Life on the Line

The last one

2008-11-30T10:07:00.000-08:00

As student journalists we talk a lot about the transformation of journalism from what we have known as traditional print and broadcast to online and multimedia. In August, I don’t think I really knew what that meant and I certainly didn’t have the skills or knowledge to make it happen.

And to top it off, we were covering border issues. Over the last semester I have taken on a new appreciation for journalism. In August, I wanted nothing to do with journalism after college, but I think I have grown to appreciate it in ways I never expected.

Talking to Matthew Casey, the president and founder of Think Immigration, forced me to reexamine my views on the border and immigration.

La Celebracion y El Sufrimiento art exhibit opened my eyes to the mothers and the real life stories of those who make the dangerous journey across the border.

Talking with new Americans for this blog gave me an appreciation for my own citizenship.

St. Andrew's Clinic was an experience that reminded all of us that the need for humanity far exceeds that of borders and politics.

And on November 9, Lisa Burris and I covered the All Souls Procession, an event that I will always consider to be a celebration of life and a reminder of the wonderful culture and traditions that make Life on the Line so unique.

Preparing for our culture

2008-11-24T07:13:00.000-08:00

After a sangria reunion with the students that I traveled to Spain with, and spending far too much time looking for a topic this week, I got to thinking about the customs that we were warned about before heading to live in an entirely different culture, one that has different acceptances and expectations.

For example, Spaniards, we were told and later observed, do not hesitate to let you know that you have a bad hair cut or that you are overweight as many think you should know.

I wondered if similar instructions and lists were available for students who travel here to the United States to study abroad. I found such a list on International Student Resources: Life in America.

Here’s a few of my favorites of what they had to say about Life in America:
1. “Never pick at your nose in public.”
2. “Never talk about someone's weight --"you are very fat".”
3. “Use deodorant and brush your teeth or use mouthwash. Americans are very sensitive about body odors.”

US Education Guides also offers insight to cultural differences and things for students to expect. The one that stuck out most to me was relationships.

“Men and women in the United States often form friendships that have no romantic involvement,” according to the US Education Guides’ Understanding American Customs and Cultures.

I love the idea of sending our students around the world and the world sending theirs to us. We were treated differently, it was like we weren’t Americans, we were students so politics and world affairs were cast aside.

Still interested: Here's some guidelines from InternationalStudent.TV the Web site, which is full of other video interviews, is designed to help students with the "academic and cultural adjustment process."

2008-11-16T15:58:00.000-08:00

Cultures colliding and a reminder of what it means to be alive in this great country is the best way I know how to describe the annual All Souls Procession in Tucson, Ariz.

There is celebration in the air and a sense of harmony among the masses. With influences from all over the world, including traditions from Dia de los Muertos, All Souls is a unique experience that more than 12,000 members of the community show up to participate in, according to Technical Director Paul Weir.

Even behind the lens of my camera, glued to my face for nearly four hours, and 508 photographs later, the experience is one I hope all Tucsonans take part in at least once.

Walking with the crowd of people honoring everything from the death of a fiancé like Dick Dixon, who now performs in the procession to a group of friends who come together to honor “sweetness” by walking as bees and bee keepers and handing out spoonfuls of honey onto the tiny honey-drenched fingers of children watching the procession.

And then there are the comedians who show up like the men walking for disco.

“Because God knows it should be dead,” they hollered as they walked by us.

And as the procession comes to an end, the performers, the fire and the excitement begins.

I was raised around the arts, as a child I sat in rehearsals and watched my parents put on theatrical productions and I too participated. I am an advocate for the arts in any community as a means of a life line to heal and grow, experience and imagine. I truly believe nothing better defines the United States and what it means to be an American quite like the blending and collision of many cultures, artistic expression and the coming together to celebrate life.

And that’s what All Souls is…simply put: A celebration of life.

"A dose of humility"

2008-11-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

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St. Andrew's Clinic

Flowers and Prince Charming

2008-11-03T06:34:00.000-08:00

Stop by Nature’s Art Florist and owner and master florist Ferial Malaika will tell you all about her “prince charming.”

She’ll giggle like a school girl. And although she has quite the love story now, it was a long time coming.

Malaika is from Saudi Arabia where she married, but “not for love.”

Malaika and her ex-husband moved to Tucson, Arizona on student visas to attend the University of Arizona. They had two children, both later became Wildcats.

“I never knew what it was like,” she said about being in love.

After a divorce she began her struggle for citizenship. Frustrated with lawyers who “drain your money” she was told to wait until her son, a US citizen by birth, turned 21 so she could get her worker’s visa and then green card.

“When I would go to the immigration place, they would make me feel so low that I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me,” Malaika said.

For now she has her green card, and is working on her citizenship but is hesitant to deal with lawyers again. She’s a local florist who works on weddings and other events in the community and at the university.

She attended design school and later studied to become a master florist. But she’s now working on deciding what dress to wear and other details like “who will do the flowers,” she jokes.

She never banked on a happy ending, but her “prince charming” showed up after all.

La Lengua

2008-10-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a look at the language side of New American issues as well as the support programs available.

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Sunnyside citizenship classes (Pima Community College)
Tucson Literacy Coalition
Arizona English Language Learner Assessment (AZELLA)

Dual citizenship and a few sponsorships

2008-10-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

Chris Wood moved to the United States in 1999 for a “combination of politics and taxes.”

Wood has dual citizenship in the United States, where he was born and in Canada, where he grew up.

Wood was living in Montreal working as a commodities trader when he decided to move to Chicago where he had an apartment and a job set up.

“It was a time when the economy was booming,” Wood said.

But after a vacation in Arizona and despite all well made plans, Wood decided to move to Arizona instead.

Even after moving to the US, Wood continued to travel back to Canada on business and to see his family. It was there that he met his wife Jody.

“I met her in Canada, I met her in a bar of all places,” Wood said. “And I said I live in a place called Carefree, Ariz., how bad can it be?”

She eventually came to the US with him where they are now living and raising their daughter Jade.

Jody has her green card and is continuing through the process to get her citizenship which they expect will be another two years. Wood is sponsoring her.

He also sponsors a friend and former business partner who came around the same time Wood did and still only has his green card.

Wood says it’s complicated why he chooses to stay in the US.

“The US, I think, is the world’s only superpower,” Wood said. “We do a lot of wonderful things for the world, that's the short answer.”

The border, journalism and new Americans

2008-10-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

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Think Immigration
Read full story on BorderBeat.net

The test.

2008-10-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Each week I talk to new Americans, some who are now citizens and some who are still working to get through the process . But all of them mentioned one part of the process that I had to look into. The test.

On October 1, 2008, a new citizenship test went into effect "in the interest of creating a more standardized, fair, and meaningful naturalization process," according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Regardless of the changes, the test involves a great deal of history and government questions. It goes with no surprise that there are a number of study resources and tools out there from videos, software, study guides and Web sites to study for the test.

This video goes through the new test questions.

Other resources are also available including sample test questions on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Web site. They also offer printable flashcards to study for the exam.

United States Immigration Support offers a Test Study Guide that you can download or order to prepare for the test. They also offer a list of the old questions and new questions for the exam.

How would you do?
Sample questions from the United States Immigration Support Web site:
1. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.
2. What did Susan B. Anthony do?
3. What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
4. There were 13 original states. Name three.
5. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?

After looking at all of the resources and possible test questions, I would be willing to bet that the people who were not born with U.S. citizenship know more about our history and government than most of us born here. It is too bad that we take for granted what some people spend years of their lives trying so hard to get.

The Happiest Place on Earth

2008-09-28T18:34:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-09-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-09-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

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.