Entry 9

google images/puerto rico

The person that I interviewed was my grandmother who is 77 years old and was born and raised in Puerto Rico. My grandmother never went to school so she does not know how to read or write whatsoever. It was interesting to find out what her philosophy of sustainability is since she did not have any other authority figures to influence her throughout her life besides her parents and pastor. My grandmother had no idea what it even meant to be sustainable. However, growing up in a rural area, she had to plant much of her own food and she did not grow up in a farm per se but her family also had to slaughter animals in order to have anything to eat. My grandmother is what the Hispanic culture calls mulata, she is half African American and have Native American, her parents were very poor and they were slaves up until right before my grandmother was born. Therefore, a lot of the obligations that they had to do as a family in terms of gardening and hunting were for necessity. She also grew up in a small shack with a few pots and pans, a small bed and spent most of her time outdoors. My upbringing was very different from hers, since my parents provided me with all of the essentials and our food came from the grocery store as opposed to having to grow our own. I also grew up primarily in a house or apartment that had air conditioning and a bundle of pots, pans and utensils. I spent much of my time outside but I also watched a lot of television and played indoors for the most part. When I had told my grandmother what I had learned in my Colloquium class she said that what I have been taught is much of what she was however, not for a grade or the purpose of education but for survival.