Ramneet Kaur  0:00  

So my name is Ramneet Kaur. I'm a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. I'm interviewing Paola Rodriguez from Richmond, Virginia. Today is Tuesday, November 19, 2024, and the time is 10:14 am. This [unintelligible] ... this interview is being conducted at the James Cabell Library. Paola, thank you so much for allowing time to interview ... for this interview. So first, I'd like to ask some basic questions about you, your family and your background. Could you start off by sharing where your family's from, your childhood, and how you grew up? 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  0:39  

Sure. So my family is from Puerto Rico. We were all born there and moved to the US in 2002. I was five. My mom moved us to Florida. North Florida, actually, to get her PhD. And so we stayed. We had plans to go back after she finished her four year program, but we ended up staying because we ... my sisters and I were very deeply ingrained in our community, and we were fitting in pretty well. And so we stayed in Florida, and it was a very happy childhood, very good. We all went to the same university. My mom and my dad eventually got their higher education degrees from Florida State, and then I moved to Richmond in 2020 during the pandemic. I'd already graduated college, and I wanted to get out of my hometown, so I moved here, and I've been in Richmond for four years now, and I really enjoy it.

 

Ramneet Kaur  1:36  

Awesome. Okay, so can you tell me about your educational trajectory. Where did you go to school and the highest level of education you've achieved? 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  1:45  

Sure. So I went to public elementary, middle and high school when I went to Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida for my undergrad degree, and that is the highest level of education that I have.

 

Ramneet Kaur  2:01  

Okay, can you talk about your experience with the school system as ... as a Latina? 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  2:06  

Um, so in elementary school, I can remember learning English in kindergarten. So I did the ESL program for one year, and that's how I learned English. And then I was the only Hispanic kid for a long time. I ... my hometown is predominantly White Caucasian, so for a long time, and the communities my family was involved in, we were the only Hispanic people there. And then I have a name that a lot of people have a hard time pronouncing, so I always stood out as ... stood out or was known because I was the young woman named Paola who people had a hard time pronouncing her name. My middle school was awesome because I did the pre International Baccalaureate program. Have you heard of IB before?

 

Ramneet Kaur  2:06  

No.

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  2:08  

It's like advanced placement. It's predominantly in high school, but in middle school you can do it. It's more advanced classes for students, and it was diverse. So I was no longer with White Caucasian students. I was with Asian and Black African American and Hispanics. And it was awesome, because then I got to realize that my predominantly white hometown actually had different cultures, and so I was able to be a part of that, and that was awesome, because then I wasn't the only one with a very hard pronounced name. 

 

Everybody else the teachers had to look at them and say, "I have to respect your name and your culture and who you are as your identity". And then I went back to White high school, and I was fine. So it was only in middle school that it felt diverse, and then all the other parts of my education were predominantly White students. I would say the second racial group was probably Black African American. So I didn't find a lot of Hispanics until I moved to Richmond and I found Hispanic people to be a part of a community with. But I still got my education like I required assimilating. It required being like them to fit in. But it wasn't until I moved to Richmond as an adult outside of the structure that is education, and found people like [unintelligible], spoke a similar language to me and had really delicious food that I could finally feel that part of my identity.

 

Ramneet Kaur  4:25  

I can imagine you must be ... you must have felt really relieved to find your community. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  4:30  

Do you know what it's like? I'm sure you do. You know what it's like to be sitting in a group of people and you can lean to the person next to you and start whispering something in a different language, and nobody knows what you're saying. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  4:38  

Yeah. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  4:38  

Oh, it's so powerful. I love it. That's your favorite part.

 

Ramneet Kaur  4:43  

Okay, so did you grow up with religion?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  4:46  

Yes, I grew up Methodist.

