How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
For the hundredth time, I cursed my immigrant origins. If only I too had been born in Connecticut or Virginia, I too would understand the jokes everyone was making on the last two digits of the year, 1969; I too would be having sex and smoking dope; I too would have suntanned parents who took me skiing in Colorado over Christmas break, and I would say things like "no s***," without feeling like I was imitating someone else. (1.5.21)
Being an immigrant makes Yoyo feel really out of the loop. She feels different—set apart—from all her classmates. It's almost as though culture, not just English, were a foreign language.
Quote #5
He had told them he was seeing "a Spanish girl," and he reported they said that should be interesting for him to find out about people from other cultures. It bothered me that they should treat me like a geography lesson for their son. But I didn't have the vocabulary back then to explain even to myself what annoyed me about their remark. (1.5.32)
We like that Yolanda is able to express in hindsight what it was that bothered her about her boyfriend's parents' insensitive remarks. Clearly she has learned a few things since her naive college days.
Quote #6
His parents did most of the chatting, talking too slowly to me as if I wouldn't understand native speakers; they complimented me on my "accentless" English and observed that my parents must be so proud of me. (1.5.35)
Does anyone else think Yoyo says this with a bit of irony in her tone? After all, should she really be congratulated for speaking without an "accent"? What's so great about completely erasing all traces of her culture and background from her speech?