of whether I could get elected simply because I was Latino in a district that was white or anything like that. I think it to be rather absurd and when I go around knocking on people’s doors I didn’t get the sense that anybody cared I was Latino even though it was all primarily white people I was talking to. I think all they cared about was wow is a competent, is he speaking to issues I care about, right? And I won overwhelmingly against a white person right. And I think they always said I was the first Latino elected outside of a core urban area in the state’s history, which I found baffling.

Julia: That is baffling.

Jason: And nobody’s verified that, but that was the understanding that I was the first kind of suburban Latino legislator elected. I represent East Hartford and Manchester which are increasingly becoming urbanized as poverty moves into the suburbs. Those two towns are probably the primary destination for poverty growing significantly so we are beginning to take into consideration a lot of the demographic variables the city deals with, but primarily it’s an overwhelmingly white district. While my district is a little bit different from when I first ran because of redistricting, but my district is still 65% white. And again I’ve been there for ten years and I’ve been re-elected overwhelmingly um I think people know I’m Latino- I don’t think they think I’m Italian or something else I just don’t know if it matters all that much, but I know there are still certainly issues of racism out there. It’s just a matter of going out there and knocking on doors, if we want more seats in the legislature quite frankly it’s a matter of going out there and just taking it because it’s never going to be given to us right. And I mean I think there are opportunities out there. As the Latino community spreads out into different communities not just in Hartford and I mean a more significant population in East Hartford and in Manchester and in Vernon and other communities it’s a matter of getting out there and running for the seats.

Julia: Yeah, yeah absolutely. Um so I guess one last question as a Democrat, and I know that this might not be specific to Connecticut umm specifically, but to what extent do you think the Party um represents Latinos and to what extent do you think there’s been overlap with the Republican party and some Latinos going there?

Jason: Um yeah you know um so the first question was…

Julia: To what extent do you think the Democratic party represents Latinos?

Jason: You know there are certainly a lot of shortcomings in the Democratic party in terms of actually representing Latino interests because at the end of the day when any political party represents the people that don’t necessarily have the interests of Latino people at heart when you are talking about all those disparities I’ve talked about earlier, you know I’d say the Democratic party hasn’t lived up to those ideals that we’d like to live up to. We certainly do believe that there is an appropriate role in government to try and equalize the playing field so that everybody has equal access or equal opportunity to things. You know we haven’t done that there are Democrats that have fought against affordable housing too right because they are representing their district and the folks in those districts are afraid of affordable housing. Affordable housing is kind of a scary word for a lot of people. Um so certainly I think our values are in the right place but in terms of acting on those values I don’t think we’ve done as good as a job as we can. Right and it’s really complicated politically to do those things. That’s just a reality of all how all of this works you know I mean versus the Republican party. I’m not going to say that Republicans don’t care about Latinos because that’s just not fair, but certainly a lot of their policies do not really provide opportunities for Latinos to move up. They are particularly against affordable housing moving out into their communities or at least communities that are represented by Republicans. Um when you look at education funding you know these wealthier communities tend to be Republican and they tend to think that they need state money or money from the state for education when they can otherwise afford it themselves at the local level. We know Hartford needs more funding for its kids not because they’ve done something run or they are corrupt but because they are dealing with a lot more kids who live in poverty.

Julia: Right so those funds should be allocated there

Jason: Yeah versus you know Glastonbury or West Hartford where they have the capacity to raise that revenue locally or they simply just don’t have the demands that Hartford does not manage that money. There are definitely people who would definitely disagree with me (laughs)

Julia: (laughs) no I agree with you. And I guess one of the readings we focused on in this class is sort of like the Latino vote in general and it kind of brought up a lot of the stuff you were saying um but it also kind of brought up this point that the Latino vote is such an ambiguous thing and you can’t really say Latinos are going to vote one way or the other umm and there’s a lot of different factors that influence that so I guess maybe can you elaborate a little bit on that?

Jason: Yeah you mean I know I think it’s to some degree a lack of understanding about what the Latino community means that’s a really diverse a group of people.

