I was at Union Square in Somerville Mass yesterday

[Xipe Totec]

This is the spot where George Washington raised the first American flag:



All around me were people speaking Portuguese, and brazilian flags were flying from many storefronts.



We went into a bakery and the attendant, a young woman, came over to assist. We told her we were window shopping and she said to us, in Portuguese, "I'm sorry, I don't speak English". With some hand gestures and a few words in Spanish that I guessed might be close to Portuguese, we were able to get our message across.

She smiled and let us look around the store while she went back to talking Portuguese to a young man (possibly her boyfriend, by the way he looked at her). They were laughing and teasing with each other, completely oblivious to our presence.

We finally picked a loaf of pan dulce and paid.

On the way out, I blurted out the one word of Portuguese I know:

- Obrigado! - I said.

- bonada! - she replied.

And we left.


It was weird to be in this place, the heart of American history, and not understand anything that was spoken around me.

Weird, but beautiful at the same time.

At no point did I feel, threatened, unwelcome, criticized, or ridiculed. Quite the contrary, I felt that everyone around me was trying to reach out and connect.

To connect in a way that transcends language and culture.

Trying to connect through the universal language of smile.

:hi:




ps: This is a cross post from the Latin/Hispanic forum. After I posted there, I realized it merits a wider audience. I hope you agree.

[crim son]

1. I love this post.

It epitomizes the best in our country.

[glitch]

11. Same here. THIS is what I call the American Dream. nt

[Xipe Totec]

14. I agree with both of you

This is the American dream. It goes all the way back to the origins of our country.

Pennsylvania and New York were not predominantly English speaking colonies at the time of the signing of the declaration of independence or the constitution. Nor were California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Texas predominantly English speaking when they became states of the Union.

There is a reason why we don't have an official national language. There would have been be no thirteen colonies signing the constitution if English had been a deciding factor.

I would go as far as stating, categorically, that a national language would be unconstitutional because it violates the first amendment; Freedom of speech.

Yet many feel threatened by the proliferation of other languages in the United States, particularly Spanish.

Many feel that language is a divisive force in our country.

It should not be that way.

We should not advocate one language, but more languages instead.

Diversity is our strength, not our weakness.

[glitch]

15. Diversity is required for a healthy system. Homogeneity tends to preceed collapse.

On the most basic level Nature introduces a new pathogen that the homogeneous culture doesn't have a resistance to and wham, there it all goes. With diversity you increase your odds that at least some may have a resistance that can be built upon. Amazing to me that even today some just don't get that.

Me, I just like different because it's more interesting than same. :)

You write beautifully, BTW.

[Xipe Totec]

16. Variety is not just the spice of life,

it is life. :-)


And thank you for the writing compliment!

:blush:

[babylonsister]

2. Our melting pot, the way it should be. Great post! nt

[Forkboy]

3. What a great post!

You really made my day with this!

And hey,Somerville is where my dad grew up. :)

[Xipe Totec]

12. That's great to hear!

I don't have family here, but my wife does (though she's from California). Her grandfather was a harbor master on the Charles during WWII.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Ah. So Union Square hasn't been gentrified yet.

It was one of my favorite parts of town because of the Portuguese seafood restaurants. When I first moved to Boston there were few Brazilians there, but many Portuguese.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. think how poorer we would be without the

languages of our immigrants--Yiddish, German, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese!

[Xipe Totec]

7. Brazilians don't speak Portuguese, they make love to it

I swoon when I hear them speak it.

:loveya:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. Brazil has been using alternative fuels for vehicles for ages, too

and they have a very enlightened viewpoint about different ethnic groups living together, I've been told.

[LaurenG]

6. Lovely! K&R

:kick:

[Gloria]

8. I lived in a closet in Somerville about 20 years ago....only place

I could afford in a rickety old house with a couple of strangers. Lasted one summer, although I enjoyed being in Boston and had hoped to relocate there...
Didn't know where I got off the train was called "Union Square"...Is that it?

[Xipe Totec]

9. There's tracks nearby, so maybe...

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2006-06,GGLG:en&um=1&q=union+square&near=Somerville,+MA&fb=1&sa=X&oi=local_group&resnum=1&ct=image

Somerville has been a Portuguese speaking community for a long time. Brazilians are the latest additions. Before them came the Cape Verdians, and before them the Portuguese proper.

I'm not from Somerville, but I have Cape Verdian friends that have family there. My first year in the Boston Area I lived in Cambridge and my friends took me and my family to see the 4th of July fireworks from the Mass Ave Bridge on the Charles. My friends spoke English, but their parents were old country and did not. They spoke to me in Portuguese, and I answered them in Spanish. The languages are close enough that we could sort of figure out what each other was saying.

[KamaAina]

10. Whoa! In another 100,000 years or so, the flag at top will be the new Hawai'i flag!

that is, once another five islands have emerged.



Oh, right, we also need a few blue stripes (for the Blue states?) :-)

[zippy890]

17. Wonderful post

We are all one race - the human race.

:hi: