Cultural genealogy

Just a quick little post about ancestry because I'm listening to a talk show that is discussing this subject, in the subject of immigration.

On my father's side they were Irish (mother) and Scottish and English mix (father). They came over in the late 1800's by way of Canada, which was a gateway for many who emigrated to the USA. Apparently my great grandmother was pregnant with my grandmother during that sea voyage. There is also a great grandmother of mine on this side who came from Malta and is a descendant of the Tuareg people of North Africa.

On my mother's side they are German with also a strong Turkish ancestry on my grandmother's side. My looks show that relationship, as I was told when I visited Turkey. On my grandfather's side there are touches of French and Polish too, I hear.

I grew up with a German accent because of my mother, but not speaking the German language. In second grade I was sent to a speech therapist by the school to "get rid" of the German accent. Because I was trained not to speak anything but English at such a young age, this is why I do not speak any languages other than English, because learning them has become an obstacle. However, I find that I can learn a written language, especially calligraphy based, because reading does not trigger the "negatives" that speech "remediation" programmed me with. I tried to take an intro to ancient Greek at the New School in the late 1990's, but because they were so verbally based, I struggled, and the professor was openly cruel to me and I dropped out. I ended up teaching it to myself from books.

Good thing God has more patience and kindness toward people than they have toward their neighbor!!