Comments on our last encuesta

I have to say that I really enjoy going out into the community and talking to people about language. So far I've talked to to the same people a couple of times, and they also enjoy being interviewed. I've had some really interesting stories/comments. For example, for the last survey I decided to talk to my boyfriend's dad. He's 62 and he grew up in Pojoaque, NM. My boyfriend remembers that his dad was ashamed of speaking Spanish/code-switching, and that he didn't allow them to speak it in the house, most likely because he didn't want his children to go through the same things he went through. His attitude has completely changed! When I asked him if he thinks people should only speak in English or Spanish but never mix, he emphatically answered, "Oh no. They should definitely mix." His answer made me smile. I've heard horrible stories about people in his generation being denied their language and being punished for speaking a certain way, and it's incredibly refreshing to hear that he's now proud of his speech. I also work with an older woman (probably around 60) who I thought was from up north so I asked her today, "Are you from northern New Mexico?" And she answered very proudly, "Yes! You can tell from my accent, no? I'm very proud of my accent." She went on to tell me that her granddaughter has her accent and that she likes the "Shit Burquenos Say" video. It was neat to hear her speak in such a positive way, especially coming from the older generation. It would be interesting to talk a little more with the both of them in order to determine why they are proud of their accents/speech. I'd guess that she was also treated badly in the past (but you never know), so it appears their attitudes have changed. I wonder what the cause could be??