The photo is of water… every time I feel very stressed and lonely, I sit and look out to the Ocean. I like to see the seagulls and the ducks. Sometimes when I am very confused, to clear my mind I go watch the water. I have very few people to talk with. But after watching the water I leave with a whole new mentality, with other thoughts, a different feeling…
You can use this picture in the end. I’m not going to say much about it. I was learning how to use a camera. That’s what happened, that’s why it looks that way…
So how do you see yourself?
Oh, I see I need a haircut. The thing is in the summer though you sweat a lot so in the summer I cut my hair shorter because you have to be faster. That's one of the things I learned to do here in Seattle is garden/yard work.
I want to ask you when you look at this picture who is he, happy or sad or what?
What I want to say with this picture is that here in the United States I learned that there are laws that are clear. If you break the law, you have to pay. This is a sign when you get on the light rail, and if they catch you without having paid the ticket it’s $125 fine. There is no way out of it. I like that it works this way not just for me but for everybody.
Did you study in Mexico?
I don’t know where that is, but that’s a friend of mine also from the community college and that is his profile picture from WhatsApp.
I know this sculpture is at the University of Washington, didn’t you know?
No, I don’t know where that is.
Yo no sé dónde es esto, pero él es un amigo del Colegio Comunitario también, y ésta es su foto de su perfil en WhatsApp.
Yo sé que esta escultura está en la Universidad de Washington. ¿No sabías?
This is a friend I met at the community college. On that day we went out and we went to have out coffee at Starbucks, and so I took her picture and she’s my friend.
Ésta es una amiga que conocí en el Colegio Comunitario. Ese día salimos y fuimos a tomar un café en Starbucks, así que le tomé esta foto y es mi amiga.
That is a Puerto Rican woman who works in things in different parts of Central America. I don’t know exactly what she does, but she travels and this photo was about a month ago. I went to her home to do some work with concrete and so, she took my phone number and she wanted me to go back to do something else, because the first time I went there was some outdoor work and then she wanted me to do some more work indoors.
So why did you take a picture of her?
I take a lot of pictures on my phone. Most are of job sites: pavers, flagstones, yard work. I like to keep a record of my work. The other day I had an interview with a business and I could show them the pictures. I have my letters of recommendation, but sometimes an employer wants to see evidence that I can do it, so I can show them on my phone: “This is a design that I have done. Do you want it this way, or that way, or how do you want it?”
So what is this?
Oh this is right here in El Comedor. We were coming in and this is where we were receiving the breakfast here and then after breakfast we would go back to groupoetta.
So, you already knew what it would be like here, you knew what to expect?
Yes, yes, today I knew what to expect and how to come here and how they are so welcoming with us and they give us breakfast and I know that there is the prayer and I was motivated to keep on going.
So how do you find out who to go with and which way to go and who to take you?