MY REFLECTIONS ON A PROMPT
My group of Bloggers has provided the following
prompt, which I will develop in this post.
“Who is the person behind your success?
I couldn’t
write about “one person”, I think I will have to expand that to at least five
persons, and these would be the members of my immediate family, starting off
with my Scottish Great-Grandparents, who came from Edinburgh to Chile around
1884.
My family group was a small one, and I’m the only one
left alive. I never met my Great Grandfather or my Great Grandmother, but their
presence in my life has been notable. John Robert Stewart arrived in Chile by
means of a steamship that was brought out from Britain at a time when these
innovations were still scarce. He was a boiler expert and was working in the
engine room on the ship’s trial run. He was then offered a position in the
nascent Chilean navy as a Naval Engineer, which he accepted. He set up his home
in Valparaiso and never went back to Britain. He was definitely an adventurer
and many incredible anecdotes have come down through family tradition. His wife
was a talented school teacher, who educated my grandmother in the traditional
ways of her Scottish Presbyterian background.
(For more information on my Great Grandfather’s
extraordinary career, see my article on Hubpages that refers to The Naming of aChilean Patagonian Island)
My Granny Madge was born in Chile and married a
Welshman who came out to Talcahuano as a participant in one of the
great British export-import trading concerns that were established in Chile
after this country’s independence from the Spanish Empire. I never met my
Grandfather, he died very young, but my Granny Madge was a very important
influence, she was the best teacher I have ever known. I have written at least
three articles about her on Hubpages, which you can find through my profile
page at http://joanveronica.hubpages.com.
Finally, my mother, who was born in Talcahuano, married
a Britisher from Liverpool. My father was also an adventurer, and several of
his exploits in Chile during WW2 are also written up on Hubpages. (You can find
them if you look up my articles on Spy Rings and Allied Counter Espionage.)
So what has this to do with the theme of this Blog?
Quite a lot, as I can truthfully say I owe most of my success in my life’s
activities and career to my upbringing. I was an only child, and was taught the
value of independent thinking from an early age. I was also brought up to
strict self discipline (“where there’s a will, there’s a way”). The value of perseverance
was never far away in my day to day strivings.
This has been the secret of my success. Thanks to this
upbringing and to the mix of British traditions with Hispanic culture, I have
been able to achieve most of my goals, and to start everything from scratch
more than once. I will not be defeated!
And what does this have to do with Spanish America?
Actually, quite a lot!
IMMIGRANTS' CONTRIBUTIONS TO SPANISH AMERICA
To write
this up would produce a very long book, so I’m going to choose several photos
that will illustrate the point I want to make: there are many people like me in
the Spanish speaking countries of Latin America.
We
constitute a sort of culture within a culture, and I’m proud to say that we
usually contribute with the best elements of our traditions and of the
education we have received from our Hispanic American nations.
ARCH TO THE BRITISH EMPIRE, VALPARAISO, CHILE
Source: Beatrice Murch, CC BY SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
TRELEW IN CHUBUT, ARGENTINA, A TOWN FOUNDED BY WELSH IMMIGRANTS
Source: Raul Horacio Comes, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
SWISS ARCHITECTURE IN SAN CARLOS DE BARILOCHE, ARGENTINA
Source: Nuria Pueyo, CC BY SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
CONSTITUCION RAILWAY STATION, BUILT BY THE BRITISH, IN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
Source: Ignacio Errico, CC BY SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
GERMAN CHURCH IN PUERTO VARAS, CHILE
Source: Tonza90, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
SPANISH
VERSION
(This Blog is bilingual)
En este post me refiero a mis progenitores como un elemento clave
para mis éxitos profesionales.
Mi bisabuelo John Robert Stewart llegó a Valparaíso. Chile,
desde Edimburgo aproximadamente en 1884. Era especialista en calderas a vapor,
y la Armada de Chile le ofreció un puesto como Ingeniero Naval, puesto que él
aceptó. He escrito sobre algunas de sus aventuras, en mis artículos en
Hubpages.com.
Mi Bisabuela era profesora y educó a mi Abuela Madge con los
severos principios de su formación escocesa y presbiteriana. Sobre mi Abuela
Madge también he escrito varios artículos en Hubpages.
