Oral History Interview with Jose Ernesto Escoto & Gloria G. Guillen

LUANN JOHNSON: Um, this is LuAnn Johnson and it's June 4th, 1999. And I'm interviewing the Escosto family. Um, Jose and Gloria in their home. In Bowling Green, Kentucky and Denise Zarate's here to help translate. Um, thank you for letting me come into your home. Um, I just want to get started by asking when you moved--when did you move to Bowling Green?

JOSE ERNESTO ESCOTO: Hace cuatro, uh cinco años

DENISE ZARATE: Four or five years ago.

JOHNSON: Okay and um, where did you move from?

ESCOTO: El Salvador.

ZARATE: El Salvador.

JOHNSON: Okay. Uh, what brought you to Bowling Green?

ESCOTO: Uh, California.

ZARATE: Qué lo trajó a Bowling Green?

ESCOTO: Oh...la compañía (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: The company he was working in.

JOHNSON: And what company?

ZARATE: Qué compañía?

ESCOTO: Uh, Eagle...Industries.

ZARATE: Eagle Industries.

JOHNSON: Okay. Um, when did you begin working for Eagle? Um...where? Was that in 1:00El Salvador?

GLORIA G. GULLIEN: No. California.

ZARATE: California.

JOHNSON: California, okay. Okay. Um...oh...when you first got to um, Bowing Green um, what were your first impressions?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Um, his first impression was that...there wasn't many Latin people living here.

JOHNSON: Yeah.

ESCOTO: Mhmm. (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: It was a different way of living. Because he was only...since he was--there, there wasn't a lot of Latin people.

JOHNSON: Okay. What were some of the biggest differences that you, that you first had to deal with?

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Can you ask Gloria, what you said?

JOHNSON: Oh, what were some of the biggest differences when you were settling, setting up a home?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: En Bowling Green or....

ZARATE: En Bowling Green.

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: The language.

JOHNSON: Language is a big one.

ZARATE: Yeah.

JOHNSON: Have you learned some English, or?

ZARATE: Aprendes Inglés?

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Yeah, a little bit. A little bit.

JOHNSON: Yeah. Is it important to you to learn English?

GUILLEN: Yes.

ZARATE: Yes.

JOHNSON: Um, is it important to also continue speaking Spanish?

GUILLEN: Uh-huh.

JOHNSON: Yeah

ZARATE: Yes.

JOHNSON: As well for your children?

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: Yeah. Okay. When you first got here um, were there people here to help you settle in? Um...to get set up?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Um, the company helped.

JOHNSON: Do you feel like there's um, more of a community now? More of a Latino community? Um, now that it's been a few years.

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: Sí.

ZARATE: Yes.

JOHNSON: Okay. Can you tell me a little bit about how it's organized or how it's...how you interact with it?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: She says the company closed. She trans-transferred. A lot of people came and they got to know each other better.

JOHNSON: Okay.

ZARATE: She transferred for the company.

JOHNSON: Were there people from all the same country? Or the same countries?

GUILLEN: No, diferentes.

ZARATE: No, different.

GUILLEN: Mexicanos, Salvadoreños.

ZARATE: Mexicans. And Salvadorans.

(00:05:03)

JOHNSON: Is there um, a difference being here in Bowling Green um...where the Latino population is smaller than the Anglo population--is there a difference in how the different...Latinos from different countries interact?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: Sí.

ZARATE: Yes.

JOHNSON: And how so? How would it have been different in El Salvador?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: The main is the communication.

JOHNSON: Communication.

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: They're unable to communicate. Because of the language.

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish) (laughs)

ZARATE: She said the tortillas are different.

GUILLEN: (laughs)

JOHNSON: Yeah. Has it--what has it been like settling in and finding um, things like food and other ingredients that you need? That--for food that you traditionally cook when you were living in El Salvador?

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Um, she said that like, here they got hamburgers and cheeseburgers, and in El Salvador they don't have that kind of food.

JOHNSON: Um, did you grow up in El Salvador? Your um--how long have you lived in 7:00the United States all together?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish). Eleven years in the United States.

JOHNSON: How have you um, adapted? Like when you're cooking home--at home here, compared to when you were growing up and learned how to cook. How is it--how have you adapted being here in the States? Do you have the same ingredients available to you?

GUILLEN: Now here, I have a store.