 

Ramneet Kaur  4:49  

Could you like tell me more about it. Are you still religious?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  4:52  

I am not religious. No, I stopped practicing when I was 18, but I grew up going to church every Sunday, rain or shine. And my parents grew up in a Christian home, and so we were raised in a Christian home, but once we turned 18, we got to choose. You know, the restrictions of our parents, nice requirement to go to church changed. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  5:16  

All right, so tell me about your journey from Puerto Rico to Richmond. Like, how did you come to live in Virginia? And did you live anywhere else for settling here?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  5:30  

Yes. So, like I said, I was born and raised until I was five in Puerto Rico. My mom got her PhD in Tallahassee, which is north Florida, the capital of Florida, and so we lived there for about 20 years. I lived therefor 20 years. I said my mother is still there. And then after college, and after a year or two, I graduated college in 19, so then the pandemic hit the next year. It was in the pandemic that I ... I studied hospitality, so I work in hotels, and there were no hotel jobs during the pandemic because all of travel shut down. So I was at a restaurant, and I just had to get out of town. My parents divorced when I was 17, so my dad was living here in Richmond. That's how I came here. My dad was living here, and he knew of a friend, who needed to hire a receptionist at a law office, and so I saw that as my ticket out of my hometown in Tallahassee, and then I came to Richmond and waited the pandemic out until the hotels opened up again and I was able to get back into my career. But that is how I went from Puerto Rico to Tallahassee. So that was my mom's education. Westayed. I did my education, and then pandemic, and then I came to Richmond four years ago now, in November. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  6:51  

Okay, and do you have any family members that still live in Puerto Rico? 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  6:57  

Yes.

 

Ramneet Kaur  6:58  

Are you close with them? 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  6:59  

Yes! Yes, my mom's side is still there. My dad's side was there, but they've all eventually moved to the United States as well. I come from a pretty small family, but my mother's side is still there, and they're still in the hometown that I grew up in, and my mother grew up, and they all still live there. I get to see them about once a year, but as we've gotten older, especially with my cousins and an aging grandparent, we communicate through text, WhatsApp, FaceTime. We put a little bit more work into it, but yes, I still have family in Puerto Rico. I still have a connection there, which is important. And I do have a connection to my father's side, but most of them have moved to the states like we did.

 

Ramneet Kaur  7:46  

And do you have any family that lives in Richmond? 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  7:50  

No, I'm the only one. My dad used to but then he moved away, and so it's just me. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  7:56  

All right, let's see. Uh, so what was Richmond like when you first moved here?

Paola Rodriguez Marty  8:09  

[laughs] Well, it was the pandemic, but it was like the tail end of 2020, so, I mean, people were still freaking out, but they weren't freaking out as much anymore. Um, and again, I'm from Florida, so during the pandemic, Floridians did not care about the pandemic. It was very loosey goosey with a lot of the rules. So Richmond was a lot more strict than where I was from, so that was a stark difference. But I came in November, so it was fall. It looked just like this four years ago. And again, Florida, it's hot most of the year, so the seasons were wonderful, but things were closed or things were restricted. So I couldn't embrace full Richmond culture until the next year, one when it was spring. So things were ... it was warm, so you can go outside more,or you could ... there was just more activity. But also the pandemic had calmed down a little bit too, so it was a mixture of both season ... like time of year, the season and the pandemic.

 

Ramneet Kaur  9:11  

So what has been your experience with the Latino community here? 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  9:15  

Great question. Okay, so I joined a volleyball team, a social volleyball league, and the person who invited me was a co worker, and he is Hispanic, and so he asked me to join his team made up of other Hispanics. So that's when it first started. And so I got to meet these people, and I played with them for about a year. And through them, they told me about festivals, events, other people who are Hispanic, who live in the area, and so they were my first education into the Richmond Hispanic community. At the same time, I met Natalie, my friend Natalie, and she's been in Richmond her whole life, for just about her whole life. And so she taught me and showed me around as well. And her parents are both Hispanic. So as our friendship developed, I got invited to her house, and so when her mom cooked, oh, that was great. And so it was just about people. So my volleyball team helped me, and then my friend Natalie and her family showed me that there was a larger ... there's a larger Hispanic community here in Richmond. They're just hidden, or they're just not in the city. They're kind of pocketed outside of the city limits into the counties, and it was through them. But the festivals have been great. I've loved going to the festivals, because then people come out of the woodworks, and then there they are, and it's so good.[laughs]

 

Ramneet Kaur  10:48  

How do you feel that the community is, like, really hidden from the city? How do you feel about that?

