The Happiest Place on Earth

Some people come to the United States for freedom, a new life or for a job. Josee Barcellini came for Disneyland.

Barcellini's family lives in Paris, France. On a student exchange program, Barcellini came to Canada to study in college.

"I studied there for three and a half years. Then I was supposed to go home. I called my family for more money and they said, 'if you want more money go to work,'" Barcellini said.

As the self proclaimed "black sheep of the family," Barcellini went to work in Canada at General Electric. After a year of working she decided to travel to the United States to see Disneyland.

She didn't speak any English, and when an American couple overheard her speaking French they introduced themselves.

"After my vacation I went back to Canada, but they were calling me all of the time," Barcellini said.

The couple invited her to move to the United States and stay with them in Los Angeles. She eventually decided to take them up on the offer. She moved in with them and taught French
classes out of her home.

What she didn't know was that the couple was trying to set her up with their friend Jim Barcellini.

"At first I didn't like him," she said.

But after many dates and being strategically seated next to him at dinner parties, Josee married Jim.

"He didn't speak French and I didn't speak English," Barcellini said. "Well I knew a few words like 'yes' and 'I do.'"

Barcellini is a permanent resident. She never tried for citizenship because without any family in the United States her husband didn't want her to lose her citizenship in France, in case anything happened to him.

"Now I want to get it because I could be a citizen in both countries," Barcellini said.

"The freedom you have here you never experience anywhere," said Barcellini. "Here we can speak, when I go back home to my family I have to close to my mouth."

Thirty-six years later, the two are still married and now living in Phoenix, Arizona.

I guess the United States has a lot to offer, some more obvious than others. And perhaps people come for their own reasons, be it freedoms, jobs or love.

But then again I guess we also have Disneyland.

The stories that aren't told

For the last few weeks I have focused on the stories of people who have come to the United States, who have fought for citizenship and who have found great differences and great freedoms in the U.S.

But what I have not talked about is the journey and the stories of those who are forgotten and remain nameless. People who risk their lives to cross the border and wonder through the desert in hopes of a life in America.

Somewhere between politics, walls and fear we forget the stories of those journeys. It becomes so much easier to look at the "issues" and "politics" and forget the human side.

"Immigrants are in the shadows for the most part we don't hear their stories…our own fears have effectively dehumanized undocumented immigrants…they are reduced to criminal aliens," said Valerie James, an artist featured in La Celebracion y El Sufrimiento art exhibit at the Union Gallery at the University of Arizona.

At the opening night of the exhibit, James spoke about her artwork. She has created an altar made from objects that were left behind in the desert. These objects and the exhibit as a whole tell a story far more intriguing and more important than any "border issue."

Living in Tucson, we are so close to what has become a national debate. Nevertheless it is easy to look away. And most of the time we do. But this is all happening in our backyards. And the exhibit reminds us of that by bringing the humanity into "border issues." To celebrate the opening and Hispanic Heritage Month, students created a mock fence on the mall.

Backpacks, baby bottles, shoes and family photographs bring a sense of reality and, for me, an eerie feeling of betrayal.

Seeing the exhibit is a reminder of why we tell stories and write down history because as James said, "when you deny someone's story, you deny their reality."

I wish I could include pictures of the artwork, but photographs are not allowed in the gallery. Then again, perhaps no photograph could do it justice.

Union Gallery
La Celebración y El Sufrimiento
Sept. 15- Oct. 10, 2008
The University of Arizona

A GI's Souvenir

Annette Shaub was "the souvenir that a young GI brought back home" to America.

She has the classic military romance and when she talks about it she giggles much like I imagine she did years ago as a young girl living in Holland who met a GI named Jim Shaub.

"He was stationed in Europe, and at that time my hometown, Breda, had the largest bowling alley in West Europe, so all of these GIs would come to bowl, that's how we met," Shaub said.

The two had been married for a year and a half when he was sent back to the states, and she came with him. It was 1968, she was 20 years old and moving away from home to a place her brother was convinced had a drug dealer on every street.

Because her husband was in the military, she was able to get her citizenship five years after arriving in the United States.

"This is my country, this is where I belong. I love this country. They have welcomed me. This is where I came to know the Lord," Shaub said.

Despite her family's original concerns, they have come to visit her on multiple occasions.

"They love to come shopping for electronics which are so much less expensive here, they love the freedom, the parking, everything is so much bigger and so much more open," Shaub said.

"Little things, like our paper towels are twice as big here. And then I take them to Costco."

She jokes about the differences, and how much bigger everything is in America. But she also insists that this is a country "based in freedom."

"We have so much more freedom here that we don't even realize, people have no clue," Shaub said.

The love and admiration she has come to have in America all started because she met an American who brought her home.