JOHNSON: Mhmm.

GUILLEN: Spanish store.

JOHNSON: Dos Amigos? Or...

GUILLEN: Dos Amigos, sí and (indeterminable Spanish).

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish).

ZARATE: There's another store.

JOHNSON: Another store.

GUILLEN: Everything that you need, the Spanish need, it's in the store. (laughs)

JOHNSON: Yeah. Is that--

GUILLEN: Golden National.

JOHNSON: Oh, Golden National.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: You can get a (indeterminable) in Chicago.

JOHNSON: Okay. But Bowling Green, when you first moved here, they did--did they 8:00have the stores open?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: No.

ESCOTO: No.

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: No. (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: Which store?

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Cómo?

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable)

GUILLEN: It's a minimart. Or....(indeterminable Spanish).

ZARATE: It's like a...grocery store.

GUILLEN: Do you remember? How long you living here?

JOHNSON: (indeterminable)

GUILLEN: Oh! (laughs)

JOHNSON: (laughs)

GUILLEN: (laughs) You still not been here very long.

JOHNSON: No. (laughs)

GUILLEN: (laughs) No. I come in '90...'92.

JOHNSON: Yeah.

GUILLEN: I was '92. Kentucky...is only (indeterminable). It's just so little. Also...

JOHNSON: Mhmm.

GUILLEN: It's little.

JOHNSON: Another.

GUILLEN: And now it's more big. Ooh. (laughs)

JOHNSON: Yep.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: And the street is only four--two ways. It's just little.

JOHNSON: Mhmm.

GUILLEN: Now it's four.

JOHNSON: Four lanes.

GUILLEN: Mhmm. Four lanes. (laughs)

JOHNSON: Wow.

GUILLEN: Yeah, it's...very, very different.

JOHNSON: It's grown.

GUILLEN: A lot more money. (laughs) Too many stores, too many...businesses. And restaurants. Lot more restaurants.

JOHNSON: A lot. Now, do you still work for Eagle...Industries, Jose?

ESCOTO: No, no. Right now I work for Brooks Cabinet. Kitchen cabinets.

(00:10:04)

JOHNSON: Oh, okay. And do you--

GUILLEN: I work at Eagles.

JOHNSON: At Eagles?

GUILLEN: Uh-huh.

JOHNSON: And when you first moved here, um, where did you live first? What housing did you live in?

GUILLEN: In...apartment (indeterminable).

JOHNSON: Yeah.

GUILLEN: Mhmm.

JOHNSON: How long were you there?

GUILLEN: Uh, one year.

JOHNSON: Yeah.

GUILLEN: One year. And moved in '93...

JOHNSON: To this house?

GUILLEN: This house.

JOHNSON: And you own this house?

GUILLEN: I buy this house.

JOHNSON: It's beautiful.

GUILLEN: (laughs) Thank you.

JOHNSON: I love the woodwork and...

GUILLEN: (laughs)

JOHNSON: It's gorgeous. Um, well how, how is um...I guess, the landscape and, and...the type of housing--how is that different from where you lived before? In El Salvador? Are there big differences?

ESCOTO: Yeah. (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Cómo están diferentes las casas?

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: They're made differently.

JOHNSON: Yeah.

ZARATE: The houses are. They're bigger...than in El Salvador.

JOHNSON: They are here bigger?

GUILLEN: Yeah.

ZARATE: Because of, because people don't have enough money.

JOHNSON: Okay.

ZARATE: In El Salvador. To make big houses.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: They don't have the, an opportunity. Opportunity...to have big houses.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He said that um...in El Salvador you, you can't have big houses because 12:00of the money. And here you can have a house. Like, little-by-little buy a house.

JOHNSON: Mhmm. I see. Um, what about the landscape. How is--what was the town like where you grew up? The towns where you grew up?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: Country?

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish) (baby sounds)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: Sí, sí.

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish) (baby sounds)

ZARATE: It was a small--I'm sorry--it was a small place. Like here. Not as, not 13:00as big.

GUILLEN: The same as this country--this state.

JOHNSON: Similar?

GUILLEN: Yeah, uh-huh, similar.

JOHNSON: A lot of farming?

GUILLEN: Uh-huh, yeah.

JOHNSON: Uh, what other industries um, were...were present where you were growing--where you lived before?

