18111 Nordhoff Street

Northridge, CA 91330
October 21, 2023
Catherine Juarez
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330

Dear Juarez,

I hope you are doing well. Recently, I have been reading articles about the experiences of Latino
migrants and children of Latinos in the United States. It caught my attention and reminded me of
you because you have always wanted to know more about this topic since I started living here.
For that reason, I think you will be surprised to know that many Latinos, especially Guatemalans
of Mayan descent, change because they need to in order to adapt here.

In the article "Expressions of Maya Identity and Culture in Los Angeles" written by Giovanni
Batz, there is a lot of information about the experiences of Mayan descendants in the United
States. He mentions that upon arriving in the United States, many Mayan people change how
they dress, speak, and identify themselves to adapt to the country's Latino culture. They do it
mainly to avoid attracting too much attention and being discriminated against, and also to avoid
being identified as migrants by the authorities. As Ladina, I feel it was easier to blend in U.S.
society because I already dressed like many people dress here. But it never occurred to me that
many had to stop dressing like they did. I think if you come here, you will also feel the feeling of
sadness and nostalgia that I felt knowing this. Mainly because in Guatemala, we are very used to
seeing colorful trajes everywhere and even dressing in these trajes during special times, since
they are considered characteristic of the Mayan and Guatemalan culture.

Many children of immigrants here have to adapt to other cultures and identify themselves in
another way to be accepted in society. As is the case of Amalia, a girl of Guatemalan parents
who was part of a study written by Lucila D. Ek in the article "Alla en Guatemala." The article
talks about Amalia's annual trips to Guatemala and how this has impacted how she identifies
herself. Amalia has always identified as Guatemalan but at the end of the article she begins to
identify as "American," mainly because she says that she wasn't born in Guatemala. I think that
for you and me it is very easy to say that we are Guatemalan because we were born there; we
already have our national identity established. For me, every time people ask me where I'm from,
I say that I am proudly from Guatemala. But I haven't thought much about the experience of
people who were born and raised here with their parents being from another country. I can't
imagine what it's like to live with that identity crisis that many children of immigrants
experience.

I hope that with this letter you get an idea of what the experience of Latino families in the United
States is like. I know that many times I tell you my personal experience in these aspects, but I
found it interesting to tell you about the experience of many here. I hope it has been informative.

Sincerely,
Daniela Alarcon