Julia: Yeah it’s really diverse.

Jason: You know if you look at immigration status alone particularly here for Hartford- Puerto Ricans are American citizens right whether you are born on the island or whether you are born here yeah that’s very different from the Mexican family who is here who may or may not be documented or undocumented. Yeah so there are just differences within the community and you can’t put everybody into one group. You have Cubans who tend to vote more Republican and that’s largely driven by what happened in Florida and the relationship with Fidel Castro. I think that Democrats have always been involved with liberalizing the relationship with the island whereas Republicans are less ready to punish them because the person leaving the country at any particular period of time. So obviously there is disagreement there in the Latino community about what our relationship should be with Cuba. The immigration question itself too there are certainly a lot of Latinos who came here legally or went through the process and got their citizenship who do not necessarily like illegal immigration continuing to take place when they went through the process and did everything right and here you are trying to do it differently. So there’s disagreement there too so it’s really complicated just as in any other demographic group

Julia: Yeah, exactly.

Jason: You’re never going to get total consensus on one issue.

Julia: Oh absolutely. Yeah um I guess I mean I know Hartford is not your constituency, so what do you think the number one issue that policymakers should address in Hartford in relation to the Latino community?

Jason: I mean they are kind of linked it’s education and access to jobs. You know I think a lot of the issues is, I mean I don’t want to oversimplify it, but if you give people access to well-paying or jobs that pay a living wage you can begin to address a lot of these issues because there is a very storn tie between income and education performance. I mean if a parent is working two jobs like my parents did, so my parents didn’t speak English, my dad has a third grade education, he’s a janitor today, I’m yet his son I’m yet his son I went to UCONN got a Master’s Degree at Trinity I have a big fancy title and a big fancy suit. So I think if you provide the right opportunities and what I was provided was an opportunity in East Hartford to go to school with kids who have social capital. Who had this expectation they were going to go to college my parents did go to college it’s not that they didn’t expect me to do well in school, but I don’t know if they knew what college was or how to get into it. I mean manage that whole process, but yet I remember when I got to middle school I heard other kids talking about going to college. And I was like yeah I’m going to do that too. I kind of followed that route and got really involved in clubs and the rest is history and here I am today so it’s really about breaking down those barriers that we’ve created as a society and I am really focuses on issues around segregation too as one of my policy areas.

Julia: Yeah yeah.

Jason: That provide people to break down those barriers that allow people to be really suspicious of each other and we see that same relationship here with Trinity and the neighborhood.

Julia: Yeah absolutely.

Jason: People in the neighborhood, I’ve spent the last ten years of my life working at Trinity, they really love students they really love this college. And you hear from students just this negative relationship with the city that it’s dangerous. You know 99% of the people out there want to do no harm right here. Actually they’re afraid of the same issues students are they want their neighborhood to be safe, they want the streets to be cleaned up, they want their kids to be able to go to school. Same issues, but yet these larger societal issues that have led us to where we are in life today don’t allow us to really believe that unless you have an opportunity to actually engage with those people and see them as human and for them to see you guys as human too. Because the assumption is that it’s a bunch of rich white kids here that don’t care that’s not necessarily true. I mean it’s true in some regard, we’re not going to deny that, but for the most part.

Julia: Yeah. I guess what’s your (obviously you work for Trinity as well), so what do you think Trinity can do to sort of break down these barriers? What steps have been taken to achieve that?

Jason: I mean we do a lot- a lot more than most insitutions of higher education. Whether it’s the Boys and Girls Club, whether it’s SINA. I mean all that costs money whether it’s Trinfo Cafe, it’s things like that we should continue to do. I think we should find more opportunities for people to come to campus, so Samba Fest which is taking place right now. That’s a great opportunity for both the campus community and the Hartford community to come together and enjoy some good time together.

Julia: Yeah exactly.

Jason: I mean the more we can do that and the more we can provide access to resources here at the college I think it’s better for both the college and the community. I mean it’s a lot of continuing of doing what we are doing right now.

