Natalie Rivas

Brian Bennington
Life History Interview
13 March, 2016

For my life history interview, I interviewed a 42-year-old woman from

Mexico. I chose to do the interview on this women because I really wanted to
learn more about this culture and about the lifestyle of the Mexican culture. I
met with my interviewer once for about an hour and a half and she just
answered a couple of questions for me. She has been a family friend for a
very long time and she was willing to do this interview for me. The culture of
my interviewee is very different than I thought it was. She went in depth on
various topics and it really helped me have a better understanding of how it
is to not be privileged in this culture.
The first topic that my interviewee and I discussed was just the general
ideas of her culture and country. She described her family and how family
always came first and was above everything, In Mexico, she said that there is
generally a lot of respects for adults and it is very bad to lack respect for the
elderly. Another thing that she added was that children and teenagers are
not really independent in Mexico like they are here in America. She has seen
that teenagers here in America usually get jobs to provide for themselves,
but in Mexico, most of the teenagers or even children in some cases, have
jobs to help their parents financially. As a young girl, she had to go out and

sell food on the streets that her mother had made. It is a tough life for many
people in Mexico that are not privileged, she said.
The second topic we covered was on family. Her description of the family was
people that you can depend on during your tough times, sad times, and
when trying to achieve goals. The family is always going to be there and is
always going to encourage you to do good in school and in life so that there
is a bright future ahead. Family are the people that you can learn good
values to live a better life. She went on describing all of the roles of each
family member saying that each role was important. She said that the
mother teaches unconditional love and that she will never judge her children
or family, therefore always being understanding. The father is loving and
hardworking. He is focused more on providing for the family financially. And
lastly, the oldest sibling has a lot of pressure because they are to set a good
example for his or her younger siblings. The oldest sibling also helps out a lot
with some of the responsibilities of his or her parents. This really made me
realize that family plays a huge role in the Mexican culture.
The third topic that we discussed was on the life cycle. In the Mexican
culture, when women turn the age of 15, there is a huge celebration called a
quincenera. This age has a huge significance which is when a little girl turns
into a young woman, It is the stage in life in which they are allowed to wear
makeup, put on heels, and date. Although there are many people that have
huge celebrations, there are some families that just cant afford to throw a
bug party. Therefore, there are some 15-year-old girls that never get this

huge celebration, but they are seen as young adult women. My interviewee
never got a quincenera because her parents could not afford it, but she did
have a little family get together. Although this was huge for many young
women, there was a bigger stage in life for all teenagers, She said that the
most difficult stage in life was after finishing Junior High. This is when they
all have to make the decision to study further or to get a job and help their
parents financially. My interviewee moved to California when she was 15 and
she never had to make the choice on whether to stay home and work or to
go to school. It was shocking to me that this choice had to be made because
in America it is not a choice whether or not to move on to High School. This
is a huge cultural difference between Mexico and America.
Another topic that we went through was communication. In Mexico, they are
strong believers in marriage or relationships between man and woman. The
fathers are usually very proud when they have a newborn boy because they
are going to represent the family name. They dont accept for their children,
especially boys, to have feelings for the same sex or to consider themselves
gay or lesbian. They usually dishonor their children when this occurs. My
interviewee has family members that are gay, and there was a time when
her nephew was dishonored by his father and she said it was a very difficult
time for her family to see that happen. I think this is somewhat similar to
what it is like in American culture because many people today criticize others
for being gay and do not accept them for who they are.

The next few topics we went over were on food, holidays, and celebrations.
Food is a very important part of the Mexican culture. Women are always
expected to be the ones to cook for the family and to have the table set and
ready to eat on. It is very important for the family to eat as a whole. If
someone is not ready for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, then the whole family
has to wait and they cant eat until that member of the family is ready to eat.
During holidays, families usually just gather at one house and they enjoy
food and games. For Christmas, the families usually do something called
posadas. This is when a group of people gather together and go from house
to house to sing songs about the birth of Jesus Christ. They then all gather
together and go to some family members house to eat. At one point during
the night, all the children are gathered together to hit a pinata filled with
different types of fruits and candy.
Dance and music are also huge parts of the Mexican culture my interviewee
said. Mariachis are a tradition to sing along and play different instruments
like the guitar, the trumpet, the violin. They also play on special occasions
like quinceaneras, marriage anniversaries, Mothers day, birthdays and to
show interest in a girl. The lyrics have different meanings and they each
apply to different occasions. Dancing is very important in Mexico. There are
special dances that are performed at public events, like for the Mexican
independence day. They have different types of costumes that they wear for
each dance. The color of the clothes that are worn is usually colorful or
white. Most of the dresses for women dance performances are long. The

guys also have different type of outfits. In most of the dances, the guys wear
a sombrero. Kids are taught different cultural types of music when they begin
elementary school so that they can remember their ancestors culture and
the meaning and importance of the dance. The dances are performed in very
respectful manners.
The last two topics that we went over were on her experiences here in the
United States and on religion. When she was younger, she never had to
worry about having a place to live or whether or not she would have food
some days and not have food other days, which was something that they did
not have in her country. She was able to finish High School, but she had a
single mother at the time that could not help her pay for college. She had to
start working at a very young age to help her mother pay for bills. She is now
able to provide for her family and her childrens education. Her daughter got
a full ride scholarship for being the first in her generation to go to college
and for being a minority. It is was very difficult for her to adapt to living in
America. A lot of people were stereotypical and they would automatically
assume she was Mexican because of her skin and hair color. Although it is
very different in America for her, she has had the benefit of getting paid a
little more money from every job that she has worked at for being bilingual.
We went over religion briefly during our interview. She is a member of the
church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In her religion, they believe in life
after death. She believes that everything that we have, everything that we

become, and everything the we experience in life here on earth is because

God and his love for us.
To conclude, I have learned a lot throughout this interview. I learned that in
America there are a lot of opportunities that are not given in other countries.
The woman I interviewed has had a much different life than I have. She did
not have all the things that I have today when she was my age. Her
experiences throughout her life were and still are very different than mine.
This interview really changed the way that I view the Mexican culture. It
really made me realize how big the cultural differences are in every part of
the world. Most of the information that I learned from this interview was very
new to me. It was a good learning experience for me and learning about this
different culture has helped me have a better understanding of what is
outside of the American culture.