Juan Ortiz and Tania Loenneker

00:07 Hi, my name is Juan Ortiz age is a 6 * 58.

00:13 And today's the day is Monday, October 21st, 2019 and locations Dallas Texas name of the interview. Where is Connie Alone actor relationships wife?

00:34 So I'm Tania loenneker IM 48 years old. Today is Monday, October 21st, 2019. We are are in beautiful, Dallas, Texas.

00:46 I'm I'm going to be interviewed with viewing Juan Ortiz, who is my husband?

00:55 So I I'm so grateful that we can be here today because I really kind of wanted to use this as an opportunity to kind of leave Legacy in the very beginning of our relationship told me that you wanted me to write your story and obviously we haven't gotten there yet. And so I thought and this came up that this would be a really great way to kind of

01:26 Del records all of the different stories in your life of which you have so many and in so many ways I hear so many of them, but I think we'll be really neat stuff for our kids Lewis and Kai to have this as a piece of sheriff in the future. So thinking about kind of the many stories you've told me I think the the one that is most compelling as always your story of believing Puerto Rico and coming to this country Ultra coming through this to the mainland to New York and

02:10 Finding your way. I would love to hear you cannot talk about that. I will so that's pretty cool that you want to know about that. But that was a long time ago that was in 1977 to September 14th. 1977.

02:32 What's up day that I decided to go to the mainland? And how old are you 16 years old?

02:45 And I've been well I had no idea. I will send you your previous to that like one or two days and I was a little kid. I guess I was like eight years old and I will always have a baby.

03:05 Idea of New York how they look like but never had the idea of living in, New York.

03:14 So

03:16 That day when I decided to leave I told my grandmother that was sleeping and she was asking we're leaving we're living through the land and she was crying. I was crying and I had no idea what I was doing. I just got an airplane and decided to leave and get to New York with $100 and and little backpack.

03:44 And I thought I had a lot of money but the hundred dollars in New York. Don't last that long. So I end up broke and my backpack got stolen so I had nothing.

03:59 Tell me how it felt when you get there, and where did you go first since

04:08 On some friends of a friend that pay me for the flight.

04:14 And then I stated I stayed on his apartment for one day and then I decided to leave when I went to the lowest side because there were more people that speak the language there Spanish. I didn't speak any English whatsoever. So I will still there.

04:40 Difficulty that I had to deal with at the time besides not having a place or having money in or anything. So I went to the lawyer side because they have people that speak the language it would make it easier but then

05:00 I left early. So I too because I said well if I stay here I will never learn the language of the country. So I say hell with it. I left it. There was no people that speak Spanish.

05:12 So I do remember that at some point. Yeah when your backpack gets stolen you had no money and you had really no place to go and no place to go, How did you handle that or did you go switch on a 1977? Nobody wanted to believe in New York New York was classified as a lost land buildings that the war just abandon so you could go inside a building a squatter Squire apartment.

05:58 So you stayed in Mt of high in Dearborn?

06:10 You came from Puerto Rico. Obviously a Tropical Islands and in September it gets pretty chilly in New York. How did you survive that and what were you thinking for your mind though? I don't know what I would do what you got to find clothes. So and the Bowery about a New York that used to be a lot of homeless people are in people used to feel bad about them. So they used to live close for them to get so I can find some clothes so it doesn't matter.

06:48 And now

06:50 The words was again taking a shower if there was no hot water on this building to you sweetie. There was no hot water use think that there is hot water and you take a shower with a temperature of 35 degrees or whatever. It's kind of amazing what you can do for, you know, you just put your mind to it and just do it.

07:15 And so did you stay the whole winter and then lays know how did you feed yourself? And I figured they have shelters for homeless people, you know that I don't know place to be or anything like that. So I will since I was not over 18, I could stay in a group home and I stay on the group homes and they give you a breakfast and what else?

07:46 I think it's only breakfast and dinner which constituent some cornflakes and some song that you know, chicken or something.

08:02 So that's not switch from the lawyer side to this shelter used to be called Independence house in New York that the guy that ran that plays that was pretty cool. You could save money working and have a place to live when he was just a bad, you know on that room no more much bigger than this. You know how I got a mansion in 27th Street and 10th Avenue New York. So I stated they for

08:44 They will say year also.

08:46 And you might then I have worked on the apartment. You know, I had to do it in that time. I was working on the apartment 1970 78 to 79 our apartment. So I started working on that now have my first job. The first job that I ever had was a plaster fixing the walls on that saying sheltered. I used to live told they used to pay me to fix to Highway wasn't a great job and now

09:26 But that from there I got another job and

09:30 By then working on the apartment. It was the homestead. I got the apartment. That was a 1980.

