When I Was Puerto Rican: 4. The American Invasion of Macún Summary & Analysis

The new teacher, Miss Jiménez, stands in front of Negi's class and they sing a song of English words. Negi says that according to one of the neighbors, Miss Jiménez has the most beautiful legs. Negi studies them and wishes for her own legs to be that beautiful when she grows up. Miss Jiménez arrives in Macún at the same time the community center does, and she tells her students that beginning the next week, they can get free breakfast there courtesy of the American government. She also tells her students that on Saturday, there will be a meeting for their parents where experts will speak to the parents about nutrition and hygiene. Mami assures Negi that they'll go to the meeting.

On Saturday, the community center fills with mothers and children. The “experts” there seem as though they didn't plan for the children, and they convince older girls to watch the younger children outside. Mami asks Negi to watch her siblings. Negi ushers the children outside but sits with Edna on the steps by the door so she can still watch the experts speak. The first expert has a huge model of a mouth and uses highly scientific Spanish to talk about proper oral hygiene. Women giggle at the thought of spending so much time on their teeth.

A red-haired American expert then speaks to the group about nutrition. All the foods he mentions don't grow in Puerto Rico, and he mentions no foods that are staples in Puerto Rico. He suggests several substitutions when women point this out, but looks uncomfortable. He says that each family will receive a bag of groceries that correspond to their nutrition plan. Finally, another expert tells the mothers how to rid their children of lice and how to prevent their children from getting tapeworms. The mothers are disgusted, and Negi is concerned that she has a tapeworm.

Finally, the experts give the mothers groceries and toothbrushes. Mami unpacks the groceries and remarks that if the experts had just given them a bag each of rice and beans, they'd feed the family for a month. She decides that they'll save the groceries for when they're especially hungry or short on food.

One morning, Negi wakes up and feels something wiggling in her panties. She sees that it's a worm and screams. Mami inspects Negi's bottom and sits her in a bath of warm salt water to draw out the worms. Negi is terrified. Mami gives all the children a "purgante" to rid them of worms, and they spend hours the next morning taking turns using the toilet.

Another morning, Miss Jiménez tells her students that they'll be vaccinated for polio. When Mami fills out the consent forms for Negi and Delsa, she tells them how horrible polio is. On vaccination day, Negi is terrified, since every vaccinated student comes back crying. She's sent to the nurse with a boy who pretends he isn't scared. He tells her that the vaccines are happening because of politics. He whispers that his papá says that it's an election year, so the government is vaccinating and feeding children so their fathers will vote for them.

The boy insists that Negi knows nothing about politics, but she can name the governor of Puerto Rico as well as the president of the United States. The boy declares that the president is an imperialist and a gringo (derogatory term for white North Americans), which shocks Negi. She explains to the reader that she's not allowed to say things like that about adults, even if they’re true. When Negi and the boy get their shots, neither of them cry.

Later, Negi asks Papi what an imperialist is. Papi looks spooked, and tells Negi to not repeat either "gringo" or "imperialist," particularly since calling an American a gringo is a horrible insult. Papi explains how the United States made Puerto Rico a colony and says that Puerto Ricans call the American imperialists because the Americans want to change Puerto Rican culture to be more American.

Negi declares that she's not going to learn English so she doesn't become American, and she and Papi discuss that culture isn't simply the language you speak. Papi introduces her to the derogatory term "spik," which is what Americans call Puerto Ricans who speak English with an accent. Negi points out that Americans speak funny Spanish, and Papi says that part of imperialism is expecting Puerto Ricans to do things the American way, even in Puerto Rico. Negi observes the unfairness of that, and Papi agrees that it's unfair. She asks if eating the food from the American experts will make her American, and Papi says that it'll make her American if she likes it better than Puerto Rican food.

On the first day that the community center serves breakfast, Negi and Juanita line up as the lunch matron asks them to. Inside, the walls are plastered with Dick and Jane posters, and Negi wonders what the smell is. She and Juanita line up to get their food: powdered eggs, margarine on bread, American sausage, and fruit juice. Negi thinks it tastes bland but is glad it doesn't taste good. She plays with her food instead of eating it.

Miss Jiménez teaches her class English through songs, with varying degrees of success. She also teaches them the Puerto Rican national anthem, which Negi loves. One day she asks Papi about a particular verse that she finds sad, in which the man is sad to leave San Juan for New York.

Another day, Mami unpacks a box of hand-me-down clothes from Tata. Mami is pregnant again and she puts away some clothes for herself for later. She pulls out several items of beautiful, barely-worn clothing for Negi, Norma, and Delsa to try on. Norma remarks that their cousins must be rich, but Mami says that clothes like these aren't as expensive in America. Mami opens a letter with a ten-dollar bill in it and reads the letter to her children, and suggests that Negi write a letter back to Tata saying how much they love the clothes.

Negi loves writing letters and relishes the opportunity to write to Tata. When she finishes, Mami reads the letter out loud. She insists that Negi made a mistake by not starting with a proper salutation and tells her to write the letter over. Negi argues and Mami grabs her arm, slamming her against her chair. Negi wants to hurt Mami and starts crying. Mami stands over Negi and oversees the writing of the new letter.

Later that week, the community center offers a new breakfast food: a glass full of peanut butter and hot milk. Negi and Juanita sit and regard their breakfasts suspiciously. They stir their milk and Juanita tastes it. Negi takes a huge gulp, gags, and drops her glass. It shatters and sends milk and peanut butter all over the floor, and Negi vomits what she swallowed. The lunch matron scolds her as Negi tries to explain that the milk was sour. The matron suggests that Negi would rather go hungry in the mornings, and Negi screams that her parents can feed her without "disgusting gringo imperialist food."

Everyone in the community center gasps and the matron's mouth drops open. A child whispers that she'll trap flies with her mouth open, and the matron turns on the crowd and away from Negi. The matron grabs Negi, forces her out the door, and says she needs to tell Mami what happened. Negi trudges home and decides to lie to Mami about what happened. She tells Mami she threw up in the lunchroom and promptly faints. Negi spends several days sick in bed, the matron never speaks to Mami, and when Negi returns to school, the elections are over and the breakfasts cease.