Julia: Alright well I guess that’s about it (laughs) thank you so much for your time!

 

 

Transcripción de la entrevista de Cubinitos Bakery

Julia: Que es este negocio y que es la historia del negocio… (or)…

Trabajadora de Cubinitos Bakery: Este negocio se llama “Cubinitos Bakery” es una panaderia. Este no se la historia nada de eso porque no soy la duena. Soy una empleada.

Julia: Si, si …

Trabajadora de Cubinitos Bakery: Aha, Aha

Julia: Y cuanto tiempo estas en Hartford area?

Trabajadora de Cubinitos Bakery: (Laughs) Esto aqui se lleva muchos anos… esta panaderia se lleva muchos anos. Mhmm, but no se de si… no se nada (laughs)

Julia: No esta bien. Que te gusta sobre esta area en la ciudad de Hartford y la communidad?

Trabajadora de Cubinitos Bakery: Si. Es muy buena… Hartford. Si yeah la communidad tambien es buena. A veces piensa a otras personas que Hartford, La Park Street es mala, pero nooo. La area es tranquilito y las personas ayudan.

Julia: Bueno (Laughs)

Pauline: Cuantos anos vivia en Hartford?

Trabajadora de Cubinitos Bakery: Yo no vivo. Vivo aqui para cuatro anos.

Julia: Oh bueno.

Pauline: Y antes?

Trabajadora de Cubinitos Bakery: En Puerto Rico.

Julia: (Laughs)

Pauline: Y que lugar en Puerto Rico?

Trabajadora de Cubinitos Bakery: En Aguas Buenas.

Julia: Ah okay bueno (Laughs)

Pauline: Y porque fuiste a Hartford?

Trabajadora de Cubinitos Bakery: Porque viene a Hartford? Para trabajar, tengo dos hijos, soy una madre soltera para buscar mas beneficios para mis hijos. (Laughs)

Julia: Muchas gracias!

Paulinne: Gracias!

Trabajadora de Cubinitos Bakery: Tengas una bonita dia!

Transcripción de la entrevista de la Parada Market (Erwin)

Julia: There we go (laughs) Como te llamas?

Erwin: Erwin.

Julia: Ahh… okay… eres de la República Dominicana?

Erwin: Si, soy de la República Dominicana.

Julia: Bueno, que parte?

Erwin: Soy de la parte de Santiago. Parte Norte.

Julia: Mmm y qué piensas sobre Hartford? (laughs) ummmm

Yisbel: (laughs) Que hace?

Erwin: Ahhh vivo en Hartford por diecisiete anos.

Julia: Mhmm

Erwin: Si. Es una ciudad con sus “up and downs”

Julia: Mhmm

Erwin: Con su alta y baja. Ehhh en Latino, la manera de latino (Latino way) un poco “struggling for Latino people” to move on in this city. Para moverse adelante.

Julia: Uhmmm qué piensas del gobierno del estado o la ciudad o well del estado necesita hacer para mejorar aspectos de Hartford como la (infrastructure) uhmm y otras áreas públicas.

Erwin: Lo gobernador de Hartford y el estado de Connecticut necesita saber la área demográfica que tienen. No saben quienes son la gente que viven en Connecticut y en Hartford. El peligro. Si tu no sabes quienes son la gente demográfica que viven en una ciudad…no puedes saber la necesidad que tiene el pueblo. Si no conoces la persona o como tu puedes (manager) la persona. So la peor problema que nunca saben exactamente la zona demográfica que vive en cada pueblo del estado de Connecticut y principalmente Hartford.

Pauline: Como llegaste aqui a Hartford?

Erwin: Ehhh.. llegue (believe it or not) llegue con el motivo de trabajo de “job offering.” Long time, 1999. Mil novecientos noventa y nueve. Si. Only last one year and one month. Done. I come from (viene) de Nueva York hasta aqui. Si.

Julia: Ummm que mas? No sé qué más sabes sobre la política de los gobern.. (governors) or los politicos en Hartford.