09:46 So like the year the two years before you moved into the apartment, you worked on fixing helping fix the building with the other I worked there before it was completed. It was nothing but a shell there. So took a couple years to get it, you know before that they were working on it already. But I took I was working there for like 2 years and then I got the apartment.

10:20 I remember seeing pictures of you working in the garden or what became the Garden by The Stars regardless, I set the ham man and friend is dead now.

10:48 So we started that the garden.

10:52 The garden still there. They're cool.

10:55 Beautiful place

11:03 Which kind of gets me kind of true the

11:07 Place of leaving New York haven't talked we haven't talked about this in a long time. But like all the sweat and tears literally that's what she put into. I don't know if it was the right decision to leave New York wasn't and I was so at that time so

11:35 Disappointed with the what the SAT have become and what the city is, you know, and if you lived there for as long as I live there, you don't like the pollution all this stuff. You know how people are so plastic everywhere and I had no idea what the

11:55 Environment is so I don't even think about money and

12:00 Materialistic things so it's just ironic because really the East Village and the Community Gardens now our nation Nike element of people who really are wanting to preserve the green space at the name packed. I don't know he's even

12:29 Be seen my people around under the people are so concentrate on their own.

12:41 Welfare, or whatever. They don't see anything else.

12:46 And that that that that that area wasn't so bad. You know now I can see how bad it was, you know from the outside. I used to listen to pretty bad when I arrive in the early 90s.

13:06 Much of what I have really loved about you as your

13:13 Really strong sense of the natural world and you know, how you

13:22 How to find your connection in the wild Space is really something that is for me. It is very uncomfortable to be in service in the civilization world what people considered to be a civil rights workers very different from what I experienced when I was a kid, even the 16 years are left in Puerto Rico to me. Everything is just turned upside down, you know like the ocean. Do you call a ecosystem all these things? I can always carry with me which are more important than the places I lived. So I know that you feel a lot of pain by all that has been destroyed but I want to hear more about what you did see what it was. I was very fortunate to see things that they no longer.

14:22 You know like that must be the experiences I got is that you were able to drink water out over at River without having any?

14:34 Ideas so bad thoughts of killing yourself by drinking some pollutants and that water was so pure and and the plants nature old was something that if you are into it, you can see that speaks to you and all these that people are starting to think that there should do something about it at that time. I already feel that we are in trouble as it is.

15:10 Tell me about the ocean the ocean. How much you saw used to spend less. I spent like a year. The only thing I used to do was going into the ocean and be connected with the environment of the ocean. And what I experienced was what I do I think you can spend the same thing on the ground. It's just that everything is interconnected. So I was part of egg in a connection with a ocean and all the creatures that surrounds the oceans and I cannot believe that we are so lucky to

16:01 A chair that world

16:04 Of the ocean and its environment ice humans, once you go there and you experiences it's just like you are in another dimension of life that you have to open your eyes and see how much of life we don't know about. So then you go back and retrieve from where you are into this environment and you see how much Destruction has been done and it's his. Had her foal and it hurts your soul. Why was crying, you know that last time and see what I saw as Hitman. What are we doing to ourselves is just like I said, no people up has no conscious self anything--but materialistic things. We should not going to be here.

17:02 For you to take anywhere when you think about the ocean. What's he most beautiful image that comes to mind? I know you swim with sharks. I know you still think the biggest thing that you can see on the ocean is the smallest microorganisms.

17:24 Which is without them knowing the whole ecosystem of the ocean disappears. So so many of them that you cannot describe to anybody that have not experienced.

17:45 SI unit is so connected is so connected organisms. So for me, I don't have any, you know.

18:01 Single events in the ocean that could be described as being more important than any other.

18:11 You've also spent a lot of time in the forest.

18:22 Well, yeah, it's like to me it's like walking in a city. You know that you never see the same person twice.

18:33 And there is so much in a foot of soil or plants order.

18:45 Bio organs organisms

18:52 He becomes very hard to two.

18:59 To tell that you have a fable are at War trailer.

