The Pickup

"I am going to America"

Another posting from the vacationing Lance!

We are so use to seeing ourselves and our country through Ibrahim's perspective--the Statue of Liberty welcome, the Home of the Brave land of opportunity, and the great American Dream--that we are often not sure how to react when we encounter the opinions that Julie expresses.

"America, America. The great and terrible USA. Australia, New Zealand--that would have been something better? Anywhere would be. America. The harshest country in the world." (p. 230)

Part of you wants to tell her:  "Fine. Stay in the desert and eat sand.  Wake and bake."

But we also know that she is not entirely wrong, and the scenarios she envisions for Ibrahim, the new immigrant, are as realistic as they are harsh. One need only look at this summer's immigration debates in Congress to see how poorly some people are treated here. Let's not discuss living on a minimum wage. Or border fences. Or Homeland Security.

It is not "We are going to America."

Do you think that Julie and Ibrahim will ever see each other again?

Busy, busy, busy!

This weekend I went with my neighbor to see Hairspray -- my neighbor who happens to be facilitating a session for the small group discussions on Monday, August 20.  As we conducted our usual dissection of all things reading-related (The Secret Life of Bees author will be lecturing at Well College in September; if you like The Secret Life of Bees, you will love Peace Like a River; The Golden Compass must-read before the December movie release), we eventually made it to The Pickup.  She admitted, with embarrassment, that she had not finished reading the book; she was, in fact, only 50 pages into it.  I encouraged her to continue reading; acknowledged her frustration with the author's style of writing; and sympathized with her disappointment that this year's selection wasn't her favorite.  Then, of course, I directed her to our blog for insight as she finishes preparing for her group discussion!

We, here at Cornell, are busy preparing for your arrival on Thursday -- orientation events are in the final stages of preparation (don't forget the Library tours!); materials are being prepared; the campus is being spiffed-up.  The excitement is palpable; the Class of 2011 will soon be here!  You, too, are busy preparing -- sorting, packing, saying your goodbyes, (hopefully finishing your reading and writing your essay).  You are in the final stages of preparing for your immigration; consider browsing these sites for support as you embark on your big transition:

Dear Uncle Ezra -- Dear Uncle Ezra began in 1986 as a means of connecting Cornell students, families, and alumni to the vast offices and services around campus.  Uncle Ezra will begin posting again starting August 15th; in the meantime browse the archives of over 20,000 questions and answers!

The Daily Sun -- Founded in 1880, The Cornell Daily Sun, one of the nation's oldest daily college newspapers, is and always has been completely independent from Cornell University.  The Sun is entirely student-run, publishing Monday through Friday during the academic year, with special Graduation and Freshman issues and continuing online publication during the summer.

CornellCast -- CornellCast brings you video and audio recordings of compelling lectures, discussions, and performances featuring members of the Cornell community and distinguished guests.  Check out last year's New Student Reading Project on The Great Gatsby!

Somewhere Else

For all of their obvious differences: gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, culture, religions, and motivations--all of the borders and boundaries between them--what is most interesting to me about Julie and Ibrahim are their similarities. They appear to be two halves of a single whole that offer two perspectives of the same thing.

Look at the parallels: They are both in their late 20s; they both have college educations that they have not put to full use (for very different reasons); they both have strained or difficult relationships with their parents; and they both have generous uncles who offer them help and support. Neither of them practice their formal religion, and both have rejected their roles in their traditional families. They have both chosen to leave their homelands and familiar societies.  It is a matter of belonging. 

As Ibrahim says of Julie: "Like me, like me, she won't go back where she belongs...She looks for somewhere else." (p.262) Both of them are just trying to find a place, a situation, a  home where they fit in. A place where they belong.

It is the quest in the heart of all individuals, the search for self. It is the hope of a new beginning that is the essence of all migrations--"immigration as a human solution." (p.48) It is "the great adventure, the achievement that is emigration, not understood but sensed." (p. 266)  Do they travel together or apart?

Let us go to another country...The rest is understood

Global Migration

Check out this interactive map from the New York Times.  This Global Migration map provides a snapshot of the flow of people in and out of countries around the world by tracking the average annual number of migrants from 2000 through 2005.  Before linking to the map, can you guess the top three countries that individuals are migrating to from the following list: Afghanistan, Canada, France, Germany, Italy. Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, or the United States?  Post your answers in the comments section.

Challenge question: which country is experiencing the largest exodus of citizens?  Hint: it is NOT Iraq.

The Life of an Illegal Immigrant

Immigration challenges my conscience.  On one hand, I believe immigration borders should be opened for those who are seeking new opportunities as well as political refuge.  On the other hand, with unrestricted borders, the hosting country is obligated to ensure a basic standard of living to its residents.  This dilemma creates the existing immigration environment: restricted borders with an influx of illegal immigration.  For me, the moral dilemma becomes the standard of living illegal immigrants are subjected to once they arrive; often a life that is equally challenging to the land they immigrated from.

The New York Times is running a feature on immigration -- both legal and illegal immigration as experienced by a family of sisters.  The story, "Three Sisters", chronicles the experience of three sisters as they immigrated from Mexico to the United States.  I found all three articles fascinating, yet I highly recommend reading "Fear and Hope in Immigrant's Furtative Existance", the story of Veronica and her family as they live as illegal immigrants in San Antonio, Texas.