Erwin: El problema de Hartford (believe it or not) they have how do you say it (monarchies?) si no se unen no va a tener nunca. Hartford nunca puede subir del estado… Hartford tiene mucho problema. Con todas regiones con el norte, el west, y ahora en el sud. Cualquier área te vas es “the same issue.” Tiene una problema even though there is money issues tiene mucha problema que necesita atención. Y el mayor problema de Hartford aunque está trabajando en esto y la política en Connecticut la mujer no andando mucho. La mujer no tiene mucho espacio aquí. Y vas a decir porque? Connecticut tiene el mejor basketball team- Right?

Julia: Yeah.

Erwin: Que hace Connecticut/Hartford con este? Nada. Si invirtieron siete millones en un baseball stadium y aqui no tiene fanatico de baseball. Sin embargo, no hicieron nada para UCONN. Cualquier lugar que llegaron el mundo dice “Oh Connecticut.. They know Connecticut because of basketball.” Yeah that’s the best thing and they don’t do anything- right?

Julia: Yeah

Erwin: So, ella trabaja duro para ganar todo porque no puede dar la gratitude.

Julia: Yeah

Erwin: New York City worked really hard for Yankee Stadium whatever they say they give it to them. Es la alma de Nueva York. Without Yankee Stadium in New York City it is not New York City right? Yeah but New York City gives it the space because the alma de la gente que vive en la ciudad. Aquí le saca la alma de la ciudad. No representan que necesita representan. SI yo va en otra cosa no se buscando que. Ahora, van a abrir el estadio Dino (I think) crees soccer, soccer. There are a lot of people here I believe it is more than 55% percent of the people that live in Connecticut play soccer.

Julia: Ah okay.

Erwin: No they try to give it to the people.. That should be first. You have to give what the people need. You know. Es la área demográfica el no sabe la área demográfica de Hartford ni de Connecticut entonces la política este poco en peligro. Yo creo que se unen al principio porque Connecticut no sigue adelante? They only believe that this is a wealthy state of the U.S.A but for who?

Julia: Yeah

Erwin: For three people? Yeah no wealthy not because someone comes in here and have a weekend in the house and then leave Connecticut. That does not make it a wealthy state. Not because somebody comes with millions and millions of dollars and they sleep for a whole weekend in the house and they walk away to another state to make the money. Why do they come here in this state?

Julia: The money is not going back into the city.

Erwin: If you live here and make the money in Connecticut it’s a wealthy state because you make the money here. Not a wealthy state.

Erwin: Una pregunta mas?

Yisbel: No that was great perfect gracias

Pauline, Yisbell y Julia: Thank you gracias por todo.

Jack Bliss

April 23, 2018

HISP – 399 – 44

Reflexión Sobre mis Entrevistas y Experiencia

            Además de tomar un curso de medio semestre esta primavera, titulado “estudiando en HISP World colloq”, tuve la suerte de inscribirme en este estudio independiente titulado “Hispanic Hartford”. El objetivo, como se ve en la descripción del curso, es permitir a los estudiantes de Trinity interactuar activamente con las grandes y crecientes comunidades hispanohablantes de Hartford. Los estudiantes pudieron aprender acerca de las distintas culturas de una diversa variedad de comunidades hispanas, incluyendo puertorriqueño, peruano, dominicano, chileno, colombiano, y muchos más. Los individuos que pertenecen a estas comunidades alrededor de Hartford han contribuido altamente a la diversidad, la fuerza de trabajo, y a los programas comunitarios de la ciudad entre otras cosas.

El principal proyecto para los estudiantes en el curso, incluyéndome a mí, iba a viajar a Park Street, que está muy cerca del campus de Trinity, y realizar varias entrevistas. Estas entrevistas tuvieron que hacerse con individuos en Park Street o en las tiendas circundantes que eran de decente hispano. Para mí personalmente, este fue el primer proyecto de campo verdadero que había completado durante mi tiempo en Trinity. La meta del trabajo de campo era que los estudiantes exploraran los efectos de la migración transnacional en la cultura urbana así como aprenden sobre la experiencia de individuos que han pasado personalmente a través de él.