19:05 Entity on the Air Force what plants hurt to me has that they have a language of their own and people are not connected to the hose connected since a little kid, you know all seats at Fascinations to me. I don't care what kind of plant it is. If I find a c i just planted and I don't have to name. I don't know what it is. I just find typical sound like it's beautiful and really you do have

19:44 A greater curiosity with plans and and life than just finding them aesthetically appealing like you and like I I mean, I think I'm the one who I can appreciate things before because of the beauty but I don't have any more death and maybe not even curiosity enough to really understand them. But I think always have looking at insects and fans. Yes. I think I have to do with my my sense of curiosity. Yes. It is being it is everyday you have something to learn. I don't know what it is. What makes water cold or hot. One thing with the other from the simplest to the most complicated things and then thinks that you cannot understand but

20:39 They're things that you don't have to understand to be able to see us part of you. So I see plans animals, everything is part of myself, and I don't need anybody to tell me that is so and that's my curiosity that I always treat the

21:01 Living that's their living beings no matter what plan Crocs or whatever it is because life is not as you understand. It doesn't mean there is no life. So don't even my ancestors. My ancestors believed on rocks That Rocks the power over the title, and there was no language or anyting else besides.

21:33 Nations

21:34 Visions of the future or there

21:42 Sales estate what the day is and that's how they live their lives. No, nothing else be alone.

21:59 What their Vision score and

22:07 I don't know what else speaking of ancestors.

22:13 Tell me a little bit about your family about you you speak oftentimes about both your grandmother's will really strong finger a lot to them because state.

22:29 They make me see you the world differently from other people, you know, like my grandmother was always attending plans and she knew about having any plan that can be used as a medicine or sound remedy for whatever. I don't have all the knowledge that she has. I wish I did and my other grandmother was the same way, you know with the animals. So I think she told me she was used to grow up pegs for a living and sometimes she used to have like

23:09 80 pigs and SMS got to deal with that and wash their know that I said that I used to chew with your life. Just joking and then I find out I really in fact, my name is Mantua cuz Francisco mink Poncho or vice versa.

23:43 And one day I'll let you know I asked where you going Grandma umbrella on top of my head and my cousins just laugh about it. Now what you going? She was also the one chewing tobacco. No. No, that was my Grande grandmother and my grand grandmother. How old is

24:07 They they live for a long time. I hope I don't let alone you know, but my grandmother was a hundred and something years old and she could not be without chewing tobacco. So she came to visit at my grandmother's house and she ran out of tobacco and I was told to go to the store and get some tobacco for grandma grandma grandma. So okay. They trust me they gave me $0.05. I think Maria is going to be any more than 11 or 10 years old. I walk to the store and buy sense of tobacco they used to

24:57 Measure it and they cut a little piece and they give you that role in a little cellophane paper. That's right, and I'm walking to the house with this thing on My Hands answer me this stuff must be real good because Grandma can I be without it? Okay. Well if I hide over here, I think a little bit of it. Nobody would notice it. So I took a little B and I chewing that stuff as Man based on taste that good and I

25:38 I swallow it. I know that you're not supposed to swallow it. So I swallow it now so DC and I got into the house. I got into the house and I say hey Grandma, I gave him chewing tobacco. I went straight to bed. I just crashed best of get you high.

26:17 Well, that was Grand Grandma Ramona. Her name was Ramona. She was something else since she lived by think. I got a picture of home and she's she got it home bag unless you was like a hundred and something years old and the other thing that she was if you give him pills to as medicine, she takes the medicine and she put the pills on her mouth and no order anything and she chewed appeals like this and if it tastes bitter real bad, she said all this is that good medicine. Good medicine.

27:02 I don't hate you. See what?

27:05 She was probably kind of associated with some of the really bitter herbal medicine.

27:17 Tell me about the other grandmother Carmen that you actually really lived with like my mother. She's the one that took care of me to take care of me since I was born actually I was there they had the happiness of her life.

27:38 Fan now always I grew up with her. So I knew everything that I knew was about my grandma.

27:49 And she has a side though. I can always wanted to be like her but you choose just saying, you know, nothing bother her it's very hard to be like that by Mister Rogers. Why were you with her that was so what happened was remember a very Vivid this I was watching Hawaii phyo. When I was a kid that day I was

28:34 I'm going to be like 8 years old my mother and my father had a big argument.

28:43 And my grandfather came to have an argument about whatever they have arguing about what the thing was to my father to his stuff and he left and they got divorced and I stay with my grandmother from from there while I like to be with my grandmother more than with my mother.

29:06 Because she has to you. She could not be.

29:20 I guess I understand this that she got problems adjusting to.

29:31 Meijer life and the simple way of living which is not there and if people put things on your head, it becomes very hard you no like me and you know, my my dream was so you know that my dream was to fly an airplane and I used to climb trees and look at the airplane from upstairs and how the hell these people can do this, you know, they are on the clouds they come out and they know the airport is there so that got me interested in learning how to fly an airplane and I think it was the greatest thing, you know.

