This recording was made on January 24, 2018, around 9 PM in my dorm in VCE. It was an impromptu recording, one which I decided to make as a result of my first interviewee, Miguel Palacio, canceling on me. I think this recording ended up being extremely beneficial to my ethnography because it gave me an opportunity to introduce myself and talk about my own Latin American roots. This could be used in my report to give the reader a better understanding of who I am. This reflection is also when I began to realize that language within itself might not be the problem. Family and the family culture was shown to me, and ended up being a major part of my thesis.

Reflection- Wicked Problem

My first interview! I interviewed Lorenzo on February 4th at 8:30 PM in a room on Lau 2. He is from Colombia. He mentioned his transition during the first semester as challenging. He talked a lot about his family, and how at times he would call his mom to simply hear her speak Spanish - it was comforting. Him talking about his family shaped my understanding of the wicked problem to be mainly focused on family. My biggest takeaway was that he has been speaking English since he was four, but speaking in Spanish better reflects who he is.

Interview 1 - Lorenzo Gallo

After he canceled on me I finally got to talk to him on February 4th around 11 PM in my dorm! Miguel is from Colombia, lives down the hall from me in VCE, and is currently undeclared in the College. Biggest standout from this interview was the way he described as flat out warmer. It was interesting to see how he explained what he meant. Also, the example he gave of the elevators was very interesting, and after I actually found an article on lime that mentioned the same thing. This interview was my second one, and really began to shape my view on the problem to focusing more on family. Hearing things similar to what Lorenzo said in my first interview was extremely encouraging.

Interview 2 - Miguel Palacio

These testimonials were done in various locations on February 12, 2019 all throughout the day. The first was done in the ICC, second in the MSB, third in VCW, and fourth in New South. These different locations are important because they are all spaces on campus in which the Georgetown student body interacts with each other on a day to day basis. I thought the last three were funny in the sense that when I asked what Georgetown could improve and/ or what they missed from home, each person brought up food. It was encouraging to hear Victoria Ruesch, from Argentina, mention not only language, but the customs and type of people attached to the language. Isabella Maury mentioned how Georgetown could have had more Latino events in the first couple weeks on campus, which was interesting to hear brought up again. Gabriel Jamarillo's point on the how the teaching methods differ from Colombia to the United States was an interesting point that had yet to have been brought up during my time in the field.

Testimonials from Latin American students

This recording was done in the ICC Auditorium during a Macroeconomics lecture. It took place on January 31, 2019 around 2:30 PM. Even though when you first listen it might just sound like Professor Carol Rodgers is simply giving a lecture, if you listen closely at times you can hear a multitude of words being uttered in Spanish. The reality of the setting was that I was all the way in the back row, surrounded by Latin American students. They took up almost two complete rows in the back and were talking in Spanish, trying their best to understand the lecture like every other student. This is important to note because I believe that this could be a microcosm of how Latin American students interact with the general student body of Georgetown. This recording was important because it began to clarify my understanding of how Latin Americans tend to stick together.

Ambient Noise - ICC Lecture

This track was recorded on February 7th around 7 PM in the main room of Lau 2 - considered to be the most lively space out of any room in Lau. My biggest takeaway from this recording was the realization I made when hearing discussions were only in English. I began to wonder how big of a challenge it might be for these Latin American students to have to learn in English when it is not their first language. I can personally attest that Georgetown is already challenging enough. This recording brought in the question of academics into my research.

Ricardo Mayo

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