Antes de mi primera entrevista, yo estaba un poco nerviosa porque al hecho de que esto era una nueva experiencia para mí. Había esbozado una serie de preguntas y temas generales para cubrir, pero sabía que era importante mantener la entrevista casual. El viernes 20 de abril viajé a Park Street en un día soleado para llevar a cabo mis entrevistas. Para mi primera entrevista, elegí ir al “Los Cubanitos Market” en Park Street. Los Cubanitos Market se encuentra en el 206 Park St. Hartford, CT. Elegí este lugar en particular por unas cuantas razones. En primer lugar, el mercado ofrece una variedad de alimentos e ingredientes latinos, que yo sabía que naturalmente atraería a la gente Latinoamericano. Inmediatamente después de subir a la tienda y entrar, he oído hablar español, que era genial.

Mientras caminaba por la tienda, vi a una mujer amistosa y decidí entrevistarla. Le dije un saludo y me presenté, ella me dijo que su nombre era Gabriela Arvelo. Gabriela es originaria de Puerto Rico y ha vivido en Hartford desde que era una niña pequeña. Tuve una conversación y entrevista maravillosa con Gabriela. Ella hablaba español, pero nosotros decidimos hacer la entrevista en inglés porque ella hablaba fluidamente. Aprendí sobre su experiencia viviendo como una Latina en Hartford y sobre su amor de Park Street. Gabriela me contó cómo le encanta la variedad de tiendas latinas en Park Street y aprecia la diversidad de la cultura hispana en la zona. Gabriela fue una gran primera persona en entrevistar debido a su personalidad fácil de llevar. Esto me hizo mucho más cómodo y me ayudó con mi confianza en acercarme a gente nueva para hablar con ellos.

Para mi segunda entrevista, elegí quedarme en el Los Cubanitos Market, pero entrevisté a un empleado de la tienda. Me las arreglé para hablar con un individuo, que acababa de terminar su turno en el mercado. Este hombre, que era mayor, probablemente en sus 50s, hablaba inglés roto y era tímido, pero él era muy amable y fácil de hablar. Su nombre era Sebastián Martínez y también era puertorriqueño, similar a Gabriela. Debido a Sebastían’s roto inglés, hablamos parcialmente en español, pero sobre todo en inglés. Una de las cosas más grandes que Sebastián habló fue su deseo de llevar al resto de su familia a los Estados Unidos. Él tiene una familia muy grande de vuelta a casa en Puerto Rico y quiere ayudarles tanto como sea posible. De mi entrevista, me enteré que el realmente disfruta de Hartford, especialmente de la gente de la ciudad. Sebastián agradece la diversidad de los que entran en el mercado, y le encanta aprender sobre sus historias.

Para mi tercera entrevista, decidí probar un nuevo lugar que no sea Los Cubanitos Market. Después de caminar por Park Street un poco, me encontré con CTown supermercados, una ubicación de la profesora Aponte-Aviles recomendado. CTown supermercados se encuentra en 1744 Park St. Hartford, CT. Inmediatamente después de entrar en la tienda, escuché la música latino-caribeña tocando en voz alta. En la tienda, hay un área donde la comida española se cocina fresca. Mientras caminaba por un pasillo, vi a un hombre más joven, probablemente en sus primeros 30 años y decidió presentarme. Su nombre era Afonso Costa y es originario de Portugal. Afonso ha disfrutado de su tiempo en Hartford, pero desea ramificarse más. Le encanta viajar y quiere ahorrar dinero para explorar nuevas y diferentes ciudades. Una de las cosas que Afonso le gusta los más de Hartford es el número de programas comunitarios para niños hispanos. Él tiene un objetivo de involucrarse más en estos programas y devolver a la comunidad de Hartford, porque la ciudad le ha dado mucho.

