Change has been the one constant in my life.While staring out at the bleak Wisconsin winter,I think back to my beginnings on a warm tropical island.The biggest change was probably the first moving from that buzzing Spanish-speaking isle to the sleepy sea-side town that was Tampa in 1978.It took me some time to realize that the other pre-schoolers could not understand my native tongue.Before long,I too was speaking their language.
Five years later I,an excited eight-year-old girl,boarded a school bus in New Jersey.The excitement quickly turned to fear as I heard rampant swearing in the back of the bus.I was truly shocked when the bus driver did nothing to stop the vulgarity.In my schools in Florida such behavior would have met with a bar of soap and a visit to the principal office.A year later,I had a "Jersey" accent,and had started swearing too.
After nine years my family then moved to a place called "a whole other country":Texas.I discovered that everything is bigger in Texas,from the size of a glass of ice tea to the distances on the road.My mother added barbecued brisket to the regular menu of turkey and Idaho potatoes on Monday and arroz con pollo on Tuesday.
Change has been the one constant in my life.While staring out at the bleak Wisconsin winter,I think back to my beginnings on a warm tropical island.The biggest change was probably the first moving from that buzzing Spanish-speaking isle to the sleepy sea-side town that was Tampa in 1978.It took me some time to realize that the other pre-schoolers could not understand my native tongue.Before long,I too was speaking their language.
Five years later I,an excited eight-year-old girl,boarded a school bus in New Jersey.The excitement quickly turned to fear as I heard rampant swearing in the back of the bus.I was truly shocked when the bus driver did nothing to stop the vulgarity.In my schools in Florida such behavior would have met with a bar of soap and a visit to the principal office.A year later,I had a "Jersey" accent,and had started swearing too.
After nine years my family then moved to a place called "a whole other country":Texas.I discovered that everything is bigger in Texas,from the size of a glass of ice tea to the distances on the road.My mother added barbecued brisket to the regular menu of turkey and Idaho potatoes on Monday and arroz con pollo on Tuesday.