From Honduras to Worthington

• Flores

Brian Korthals/Daily Globe Loany Flores, a 2010 WHS graduate, is a student at Minnesota West and a native of Honduras.

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — She admits to being a Gleek (a “Glee” fan), isn’t overly fond of winter, and is working on taking care of her generals at Minnesota West before she goes into nursing studies.

Loany Flores moved with her parents to California when she was 7 years old.

Her home in El Cinco, Honduras, was rural, and she was surprised how small yards were in Ontario, Calif.

“The houses were all so close together,” she said.

She lived in California for about 10 years before moving to Worthington with her mother, stepfather and two younger brothers.

Flores spent her senior year at Worthington High School, graduating as a member of the class of 2010.

When she moved to the Unites States, she had completed kindergarten and first grade.

“I skipped second grade,” she explained, “and started third grade in a Spanish-

English program. I had to learn to read and write in English.”

The language barrier was tough at first, she said, and made it hard for her to make friends because she couldn’t communicate with other kids her age.

Looking back, Flores believed her mother had the hardest time adapting to the language barrier, but made sure her daughter was keeping up in school.

“She would help me with my schoolwork using a dictionary, and sometimes I would go to bed super late because my mother made sure that we translated everything and got it right,” Flores said. “I couldn’t have done it without her.”

Adapting to different holidays, food and the complexities of city life was a challenge, she said.

At home in Honduras, she was used to running around the area with her many cousins.

“I felt more free there,” she explained. “I was so happy, loved school, got good grades and played so much with my cousins. In America, you have to worry about cars all over. And then here, there’s the snow, which was horrible the first year. I didn’t even want to go outside.”

Upon moving to Worthington, Flores was in a tough position — a new school in her senior year. She only knew one person at the high school, and it was hard to be in a school where everyone had known each other for years.

“But I joined cross country and orchestra, and made friends,” she said. “But I still missed my friends in California. I wanted to graduate with them.”

Sometimes, she admitted, she still feels like a bit of an outsider in Worthington and at Minnesota West, but that’s because people make assumptions that can make her feel uncomfortable.

“People think, ‘Those Hispanics move here and make everything worse,’” she said. “But my parents pay taxes and pay for health insurance. We’re not taking anything away from anybody. It’s just not the case.”

She misses her life as a child in Honduras — the trees, the rural atmosphere and her extended family. Flores hasn’t been back to Honduras since the family left, but is hoping to visit soon. The violence in her home country scares her, though, and seems to be getting worse.

“One of my uncles died about eight years ago — he was murdered,” she said. “So were a few other family members.”

Ironically, one of the reasons she’s nervous about visiting her home country is because people there assume all Americans have money and want to take it. There are just as many stereotypes there as here, she said.

It bothers her when people say she’s Mexican.

“I’m from Honduras. My mom never let us forget where we came from, and has made sure we know about the history and culture of our country,” Flores said. “Everybody should know their history, and my family did a good job making sure we knew ours.”

Moving is hard on anyone, especially teenagers, she knows, and she has often seen people from other cultures treated differently.

“At school there were the Burmese kids,” she said. “People didn’t take the time to get to know them. They just thought they were weird.”

Flores has managed to stay in touch with many of her friends from California and her cousins using Facebook and Skype, but still misses them.

There are certain things about Honduras she will always miss, such as certain foods that are hard to find in the area — green banana leaves for tamales, Tropical (a banana-flavored beverage), spices she was used to — but there are advantages to living in the United States.

She hopes to get a nursing degree and go into neonatal care, and is putting herself through college with help from her family and working at a restaurant in Worthington.

“I’m Americanized now,” Flores admitted with a smile.

Tags: our diverse community, loany flores, news, honduras, worthington