Desde hace unos años he trabajado como intérprete de niños que sufren del Síndrome de Prader-Willi. (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%ADndrome_de_Prader-Willi). Dos de las características del síndrome que más me han impactado son la constante necesidad de atención seguida por períodos en los que se aislan totalmente del mundo y los cambios de humor.

Lo siguiente lo escribí después de haber estado 10 horas seguidas con uno de los niños.

Necesitado de abrazos y de besos
te acercas sonriente
con la mirada perdida
la boca abierta
y esa mueca peremne de ansiedad.
Cuántas veces te habrán negado un beso
Cuántas veces la burla te ha seguido por el pasillo
pero tu sigues sonriente
preguntando sin parar
¿Y tú vienes mañana?
¿Y mi mamá viene mañana? 
Una y otra vez
Una y otra vez.
De pronto explotas en una rabieta
te llamaron mentiroso
ya no te duele la indiferencia
te duele la duda.
Te devuelves a tu mundo solitario
donde todo está medido
donde todo está programado
hasta los abrazos y los besos.
Me miras y me pides que te abrace,
y yo no me resisto.

Culture Shock

I am always amazed by the general ignorance about other cultures.

The following cases reflect not only the ignorance but also the lack of patience or indifference shown to the persons involved.

1. Guilty of Screaming

    They were in their 20's. She had just delivered her first baby a couple of days before. A friend drove them home with a borrowed car seat. The husband went to Walmart and bought the prettiest one he could find but, as it usually happens and although the mounting instructions had been translated into Spanish, they were useless. The couple was inside the car trying to figure out how to install the car seat and, of course, disagreement immediately arouse. They were yelling at each other in typical "Latino"style: "It goes here", "idiot, on the other side", "I told you to grab the thing", "not like that"...etc... An American neighbor heard them and called the police claiming verbal abuse. She also said "she feared for the baby's safety and well-being". The police showed up followed by Children Protective Services. They took the baby to a foster home for 6 months, the parents had to take anger management classes and prove to the Court that they were fit parents. 

2. My child or yours?

     Her labor started at 9 am, when her husband was at work. Her sister was also working, so her brother in law drove her to the hospital. He stayed with her until the baby was born. The nurse came with paperwork and  when they indicated they didn't speak English she just said "never mind", and left. They asked who he was and he told them his name. When she received the baby's birth certificate, her brother in law had been listed as the father of the baby. Like in a soap opera, the husband thought they were having an affair, the sister thought her husband was a cheater, she hated her sister, and no one stopped to think that it was a mistake. I didn't know how difficult it is to reverse something like this. They had to go to court at least four times, had DNA tests done, affidavits, lawyers fees...

3. Whose name is it? 

     How difficult is it to understand that we use our father's last name first and then our mother's last name? Rodrigo Gonzalo Perez Salas becomes Rodrigo Salas or Gonzalo Perez. Do they think the other two are titles or something? One of my clients sat in jail for 6 months waiting for the DA to clarify his records. They look up the wrong name and got a police record as thick as the yellow pages. Wrong name, wrong man. 

     

I used to work full time in a former life...and then I had kids....
I chose to be at home with my children. I won't deny that at times I thought I would kill myself, but I don't regret my decision.  I am sure a lot of people can relate to that. Fast forward 21 years, my younger child just left for college last Fall and it was just me, and a lot of empty space. It has been hard to learn to cook for two, to speak in a quiet voice, to resist the urge to call and text and email. I thought I would feel free and would work more. But free from what? from the love of your kids? from all the happy moments I shared with them? from the sports and the dances?
So I wrote:

Empty Rooms

The silence sticks to the air
I am in front of this white wall
Nothing moves and I don't have to run anymore

The dancing shoes are in the closet
But there is no more music to dance to
The silence sticks to the air

No more forgotten lunches or homework
The soccer shoes lay by the door
Nothing moves and I don't have to run anymore

I am no longer the provider
Of food, hopes and transportation
The silence sticks to the air

Forgotten are the Daisies and the Brownies
The basketball games and PTA meetings too
Nothing moves and I don't have to run anymore

I am free in front of this white wall
Ready to paint what's next
The silence sticks to the air
Nothing moves...and I don't have to run anymore 
 
 
 
 

Chewing gum at the bench

We are supposed to respect the judges and what they represent, but sometimes is very hard to respect a judge that tells jokes, makes fun of people, wears bracelets, and has tattoos all over the place. 