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He said that the big companies are now in the capital of El Salvador. 14:00And he said that he (indeterminable) (baby sounds). Like, when he was a kid he worked with his father farming. And it was different when he grew up.

JOHNSON: Okay. And, and you--what um, when you were growing up, what type of work did you do and what, what type of work did your family do?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish) (baby sounds)

ZARATE: She didn't work.

JOHNSON: Okay.

ZARATE: When she was in El Salvador. She went to school.

JOHNSON: What did you study? Was it...

ZARATE: Qué estudió?

GUILLEN: Uh, secretary.

JOHNSON: Oh, okay.

GUILLEN: And (indeterminable Spanish). (laughs)

ZARATE: Accounting.

JOHNSON: Oh, okay. Okay. Um, how did you two meet? Where did you meet?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

(00:15:00)

ESCOTO: California.

GUILLEN: Bakersfield, California.

ZARATE: Bakersfield....

JOHNSON: In California?

ZARATE: California.

JOHNSON: Oh, okay. Is that where you got married? Or did you...

ESCOTO: Yeah.

JOHNSON: Okay. (baby sounds) Um, do you have family in Bowling Green? Do you have any family, relatives here?

ESCOTO: No. (baby sounds) (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: Oh, yeah. My uncle is here.

JOHNSON: He's, was he before or after you moved here?

ESCOTO: (indeterminable)

GUILLEN: No.

ESCOTO: No. (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: Sí.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Before.

ESCOTO: Before.

JOHNSON: Melissa has a penny. (laughs)

ZARATE: She's gonna eat it. Watch.

JOHNSON: Um, do you go, do you ever go visit El Salvador? Do you ever go visit relatives?

GUILLEN: Yeah.

JOHNSON: How often do you go back?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: She says that's it's been kind of hard since she migrated from El Salvador. Without...without her green card.

JOHNSON: Yeah.

ZARATE: It's been kind of hard, but José has.

JOHNSON: Okay.

ZARATE: (indeterminable)

GUILLEN: I work for 11 years. (laughs)

JOHNSON: Yeah.

GUILLEN: Uh-huh.

JOHNSON: So you haven't been back in 11 years?

GUILLEN: Yeah. Uh-huh. This year I'm going to travel.

JOHNSON: Oh.

GUILLEN: (indeterminable)

JOHNSON: Next month?

GUILLEN: Last...

JOHNSON: Last month you did?

GUILLEN: Last month. Yeah. For two weeks.

ZARATE: She stayed. Last month for two weeks.

JOHNSON: The first time in 11 years?

GUILLEN: In 11 years. Yeah because not, not have a green card. I can't go...

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish) (laughs)

GUILLEN: (laughs)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: Did you all go? The whole family?

GUILLEN: No. Only, only my daughter and me.

JOHNSON: Okay. What was, what had changed in 11 years. What was the most different?

GUILLEN: Ooooh....(laughs)....everything. (laughs)

JOHNSON: Yeah.

GUILLEN: Yeah. Different.

JOHNSON: Do you miss--you have a big family back there?

GUILLEN: Yeah. And seven uh...three sisters and four brothers.

JOHNSON: Wow. So, did you get to visit everyone?

GUILLEN: Yeah. (baby sounds)

JOHNSON: Wow. What is--is that (baby sounds)--what is it like? To um--what is it like to live so far away from your, from your brothers and sisters?

GUILLEN: Mmm...(indeterminable Spanish).

ZARATE: Oh, she, she says she...she didn't see all of them. 'Cause some of them visit--came here.

GUILLEN: Some brothers living--

JOHNSON: In the--

GUILLEN: In this, in this house.

JOHNSON: Oh!

GUILLEN: He was coming here.

JOHNSON: Oh, okay.

GUILLEN: Yeah. And (indeterminable Spanish).

ZARATE: They went back. They just visited.

JOHNSON: Okay.

ZARATE: For a little while. Then went back.

JOHNSON: Is it difficult to be far away from your family?

GUILLEN: Yeah. (baby sounds)

JOHNSON: What do you miss the most?

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: Mamá y papá. (laughs)

ZARATE: Their parents.

GUILLEN: Yeah.

JOHNSON: Yeah. What kind of things do you do to um, keep everyone close in communication? Like with the grandchildren and...

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish) Telephone...pictures, everything that you will do.