Paola Rodriguez Marty  10:53  

Well, it's pretty sad. It's ... it's ... it's pretty sad. However, looking at it from the demographic point of view, most of the Hispanics who are here live in ... live in areas where they find people who look like them. And so if they've ... they're kind of down in, um, like around the Midlothian, Chesterfield area because that's where they are. And so those communities migrate to each other, and that's where they build and settle. They're not in the city limits as much, also because of their financial aspects. But that's not everybody. That's not everybody at all,but a lot of people are immigrants and who work more on the blue collar side, and so they live where they can afford based on where their financial status is. And so that's why I think that they're kind of in the county side versus the city side. But then also they have children, so they have places of education that are in their district and things like that. But I'm looking at this from single woman perspective, who lives in the city, who has a full time job, comes from high education, [unintelligible], whatever, rather than someone who immigrated to the US and had to work hard to survive. I didn't have that because I have citizenship status through being Puerto Rican. I have no idea where I'm going with this question, but, I mean, it's sad, but it makes sense ... 

 

Ramneet Kaur  12:26  

Yeah.

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  12:27  

And that's the reality of it for now.

 

Ramneet Kaur  12:29  

I think that makes sense. What has been your experience with those outside of the Latino community?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  12:38  

It's my everyday experience [unintelligible] I live all the time. I mean, it comes from my colleagues at my job, my roommates who are not Hispanic, the activities ... the social activities I participate in, my friends. In my friend group, I think I'm one or two people of color amongst, like, a group of 10 people. So it's my everyday life, but I'm used to it because it's been my everyday life since I was a child. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  13:10  

Okay. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  13:12  

It doesn't ... I still recognize that I'm somewhat different. I'm not super dark. So people, you know, people think I'm Brazilian because of my name, but they ... and they don't ... they think of my dark hair and my olive toned skin, and they probably noticed that I'm a little different. But you put me in a crowd of people, I don't think I'd stand out that much, so I think that I've assimilated really well. And yeah, it's my everyday life. That's true, that's true. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  13:40  

And what are some of the biggest obstacles you've encountered in Richmond?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  13:55  

I don't know. I really enjoyed Richmond. I've loved living here, and I do want to continue living here. I'd like to settle down here. I haven't encountered any obstacles yet that are ... are specific to Richmond. The ones I have are, like national issues, like inflation has affected housing, and my rent goes up each year, things like that. And those things, I don't think they fall down to a state level as they do to a national level of how they can get fixed. From where I come from, from my hometown in Florida, I was a lot more narrow minded, a lot in southern culture. This is starkly different, and this is better, and that's why I've enjoyed being here so much that I don't want to go back to that ... what I knew before, with that, just like narrow minded thinking, Southern traditions, Southern values. There's so much culture and diversity here in Richmond. And it's also a little more liberal thinking than where I'm from, and so I haven't had any obstacles yet. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  15:09  

Well, that's good. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  15:09  

Yeah, thank God. No, it's been good. It's been great. Yeah, I wish there was more snow. But that's not me. That's again, global issue ...

 

Ramneet Kaur  15:19  

Yeah. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  15:20  

Richmond issue... 

 

Ramneet Kaur  15:21  

Yeah, that is and did you experience any like, cultural shocks when you first moved to Virginia?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  15:27  

The culture shock was finding out that there were Hispanics here and finding them. That was it. Again, I grew up in just like White America my whole life. So I'm used to this, well, White America and then also Black America. My hometown is not just White people, it's predominantly White people, and then Black African Americans. So no, the only culture shock was finding out there were just other Hispanics here in town. Isn't that crazy? 

