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Macaulay Honors College
at Baruch, Spring 2013Professor Els de Graauw
ITF Benjamin Miller Log in
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The Abundance of Sustenance
Food was a rarity at the time of Lucy’s adolescence in Guyana. Because of this, she overindulged in American food upon coming to America.
I- immediately- like I was eating everyting I want. Ouh you should say dat. I gained weight when I got here. Because I went crazy- I went crazy eating fried chicken. Every day I want half fried chicken and lots of ketchup. It was like- ahh my god I feel like I’m in heaven. Because in Guyana you barely have food. So every day dad- every Friday actually, dad when he gets his pay, he would buy half fried chicken – me and dad and sherry was here first – and we enjai our fried chicken oh my god. And then we does go to McDonald’s and Sherry will have the big mac and this- this French fries and this milkshake. We all gained weight. I didn’t realize wah it was doing. And chocolate I was going crazy about chocolate. Eating- and we were eating like crazy. Until we start gaining weight.
Gaining Skills, Tackling Tedium, Changing Minds
Being a mathematician and scientist, I initially didn’t have any interest in this course, because it didn’t challenge or reinforce most of the skills required to be those two things. I never liked humanities courses, or anything titled “Interdisciplinary.” But having taken this course I can say that I actually enjoyed certain aspects of it and that I did learn new skills that I wouldn’t have in a math or science course, though they weren’t many and they weren’t too significant. Very basic elements of website design and excel skills are the two practical ones I learned in this course. Practical knowledge gained would be that of past immigration laws which allowed the demography of New York City to take its current form, and current immigration laws which affect Americans today, such as the Dream Act, which affects some of my friends. The majority of the course however, based itself upon the history of immigration of NYC, facts which I believe are mostly impractical but are interesting to know. Nonetheless, as annoyingly tedious as the coursework was (case in point – writing this post), it had its fun points, such as the walking tours, humorous class discussions, and class videos and tangents which used up class time.
The assignments themselves were, again, tedious, especially the statistical profile. However, I found the personal essay and interview valuable, for they prompted me to look deeper into my own roots, and why my parents decided to leave Guyana. Learning this has given me a more appreciate perspective of the fact that I was born in America and did not ever have to suffer the prevalent evils of third-world countries. I believe this is something many American-born citizens take for granted. But they cannot blamed for a lack of appreciation of current blessings after growing up in a profit-driven culture where the most exorbitant luxury is never enough and always precedes even greater future luxuries, which is clearly seen, for example, in the evolution of smartphones and cars.
So, I guess in the larger picture I can say this class has been beneficial to my perspective of life and intellectual well-being.
Why Lucy and Her Husband Left Guyana
Lucy describes the evils and corruption of Guyana:
There’s a lot of bribes- people can commit crimes, and the rich person- if- say- like this, the rich person son do something, you c- i- to the poor one – who doesn’t have money – you can’t do anything about it. Because you don’t have the money. The judge would take the bribe, and the rich one walks free. That’s how it is with everything. You bribe people to get a good job in the government. Every- everyting is a bribe, and lotta drugs money dere. And de police and de government and de president and everybody is involved in it.
She goes on to describe the poor conditions and low standard of life in Guyana:
[My husband] didn’t have a job in Guyana, so his grandfather brought him over here. He came and I wanted to come too; me nah get food for the kids, me nah get money to spend on them, and there was a lot of hardship and no job…and I can’t even buy clothes for myself. I couldn’t even feed my children properly, couldn’t even buy books for them. Shoes, milk, anything.
Coming to America for Education
Lucy describes why American education makes America so great, and the opportunities it creates that Guyana lacks:
This country like I said, have educated all my children. Made me get houses, and cars, I couldn’t- I didn’t even have a bicycle in Guyana. I have my money- you can work over here- once you work you can buy anything you want. Like dey se the sky is the limit. You can do anything you want. You educate yourself until you are 80 years old. In Guyana there’s no way you can go to school after a certain age. You don’t have the money, the means the nothing. And after that you don’t have a job, even. But this country- God bless this country. I love- I will not trade it for anything.
