Photo by Eduardo Merille via Flickr
Sandeep Varry/Contributing Writer
“Dude, I’m in the United States of America,” is probably the first statement that comes out of one’s mouth when they call their friends back home after arriving to this country. Unlike others, I had to wait over a year to say the same, when I made a trip to my best friend’s home in Columbus, Ohio.
One of the primary reasons for me to consider FIU was the feedback I received from a friend. He emphasized the graduate assistantships and the warm weather, which is similar to the city in which I grew up. But, what he did forget to mention was that I should make a trip to the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages in my hometown of Hyderabad, to get a 101 in the Spanish language.
The moment I landed in Miami, I got my firsthand experience of being in a city that runs on a language not pre-programed in my head. The first semester, especially the first few weeks, consisted of a ton of trash talking about the language issue. And it really did not help that none of my friends who I came along with spoke Spanish.
I started noticing how life could get tough if one could not roll their ‘r’s or pronounce their ‘j’ as ‘h’. From the Publix across the street to the Walmart across the town, you just could not fill your shopping cart without finding a bilingual speaker to assist you. And when the time came to cut your hair at the old Cuban barber shop, well, you just prayed and hoped for the best.
This was all back when I was new here, but now, like a wave replacing a wave at South Beach, I never noticed when my ‘Namastes’ and ‘Hellos’ were replaced by ‘Holas’.
The transition was smooth, at least for me, but I am afraid I cannot say the same for everyone around me. After living here for the past few years, the magic city of Miami has earned a permanent spot in my heart as my second hometown.
I can get anywhere with my eyes closed, figuratively speaking, and I can fill my shopping cart without any bilingual assistance literally speaking. In fact, I find no hesitation in talking to the lady, who rolls down her window and addresses me as “niño,” before she asks me the directions to the graduation ceremony.
It is not uncommon to hear someone say “the best part about Miami is that it’s so close to the United States,” when they are comparing Miami to the rest of this country. Also, I’ve heard few international students complain about not getting the “American Life” experience, which they thought they would while watching “FRIENDS” or “Spiderman” back in their countries.
Miami is a nation of its own, with a culture of its own. I get that, but I neither argue nor force my opinion upon anyone. And if someone from Boston or Chicago bad-mouths Miami, why should I respond to them? I’ll let the Heat respond to their criticism during the playoff season.
The key to having a great time in Miami and at FIU is ‘embracing’. Embracing the culture shock, not being able to speak enough English to get that awesome American accent and embracing that to change lanes you don’t really have to use your turn signals.
It gives me immense pleasure when I call my family back home to tell them stories not just about my friends from India, but also from the U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Turkey and the list goes on. I can never undermine the role of FIU in providing such a platform, to make something like that possible.
Talking about diversity is one thing, but living it is another. In my personal experience, I haven’t come across a city or university that glorifies diversity as much as FIU or Miami. Of course, no city or school is 100% perfect, but, what matters is how much you make out of it.
People, as a part of a city or university, define those places. What defines FIU and Miami is the perfect blend of nationalities living under one sky. If I were to roughly sum up the book “This Land is Our Land,” written by Alex Stepick, Guillermo Grenier, Max Castro and Marvin Dunn, I would say while everybody comes to the United States to assimilate into its culture, Miami has been successful in making the United States assimilate to Miami’s culture.
I can go all day talking about this topic, but the best part is the element of surprise in building your very own experience. Much has changed about how I interpret the things around me. My previous perspective about this city has definitely received one of those hard Muhammad Ali knockout blows.
In the end, no matter where you are, the place is just half the factor. The remainder is the kind of friends you make and the people you surround yourself with. With the right kind of crowd, there is no running out of things to do at the University or in Miami.
With that said, you’ll have to excuse me, I need to get a guava pastelito before my cafe con leche gets cold.
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