Ramneet Kaur  15:55  

Yeah, that is crazy. And I can, like, kind of relate to that. I'm Indian, so, like, I mean, we have a big community, but they're really, like, spread out. A lot of them live in, like, Midlothian, Chesterfield area ... 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  16:09  

Yeah. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  16:09  

I live in Powhatan, so, yeah, so it's just me and my cousin. So it's like …

Paola Rodriguez Marty  16:17  

Yeah, those are your people. It's your community. Yeah, for me, it was just me and my sisters, and my mom and dad, and that was us. I remember the first time we met ... in my hometown, we met another Hispanic family. The father was Puerto Rican, just like my family. The mother is Honduran, and they were also named Rodriguez, and we just bonded so quickly because we found each other and we were in similar ... we were in similar circles. We went to the same elementary school as their children, so that's how we all met. But they ... their parents had similar educational backgrounds as mine. They were three boys [inaudible] three girls, and so we kind of just found them, and I remember we bonded to them, and they're great family friends, but when you find people like that, you hold on to them ... 

 

Ramneet Kaur  17:04  

Yeah.

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  17:05  

So you can find a larger community.

 

Ramneet Kaur  17:06  

That' .... it's like a sense of relief that you found, you know, people of your community.

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  17:12  

That's true. That's very true.

 

Ramneet Kaur  17:15  

Okay, um, what kind of resources have you found here to help you with your life? Have you benefited from the help of any organizations or individuals, like nonprofit organizations?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  17:30  

I am involved with Habitat for Humanity on their pride build. I volunteer with them on their planning team. So I didn't benefit. I benefit from it as finding another community to be a part of, somewhere to volunteer my time and my resources. But I'm not taking something from them. I'm more giving them my time. Organizations is just like ... the ... the social part of being an adult woman who's by herself and finding friends is hard when you're an adult. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  18:10  

Yeah. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  18:11  

Figure that out when you graduate college and finding out you have so much time as well. So non organizations that were giving me a resource, but they were just giving me a community. That's where I benefited from volleyball team.

 

Ramneet Kaur  18:30  

So can you tell me about your current job and any other jobs you've had since living here?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  18:35  

Yes, so I came to Richmond, and I was a receptionist at a law firm. That was my big girl job here in Richmond, but I'm in the hotel industry, so I worked at the Jefferson, which is fancy. It's the oldest hotel in town. And then I now work at the Westin, which is a Marriott property. So I saw different peoples coming in through the doors of both the law firm. There are people who needed help.The Jefferson, well, they're ... they've got money. They can spend a pretty pricey room night, and some very rich people that go through that door. I saw the governor for his inauguration. I saw actors and movie stars and authors. I saw a lot of people, and then at the Western, which I would call your Joe Schmo, average human being. So I've seen different walks of life walking through the door, but my job is all about service and being hospitable. And so, I've met a lot of people and a lot of backgrounds through those things, but those have been my job is in town.

 

Ramneet Kaur  19:38  

Nice. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  19:39  

Thank you. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  19:41  

And let's see. So going back to COVID-19 and everything, you moved here when COVID just started. Well, how did you first learn about it? 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  19:54  

About COVID? 

 

Ramneet Kaur  19:55  

Yes.

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  19:56  

Oh, girl, that's PTSD. I remember in March, I ... okay, so in college, I studied hospitality, whatever. I worked with ... in college, I worked on a food truck, and they opened a restaurant. And so they opened the restaurant mid February, and then few weeks into March is when we heard the, like, businesses were going to close for two weeks. That was the first thing they said, that businesses were going to close for two weeks. And I remember having to wipe down things that were touched often. And so that's when we started hearing about Coronavirus and how it came from Asia ... China, and then it made its way across the world, and then the business closed, and everything closed for two weeks, and we were all at home. It was like the stay at home order. And then, of course, that extended longer and longer and longer. And so that's how I first heard about it. Just after the restaurant opened. I always remember it was the first two weeks of March when it all changed.

Ramneet Kaur  21:01  

Yeah, I was in high school when COVID started ...

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  21:06  

Oh no!

