international opinion
unl puerto ricans fight homesickness with friendship
A'
Y
by bonnie lutz
Cl year ago, a student, lonely and a little homesick
wrote his friends at home, telling them of the opportunit
ies at college and urging them to join him.
His letters were successful. Six of his high school
buddies came to UNL in the fall of 1977.
For these students, the move to UNL was a big one,
when home to them is a culture, a language, a climate,
thousands of miles' away in Puerto Rico.
One of the students, Rosa Otero, a sophomore in pre
med, last year attended a university in her hometown
Ponce, Puerto Rico, before coming to UNL this year.
She said the schools are comparable academically in
the United States and Puerto Rico, but learning every
thing in English makes it difficult at UNL.
Otero explained that English is taught as a second
language when a child first enters school in Puerto Rico.
"We study English since we start school, but we don't
speak it usually. We just learn to write it and to read it,"
she said.
Jose Carro Ortiz, a freshman pre-med student, said a
major reason for his decision to come to the United
States was to learn English.
Alberto Torraca, a sophomore in mechanical engineer
ing, remembers when he arrived at UNL and ate in his
residence hall cafeteria. People would speak English very
rapidly, and he could not understand what they were
saying.
"I would just laugh if they laugh, there was nothing I
could do," he said.
Torraca said he enjoys having his friends from Puerto
Rico at UNL.
"We are united," Otero said. "Most of the time, we are
all together, but we deal-talk with American people. We
go to the activities that they do," she said.
Ortiz celebrated his 19th birthday in April American
style, by going to bars. He said drinking is viewed differ
ently in Puerto Rico than in the United States. There is a
drinking age in Puerto Rico, but people are not regularly
checked for identification.
"You can drink at one year, three years, four years,"
he said.
Torraca said he has seen more drinking problems with
people living in the United States than in Puerto Rico.
He referred to a UNL student he knows who often drinks
35 beers a night, which is unheard of in Puerto Rico.
The students agreed that they miss their families,
certain foods and the climate of Puerto Rico.
Torraca said in Puerto Rico, they have rice and beans
daily.
"One gets tired of eating mashed potatoes every day,"
he said.
Ortiz said Nebraska is good for studying, because it is
quiet.
When the foreign students saw snow for the first time,
they stayed outside until very early in the morning.
"The first time I saw it, I said 4oh it is so pretty',"
Ortiz said, "but the second time ... it is too cold. I grew
to hate it."
Ortiz said people in the United States seem "very
independent.
''Sometime I think that people don't care over here,
maybe it is because I am a foreign student. I think that
one can find people that care, people that don't care,
anywhere," he said.
Torraca said even though he was born in Puerto Rico,
he is American.
"We are born with a United States citizenship, so we
are American citizens," he said.
)tero explained that Puerto Ricans cannot vote for
the president of the United States, but they do have a
representative in Washington, D.C., who does not have
voting privileges.
The students agreed that people generally have three
views toward governmental rule in Puerto Rico.
"We have people in groups. One favors the way that we
wnwm
I m - . ' - W Tmr. I . 1 I
If " -f " 1 I
k. 1 4 I
4A.
--... -v
I r r J " - V"S I
I 4s t in
J 7 rJ Kr
Photo by Mark Billingstey
Alberto Torraca (left) urged six high school friends
from Puerto Rico to attend UNL. Rosa Otero is one
of the six.
are now, one wants the island to become a state, and one
wants independence. Most people want to stay the way
we are now," Otero said.
"I think that we have more opportunities staying (the
same) than being a state or (independent)," she said.
"It is nice to have our own flag and go to the Olympic
games and have our proper teams and cheer to Puerto
Rico. It is nice. I like it," Ortiz said.
Otero said Puerto Ricans watch U.S. foreign and
domestic affairs very closely.
"We do care, because we are affected," she said.
She said each time the United States has a price in
crease, Puerto Rico feels the effects too, because most of
its produce is imported from the United States.
Ortiz and Torraca said they believe Puerto Rico takes
care of its people.
"Everybody in Puerto Rico eats," Ortiz said. "They
don't die because of no food."
"We've got a lot of programs in Puerto Rico. We take
the poor people out from where the poorness is, and
sometimes they do not like where they are taken, so they
go back to where they were," Torraca said.
"We do a lot of things to help," Torraca said.
Otero summed up her feelings of the differences be
tween people living in Puerto Rico and the United States.
"Here the people, their life is faster. They hurry all the
time. In Puerto Rico, we do not walk as fast as we do
here. Their attitude toward their life is different than
ours," she said.
Torraca said only 1 1 Puerto Rican students go to UNL.
But Otero said there are large groups of Puerto Ricans in
other parts of the United States.
"We know that New York City had a big population
of Puerto Ricans. Almost one third of the population of
Puerto Rico lives there," Otero said.
"They are not like Puerto Ricans, in Puerto Rico. We
call them Neuricans. They are not of the same character,
and they do not usually like to speak Spanish. Sometimes
they talk bad about Puerto Rico," she said.
Otero explained that the Neuricans usually are second
generational Puerto Ricans, born in New York.
All three students plan on returning to Puerto Rico
after graduation to find jobs.
"I don't think I'm going to stay in my hometown,"
Otero said.
"If you stay in a town where everybody knows you,
it is hard to make business," she said.
The students see differences in the two countries, but
do not want to malce any major changes in their country.
"The way that we are accustomed, I want to keep
having (it) the same way," Torraca said. I think the differ
ences make the countries."
Venezuelan news and culture are reflected i
in
by paula dittrick
9. dream to promote Venezuelan
culture has materialized into a musical en
semble and a radio program, according to
Carlos Siso, UNL electrical engineering
major.
Siso spends his Sunday afternoons airing
Latin American Views from 1 to 3 p.m. on
KZUM-FM. The program includes both
folk and modern music from Latin
America.
Siso said he calls his brother in Vene
zuela every Sunday morning to learn about
Latin American news not reported by the
U.S. media. He shares the news with his
listeners.
The program is in English. Siso said he
has received several calls from Americans
4
Hob M ji
s- i,rr
Photo by Tim f
Concerning his radio program, Carlos Siso said be calls his brother in Venezuela 1
learn more about Latin American news.
monday, may 1, 1978
page 4
fathom
4 w