JOHNSON: Yeah. Do you um, do your children talk a lot to the grandparents on the phone?

GUILLEN: Yeah. Mhmm.

JOHNSON: Do you talk a lot about--tell stories about growing up?

GUILLEN: Yeah. (laughs)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

(laughter)

GUILLEN: He says too expensive. (laughs)

JOHNSON: (laughs)

ZARATE: You were talking about telling stories and I said when there's time, he said, "Well we have a lot of time we just don't have enough money to pay (indeterminable)."

GUILLEN: (laughs)

JOHNSON: Yep.

GUILLEN: (indeterminable)

JOHNSON: Whey did you each decide to move um, to the States? Um, even to California? What, what caused you to leave El Salvador?

(00:20:09)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)--okay. For me, para mí uh, I want to speak English. (laughs) (indeterminable Spanish).

ZARATE: She wanted to learn English. That was her dream.

JOHNSON: Okay.

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Because she thought that since she studied secretary--she wanted to be a secretary--it would be easier to find a job. Being able to speak two languages. Be bilingual.

JOHNSON: So, when you left El Salvador, were you by yourself?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: And how old were you?

GUILLEN: Mmm....twenty....six.

JOHNSON: Yeah. Was that--what was that like to leave home all by yourself? Was it scary?

GUILLEN: No, because my two brothers in....California. I, I go with him.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: She wasn't scared. Because she know where to go and how to go...

JOHNSON: She had family there?

GUILLEN: Uh-huh, yes.

JOHNSON: Okay. And you um, when you moved from El Salvador?

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: She wanted to--I mean he wanted to have a better living. For his parents.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: And that was the time when the had the war. In El Salvador. And he said that when you turned 13, 14, you had to join the war.

ESCOTO: Yeah, yeah. (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: And he said that during the war, six of his family members were killed.

ESCOTO: Yeah. (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He thought that then...his brother and uncle were living here...maybe he 23:00would move.

JOHNSON: How, how old were you? When you moved here?

ESCOTO: Uh...(indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Fifteen..fourteen-years-old.

JOHNSON: Was it difficult?

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He wasn't, it wasn't difficult for him.

JOHNSON: No.

ZARATE: He...thought of it as an advent--

JOHNSON: You didn't miss your mom and dad?

ESCOTO: Yeah...

ZARATE: A fun thing for him, an adventure.

JOHNSON: Oh, adventure.

ESCOTO: Yeah. (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He said that the hardest thing was thinking about his parents. And maybe 24:00not coming back. Or not knowing what was going to happen.

JOHNSON: That would be scary.

ESCOTO: No...

JOHNSON: (laughs)

GUILLEN: (laughs)

ZARATE: He's like, "No," and he's just like, "Yeah."

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: (laughs)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable) (loud background noise)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He helped his sisters. 'Cause they were females and they couldn't come.

JOHNSON: How did he help them?

(00:25:01)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Sending money to them.

JOHNSON: Money.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Yeah. Money.

JOHNSON: Money.

ESCOTO: Money, money. (laughs) (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: One of his sisters is a--(indeterminable Spanish)?

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: She's um, like a lawyer I think. And one of them's still, still going to school.

JOHNSON: Okay. And why couldn't they come up? He said that they were...

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: It was more difficult for them because they were women.

JOHNSON: Why was it more difficult for women to...

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Oh, because their parents didn't want them, didn't want them to get married...in the U.S.

JOHNSON: Oh.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish) (laughs)

ZARATE: It's dangerous for women. There's a lot of danger.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)--

JOHNSON: (indeterminable)

ZARATE: Yeah.

ESCOTO: Yeah. (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Yeah, he's saying that...it's like a tradition--not a tradition but something....well...his parents thought that it would be better if they came. In order to help them. Instead of the girls coming here.

JOHNSON: Okay.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He said he's happy that he came. Because he, he's got...he's living the way he wants, he wanted to live.

JOHNSON: Okay. Now, um (clears throat)...now that you live here in the States, in Bowling Green um, what traditions or what part of, of your...the culture you had in El Salvador, what things are important for you to continue um....maintaining or--and to teaching the children?

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Respect. Teaching respect.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: And religion.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He said that before doing something special, going to church and praying.

ESCOTO: Yeah. (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: (laughs)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Going, going to church. That's what they have been teaching their kids.

