Born in Austin, Texas, Enrique Bustamante is visiting Paris for the first time through this SEU study abroad trip. He is very excited to get out of the States and see what France has to offer. He is a Spanish major at St. Edward’s University, graduating in December of this year. Despite never having been to France before, Enrique does have experience with traveling to different countries, as he frequently visits his family in Mexico. His parents left their life in Mexico to come to the United States, where they raised him and his little sister. Considering how Enrique has lived in Texas his whole life, it is no surprise that there are challenges that come from exploring an unfamiliar place. Despite his reservations about coming to Paris, Enrique is tackling these challenges head-on.
Q: Do you feel connected to your family’s Mexican culture?
A: Yes, I do. My parents never really embraced American culture like a lot of Latin-American families do when they go to the US. They don’t really celebrate American culture or care for it, and they don’t speak much English.
Q: When did your parents move to America?
A: I want to say ’98.
Q: Do you think it’s hard for your parents, being immigrants, especially in America when the politics are so polarizing?
A: I don’t think so. They’ve been here so long already, and we live so close to a liberal city. It just doesn’t seem like we’re affected too much.
Q: Tell me more about your family. Do you have any siblings?
A: Yes, I am second to last out of six. We come in pairs, so [I have] three sisters, two brothers.
Q: Are you close to your siblings?
A: I guess. It’s hard to know them. I grew up by myself in the U.S. and they grew up in Mexico.
Q: What was it like being raised away from your siblings?
A: It was unconventional. In a way, I was raised like a was the first child. My parents left their oldest child when he was ten.
Q: Why does the rest of your family choose to live in Mexico while you and your parents are in America?
A: It’s really expensive [in the US] right now. And it’s harder [to move] now cause of different policies.
Q: Were your siblings born in Mexico?
A: Yes.
Q: How do you think you differ from your siblings?
A: I think they had more freedom than I did [when they were growing up]. My mom kept me behind closed doors, like I couldn’t go out too much when I was little, whereas my brothers and sisters, they were free to roam.
Q: Is it hard to get to know your siblings and stay connected with them since they live so far away?
A: Yes. It’s kind of hard to understand each other’s circumstances. I feel like my brothers and sisters invalidate how I feel sometimes because they think that living with my parents was easy when it really was kind of hard. I had to go through a lot of what they did and it’s kind of hard to understand when we’re so far away.
