El Otro Lado Thesis

El Otro Lado

People dream of freedom, justice and opportunities from around the world, this is the American Dream. In Mexico, they dream of the other side, El Otro Lado, America. Reyna Grande, award winning writer and ESL teacher, writes her memoir, The Distance between Us, a story of Grande’s family’s immigration and her evolution from Iguala de Independencia, Mexico, to Los Angeles, California in the United States in 1980’s. This transformation occurs as her family dynamics and country changes. Life in Mexico and the United States juxtaposes Grande’s living standard, culture and education--she finds significant differences in coming to the U.S. that transforms her life.

First, Grande illustrates the standard of living of her early childhood in Iguala, Mexico compared to later years living with her dad on El Otro Lado. Living with Abuela Evila, in Iguala, there was no running water. It was delivered every three days from a community well, but for Grande and her siblings, they had to bring their own water in a bucket from the well to bathe. Carlos burned the trash, there was no garbage pickup. There

were dirt roads for streets. In addition, my Abuela Evila’s home also had no electricity, gas, or indoor bathroom. Grande describes how, “SCORPIONS HAD ALWAYS been a part of our lives” (61), in addition, there were lots of mosquitos. There was no television or telephone, all things that are common on El Otro Lado.
Grande displays of a binary picture of El Otro Lado; the streets are paved, there is electricity, running water, and bathrooms with showers. Grande describes taking a shower in the U.S., “The water that sprinkled down from the shower head was so clean...water drops that tasted of rain.” (197), a new experience for Grande. There were no showers back in Iguala There are no scorpions to deal with and mosquitos were not a problem in Los Angeles. For Grande, it transforms her limited view of the world, to a world where her dreams are now possible. Grande describes such beautiful surroundings in Iguala, the jacaranda trees, in such contrast to how people were living. In returning for a visit back to Iguala, Grande has a new perspective of her hometown.
Next, Grande transport her readers from her life in Iguala, her hometown, to El Otro Lado, living in the Los Angeles area where the culture, language and the people are so different.

Holidays like Halloween and Christmas are celebrated differently here in the U.S. In Mexico, Day of the Dead is celebrated and not Halloween. Grande describes a typical Day of the Dead celebration, “We would have been decorating our altar with candles and marigolds and plates of food for our dead relatives to enjoy” (177), in addition, people celebrate by visiting the grades of the deceased. Christmas in Mexico, the presents are exchanged on the Day of the Three Wise Men, January 6. She recounts, “kids looked forward to, when our bellies would be stuffed like piñata with peanuts, jicamas, candy, oranges, and sugarcane” (135), and churches reenact the journey of Mary and Joseph to

Bethlehem.
Holidays in the U.S. are so different. Grande experiences with her first Halloween in the U.S., reminisces her brother, Carlos’s surprise, “You mean people give out candy for free?” (177). Christmas is celebrated on December 25 and Grande learns about Santa Claus, something she did not quite understand. Language was a problem again—Santa did not understand Spanish. El Otro Lado, Grande learns and adjusts to new customs, leaving behind many of the celebrations and customs from her childhood home in Mexico. She embraces many of the U.S. customs, becoming a Mexican-American, a bilingual cultural mix. Exposure to a new culture, and learning a new language adds to Grande’s education and transforms her world view.
Last, Grande portrays the contrast of the educational opportunities between Mexico, her home, and El Otro Lado, the land of freedom and opportunity. Grande describes the small towns in Mexico, where education is very limited with many only getting a sixth grade education. While others like Papi left school to work in the fields, not even making it that far. Grande depicts the education system in Mexico, school cost pesos, it is not free, requiring people of Mexico to pay a monthly tuition, to buy or make uniforms, and of course buy your own school supplies. Grande was unable to attend kindergarten because it was too expensive. Grande adds to the problems of education, “At least half of the children in the school were…grabbing their empty bellies while looking at the food stands” (51), so many students in school were not properly prepared for getting an education. Grande communicates her Papi’s belief in the great opportunity that comes from an education. He wanted his children to be educated, not to work at age nine, so he brings them to El Otro Lado.
In contrast, on El Otro Lado is a place where all children start with kindergarten, and receive a basic education provided by the U.S. government through high school. School is free. Grande recounts her starting elementary school on El Otro Lado, “Aldama was three times as big as my school in Iguala” (170) and she adds, “I peeked inside the main doors, and I was overwhelmed by all the doors, hallway that seemed to never end” (170). She becomes a great student who loves writing, winning a writing contest. She joins band class and could not believe that school provided instruments for free, which leads her to play in the Rose Bowl Parade. She graduates eighth grade, high school and college. Grande writes about her education, “I had to do was focus on why I was there—to make my dreams a reality” (318), here where things are possible. Grande comes to understand what her Papi wanted for his children. Grande overcomes obstacles to get into college, she shows her drive and perseverance toward her goal to make her Papi proud. She lives in her father’s umbra until she enters the University of California at Santa Cruz. Dreams do come true—she graduates with a BA in creative writing. and later received her MFA, then goes on to teach young ESL students, as she once was. Grande never forgets where she came from.
In the final analysis, Grande’ immigration to El Otro Lado transforms her life. Life in Iguala would not provide the opportunities her Pape wanted for her. El Otro Lado does provide the opportunities so many are looking for—we call the American Dream. With a higher standard of living and access to a great education, Grande’s perspective is transformed. Her vantage point is relative to whether she was seeing Mexico from the point of view of a young girl who only knew her hometown, Iguala, to revisiting home with a new frame of reference, from El Otro Lado. She adjusts to a new culture, language and way of living, yet never losing her roots. With her education in the United States, she has opportunities she would not have in Mexico. Her love of learning translates later in life into a love of teaching, and comes full circle. In the end, Grande believes her decision to join her dad on El Otro Lado, was the right one. Papi was right!