"I was the souvenir he never put in the attic," Shaub laughed. "I always think about it. I came from one continent, Jim came from another and we met on a third."

The exam of a lifetime.

If you want a reason to love America, chat with Tiffany Laurence for a few minutes, she has quite the list. Today, I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Tiffany for my first interview for my blog, Life on the Line. I went in expecting to learn about another country. Instead, I learned a thing or two about my own.

When you first meet her she'll say she's from Scottsdale, Arizona. She has blonde hair and dresses like an average sophomore in college. And without a trace of an accent, you would never guess her first language was far from English.

"I just don't have the accent anymore, if I did it would sound much cooler when I said I was from South Africa," Laurence said.

Laurence's family moved when she was 9-years-old from Pretoria, South Africa to Scottsdale, Arizona for her dad's job. She is now starting her second year at the University of Arizona but has yet to receive her citizenship.

After more than 11 years of paperwork and processes to become a citizen, her and her family's patience is something to mention as well.

But as a legal permanent resident, Laurence goes about life much like a typical young American. She just won't be able to vote in November.

That doesn't stop her from having a political opinion or two, especially when it comes to illegal immigration.

"I don't think is acceptable at all, and I hate how America is trying to solve the problem by handing so many illegal immigrants their citizenship, when my family has been going through it for so long," Laurence said.

It really took me back to hear her explain her feelings and aggravation with the issue of illegal immigration. She never once said that America should just open or shut its doors, but rather that it should be consistent. Talking with her gave me an entirely new perspective. It is unreal the amount of money, time and documentation that it takes for someone to be granted the citizenship I happen to be born into.

After four years in legal permanent resident status, Laurence will take the test to become a citizen.

"I'm really excited…I would like to vote and to call myself a citizen. I would have dual citizenship and just the fact that we've been working at it for 11 years."

Despite frustrations with citizenship, there is one thing that Laurence is relentless about, her appreciation for her life in America.

"In South Africa it is so dangerous and the government is so corrupt I can't even imagine raising my kids there, I just appreciate my life here so much more," Laurence explained.

When asked if she would ever return to live in South Africa, her answer was simple.

"Never."

At the end of her senior year, Tiffany Laurence will take the test of a lifetime, the one to earn her citizenship in the United States. I wish her the best of luck.

Finding patriotism. My story.

Welcome to "Life on the Line" where I look forward to sharing the lives and stories of new Americans who have come to this great country. I am an American by birth. I have been one my entire life. So before I explore the lives of new Americans, perhaps I should share my own. This is my American story.

I first became a patriotic American one year and two weeks ago today. Really.

Now, I said the pledge of allegiance in my classes as a student and I even sang the national anthem at my share of football games. I supported voting and followed politics. But I wasn't patriotic. I couldn't be.

Last summer I had the opportunity to step beyond the borders of this country to study and live in a small town, north of Madrid, Spain. During my stay, we were faced with language issues, travel confusions, great food and a few Bush protesters. We avoided the local book store with choice words for Bush painted on the door. And we did our best to speak English as little as possible, just to blend in.

"I don't want anything to do with you Americans and your guns and wars," a slightly intoxicated Australian tourist screamed at my roommate and I for no other reason than we looked American. We practically ran back that night, and I cursed the politics of my country all the way home.

Granted, most of our encounters were not so colorful, but it did open my eyes. It offered a view beyond the one I had been drowning in. On the last night of our trip, I sat down to dinner with my host family. They had tiptoed around the subject, and we had responded vaguely, but it was the last night and they wanted to talk politics. And talk we did, for hours in a shaky combination of Spanish and English. Discussing American politics is difficult in English, trying to explain electoral votes in Spanish was a challenge. But they wanted to know, they were so interested in various aspects and details of our system. They wanted to know our views on the current administration and they had no hesitancy in sharing theirs. They did not have hostility towards Americans and they did not tell us we were wrong about the war, though they thought so. They wanted to talk about it, understand it and debate it in ways that I had never experienced with Americans. And I thought, sitting around a table of five Spaniards, two Americans and enough paella to feed the free world, how patriotic.

Patriotism isn't a party convention or the national anthem. It is the right, freedom and decision to discuss, debate and talk about our government and those in power. I learned that night what patriotism felt like. My party biases fell aside and I was proud to be an American as I explained that America is not a War in Iraq or even the current administration. America is so much more. I can only hope I was able to express that.

Since then I have found a great passion for the unique people that walk the lines of this country. Standing on the outside looking in, gives remarkable insight. And I hope to explore all of these ideas and viewpoints and share them here.

With an outside view and a group of passionately opinionated Spaniards, I became a true patriotic American. And I haven't stopped talking since.