Mi Abuela se casó con un galés (británico) que llegó a
Talcahuano como funcionario de una de las grandes empresas comerciales británicas
que se instalaron en Chile poco después de la Independencia. No lo conocí. Murió muy joven, pero mi abuela
sí que fue una influencia fuerte en nosotros. Fue la mejor profesora que alguna
vez he conocido, una mujer realmente extraordinaria.
MI madre se casó con un británico oriundo de Liverpool, otro
aventurero cuyas aventuras también figuran en algunos artículos en Hubpages,
sobre todo con referencia a las Redes de Espionaje en Sud América durante la Segunda
Guerra Mundial.
Bueno, esta corta reseña es para indicar que mis éxitos
profesionales se los debo a la formación que recibí desde mi hogar en una
mezcla armoniosa con la cultura de la América Hispana.
Aprendí a pensar por
mi misma, a aplicar la autodisciplina, y a ser perseverante. Todo esto, en
combinación con los elementos de mi cultura chilena, son los secretos de mis éxitos.
Me niego a bajar los brazos y a aceptar una derrota, ¡siempre lucharé por salir
adelante!
Y ¿qué tiene esto que ver con este Blog sobre la América
Hispana? ¡Tiene mucho que ver!
APORTE DE LOS INMIGRANTES A LA AMERICA HISPANA
El desarrollo de este tema llenaría un libro, lo que no es
posible en este post.
Por tal razón, he elegido unas fotos con las que pretendo
ilustrar lo que quiero establecer: hay muchas personas similares a mí en este
gran mundo de la América de habla hispana.
Constituimos una especie de subcultura dentro de una cultura
y siento orgullo de poder decir que generalmente contribuimos con lo mejor de
nuestras tradiciones en conjunto con la educación que hemos recibido en
nuestras respectivas naciones hispano-americanas.
More about similar topics in a future post. Más sobre temas similares en un próximo post.
LANGUAGE TIPS FOR ENGLISH
Words that go together! * Sales figures - * Time
passes - * Go abroad - * Come into view – * Pay attention
LANGUAGE
TIPS FOR SPANISH.
Expresiones
de uso frecuente: * Cantar las cuarenta - * Cruzar los dedos - * Delgaducho
How is your level of comprehension? ¿Cómo
está su nivel de comprensión?
© 2013
joanveronica (Joan Robertson)
I will be very happy to receive your comments! Just
click the word “comments” lower down.
It's so awesome to learn about your history - I never had any idea that there was so much British influence, but now it makes sense. I had wondered how you came to be in Chile and knew Spanish and English so well. You're awesome!
ReplyDeleteAlgun dia, voy a visitar a Chile pa' ver todas las cosas de que hablas. Algun dia muy pronto. :)
Hi Cyndi, so happy to have you visit! Your comment supports my views completely, there are so many elements about Spanish America that are not generally known, especially relative to South America (so far away!) That's exactly why I started this Blog! I will see you around soon! Thanks for the comment and the visit! Have a good day!
DeleteHi Joan! It's billybuc from HP. I saw your blog on Melanie's blog and thought I would stop by and say hello. Well done and I hope you are well.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill, really happy to have you visit! I've seen you off and on at HP, and also on Hot Hubbers on FB, but I've been very busy with all these changes in my life. I lost my teaching job recently (Too Old!)and have been trying to set something up as an alternative. I'll soon be launching a new Blog on Language teaching, and I'm busy recruiting new students for private classes. Really tired! But I like blogging, much simpler than HP! I'm also researching another "heavy" type Hub which I will publish soon, and planning my ebook (hopefully!) I'm still surviving, but I admit to getting tired!
DeleteSo thanks for the visit and the comment. I will see you around soon!
Chile is one country that is high on my list to visit. And through this blog, not only I have learned so much about you but also the influence of British in Chile. Thank you for participating in this blog hop and so happy to get to know you through blogging.
ReplyDeleteHI there, so glad you liked my post! And I was happy to participate in the blog hop, I still have to go back in and leave some more comments. By al means, you must visit Chile, this is a really marvelous place. The scenery is fantastic, the food is wonderful and there's lots to do and visit. Hope too see you here! Have a good day!
Delete