LA FAMILIA
A main theme or topic that has been present in all our sessions is family. The elderly women all shared stories about their mothers, children, husbands, as well as some of the generational differences when it comes to views about health and wellbeing.
Advice
My kids did good. The one thing I would pass to them….That if you fall down stand up again and start doing it. And not to look at the side and take the easy way… and to stay away from drugs, and stay away from an “easy life” because you end up in jail or dead. So I always say to them. I brought you up alright and I never did drugs and i never went to jail… that’s the way you should be too.
There is a lot of drugs and there is a lot of stealing.That is what I would tell my kids.
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- Nellie Velazquez
Pero muchas madres piensan que si tu les das en tu casa lo que ellos quieren: cerveza, cigarrillos, lo que sea, ellas lo saben. Así, los hijos ya no se van a conseguirlo a fuera. Por eso las mamás prefieren dárselo en la casa.
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A lot of mothers think that if you give your kids what they want at home (beer, cigars, whatever it may be, they know what it is. That way their kids don't need to go and look for it outside. That´s why mothers prefer to give it to them at home.
-Olga Colon
Values
En las carreras que hay siempre, en una maratón, una chica y un chico se casaron. Mientras corrían, entraron a un parque, ella se peinó un poquito, se casaron, y luego siguieron corriendo. El casamiento ahora no tiene valor.
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Once a boy and a girl got merried in a race, in a maraton. As they ran, they entered a park, she combed her hair a little, they married, and then they kept running. Marriage now has no value.
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Nellie Velazquez
Nowadays girls do not take care of themselves. In those times, we would take care of ourselves. They always told us that we had to go to church (not have sex until getting married), so I always had that in mind. I was the only daughter of my mother, she had no more sisters. I always said that I would like to give my mother the pleasure, that she would see me dressed as a bride. But today girls do not think about that. They do not think!
- Carmen Atanacio
Courtship
Cuando el novio visitaba a la novia, ¡la abuela o la mamá al frente! ¡No los dejaban ni darse un beso! Y si el novio se iba tarde, ¡olvídate! Tenían un horario para irse.
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When the boyfirend visited his girlfriend, the grandmother and the mother were always there watching! They didn't let them even kiss! And forget about it if the boyfriend left the hose late! There was a time for them to leave-
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- Gregoria Ortiz
Si tu te enamorabas de una muchacha, la familia investigaba. Ay bendito sea dios! Cuando naciste, cuando te cortaron el ombligo, que si tus padres eran esto… muy estricto. Para que no hubiera…
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If felt in love with a girl, the family would investigate you. Oh God! When were you born, when they cut your belly, if your parents where this or that, very strict! So there wouldnt be any....
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- Olga Colon
¿Y antes tu sabes que se pintaban con rosas? Mi mamá me lo decía: se escapaba del papá y de la mamá y buscaba rosas. Amapolas, que son coloradas con una cosita amarilla en el medio. Mi mamá iba al garden y la exprimía así, y se la ponía. My mother never used nothing, porque cuando mi mamá llegó aquí cogió la religión.
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And before you know they were painted with roses? My mother told me: she ran away from her father and mother and looked for roses. Poppies, which are colored with a little yellow thing in the middle. My mom went to the garden and squeezed it like that, and put it on. My mother never used anything, because when my mom came here she became religiuos.
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Nellie Velazques
