My Classmates' Blog

Reflection:

• Hector Rodriguez-

I really liked Hector's journal because, it narrated the story of a family that pass through a lot and at the end they obtained what they wanted. It was very significant because all the obstacles that came on the way they knew how to deal with them; they never gave up on what they wanted.

• Paulette Arquer-

My favorite pert of Paulette's blog was her family heritage. It was interesting from the places that each of her ancestors came from because they came from different places in Europe. What it really intrigues me the more is that some of her family still live in Cataluna island.

• Hector Porrata-Doria-

I was amazed with Hector's family heritage. It was interesting, because of how, on those times they bought family's last names like if they were an object. I liked the fact that "Porrata" was purchased by the poor people.

• Albert Matos-

It was really sad how japanese immigrants went to interment camps. After Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, they were kept in interment camps by the U.S. government. But, it was unfair because they faced racial discrimination and lost everything they had worked for.

Immigrant Heritage

     My family really don't know any specific story about how my ancestors arrived to Puerto Rico. My father told me; my great grandfather came from France to Vieques there he married with my great grandmother from the Dominican Republic. In Vieques they had kids and then moved to the big island Puerto Rico where they owned a sugar cane plantation and worked there. They all lived in the same house close to the plantation. My grandfather worked extra hard so, he could afford going to college on those times. Today he is an engineer and is still working, just because he can not stand being at home all day doing nothing. According to a web search the last name Adams means "son of Adam" who is the first men created by god.(Hebrew Bible)

Immigration Issues

Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html

     In my opinion I agree on this law, because there are many illegal immigrants that are used to bring illegal things to the country; like for example marihuana. For the other immigrants I believe the law should be less strict on choosing who to give the legal papers. Many of these people come to the U.S. to work hard and to give their children the life they never had. These immigrants should enter the U.S. legally to avoid problems with the government and these way the will have a better job. This way there will be no need for the police to be searching on immigrants and there would be more of equality.

My Story

     My name is Adelina Petersen. I am originally from Berlin, Germany. My husband and I left Germany in 1983 in order to find a new home in America; where I could offer my feature kids a better way of leaving and a better education. We started in Havre, Montana with many other immigrants that embarked on our journey to New York by sailboat. It took us 21 days to arrive at New York and were fortunate to have had a very safe journey.

     On the first day of our journey we found out that there wasnt enough food for half of the immigrants. Most of us demanded the captain to give us what we had paid for. However, he decided that we would not receive anything more because of our inappropriate behavior. Therefore we were forced to do the best we could for the rest of the days. We finally arrived in Buffalo, the captain of the faltboat refused to give us our belongings until we had paid him extra money. Every one started argueing with the camptain; this was an injustice. My husband amd other male immigrants went to the bank to fix this situation. None of them spoke English, so they asked a Jew if he could help them with the translation. The Jew agreed and helped them; they had to go the Squire in Buffalo. My husband did not understand anything that transpired in front of the Squire, so they left the Jew to argue their case for them. The decision was in favor of us immigrants. Triumphantly my husband returned to the boat where I was waiting for him anxiously. We left extremely happy for winning that case,otherwise we woudnt have enough money to approach a house.

     From Buffalo we took another flatboat and arrived in Pomeroy, Ohio. A few of us got out in Cleveland and traveled on in various directions. My husband immediately found work in a shovel factory. He received one dollar for every day he worked. He worked in this factory for one year. The following year he found a better job as a carpenter, he built coalboats. These boats would transport coal to Cincinnati and other places. 

     My husband is still working as a carpenter. We live very happy with our two American little boys in the house that my husband constructed. Life in America is not easy, but I dont regret the moment when we took the decision to move here for a better way of life. We both learned English and we are teaching our two kids both languages; English and German.

     

Immigration of the Germans

     In 1860, Germans leave their country in boats and trains looking for a better feature and a more successful life. They moved to the U.S. country side; due to repetitive violation that was happening in Germany. They have always faced some problems of unity.Germans who weren't born in America united but not all of them because of pride to their home land. Religion also affected them because not all of them were from the same religion and it created conflict.
     I am very happy for those people who had the courage and took the risk of immigrating to another country. Its not easy to leave your culture, friends, family members, and adapting to a different culture. Immigrating is a very hard thing to do, but you need to look for whats best for you and your future family. Life is not easy, but you have to adapt to it and succeed. 

" getting tagged by an official for a railroad trip- Ellis Island 1926"