30:10 But the

30:17 So

30:20 Your your mother clearly wasn't there for USA a strong support that would I be able to do more with my life.

30:35 If if I would had that supports are you know, I don't lie thing. I did I was trying to do what I did to become a pilot. That's as something to help my family in 02 to being a better economical situation. But in order for me to become a pilot have to be an all that I had you know my time my money my effort my you and I never accomplish that which is what I wanted to do sounds always to me as though while the separation of your parents was kind of a big milestone in your life. Not a good one necessarily.

31:25 Your life never really was like even before that.

31:33 Outside of your grandmother doesn't sound like you had a whole lot of positive support and I'll be your father for a while and then you dropped out of school at 14 14 years.

31:49 So wanting to become a pilot finding yourself in New York with a little job like tell me kind of how you pulled yourself all of that and how are you?

32:08 Not when I started doing that was I was 18 and it got in my head about trying to you know, why all this stuff and then

32:24 I stopped up for a while because I cannot afford that's why I work myself up for 10 years to save enough money to pay for college and all this stuff and that wasn't easy and I said man and be able to say what you will Superman or what, you know, you just got to do what you got to do and

32:45 I got to accomplish that but the

32:52 Not much, you can do without the support the neighborhood. What I left on that was terrible to you know, I could have been there already. Yeah, and well, yeah, it was necessary something of your friends of My Friends Are Dead. They were killed or they die of diseases. Whatever some people did.

33:26 So in some ways there was always some sort of wisdom that you had or some sort of.

33:34 I don't know what maybe it was for a zillion. I think I think it's a Divine Force because so many times I could become dead and I'm not getting all I got the Ocean Escape twice from the ocean. I escaped from people that I should I mean close range and see it Beverly I said, how can I collect survival? This airplanes failures crashed because I surely I was instructing somebody and the person wants to go in the bad weather. So I went to going to buy whether or not to take off the

34:24 The airplane start which I described about Mark on chin and person did not know when I knew and then I said, well this is going down. It's not going anywhere and I broke out the clouds and I see a farm and landed right there and the guy didn't realize what happened.

34:49 So I could have been there on that one piece Nami much time. Did you have took to be on the ground?

35:08 So now so now

35:13 How are you?

35:17 In all the years that I spent with you, you know working hard and a job that

35:25 Was physically hard and are you also faced a lot of verbal abuse from your bosses and really kind of with that goal in mind and then I didn't get any better. Love you from the Vega reviews from me.

35:46 I like I like that company. I wish I would have never left.

35:52 But I don't think of physically I could do that work now. Anyway, you're not that I got sick too and holder thing, you know that hard and Anders on your life. But so when you think about all of that like all of the work you put in and the money that you made and helping you become a pilot after all and now

36:19 Mission spare part of life in on some people make things, you know for whatever so says they have but no other people that nice look he's so it has nothing to do with that. But I think I always think that I was luckier and then all the people that know that they probably had never had the chance of having experience like that, you know, they will see me and Sam and you wind up far out of this is from here and all that goes Saturday live in Oslo Manning live in the world.

36:59 And people that do not experience living like that. They had no idea what they talkin about how hard it is for somebody to be able to accomplish something now.

37:13 What is the problem that we have in this country that we don't we don't recognize the other person because we never on their shoes. So when you think about you know, the next decade kind of watch.

37:32 What are you hope for me for yourself or myself?

37:39 Not not something that you can go to the store and get sure I got to say if I got to say I hope that stayed together with you for this time because without you I don't have anything.

38:03 And I won't be able to pull myself through all the stuff that I have after all these years.

38:14 The way I feel you know, sometimes I just don't feel like doing certain things because the weather is not good enough for me. I'll do nothing. I don't have anything that

38:32 Amaze me anymore or

38:35 I guess what you have lost your curiosity because I never forget they have to learn something everyday no matter what. You learn something something about you.

38:49 I love that about you still interested in life. I never gave up on life and I'm out of work if I take a shower and 35 degrees I do it is what it is. And there is no reason to lie bad about it or feel sad or discouraged about the next day your neck from a spiritual Viewpoint. Like what?

39:30 Well, that is such a big subject alone even want to get involved into this is very hard to explain why you have a why you leaving?

39:45 To all the people

39:47 So I don't go into that.

39:50 Just hopefully soon somebody believes that plastic should be out the pike or so.

39:58 That's another subject for another day.