white girl

I recently started a new job, taking the place of a teacher's aid on maternity leave.  I help with the Schuyler Middle School's newcomers program, a classroom full of 6th-8th graders who have come from abroad and are learning English to transition into the regular classroom.

I love it so far, and am getting to know students from across Latin America--Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba--and from around the world with a student from Hong Kong and two families from Ethiopia.  Yes, Schuyler, Nebraska is becoming quite a modern-day melting pot.

We push our students to speak in English as much as possible, but now that the Spanish-speakers know I speak their language, they often opt for that route.  I was teasing one of our Ethiopian students that he's going to finish school speaking both English and Spanish, and he said, "Si."

We've also had a few moments to get to know each other a little better, while they work on projects or have a little down town in between classes.  A conversation this week reminded me that the difficult reality of immigration is never too far beneath the surface.  It was with one of our Mexican students, when he realized that I'm a "white girl."

"Where are you from?" he asked me, in Spanish.
"Not from Schuyler, but close to here," I replied, assuming "Dodge" would mean nothing to him.
"But in the United States?"
"Yeah."
"Were you born here?" he continued.
"Yes."
"Oh, so you have papers."
Of course I do, I thought, and told him so, almost as if he were joking.  But he wasn't.
"So where are you parents from?"
"Here.  They were born here too."
"And your grandparents?"
"Also from here."
"Oh, so you're a güera (white girl), no offense."
"Yeah," I conceded.  I am a white girl.
"Ohh.  So what kind of music do you like?"

This is just one snippet that gives a bit of insight from his perspective.  Unfortunately living without papers is a reality lived by many in Schuyler, even many students, which is why we must keep pushing for a more just and effective system of laws opening our country to immigrants and welcoming those who are here.  

I am excited, because I will be filling this position until the end of the school year, which will give me a chance to build more solid relationships with the students.  And at any rate, the newcomers classroom will be a good transitional step into the program in Intercultural Ministry that I'll be starting in the fall!