JOHNSON: Now you um, you were both raised Catholic? In El Salvador? How is worshiping here different than they way you worshipped in El Salvador?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: Es igual. Es igual.

JOHNSON: It's the same.

ZARATE: Same.

ESCOTO: Yeah. (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: It depends on the person.

JOHNSON: It depends on which person? Them or the...

ZARATE: Them.

JOHNSON: Okay. When you first moved here has it, was Father Stan already here when you moved here?

(00:30:02)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: No.

GUILLEN: No. (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He came to church, and that was it.

JOHNSON: Okay. How has it changed here um, since...um, since the Latino community has grown? Has uh, has...the church has changed a lot? Or has it always...

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He said that the church has helped him. Helped the community get together and get to know each other better.

JOHNSON: Are there um, holidays or celebrations that um, that you...that you miss, that you don't, that Americans do not celebrate? Or...that you celebrate just within your family? Like holidays?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: José misses Christmas. He says he, they celebrated it different.

JOHNSON: How is it different? Just--are there--what small things, what specific things does he miss?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Yeah, he said that...like at the beginning of December, they think about how they're gonna Celebrate. And here, they just work. Until the day. They just get that, Christmas off. The day. One day off.

JOHNSON: Ah, so there's a lot more preparation.

ESCOTO: Yeah.

JOHNSON: What, what kind of things? What kind of food? What kind of...decorations?

ESCOTO: Yeah. (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Qué tipo de comida? (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Tamales.

ESCOTO: Yeah. (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Different um....each um...country has different foods and...celebrations.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: So do you still make some of your favorites around the holiday...time? What are some of the favorite foods that...that you make only for...

GUILLEN: Tamales. Tamales and...

JOHNSON: Yeah.

ZARATE: Tamales.

ESCOTO: Pupusas, tamales...

ZARATE: Pupusas.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Bread. Different kind of bread. Tamales, pupusas, (indeterminable).

JOHNSON: Okay. And they're, you associate those with, those are Christmas--

(tape cuts out)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

(laughter)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: So what are you talking about?

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Um, she's saying that he talks too much. Like you...

JOHNSON: (laughs) Like me? Or like you?

(00:35:04)

ZARATE: No, I mean like, like you're asking a question and he talks more about it.

JOHNSON: Well that's good.

ZARATE: He gets into the question. Like my mom.

JOHNSON: (laughs) Like your mom. No, bless you. That's what we want.

ZARATE: I'm telling them that I get kind of tired. 'Cause some of the words I can't...

JOHNSON: Yeah. Well it's difficult to...to translate it. Um...

ESCOTO: Yeah. (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: But I do my best.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: We're just talking about how we (indeterminable).

JOHNSON: Oh, okay. Um, well are you--do you want to continue? Or are you getting tired?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: I have a few more questions. I mean...

ESCOTO: Okay.

JOHNSON: To discuss if you want. Um...what--are there certain things um...decorations or um....traditions or....or ways of doing things that you identify with being El Salvadoran? That you continue to do here in America?

GUILLEN: (laughs)

JOHNSON: Is that a silly question?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: Like, identifying. Like an identity...

ZARATE: Anything?

JOHNSON: Anything that means El Salvador.

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Pupusas. It's like the main dish.

JOHNSON: Main dish? What is it like?

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: It's like tortillas with cheese in the middle. Like round.

JOHNSON: What is it called?

ZARATE: Pupusas.

JOHNSON: Pupusas? Will you spell that for me?

ZARATE: P-o-p-u-s-a-s.

JOHNSON: Okay.

GUILLEN: (laughs)

JOHNSON: Are they good, (indeterminable)? Do you like pupusas?

ESCOTO: Mhmm, pupusas.

GUILLEN: She like.

ZARATE: I never had any.

JOHNSON: No? Have to teach us how to make them.

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: She's telling me.

JOHNSON: How to make them?

ZARATE: Yeah.

JOHNSON: Cool.

ZARATE: It's like in Mexico we have sopas. It's like a...tortilla and you put cheese and beans or chicken on top of it, in the pupusa. It's similar to...it's just like a...like a little ball of flour and you fry it. You put the food inside of it and you fry it.

JOHNSON: Nice. Delicious.

ZARATE: I'm getting hungry.

