The Campos Castillo Family Tree

1. The Campos Castillo Family Tree Dr. Qadri EDF 2085 Karen Campos March 29, 2013

2. Peru, many many years ago.. My Grandpa Christian Julio Campos died when I was born and I never met him and have no pictures of him. Abuelita Christina Rodriguez Motupe- Peru Abuelito Santiago Castillo Contamana-Peru Abuelita Adela Ramirez Contamana- Peru Teresa Shay Contamana-Peru Sept 23rd 1954 Better known as Mom, was born Teresa Castillo Ramirez oldest of three sisters but changed her last name at marriage. My parents are happily divorced. Marina Castillo Ramirez Aunt Miguel Angel Campos Rodriguez Motupe-Peru Feb. 17th , 1950 Better known as My Dad He is the only son from both parents, my Grandfather Had 16 children with different women and my Grandmother Married after my dad was born and had 7 more children. Magdalena Castillo Ramirez Aunt

3. And then … we came… Eduardo Miguel Campos Castillo Lima-Peru May 5th1982 Karen Michela Campos Castillo Lima-Peru Nov 26th 1986 Miguel Angel Campos Castillo Lima-Peru Sept 13th 1977

4. Our Background… My parents are from two different regions, my dad is from the northern part of the country (borderline with Ecuador) and my mom is from the Amazon region (borderline with Brazil). They met in Lima, the capital of Peru while they were going to the School of Public Relations. My parents married before they finished school and my dad took on the role of provider and he didn’t finish school, my mother did. My oldest brother, Miguel 35, was born two years after my mom graduated college and got her degree in Public Relations in 1975. My other brother, Eduardo 31, was born almost five years after Miguel. I was born five years after Eduardo in November of 1986, I am 26. My dad was a salesman, a very good one at that, my mom never practiced her profession, instead she started designing and sewing her own designs and sold them to her very select clientele. There was a very bad government in the 80’s in Peru it caused a lot of businesses to close down, it was an economic crisis that was unprecedented and unexpected that totally took a hit in the economy causing our income to decrease significantly and that, along with the financial responsibility of two children of school age and a toddler put a lot of pressure on my parent’s relationship.

5. Continued It all went down hill from there, while they weren’t aggressive towards each other, they were just friends, I mean I never saw my parents kiss. Several years later when I was eleven my mother decided to come to the United States looking for a better future for all of us. She applied for a Tourist Visa which she got approved for and per Peruvian law if she was married for more than ten years (which she was) then her spouse and minor children automatically get visas as well and so my mom came first and then when I turned fourteen my dad and I came. Moving wasn’t easy, I knew that this wasn’t a vacation, this was a one way trip and who knew when we were going to go back, but at least I got to see my mom. So in April 2nd, 2001 we arrived at Miami and took a bus to Orlando and we have lived here ever since. As we were just getting settled, my dad found a job and I started school, 9/11 happened and everything changed… again. My mom moved to Jacksonville, then to New York, then Vegas and finally she settled in Santa Clarita California where she currently resides. My parents got divorced in 2002, I decided to stay here with my father and would visit my mom in the summer months but when she remarried I didn’t fell comfortable so I stopped. I met my now husband our Junior year in high school and we have a seven year old son and are expecting our daughter to arrive this June. It might not sound like a very happy story, but so far it’s turning out to be just fine, we’ll see what the future holds. As far as my brothers, they stayed home, Miguel is an Architect, is married and expecting his first child in August of this year. Eduardo is a Chef, still single and if you ask me, he will always be single…marriage is just not in his plans, or so he says.

6. How our culture shapes our relationships… In our culture things are handled different. Most of our actions are guided by what other people might say or think. For example in the previous slides I discussed how my parents relationship was in the rocks for many years, that is because back home divorce is looked down on, I mean children are discriminated against because they come from a broken household and the laws are so complicated that a divorce could last years in court. Also did you notice how my dad left school to become the provider for the home, and my parents didn’t even have children yet. After we were born my mom did practice her profession because she had to stay home with us, and even though she didn’t stop working, she never did what she really wanted to do. We lived in a very good side of town, where the people with resources lived and therefore we had to go to a private school, I mean you can’t live there and send your kids to public school, you’ll be the talk of the town. Sadly this is the reality for many families to this day. I have friends that didn’t even go to college because they got married and decided to be stay at home moms and/or wives. Our culture is so old fashioned that sometimes it’s even pointless to ask “why are we still a third world country?” While there are so many things wrong with my culture, there are some very good points to it as well, since children have their mother around all the time, the values of respect to the elders, communication, manners just to name a few are something that is always present. Anywhere we are, we open doors, say please and thank you, we refer to others as sir or mam and will always offer our seat to an elder or a pregnant lady. Keeping all those aspects of the “old fashioned” ways , is probably the best part about it.

7. Family Traditions… • In my family we have very many traditions like for example: • Christmas is celebrated starting on December 24th at 10:00 pm at my Grandma Adela’s House. We have dinner and start the real celebration at midnight as soon as the clock strikes 12. • New Years we go to Grandma Adela’s house until midnight, you can go party with your friends after that. • All birthdays are big celebrations and we always have home-made cakes. • We have Sunday lunch at Abuelita Adela’s house all together. • Sunday afternoon naps were mandatory, even if you didn’t sleep you would still have to go to bed (my least favorite one).

8. Our traditions… (Continued) • My Grandma Adela’s birthday is always a family reunion which you must attend. It’s on December 16th and this is when we decorate the entire house for Christmas ( In the United States we usually do this for Thanksgiving but we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving back home so for our family, this is when we do it). • We used to go to the same Chinese Restaurant every year on May 27th, my grandpa Santiago’s birthday. • This last one is the one that I remember the most, my grandfather passed away in 2002 and I wasn’t there to see him, the last words we shared were: • “I’ll be back Papito” (that’s what I used to call him) • And all he said was “ Ok Karolina” (that’s what he used to call me)