 

Ramneet Kaur  21:08  

It was two weeks of no school, and then the ... everything extended.Yeah.

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  21:14  

Yeah.

 

Ramneet Kaur  21:17  

Okay, so how did you and your family deal with all the abrupt changes, like staying at the home ...?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  21:24  

Girl, that is a question you have to ask every single person in this country. It was hard. It was hard. I was living with my mom my first year out of college, so I was at home. My younger sister was in college just down the street. Florida State is in the same hometown, so she came home from her sorority house. She lived with, like, 50 other girls. She had to come home. And then my older sister was in New York City, and New York was a hot spot, and so she ... it was chaos trying to get her down. So she ended up driving, like, early March, she drove down from New York to Florida. So we were all in my mother's house, which is not a very spacious house. My sisters and I, we have big personalities, so we had all these clashing personalities living in her house while nobody knows what's going on. We just know we had to stay in. You couldn't be social. You don't know when the ... we didn't know when the stay at home order was gonna end, and then it kept getting extended. And then all, like, my sister and her friends knew that New York was just a hot spot, and people were dying, and it was just horrible. And I just wanted to get out because I didn't have anything to do. My restaurant had closed, so I had nothing to do. My sister couldn't work. My younger sister couldn't go to school, and I was going crazy with nothing to do. I honestly don't even remember the first two weeks of the pandemic. I think I blacked out. Then I remember the Black Lives Matter movement, starting when George Floyd was killed and when Brianna Taylor was killed, that was really hard. That was chaos. That year was chaos. So that's what I remember from the first few weeks of COVID. God, it was horrible. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  23:10  

No, it was. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  23:11  

Horrible. Then when the restaurants opened because they were considered essential workers, I was able to go back in because I was a manager, but my mother was so angry because I would go back to work, while she and my sisters had to stay home because they could stay home. 

 

And so I was being exposed to people, still wearing my mask and practicing COVID protocols, but I had to go back and forth between my job and my house, and my mother was always very freaked out that I would bring home COVID because we didn't know truly what COVID was. We just knew people were dying and getting sick and all these things were happening. It is our war story, our generation. This is our war story. We all have one.

 

Ramneet Kaur  24:00  

Okay, so were there any family members, friends, or someone you were close to, severely impacted by COVID?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty 24:08  

No, not in the health sense. I mean, in the ... in the financial aspect, yeah. In the restaurant industry, like income changed because we weren't getting as much business. Tell me the question again, social ...

 

Ramneet Kaur  24:32  

Were any family members or friends or someone you were close to severely impacted by COVID? Doesn't have to be, you know, health wise, just mentally. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  24:39  

Okay. Everybody ... Everybody was mentally affected by COVID at some point. My sister had to move out of her city. Her New York apartment had to come down here. So she had that disruption in her home, but she was still safe. Some people were stuck there by themselves. Can you imagine quarantining by yourself? Oh, my God, that was horrible. Never did that, but thank God. Directly, yes, everybody I know was affected by COVID - mentally, emotionally, financially, maybe. Yeah, it touched everybody. It touched everyone. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  25:20  

Yeah, I think ... I think I've gone crazy staying at home. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  25:25  

What I find the most sad are the students, especially the young kids who had to do school at home and that affected their social abilities. Some ... they're called COVID babies, the children who don't know how to socialize, the children who are behind in their education because they weren't ... they didn't have that structure at school that we were used to. They are behind educationally, and that will affect them their whole life. I have some people ... I don't have people. I've met people of my age who are teachers, and they tell me they get students who don't know how to write complete sentences, who don't know how to write a five sentence paragraph, but they've just been passed along each grade because they meet basic requirements, but they are stuck in the grade they ended because they didn't have that structure that they had in school before the ... before COVID.

Ramneet Kaur  26:18  

Yeah, I agree. I work with kids, so I've seen, you know, I've seen kids who can't fully write and read. It's just ... it is horrible, and it breaks my heart because this is our ... they're our future. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  26:32  

Absolutely, 

 

Ramneet Kaur  26:33  

Yeah, because sometimes I get scared because ...

