Mexico

I Miss All My Family

Anonymous

I miss my mom, my dad, and my sisters.  I live in Guerrero, Mexico and I would like to see it again because it has been a long time since I moved here.  I would love to go back one day to give them lots of hugs, especially to my mom.  Her name is Margarita Martinez.  She has been very nice to me since I was a kid.

My Miracle

By Noemi Aguirre-Guzman

My name is Noemi, I was born in Mexico. I came to the United States in 2002 and I am now mostly happily married to my wife who I have been with for 14 years and have 2 beautiful children with. My life is far from perfect, but I find all the happiness that I can.

Sometimes I feel like God is testing me. Because between the ages of 6 years old to 26 years old I had gone through more than most people in a 20-year period.

I will not start from the beginning, because of the pain that it still brings, but I will share my miracle with you. It is something that I am thankful for every day; it is my ability to be here right now. It is also the day that I knew in my heart that God was real.

I was on my way home from my brother’s house, and then everything went white, and I saw my sister. But my sister had died from cancer a few years before. I felt a feeling that I cannot even describe except by saying it was heaven. The experience felt like more than a dream. We were talking to each other just as if you and I were sitting together right now. I remember hugging her and wanting to stay with her. But she said it was not my time. I had to go back and live, and she said that I was going to be okay. The next thing I remember I was waking up in a hospital, unable to move, or speak. I found out that I had been in a car accident, and my neck and arms were broken, and my right leg was smashed in 3 places. I was told I wouldn’t be able to walk again, feed myself, or do any self-care that I could do easily before. That I would no longer have my independence. I also found out that I had been in a coma for over 2 months. They did not even believe that I was going to live.

But 2 years after my car accident, I was walking, talking, dancing, eating, and doing everything that they said I was not going to ever do again. Because I believed that God was with me, because I believed that I could and because I believed what my sister told me; that I was going to live, and I was going to be okay.

Some days can be harder than others. My memory is not as good as it was before. I have trouble with cold weather, I can always feel when it is going to be cold before it is (because of all the metal that has been placed throughout my body) and I get unbearable headaches. But I chose to live. And I know now that it was because of my children: my strong-willed daughter, and my genius son.

The Home of the Best Tamales

By Leticia Anzaldo

Many people will say that they make excellent tamales. And they do, but there are no tamales that are better than tamales made in my hometown, Estado de Mexico. In fact, my hometown is known as the place to get the best tamales in Mexico.

This delicious food is made of masa, a type of starch made from ground corn moistened with water or broth (chicken, pork, or beef) and mixed with spices, salt, baking powder, and lard. In this step, the tamale maker decides how thick or runny the masa will be. After the masa is mixed, another container with water, green and red peppers with green or red tomatoes is placed on the stove to be boiled. Once the ingredients are boiled, all these ingredients are blended to get green and red salsa. When the salsa is made, the meat that will be used as the tamale feeling needed to be cooked and shredded. Usually, chicken, pork, and beef are used as tamale filling, but mole and cheese with jalapenos is another flavor of tamales that can be made. While the masa, salsa, and meat are being prepared, the corn husks that will be used to wrap the tamales should be soaked in hot water. Soaking the husks in water makes them soft and easy to handle.

When all the succulent filling is ready, it is placed on the table. Then the corn husks or whatever the tamale maker is going to wrap the tamales in are laid out on the table. Usually, corn husks are used, but sometimes tamales are also wrapped in banana leaves. The tamales are assembled by using a spoon to put the masa in the center of the corn husk. Then the masa is spread on the husk. This prevents the masa from leaking out of the husk. After that, the meat filling is placed on top of the masa. Then the corn husk is wrapped around the filling and the tip of the husk is folded up to seal the tamale.

People in Mexico either sell the tamales they make or serve them to guests on holidays. Making tamales is a lot of work, so family and friends work together to make large quantities of tamales. Some families have actually turned selling tamales into a business. They sell them on the street corners or in their own restaurants. Selling tamales is a very popular business, both here in the US and in Mexico. But, as I said, not everyone sells tamales. Some people make them for family and friends or for holidays.

Making delicious tamales is hard work, but it is worth the effort. Whether people are making them to share with family and friends on holidays or to sell in a family business, tamales are a delicious dish. And the tamales from Estado are the most famous tamales in Mexico.

Day of the Dead

By Arely

In Mexican culture it is called the Day of the Dead. In this party they put sadness aside and have a private celebration when a loved one leaves or they want to honor him. It is usually in the house of their relatives, where they build an altar or a “day of the dead” offering with candles, colored flowers and everyday objects of the deceased.