Mirando hacia atrás en mi trabajo de campo para este estudio independiente, sin duda puedo decir que ha sido una experiencia muy gratificante. Estoy feliz de poder empujarme para dar un nuevo paso y entrevistar a la gente de las comunidades locales. Fue fascinante aprender sobre individuos que han trabajado increíblemente duro para mudarse a Hartford y comenzar una nueva vida en esta ciudad. Hartford como ciudad, especialmente en áreas como Park Street, tiene la reputación de ser peligrosa y no acogedora. Esta experiencia ha cambiado altamente mi perspectiva. La gente de Park Street eran increíblemente simpáticos y genuino. Los individuos con los que hablé estaban entusiasmados de hablar conmigo y felizmente compartieron sus historias. Creo que es muy importante que las personas se involucren con las comunidades locales, especialmente con las comunidades hispanas, con el fin de ganar una apreciación por sus vidas. Son personas muy trabajadoras, que siguen siendo muy humildes por lo que han trabajado. Estoy agradecida de ir a una escuela como Trinity que se encuentra en una ciudad tan diversa. La variedad de personas que vienen de todo el mundo hacen de Hartford un lugar verdaderamente especial.

 

 

Me he dado cuenta de que desde que nuestro dimos los dos paseos a La Park, y durante las entrevista me siento mas comoda interactuando con Latino. Como crecí en una familia Dominicana y Boricua, siempre me di cuenta que podían conversar con personas extrañas facilmente como si se habían conocido desde años. He aprendido a entender esa confianza. Cuando entramos a al colmado en New Britain, estaba bien nerviosa. El señor comenzo la conversacion y me di cuenta que era Dominicano y que no necesitaba filtrar o modificar mi tono o mi voz. Rápidamente, le conteste que como se encuentra y me dijo todos sus problemas en forma de chiste. Al principio pensé que en verdad me estaba contando su vida entera hasta que comencé a entender lo que estaba pasando. Al fin, cuando le pregunte si ha ido al doctor, me contestó que sí y que el doctor le receto que deje de quejarse. Luego todo se volvió más fácil. Les indicamos que estabamos haciendonos entrevista y rápidamente nos ayudó hacerles más preguntas a las personas que les estaban comprando. En una forma bien graciosa supo convencer a las personas a que participe. Y su technica, aunque el de na no la vea como una técnica, en realidad me interesó mucho. Creo que fue la forma en cual tuvo confianza. Ahora voy todos los sábados o viernes a comprarme algo de comer y matar tiempo.

I’ve noticed that since we gave the two trips to La Park, and during the interview I feel more comfortable interacting with Latino. As I grew up in a Dominican and Boricua family, I always realized that they could easily converse with strangers as if they had known each other for years. I have learned to understand that confidence. When we entered the grocery store in New Britain, I was very nervous. The Lord began the conversation and I realized that I was Dominican and that I did not need to filter or modify my tone or my voice. Quickly, I answered him how he is and he told me all his problems in the form of a joke. At first I thought that he was really telling me his whole life until I began to understand what was happening. Finally, when I asked him if he had gone to the doctor, he answered yes and the doctor prescribed that he stop complaining. Then everything became easier. We told them that we were interviewing and quickly helped us ask the people who were buying them more questions. In a very funny way he managed to convince people to participate. And his technique, although that of na does not see it as a technique, actually interested me a lot. I think it was the way he had confidence. Now I go every Saturday or Friday to buy something to eat and kill time.

For my third interview, I decided to try a new spot other than Los Cubanitos Supermarket. After walked around Park Street a little, I came upon CTown Supermarkets, a location Professora Aponte-Aviles recommended. CTown Supermarkets is located on 1744 Park St, Hartford, CT. Immediately upon entering the store, I heard Latin-Caribbean music playing overhead. In the store, there is an area where Spanish food is cooked fresh. In addition to all of this, I heard Spanish being spoken among store-goers and workers. It was clear that CTown Supermarkets was a great place to interview someone due to the fact that it caters toward the Latino community. While walking down an aisle I spotted a younger looking man, probably in his early 30s and decided to introduce myself. His name was Afonso Costa and he is originally from Portugal. I had a great conversation and interview with Afonso and below is our dialogue:

(Jack) – “How long have you lived in Hartford and what was the reason you chose to move to this city?”

