美国国家公共电台 NPR--Ahead of Father's Day, we're hearing voices of dads from varying backgrounds

Ahead of Father's Day, we're hearing voices of dads from varying¹ backgrounds

Transcript²

As part of our Father's Day series, Morning Edition profiles³ Jorge Mata, an immigrant⁴ father who moved his two toddlers to the U.S. after seeing increasing violence in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Rounding out our Father's Day series, we bring you a story that starts in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in the 1990s. Jorge Mata and his wife were living and working as doctors there when something terrible happened.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

JORGE MATA: Part of the decision to come to the United States and move from Juarez was that we lost a couple of friends. They were doctors too. In Mexico, you can have your office as a doctor, and next to that, you can have a pharmacy⁵. Somebody came and robbed the pharmacy, but they killed my friends. After that, we said, you know what? Like, it's not safe. The violence and the crime was the reason for us to move to the United States.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MATA: When I moved with my two children, they were 1 year and a half and my daughter was 3 years old. I didn't understand any English. Then I felt like, oh, my God, what I am going to do with two children, my wife, no home, no car? It was scary at that moment to think how we are going to survive here. For me, moving to the United States - it wasn't a sacrifice. I knew that I was losing control of my life, but it was the necessary move to have my family safe. My daughter, Cecile (ph) - I remember taking her for the first time to a park here in the United States, and she went to try to play with children. And she noticed that they were speaking English, and she didn't understand. Then the face of my daughter, just like looking at them and not being able to understand and coming back to us to sit down there and be quiet - and I say, what happened, Cecile? She said, I don't know what they are talking about, and I'm not going to be able to play with them. Then I have to explain, no, it's going to be, like, really fast for you to get the language.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MATA: My first job was at the Outback Steakhouse. They say, what do you do? And I say, I don't do anything because it's a new job for me. I didn't mention I'm a doctor from Mexico, no. But I said, you know what? I like to cook, and that's the only thing. OK, they say, then you're going to start as a dishwasher. Then I start moving on the positions there to do salads and then to do fried⁶ things. And then in eight months, I was doing almost all the positions in the kitchen. When I'm cooking, my children - they know that I'm in the kitchen because first of all, they start listening mariachi music in the kitchen and they say, OK, Dad is cooking. We have special meals for each one of them. My son likes to eat carne en su jugo, my daughter likes pozole and my wife - we like to do carne asada and ceviche.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MATA: What I most miss from Mexico was the friends at the level of college. And let me tell you, now I have two friends here that are my children, and they have college degrees. We talk about everything. We go to museums, we talk about art, we talk about music, we talk about the medical field, philosophy. They are so interesting, so intelligent that it's amazing for me to see how they transform from the babies that we brought here to really interesting human beings, adults that are doing well in their lives.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MART?NEZ: Now Mata is practicing medicine again as a physician's assistant in California.

1 varying   

a.不同的

参考例句：

• Racism still exists to varying degrees. 种族主义仍不同程度地存在着。
• With him and with her varying mental states were common. 双方往往都会有变化无常的心态。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 profiles   

n.侧面( profile的名词复数 )；外形；印象；[建筑学]（建筑物等的）纵断面图v.扼要介绍( profile的第三人称单数 )；给…画侧面图；描…的轮廓；用数字图表（或量变曲线）表示

参考例句：

• The company's senior executives were insisting on low profiles. 公司的高级官员现在都尽量不抛头露面。 来自辞典例句
• A line of hills profiles against the night sky. 夜空衬托出隐约可见的群山。 来自辞典例句

4 immigrant   

adj.(从国外)移来的，移民的；n.移民，侨民

参考例句：

• Life in the USA was very hard for almost every new immigrant.美国的生活几乎对每一个新移民都很艰难。
• I'd like to obtain some information about applying for an immigrant visa.我想取一些申请移民签证的资料。

5 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

6 fried   

adj.油煎的；油炒的

参考例句：

• I ate everything fried.所有油炸的我都吃。
• I prefer fried peanuts.我选择炸花生。