From Dragonfly: No Habla Espanol

I have no idea as to the demographics of other prisons, specifically federal prisons, but here, at Carswell, about 50% of the inmates appear to be of Hispanic origin and the vast majority of those speak Spanish as a first language. Depending on how long they've been in the United States, they speak at all levels of English. Some have spent 20+ years, or were born in the U.S. Others never spent a day, before being arrested trying to cross into the U.S. They tend to have the hardest time with speaking English.

Generally speaking, I have no problem with people speaking any language they feel comfortable with. I have traveled internationally, and my language remains English. I think the U.S. is the only country that has one official language. There's actually a joke.... What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Answer: Trilingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Answer: Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language? Answer: American. Bad joke, I know, but true in many ways.

When I was in Junior High, I was given a choice - take French or Spanish classes as my chosen foreign language. Always having had a fascination with Paris, I chose French. There was no talk about practicality. I've been to only two places in my life that speaks any French, and that lasted only a couple days of my lifetime thus far. I did take one semester of Spanish in college, but by then I was so versed in basic French, that learning basic Spanish got confused in my head - I'd start saying the Spanish alphabet, and suddenly be doing the French one. Also, I never could quite roll my r's. Needless to say, I am able to say, "Gracias," and a few other basic terms - count to 20, etc., but Spanish is not my forte. In fact, neither is French anymore. I grew up learning Hebrew, but only how to read and speak it, not understand it. I don't think foreign languages are my strong point.

I mention all this because when Blondie left for home last week, we knew we'd be in for a new roommate. The new roommate is not new to the prison, but seems nice enough. Only thing is that her English is not strong. She speaks Spanish. This has resulted in my being in a room of three strong Spanish Speakers, so 95% of everything said in my room is in Spanish. I am able to pick up a word here and there, but generally speaking, I just am not part of the conversations. I know that they are not being rude, as some of my fellow inmates would claim, they are just leaning on a language they are comfortable with - why should I be accommodated when there's another woman in the room who can not understand the English as well? Whenever they need me, they speak to me in English, and we all get along pretty well. Longwinded often acts as a translator for the new woman to me, who I will call Mexico, as Mexico has difficulty with many words.

Like the others in the room, Mexico is already looking at her out date this year. She is expecting to leave in June. She's one of many Mexican nationals who are forced to go back to Mexico after serving their time here. She moved here with her parents when she was a teen and lived at a border town, which is why she really never learned English. She's had five children, all American citizens, the youngest is only 1 year old. However, she was only here on a visa, and being in prison takes away that visa, so she is forced back to Mexico. Her children will remain here with her parents. They will travel across the border on weekends to see their mom, and then come back to the U.S. for school and opportunities. Mexico will likely never be able to come back into the U.S. again.

So, I'm probably with my last group of roommates now. Of course, anything can change at any time. I have no problem with my room. Everyone is kind. We all keep the room clean. We go to bed early, and no one is mad if someone wakes early. These are the things that matter. As for language, we figure it out a day at a time - but I sure wish I had chosen Spanish as my foreign language! (My friends, Traveler and Joy, know many languages - given the opportunity, that is certainly the way to go!)