(Afonso) – “I am originally from Portugal, but my family chose to move to the United States when I was just a baby. We originally moved to Arizona, which is where most of my family lives, but I chose to come to Hartford about 4 years ago. My family came to the US for the same reason as most others, for the work. I chose to come to Hartford because a good friend from childhood has lived here for a while now and always said how great this city is, so I chose to give it a shot.”

(Jack) – “Have you had a good experience living in Hartford?”

(Afonso) – “Yes, overall I really do love this city. At times it can feel small and I want to branch out more, but it has been great. Working here is good and living is as well because it is decently affordable. I like how different each community is in Hartford, there are so many types of people here, which is great to see and experience.”

(Jack) – “How would you describe the Latino Culture that exists on Park Street?”

(Afonso) – “Out of all the places and communities I have visited around Hartford, Park Street definitely has one of the strongest senses of Latino community. Most people you see around Park Street, walking or in the stores, are Latino or Latina. Spanish gets spoken a lot here, especially in stores like CTown, because they cater towards the Latin community. The food and music is a major part of what makes Park Street one of my favorite places to visit, even though I was just a child when we moved, I get a great sense of character from this place, and it makes me proud to be from Portugal.

(Jack) – “If there is one thing you could change about your experience as a Latino living in this community, what would it be?”

(Afonso) – “Ah good question, I would have to say that I want to give back more. I want to be more involved with the community programs, especially with the Latino kids. There are a number of youth programs that help out families with young kids, I think these are so great. It would be cool to be a part of one of these, I think its really rewarding and a good cause. So yeah, I think I would push myself to play a bigger role in that sense.”

(Jack) – “Are there any aspects of Park Street that you wish were different?”

(Afonso) – “I think Park Street can get a bad reputation from those who haven’t spent a lot of time here or even visited once. People can often say Park Street is dirty and there is crime or danger here, but I don’t think that is the case. The people of Park Street and the community is truly special. When you take the time to meet those here and hear about the stories of people and how hard they work, it changes your mind on it. So yeah, I think if I could, I would change the reputation of this place, people just need to experience it.”

For my second interview, I chose to stay in Los Cubanitos Market, but interview an employee of the store. At first I thought this would be difficult because the employees were busy, but I managed to speak with one individual, who had just finished his shift at the Market. This man, who was older, probably in his 50s, spoke broken english and was shy, but he was very friendly and easy to talk to. His name was Sebastian Martínez and was also Puerto Rican, similar to Gabriela. After a little small talk, we began the interview, which lasted a little under 10 minutes. Below is the dialogue of my interview with Sebastian:

(Jack) – “How have you liked your time working at Los Cubanitos Market?”

(Sebastian) – “The Market here is nice, I work here for 5 years now and am happy with this job. The owner here, yeah, he is so great and is so nice to each worker here. I like the people who work here, most workers like me and are Latino, you know, because Los Cubanitos is a lot of Latino people because the food attracts them. My english you see is not the best, here I speak Spanish everyday to friends and other workers. This is nice and I enjoy that, I try to make my English better, still practicing.”

(Jack) – “What brought you to Hartford, how long have you lived here?”

(Sebastian) – “I come to Hartford 6 years ago now. I come here to work, like most because the work home is no good you see. Work at home is hard and the pay is not much, so I want to come here. Beginning here was hard, you know work and living was difficult at first. Once I settle it becomes much easier for me. This job I have here has been so good, the owner was so nice to me and I have been able to save money here and there.”

(Jack) – “How would you describe the Latin culture in this area?”

(Sebastian) – “Ah yes, I like it very much the culture. Hartford has all types of people, a lot are Puerto Rican, like me, but people of all types come here. I know people from Mexico, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Argentina, all types you see. Hartford is a place for people like me, you can find work easily and it is nice to see others like me here, Latin people you know? Many Latin families live here too, many young latino kids, I like to see this, it is a growing group, a big community here.”