Chewing gum at the bench
while I hear your stories
I decide your fate
while I chew away
If you are here for drugs
don't blame others
blame yourself
lying won't buy you time
or make me pity you
Chewing gum at the bench
I dispense justice
swift, real
Some of you will come back
Some of you will go to jail
while I chew away...

On Ethics

Canon 5 of the Code of Court Interpreters say:
Protocol and Demeanor
Court interpreters shall conduct themselves in a manner
consistent with the standards and protocol of the court, and
shall perform their duties as unobtrusively as possible.

But we are all human and there are cases when it is almost impossible to keep a "poker" face.

1. The client was in a wheelchair, carrying an oxygen tank. He was around 300 lbs. and had thick gold chains on his neck and gold rings in every finger.  His medical file was thick but no one mentioned he had a sleep disorder. While testifying he suddenly stopped, closed his eyes and stayed quiet for about 20 seconds. Then he opened his eyes and continued speaking normally. I thought he was thinking about his answers since he was applying for full disability. After the third time I realized he was actually falling asleep. He would stop in mid sentence, fall asleep, wake up and continued where he left off. Everyone thought this was pretty funny, including the judge. Every time he fell asleep the whole room would laugh until he woke up. And the interpreter?

2. The woman came to Court to complain about her neighbor who lived at the apartment across the hall.
- Judge: Do you know this woman?
- Woman: No, Your Honor I have never met her
- Judge: What has she done to you?
- Woman: She threw all her garbage at my front door
- Judge: And you have never met her?
- Woman: No, Your Honor
- Judge: What else happened?
- Woman: She keyed my car
- Judge: Anything else?
- Woman: Yes Sir, she calls me names: Slut, bitch, rat.
- Judge: And you don't know her...
- Woman: I don't know her but I might be sleeping with her husband!
Trying to keep a straight face while interpreting while the Courtroom was hysterical.

3. In front of a cranky judge:
The defendant was in a wheelchair. The Judge said: "everyone involve in this case stand up to be sworn". I interpreted for my client and before he could answer the judge was already screaming at me. I waited patiently and then told him: "Your Honor, the defendant can't stand because he is in a wheelchair". He didn't even acknowledged what I said. The following day, same defendant, same judge, same screaming. But this time there was a choir composed of lawyers, police officers, the defendant and even the district attorney: "YOUR HONOR, HE IS IN A WHEELCHAIR" followed by uncontrollable laughs from everyone...but me.

4. One of my favorites, and it happens more than you would think:
- Judge: where are you from?
- Defendant: Puerto Rico
- Judge: And how did you get into this country?
- Defendant: Uh?
- Judge: That means that you are an illegal alien? Do you have a visa, sir?

Interpreter: OMG

Do you see? in this profession there is not black and white.

Killing by numbers

You look scared
1, 2, 3, 4...
you are looking straight ahead
without comprehending
5, 6, 7, 8...what's happening
9. 10, 11, 12...
with a sad smile your try to explain
13, 14, 15, 16...
what went wrong
17, 18, 19, 20...
but nobody listens
21, 22, 23, 24...
as you go on
25, 26, 27, 28...
telling your story
29, 30, 31, 32... 
the one nobody wants to hear
33, 34, 35, 36, 37...
you stabbed him
38 times...
and you still don't know why.

It's a Girl!

I was sent to the hospital to interpret for a woman who was 8 months pregnant. I thought it was a routine doctor's visit. When I got there I found out it was a scheduled c-section and I had to go into the operating room with her. Surprise! I have never been a witness to anything in an operating room other than my two deliveries a long time ago. In other occasions I have been under the effects of either happy drugs or anesthesia. They proceeded to give me a green gown, slippers, head and mouth cover (not fashionable at all.)  Since this is a teaching hospital there were about 20 people in the operating room: doctors, residents, nurses, students...and the interpreter. Every 5 minutes someone would ask me if I was about to faint. I have to say that I did pretty well, I tried to concentrate in doing a good job. The woman had diabetes and heart problems and had to be monitored constantly.
And then she was born, and mom and dad were crying and I was stuck in the middle of their embrace. I was happy too. Then there was that moment when the doctor picked up the child and showed her to the parents. This is to her:

If I could only

for a single moment

look inside your soul

and discover

the real you, your essence

that of a child 

just born

with wet hair and

a bloody face, and legs

dangling like a rag doll

but oh, so perfect

blessed miracle

infinite joy!