I didn’t realize when starting this project that I would gain a new understanding of the situations that Tita has had to face since coming to the US. I think her story really shines a light on a different aspect of the migrant experience. Or at least different from what would traditionally be considered factors for leaving her country of origin. We’ve seen that there are several models of migration where the main focus is on the economic factors. What I think Tita’s story really encapsulates is the factors that are usually not accounted for. For instance the psychological abuse that Tita received was one of the main factors that attributed to her decision to leave her country to the United States.
I think that Tita’s story can only offer a view into the life of one immigrant but it is one that is oft ignored. That being said there are a lot of similarities between her story and that of others.
While she didn’t rely much on the networks that were already in place (her sister) the fact was that they were still in place. This is the same as the other migratory communities that we’ve read about. The fact that she didn’t rely on them speaks volumes about the diversity about the experiences of migrants into the US. I think that that’s one of the main lessons that I learned during this project. That while theories and speculations can offer insight to the broader migratory experiences, there is something that can only be gained by viewing specific experiences.
With Tita’s story I also attempts to gain knowledge from the community that she came into. It was interesting because she didn’t seem interested in assimilating but she did see interested in gaining and learning from the opportunities that were offered. She commented briefly on the the fact that there are no role models in the community that she lives in and yet she seems to have found a way to incite her own children to follow the path of the Americans that she sees as being more successful.