Seedfolks

Gonzalo and his father moved to Cleveland from Guatemala. Within two years, Gonzalo learned English, mostly from the playground and watching cartoons. He explains Garcia’s Equation, which states that the older a person is when they emigrate from their home country, the younger they become in the United States. He figured this out when his father, who took a job at a kitchen with Mexican and Salvadoran Americans, did not learn English and so required Gonzalo’s help with tasks like making phone calls. Because his father speaks English at a kindergarten level, Gonzalo observes, he also acts like one, with his fear of judgment keeping him from improving.

Gonzalo later observed a similar phenomenon when his younger brothers, mother, and mother’s uncle, Tίo Juan, moved to their apartment. Tίo Juan is Indigenous Guatemalan. He was a farmer in Guatemala but cannot find work in urban Cleveland. Tίo Juan does not speak Spanish or English, and Gonzalo observes that he has become like a baby since moving. Gonzalo recounts a time when his uncle wandered off and was found staring at a woman getting her hair done in a salon. It is now Gonzalo’s job to babysit Tίo Juan after school.