JOHNSON: So you mentioned um, in El Salvador, you lost some relatives um, in the war. Were they soldiers in the war?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: No.

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: They just killed people. For the fun of it.

JOHNSON: How--so, they, in their homes? Or on the, in the village

ESCOTO: Yeah, (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: There was just like uh, like soldiers just came into their houses and killed people. Or...not even soldiers. Any people came into the house.

JOHNSON: For what reason?

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: So this is a documentary about it?

ZARATE: Yeah.

ESCOTO: Yeah.

JOHNSON: So it was organ--the official...um soldiers or the rebels?

(00:40:04)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: It was both?

ESCOTO: Both. (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: Did they pick certain people? Or did they just do it arbitrarily? Like, randomly?

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Just randomly. They just choose anyone.

JOHNSON: So did you, see a lot of violence like that when you were living there?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: Oh yeah. (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: So it was normal to see soldiers walking around and...

ZARATE: It was normal to see people killing each other. That's what he told me.

JOHNSON: Is it better now? Is it safer now?

ESCOTO: Oh, sí.

ZARATE: It's safer.

JOHNSON: It's stable.

ESCOTO: Sí. (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: It's better.

JOHNSON: Do you um, do you have any plans for the future um--if you could go or work anywhere or do anything, what would your dream be? What would it be?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Have his own business. Run his own business.

JOHNSON: Would you run it here or in El Salvador?

ESCOTO: Aquí.

ZARATE: Here.

ESCOTO: Aquí.

JOHNSON: Here. You consider Bowling Green home now?

ESCOTO: Yeah.

JOHNSON: And you Gloria? What would you like to do?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: If you could do anything you wanted? What would it...

ZARATE: The same.

JOHNSON: The same?

GUILLEN: Same.

ZARATE: Live with her husband.

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Have more money in order to give...her children more. Have a better education.

JOHNSON: What would you like of your children? What do you dream for your children?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Doctors.

JOHNSON: Doctors.

GUILLEN: (laughs)

JOHNSON: That wouldn't be too hard, Melissa. You can make it through medical school.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish) (laughs)

JOHNSON: (laughs)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He said that even if they don't become doctors, as long as they behave then they'll...

JOHNSON: (laughs) Good father has spoken. Um...

ZARATE: Sounds like my dad.

JOHNSON: Well we'll start--I'm running out of questions but...keeping in mind 43:00this, these are going into the archives, so maybe someday your grandchildren or your great grandchildren will come and listen to the tapes. Um, is there anything you would wan too say? Um, any messages or any stories that you would want to say?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He says that his message is that...well, it's not a message. He said that, we all Latin people have the same beliefs, the same thing. And that language is not, not important.

JOHNSON: Language is not important?

ESCOTO: Yeah, (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: Well he says it is important, but not as--he doesn't really...that if you want to do something, it doesn't matter if you speak English or not.

JOHNSON: Okay. So is it still important to...remember Spanish and know Spanish?

(00:45:00)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He said that um, knowing Spanish is important because that's his, that's our language. And...knowing English is important, too.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: For him, English is hard to learn. And you--

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: Would you like to think that your grandchildren and great grandchildren still knew both English and Spanish.

GUILLEN: Yeah.

JOHNSON: What other things do you think are really important to keep as a Latino identity? As generations keep living here, what things are important to keep in order to still identify as a Latino?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: He says that we can't uh, identify ourselves if we don't speak English. 47:00If we can't speak English.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: We can't speak English?

ZARATE: English.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

GUILLEN: (indeterminable Spanish)

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: Are there um, are there American values that you, that you think are really important? That your children know? Are there American...What is it in America that you value? Appreciate?

ZARATE: (indeterminable Spanish)

JOHNSON: American culture.

ZARATE: La cultura Americana.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

ZARATE: That everything goes in order.

ESCOTO: (indeterminable Spanish)

(train whistle)

ZARATE: He says that the rules, the way the country is ruled.

JOHNSON: Okay. The government.

ZARATE: Yeah, the government.

JOHNSON: Okay. Alright. Well um, do you have anything to add? Do you have any, any....

ESCOTO: No.

JOHNSON: Any...okay. And you Gloria?

GUILLEN: No.

JOHNSON: No. Thank you very, very much for...listening to all my questions. Um...yeah.

ESCOTO: No problema.

JOHNSON: Alright.

(00:49:04)