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  26:37  

Yes, yes! I just got chills. Yes, exactly how ... just how are you supposed to be a well rounded thinking human being if you ... if they've just been pushed to the next grade without the actual proper preparation? Oh, that's horrible. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  26:52  

And I think the online learning definitely did not help. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  26:55  

No, no. No, it did not. No. Kids need structure. Kids, humans, adults, I believe we all need some sort of structure and routine. That was highly impacted. But we didn't know what was happening, and I understand that leaders and whatever government organizations they were trying to combat it as best as they could, because no one was prepared for what happened. Again, this is our worst story. Nobody was prepared. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  27:10  

I agree. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  27:29  

I hope we are now. You know, if this happens again.

 

Ramneet Kaur  27:36  

And how do you think the Hispanics were impacted by the pandemic? Did many people you know get vaccinated? Did you get vaccinated?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  27:44  

I did. I don't know how the Hispanic community was impacted. I really don't know. I do know people who were vaccinated. People in my social circles were. I remember the controversy around the first vaccination, and people had opinions about it, but I did end up getting vaccinated, I think, like, two or three times, and then after that, I'm just over it. I don't want any more vaccines. I hate COVID. Now, anytime someone coughs or just gets sick, the stigma is that they have COVID, but if they don't, they could have anything else. They could have a flu, cough, but it's just the fear we've been psychologically trying to fear that any cough or runny noses is COVID.

 

Ramneet Kaur  28:34  

Yeah, and well, we're at the ... I have a few final questions. So do you feel like you belong in Richmond? Is there anything that prevents you from having of that sense of belonging?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  28:50  

I think I belong, um, like 50% because I still feel like I belong to my hometown in Florida because I still have a connection there, which is my mother, my high school friends, my alma mater, and I still feel like I belong to Puerto Rico, because that's the blood that runs through my veins is that of the Puerto Rican, one of my family is there, and I have those connections. I don't think I will ever feel 100% connected anywhere because I have connections in other places, and that divides my identity. So when people ask me where I'm from, I say I'm from Florida. I'm fromTallahassee because I've been there, or I was there for 20 years as a child growing up. But then some people ask me where I'm from. They just want to know what my ethnicity is, and so I say I'm Puerto Rican. But rarely do I say that I'm from Virginia because I'm not from Virginia.Yeah, I just live here, but maybe in 20 years, I'm changing my mind.

 

Ramneet Kaur  29:51  

And have you ever omitted parts of our ... parts of your identity or cultural practices to fit in?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  29:59  

Oh, deep cut. Maybe as a kid, not knowing what I was doing, but no. Maybe as a child, but not anymore, and with a name like Paola, I really can't. I really can't. I love my name. Like, that is part of my identity 100%, but I can't pretend that I'm not. So no, I know. And now,as an adult woman, it's cool to be different. So no, I'm very proud. I know. I don't think I've done it as an adult, not at all 

 

Ramneet Kaur  30:43  

As a kid ... it's like ... it's a different story because you wanted to fit in. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  30:45  

Exactly!

 

Ramneet Kaur  30:47  

Yeah.

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  30:48  

I want to fit in with my friends and with my church group and things like that. My church ... so I grew up in church, my ... the people in my church call me Paula my whole life, and I didn't correct them when I was young, when I told them my name when I was five and I first met them, and ever since then, I've been Paula, and I that makes me more and more annoyed the older I get. For those who are still my dear, closest friends that came from my church, and so the ... like, the next time I see them, I'm going to have to correct them and tell them what you've been calling me for 20 years is wrong, and now it's time to learn what it really is. 

 

You know that sense that ... just like taking ownership and telling someone that what you've accepted for so long is incorrect, but now they need to learn because it's wrong anyways. 

