They filled a small church hall on a warm, muggy evening, celebrating a country far away with the hope of maintaining their culture close in Tucson.
Not all were Guatemalans, but everyone inside the hall at First Christian Church at East Speedway and North Euclid Avenue came to celebrate Guatemala's independence and culture.
Guatemalans celebrated their independence from Spain on Sept. 15. While a large crowd gathered at Kennedy Fiesta Park the same weekend in recognition of the Sept. 16 Mexican Independence Day, a small group saluted the blue and white flag of Guatemala, feasted on tamales wrapped in banana leaves and ate tostadas crowned with deep reddish-purple cabbage. In addition, bilingual Guatemalan children danced to marimba-fueled folk music, and a queen received her crown and white sash.
"I feel proud inside," said Daniela Marroquín, a 13-year-old Mansfield Middle School seventh-grade student, after receiving her crown from Juana Ortiz, last year's queen.
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Marroquín's family is like those of many Guatemalans who fled their country, ripped by war and poverty and intractable politics, to find a better place. For the Marroquín family, that place is Tucson.
"It is a complete life here," said Pedro Marroquín, Daniela's father.
"Here were have liberty, opportunities and work," said Marroquín, who works with a private landscaping company that serves Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
Marroquín brought his wife, Juana, and six children to Tucson five years ago. A seventh child, Daniela's sister, remains in Guatemala, her immigration papers tied up, Marroquín said.
Daniela's father had come here as a political refugee several years before the family arrived. He fled political persecution because of his involvement with a Guatemalan labor union.
Here the family, like millions of immigrants who arrived in this country before the Marroquíns, has a toehold on a dream. Three of Daniela's older siblings attend Tucson Magnet High School, Pima Community College and the University of Arizona.
Daniela will likely follow their educational footsteps.
"I like to read," said the clarinet-playing, bilingual girl, who wore a traditional, vibrant, embroidered Guatemalan dress.
Also dressed in traditional Guatemalan garb at the event was Damary Rodríguez, a 13-year-old seventh-grade student at La Cima Middle School. She received her white sash as the queen of sports, to emphasize the importance of being involved in activities.
Damary — like her older brother, Santos Rodríguez, 14 and a high school freshman, and Geraldine Velásquez, 19, who is studying nursing — was born in the United States.
Their mother, Concepción "Conchita" Rodríguez, was born in Guatemala and came to this country in 1988 to escape poverty and war. Her father was in the Guatemalan military, and "we always lived in fear" that they would be attacked by opponents of the government, she said.
Her husband, Santos Rodríguez, was born in Nicaragua, where he served in the army. After the Nicaraguan Revolution of 1979, the Sandinista government made Rodríguez a political prisoner for 10 years, she said.
The first President Bush got the Sandinista government to release some political prisoners, who were granted political asylum. Rodríguez came to the U.S., where he met his wife.
"I live in peace in the United States. I have more opportunities to work," said Conchita, who worked for 10 years at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort and now operates a cake-making business from her home. Her husband is an unemployed landscaper.
The Rodríguezes are struggling financially, but their children are succeeding in school.
They, like the Marroquíns, are confident that the next generation will thrive without having to give up its culture.
Ernesto
Portillo jr.
