Ashlee Smith Discussion 6

The most recent immigrant in my family is my cousin Darren and his family. Darren and I are the same age. When he was 16, Darren and his family moved from the island of Jamaica to New York. His family of four moved in with my family of five. Though we lived together everyone had different schedules and most of the time Darren and I wouldn’t see each other too often. Darren started at a new school and was having trouble assimilating. He was scared to speak up because of his accent and this made it harder for him to make friends or even ask for help with schoolwork. Over the summer Darren and I were both home from school and started hanging out a lot more when he expressed his obstacles. As we grew closer, I introduced Darren to my friends, and we all became one large friend group where he felt comfortable being himself. One time Darren and I were hanging out with a bunch of friends, laughing and talking. In the conversation someone said a sentence that was the exact lyric to a Jamaican song we always play at home. Darren and I looked at each other, paused briefly, and burst into the song, without missing a beat. Everyone including us laughed. A friend remarked that Darren and I were like twins always knowing what the other was about to say out loud.

This encounter reminded me of the chapter “Laughter” in The House on Mango Street. The way the author describes her connection with Nenny, is similar to my connection with my cousin Darren. The author and her sister Nenny are connected by their laughter and the way its not like the other girls, Rachel and Lucy. I am like my cousin in the way that we think alike based on our shared cultural experiences.