When I moved to the USA from the DR, I brought with me some clothes and my favorite coffee mug. I bought this object from a famous handcraft store in my hometown Santiago. It was a coffee mug with the Dominican flag painted on it and many important symbols that represent the DR. You see a drum, maracas, guira (percussion instrument), and accordion. The reason this artifact is significant to me is because it reminds me of how much I loved drinking coffee back home in the DR. No matter how hot the days were, I would drink coffee. I could drink coffee at least three times a day. I always loved the way my grandma made me coffee. The symbols on the mug remind me of the music from my country and how much people love to listen to music. It reminds me of how people came together and sat in front of their homes and could listen to music at all hours. My family and I would have fun just sitting there and talking. We would sit outside the house enjoying a mug of coffee made by my grandmother and enjoying the music. What this object can tell others about me coming to the USA is how traditional drinking coffee and listening to music in my country are. These are traditions many are raised within the DR. This mug shows people that no matter where I moved to in the United States I never left behind my traditions from the DR or forgot my roots. To this day I continue to drink coffee as much as I used to back home in the DR. I enjoy listening to music whether I am home or in the car as well.

– henry

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant