The interview I had with my Auntie was fun, but at the same time frustrating. Although I had no problem getting stories out of her, I really battled to get her to speak in Spanish. I would prompt her by going in and out of both languages. I would ask her questions in Spanish, and she would respond in English. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? It's usually the parents or grandparents trying to get their little ones to speak in Spanish, while the younger generations stubbornly respond in English. There were a few times that I got so desperate that I explicitly asked her to tell me the story en español, and she would...for a little bit. What made it even more frustrating is that my Auntie speaks New Mexican Spanish beautifully. Before conducting the interview, I wasn't sure what to expect. My Auntie is a great story teller, but the stories she tells have always been in English. I knew that Spanish was her first language, so I was hoping that if I spoke to her in Spanish she would linguistically engage and accommodate to my questions. That didn't happen. Mateo is a witness, he was there for the whole conversation. As I ask myself why she wouldn't talk to me in Spanish, I'm reminded of one of the topic that came up during our conversation. When her son was growing up, she would try to speak in Spanish with him, and he would get angry. Eventually she gave up trying to teach him Spanish. Being a single mom, she mentioned that if the dad had been present there wouldn't have been such a struggle. In that sense, perhaps she had a negative experience with the language. However, when my Auntie was growing up, she had very positive experiences with the language. She was never punished in school for speaking Spanish. English was never forced on her, she learned it naturally by interacting with English speakers. For her, learning English was fun. When she was younger, my Auntie and her other siblings (including my grandmother who is no longer with us) would play casitas where they would pretend that they were speaking English, even though they didn't know how. They made up words for things like knife, fork, and spoon :)

All in all, it was a valuable experience. At first I thought I had wasted my time, since I didn't get the Spanish product I was hoping for. But many times it's not about the product, but the process. This interview gave me the opportunity to share quality time with my great Aunt, and she expressed gratitude for the time I spent with her. I'm thankful that I was able to learn about the language attitudes and experiences of my Auntie. Hopefully they won't be discarded, simply for being mainly in English.