In addition, if you are seeking book recommendations for summer reading, I am in the middle of a wonderful book The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.  In the story, Biju illegally immigrates to the United States and the story of his desparate struggle to live and work is equally compelling and heartbreaking.

“I go where they’ll let me in.”

In our narrative Abdu has not been able to secure a permanent residence permit and he has been ordered to leave the country or be deported.

But surveying the Types of Immigration that would have been available to him and looking through the South African Department of Home Affairs official documents, it looks like this deportation is more of a plot device used by Gordimer to develop her story than it is a reflection of actual law. While being married to a South African citizen or permanent resident does not automatically guarantee permanent residence status, it would seem that Julie’s background and economic status—no matter how much she would wish to deny it—would likely have allowed Abdu to stay in the country if she married him.

Nevertheless, immigration is a major issue in today’s South Africa.  The Migration Policy Institute provides a profile of the country’s complex immigration history and The Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) offers assessments of the economic and social impact of international migration on development in the region.

Where is Abdu from?

Gordimer never tells us exactly.  We are given hints to his identity, but not his nationality. There is sand, there are oil fields over a border where a brother works, and his village has a small mosque.  We are told that he is an Arab, but only indirectly at first. ("Are you a Buddhist?" "--I'm not Indian.--")

So he is from an Islamic country in a desert. 

When Julie asks him:

“He named a country she had barely heard of. One of those partitioned by colonial powers on their departure, or seceded from federations cobbled together to fill vacuums of powerlessness against the regrouping of those old colonial powers under acronyms that still brand-name the world for themselves.” (p. 12)

That essentially describes most of northern Africa and the Middle East. But “nationality” is not how Abdu identifies himself. When Julie’s café friends pry his story from him, he says:

“--I can’t say that--‘my country’--because somebody else made a line and said that is it. In my father’s time they gave it to the rich who run it for themselves.  So whose country I should say, it’s mine.--" (p. 15)

If you look at the various maps and images assembled for a Survey of the Political History of the Modern Middle East, you will see just how contentious and controversial these lines in the sand have been. And our current headlines are a daily reminder of how unsettled these issues are. 

Why is a young Arab man with a university degree in economics living in South Africa as an illegal alien and migrant worker?  Is he a refugee from poverty? Or an ambitious dreamer with a plan for success?

For more information and maps of the region, you can go to the Library's Maps & Geospatial Information site, Cornell's Department of Near Eastern Studies, or the Africana Studies & Research Center.

An Immigrant Myself

Bonjour from France!

As I enjoy the ambiance of France and all the delightful cultural benefits it has to offer (wine, cheese, pastries), I can't help but feel as though I am extremely out of place.  My inability to speak the language (so much for all those years of French), navigating an unfamiliar terrain, confusion about the cultural norms (greetings, three-hour dinners), bring to the forefront of my mind Abdu's feelings of disconnect in Julie's country.  My sense is that Abdu (similar to myself) desperately attempts to blend in; not stand out among the natives who take for granted their connectedness with the land.

It is easy to forget how comfortable we are in our own surroundings.  How must the immigrant feel to live every day in such an unfamiliar and foreign environment?  Have you had a similar experience being the foreigner?

Au Revoir; I'm off to indulge in more pain chocolat!

Another Country

By placing an epigraph at the beginning of her book, Nadine Gordimer, is introducing and drawing our attention to some of the major themes that we will encounter in our reading. The lines that she uses come from William Plomer's poem, "Another Country." She quotes from a 1936 version of the poem, where we have access to a later and slightly different version published in Plomer's Collected Poems.

The poem begins:

'Let us go to another country,

Not yours or mine,

And start again.'

We have characters that are identified and defined by their genders, ethnicities, religions, and nationalities; characters that will travel and migrate across geographical, political, personal, and psychological borders. Characters that wish to begin new lives in new places.

'Hope would be our passport;

The rest is understood.'

Look for the word understood and its opposite, misunderstood throughout the book. They often appear in close proximity to the words ignorance and innocence. How do we know or how can we understand someone from another culture?

The poem also hints that the new country may not be a place at all, but rather the state of being in love.

Her selection of this author is also significant. William Plomer, was a South African born novelist, poet, biographer, editor, and librettist. He gained international acclaim and South African scorn with his first novel, Turbott Wolfe (1926), which dealt with inter-racial love and marriage.

In her Introduction to the Modern Library edition of this book, Nadine Gordimer writes:

"It is an inexplicable lapse on the part of literary scholars and critics, that Turbott Wolfe is not recognised as a pyrotechnic presence in the canon of renegade colonialist literature along with Conrad. Indeed, William Plomer's astonishing first novel, which first appeared in 1926, ignited a firestorm of controversy in his native South Africa. At the novel's center is Turbott Wolfe, a British trader who opens a general store in Lembuland. He befriends many of his black customers but has less luck ingratiating himself with the bigoted whites who have lived in the area for generations. Eventually, Wolfe and his comrades embrace miscegenation as the key to Africa's future--the Young Africa, where the races have blurred. Provocative and deeply questioning, Turbott Wolfe remains a powerful chronicle of the intimate human consequences of racism."