 

Ramneet Kaur  31:34  

Yeah, it is. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  31:35  

So there. That is the time I did it, and that is ... that has haunted me my whole life, but every other time, no, because it's cool to be different. I have a story, you know, I have ... I have ... I have a cool place to go for the winter where it's hot and tropical, and I have family to visit, and I have really good food to eat and a different language to speak that I can speak with millions of other people. They have their own dialect of it, but no one can change that, and people are jealous.

 

Ramneet Kaur  32:11  

Okay, and have you ever refrained from doing something in order to be accepted in the United States?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  32:18  

Oh, for sure. Oh, wait, refrain from doing something to be accepted in the United States. Oh, yeah. Okay, so in my job, I ... we have a lot of Spanish speakers in and there have been times that I don't speak Spanish when I know it would be much easier to communicate with them if I spoke in our common language. Their first language because English is second to them. But there have been times that I've just chosen not to and I've just spoken English knowing there was ... it's gonna be a little more difficult to understand each other. Yeah, I did. I do that sometimes. But no, that's it for the main one.

 

Ramneet Kaur  32:59  

And ... and by not speaking Spanish to other Hispanics, have they ever criticized you for that?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  33:11  

Maybe not to my face, but probably behind my back. Maybe. Sometimes, you know, the eyes speak a lot of words, so sometimes the look someone can give you, yeah, it's almost like, why don't you want to? Why don't you want to make this easier? Why don't you just want to, like, what am I trying to say? Why not just make it easier for everyone and just be who you are and use that other tool, which is my second language, to communicate. I'm sure I have more answers. I mean, I'm 28 years old, and I've been doing this game for a long time, the game of life, and so, yeah, I'm sure I've done it multiple times. Some are subconscious. You know, some things we just do subconsciously to fit in and to not stand out. But then others, I've definitely done with purpose. [laughs] Sometimes it's just about surviving or getting through the day. 

Ramneet Kaur  34:10  

Yeah, I ... relate. I can relate to that. So what do you think of how the issue of immigration is talked about by the politician?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  34:20  

Oh my Lord! They don't anything else to talk about. Sometimes I just think they have nothing else to talk about. Did I let you finish the question? I don't think I let you finish.

 

Ramneet Kaur  34:31  

I was almost done anyway. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  34:32  

I'm sorry. I think that ... I think it's just a hot topic that very narrow minded, privileged people of our country love to harp on and I think they just let people be, you know. The fact that now ... it's with the current political administration that's coming in, it's just going to be [inaudible]. It's just war against people. Some people are coming here with good intention. People don't come here with good intention either. But it's crazy. It's frustrating that it is such a hot topic in this political climate we live in. Some people are just trying to live a better life, and some are not trying to live better life, just some ... some people come with ... some people move to United States with not the purpose of being better for themselves or being better for others. They just, maybe they have some selfish reasons. I don't know. I don't know anybody with selfish reasons who moved to the United States. I don't, but it's crazy. That's crazy. It's just ... just fighting against people.

It's ... it's quite frightening. Also, I'm very privileged. I'm very lucky. Maybe that 200 years ago, the United States bought my tiny island from the Spanish for colonial reasons, and so that granted me citizenship, so I don't have these struggles. I don't worry about immigration or deportation or nothing like that. I've never worried about that. But that doesn't mean I need to be ... I have to be blinded by it, or I should be blind to it. No, in that position, it's the most important thing to do is be aware of what's going on. So to finally answer your question, I think it's crazy and ridiculous, and that our politicians have better things to think about than getting people out of our country. Yeah, and you know who ... you know who knows more about our country and our history and our legal system? Those who are studying,who are immigrants, who study to ... we have citizenship, those who study our laws to understand how to not get caught, how to avoid legal persecution. Not just any Joe Schmo who was born here with citizenship and is probably very privileged and blah, blah, blah, no, nothing. They don't know anything. Definitely put that on your website. [laughs] I don't mind my name be associated with that. Go ahead.

 

Ramneet Kaur  37:27  

Okay!

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  37:28  

I sound insane. I hear myself. Don't worry. I hear myself.

