Interviewee: Aldair Haseth, 589016

20/11/2016 14:30, Rozet (library) Arnhem

Topic: Family
 

Where are you from? I am from Curacao, I have lived there all my life.

What is your ethnic background?  My parents are both from Curacao

With who did you live there? For years I only lived with my mom, but before that I lived with my sister and brother. My brother moved to the Netherlands when I was only 5, so I do not remember much from that time. My sister moved out when I was a little older, she  bought her own house when I was 12 years old. My father left my mom before I was born and he has been living in the Netherlands for as long as I remember.

Did that also influence which side of the family are you the closest with (mom/dad)? I am the closest to my mom's side of the family. This is because I was living with her, so I saw my uncle and cousins on my mom's side the most. My mom has only one brother, I am really close to him and his children, (cousins) they all live in Curacao so I saw them often. Some of  my dad's family also lives in Curacao, but most of them live in the Netherlands. My father hasn't been with me when I was growing up so I also only spoke to his family occasionally.

How many cousins do you have? On my mom’s side I have four cousins: two boys and two girls.
On my dad’s side I have four cousins as well, also two boys and two girls. However, my dad has one sister and one brother. My aunt has two boys and one girl and my uncle has one son.

Are you close to your cousins? I am close to my cousins on my mom's side, because as I already mentioned, I saw them a lot growing up.

Who in your family has had the most influence on you, growing up? My mom deffinitely, because I used to live with her and she has taught me good manners and ways of living. She herself was a great example. She did a lot of volunteer work. She always taught me it is important to help people when you can, so you could say she acted on what she preached.

Does being apart from your mom for this long of a period of time affect you? Yes, I had to do everything myself from the moment I arrived here. I have no choice, there was no gradually transfer. What affects me the most is that I can’t go to her when something is wrong, of course I can call and text her, but other than that I am on my own. Calling and texting is totally different than being able to talk to my mom face to face, and being able to hug her. I am deffinitely a momma’s boy.



Personal reflection

* How did you experience interviewing your classmate (behaviour, thoughts, feelings)? I liked interviewing Aldair, because it gave me more insight on who he is as a person. It made me think about how he experiences being away from his mom, while studying here. I could even say I feel closer to Aldair right now because I know about his family now.

* What is similar and what is different between you and your interviewee? The only similarity we have is that we both value family a lot, other than that there are only differences. For example, since Aldair was twelve years old he lived alone with his mom. He did have an older brother and sister, but they moved out when he was quite young. My parents are still together and I have a younger brother and sister, who I don't see moving out anytime soon. Furthermore he is a mommy's boy: he is very close to his mom and tells her everything. I myself am a daddy's girl. I can talk to my dad better than everyone in the world. I am very close to him, I am less close to my mom. My mom and I used to argue all the time. Fortunately it has become way less when I got a little older.

* What did you learn from conducting this interview? What I learned conducting this interview is how much the person you become actually depends on the way you are raised. I also realized how lucky I am to have my family close to me. It made me think about all the internationals being away from their family, and how hard that can be.