(Jack) – “If there is one thing you could change about your experience as a Latino living in this community, what would it be?”

(Sebastian) – “My family, I want them  here too, with me. This place is great for me, I want those from home here too, too enjoy with me. It is hard you know with so many there at home, to get all those here. My brother he came here too, he is the younger one, he came a year after me. This is nice, I see him every week which makes it feel like home to me. I want to travel yeah, I am saving money because I want to go other places too, not just here.”

(Jack) – “What do you enjoy the most about Park Street”

(Sebastian) – “I think the people is it. When I work I meet people everyday, new ones, you know. I get to speak with them in Spanish and hear about their stories. This is great for me, I like meeting others. I try to talk English too sometimes, but here in Los Cubanitos its mostly Spanish, yeah. I like the music too, I walk to the Market for work here, I hear Latin music when I do this. It feels like home for me when I see so many like me.”

For my first interview, I chose to go to Los Cubanitos Market on Park Street. Los Cubanitos Mark is located on 206 Park St, Hartford, CT. I chose this location in particular for a few reasons. First of all, the Market provides a variety of Latino food and ingredients, which I knew would naturally attract people from a Latin American background. Secondly, prior to visiting Park Street, I saw online that the Market had great reviews for its products and atmosphere. Immediately upon walking up to the store and entering, I heard Spanish being spoken, which was great. While walking through the store, I saw a friendly looking woman and decided to interview her. I said a friendly hello to her and introduced myself, she told me her name was Gabriela Arvelo. I didn’t ask, but I would assume she was in her early 40s. The interview was great and lasted about 10 minutes. Below is the dialogue from my conversation with Gabriella once the interview began:

(Jack) – “How long have you lived in Hartford and what was the reason you chose to move to this city?”

(Gabriela) – “I was born in Puerto Rico and my family moved to Hartford a long time ago, I must have been about 4 when we moved to Hartford. They came with me and my two brothers and decided moving to the United States would be the best way to find better work. Money was tight in Puerto Rico for us, I was small, but my parents have told me of this. They chose Hartford because they could afford to live here and it was a place where work was available.”

(Jack) – “How would you describe the Latino culture that exists on Park Street and in Hartford?”

(Gabriela) – “For me Hartford has been a wonderful place to live. The community here, especially those of a Latino background is very big. I am able to speak Spanish every time I come to Park street, especially here at Los Cubanitos. The culture of Hartford is very diverse, there are people from all backgrounds, not just Puerto Rican. Most people have similar backgrounds and stories, which makes it easy to relate and meet new people. I very much have liked my time here.”

(Jack) – “What would you say is your favorite aspect of Park Street?”

(Gabriela) – “Hmm…I would have to say I very much enjoy the variety of Latin shops here. It is so nice to visit Markets and Stores that provide people with Latin products, especially the food. Although I was young when we moved, we are able to cook food as we would in Puerto Rico. I use all of my mothers recipes, which is so nice, my family really enjoys it. If you walk down Park Street you can tell it is a Spanish community, you know? The stores and flags and people all seem to have a Latin heritage”

(Jack) – “How has your experience been as a Latino living in Hartford?”

(Gabriela) – “Great, growing up here was nice because of the community and culture surrounding the area. Hartford is a great city and you get to meet so many people from all over the world. I have a lot of pride being Latina and can tell others around me feel the same. It would be hard to be Latina in a place with nobody else like you, but in Hartford there are so many people and families just like my own. It gives you a sense of comfort and makes living here nice.”

(Jack) – “Do you enjoy working in Hartford”

(Gabriela) “Yes, you know, work is busy and I must work a lot. My husband and I work long hours because we have two young children at home. I work in a restaurant, which is great and I enjoy it. It is nice because I have many friends where I work and we are able to work the same shifts, you know? So that is nice for me. Everybody I know works hard and must work a lot, but we do it together, so its not too bad.”