Ramneet Kaur  37:35  

I find it refreshing. I just like ... I think I like ...want to know about people's perspective about this, and I agree. I definitely 100% agree. My parents are immigrants here and everything. They have their citizenship, and I was born here, so it's like, I don't want to be blinded by that.

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  37:57  

Exactly, exactly. I cried the morning the election results came out. A lotof people did. I definitely cried. Yeah, it's gonna be a rough next four years.

 

Ramneet Kaur  38:12  

Okay. And what would you like them ... what would you like them to know about the Hispanic community? 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  38:19  

That it's beautiful, and that it's vibrant, and it has a lot of similarities. I think the ideals of family and community, of respect is ... is important, but that the Hispanic culture and community is just ... is very strong. It's admired by a lot of people who are not a part of it. There's great food and great music, and that it's contributed to the overall general culture of the United States, and the culture outside of the US. Hispanics are everywhere. They're truly all over this country, and that they're going to continue to grow, and then I hope one day we become the majority,and that's what I have to say about that.

 

Ramneet Kaur  39:15  

I was just wondering. What's your opinion about the fact that a lot of Hispanics voted for the Republican?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  39:22  

Blows my mind. I don't get it. I don't get it, and I want to understand. I'd love to hear someone who voted for the Republican nominee to explain to me why they did. They're literally targeting ... well, there's Hispanics from all mindsets, so I don't know who they're targeting. Let me stop right there. I'd like to understand.

 

Ramneet Kaur  39:45  

Okay. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  39:46  

Yeah, I haven't met anyone just yet, but I also haven't asked. It's a hot topic, you know what? You got to be careful who you ask. And so I haven't asked yet?

 

Ramneet Kaur  39:56  

Okay. And what would you like the public to know from your life story? 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  40:15  

Oh, God, I don't know. Find my life story. I'm just here trying to be a good person, trying to do my part, my community and my ... the years that I'm alive in the states I've lived. That it's a beautiful story of strength, resilience. Open mindedness is important. I have no clue, but a great question. I don't know. That's my answer.

 

Ramneet Kaur  40:56  

That's perfectly fine. And so what would you like students like myself to take away from this interview?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  41:07  

Oh, man. Again, be open minded. We live in a beautiful city with many cultures, with many ideals and walks of life, and that Richmond is not just the street you live on, the place you work, where you go school. Richmond is far greater and bigger than that, and our country is far greater than bigger than that. You should never close your mind to learning and to being comfortable to learn something new.

 

Ramneet Kaur  41:47  

I like that. And is there anything that you want to add that we may not have talked about?

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  41:59  

Your question regarding, do I know people who are affected by COVID? I read that one on my walk over, and I also thought, "No, I don't, but I know people were affected by the hurricanes" and by like natural disasters that have hit in the last decade. Um, hurricane Maria hit in 2017 and that one hit Puerto Rico very, very hard. It was a category five, and it destroyed the island. 

And so I wanted to say, although I ... yes, I knew people affected by COVID, but I know more about people affected by natural disasters, and how that changes life, and how natural disasters can change migration patterns and how people have been leaving the country of Puerto Rico to find homes and find work because their homes were destroyed, or the political or the government wasn't helping out that much, and there's this whole crazy things happening down there because of it. But I wanted to add that as well. The natural disasters have a great effect on it as well, and that changes the landscape, and the demographic, and the just ... the population of the country, of any country.

 

Ramneet Kaur  43:16  

I agree with that. I had not thought about that. 

 

Paola Rodriguez Marty  43:18  

Yeah. Now I can't tell you a specific hurricane that hit anywhere else. I mean,Haiti is not considered ... Haiti is part of the Caribbean. I don't know if you would describe them as Hispanic, Latino. Maybe that's a controversial subject, but her ... the earthquake in Haiti back in 2008, I think, 2005 was also a big impact to that community. That's what I got … yeah. Yep, natural disasters, also, I think just as much as COVID does have a big impact as well.

 

Ramneet Kaur  43:55  

Well, that's all the questions I have for you today, so thank you so much for speaking with me.