Shingle Block Cutter: My New Career

By Javier Ceja Cisneros

I came to Washington State in October 1989 to work as a shingle block cutter. I never used a chainsaw in my life in Mexico. I’d only seen in cartoon programs on T.V. When I got to Seattle bus station, I was still amazed to see so many trees everywhere you turn your head. We heard our names and we turned to see who was calling us. My brother-in-law told us it is time to go. They drove to a ferry station and we got in the ferry which takes about 35 minutes to get across.

When we got to the other side, I was overwhelmed to see the big tall trees all along side of the Hwy 101. They drove for 3 hours to small city. The name was Forks, W.A. We stopped there to visit more family members and after a little bit of time we went back on that road for another 45 minutes. They drove on a gravel road for few minutes and at the end of the road, there was a bunch of travel trailers parking along side of the road. They stopped at the last one, we got inside and they told us you guys fold the table to make a bed and it was my first time sleeping in a travel trailer. We went to sleep around 6 a.m. The alarm started to make a sound for everybody to get up and start to get ready to go to work.

We only drank some coffee with cookies and we left to work. We walked about 20 minutes. Then I saw a big tree laid down in the ground and they gave the chainsaws, axes and wedges.  They tell us you guys watch how the work is for few days and after that will be your turn to begin cutting so we only helped them stock the shingle blocks in a sling rope that have to be stacked in street line like you are building a wall. A week later, the helicopter showed up to fly the sling ropes to the road. It took the helicopter flying all day until sunset. The guys told us now began the fun – to part load the wood in metal and wood boxes.

Everybody worked together, 4 guys for each box to stack faster the wood. We loaded wood for 3 days and when we finished we went to a Big Shingle Mill for the guys to get paid. We got paid $250.00 dollars each and they told us now you guys need to buy your tools to start working on Monday. So they brought us to a old guy who had Chainsaws for sale. The guy told us for $300.00 you guys can have this saw with bar and chain plus I will give you guys axes and this gallon for gas and 3 wedges only because you guys are new and I like the way you pay attention to what I said to you.

On Monday we were up early to begin our journey to become shingle block cutters. My friend told me he was going to learn first to cut the tree; he made his cut sideways not a straight cut. When he finished cutting the entire log I was near him splitting the big chunks of wood into blocks. We were tired that day so we ate dinner and fell to sleep very quick. The next morning one of the guys in charge of the unit showed up and see our work and asked us who cut this wood. My friend said, “I did” and the guy shakes his head, “This is not good”, and then he pointed at me and told me give me the saw so I did and he said look across like you are making a straight line. I did and he said, “Now make the cut keep your hand in one position all the way”, so I did and he cut a stick and he told me to cut all the log this size. So I did and when we finished, it was time to go our trailer to eat.

The next morning when I was really busy cutting an old white man came to me and he told me if you want to make money and work faster I can show you how. I was thinking I am not losing anything to listen to him. The old guy gave me a saw and told me give me a new file and he started to file my chain. He explained why to file this way for faster cut when you work in rocky grown. He told me there were different types of cedar trees and one pine that smell almost like a cedar. He told me that the way to move the blocks was to be split faster, and how to stack the wood at the same time they were split so thanks to this white old man, I became one of the guys that cut more wood in a days work.

I worked from 1989 to 2016 cutting shingle blocks. All shingle block cutters work for Shingle Mill Owners. I worked all this time for different Shingle Mills. Before the recession, there were about 35 Shingle Mills from Forks W A to Nisei, WA. Now the most are about 15 Shingle Mills left working to manufacture shingles for roofing and side wall. The companies that sell the land to cut the cedar trees are: Rayonier, State land, Weyerhaeuser, Simpson, private owners and Indian Tribal land. All do bidding for each piece of land all different sizes -who bid the highest got that unit to work also gave some units for stumpage per each cord you cut in their land when you fly the wood is an inspector scaling each cord of wood and he tells the person in charge how many cords the wood was scaled and how much money was for the stumpage. Shingle block cutting is a good job but is not for everybody. It is really hard work and manual labor you get paid for what you cut every day.  I have seen people that make enough money to make a living, and few that make really good money. Every pay check, I thanked god. I loved my job working in the woods; it was like my second house. I never left my job without reaching my goal in what I wanted to cut each day. Until I got my accident my life changed big time I used to work 6 days a week. Now I am home 24/7.  I really miss my job and the smell of the forest and the dust of the cedar.

I Miss the Food

By Ana Dominguez

I miss everything from my country.  But I miss the food the most, especially the seafood, like shrimp tacos and shrimp cocktail.  I miss playing Mexican Bingo with my family and looking at my kids run.  We have a traditional BBQ on Sunday with all the family.  I like my kids to run with my nephews together.

English

By Ana Rosa Fernández Martinez

First, I don’t like English. For me, it’s too difficult. I don’t understand too much. It’s different to speak and to write.

The Reason I Came to the US

By Jose Alfredo Frias Garcia

I came to the U.S. to be closer to my daughters and that way I can see them.  I came to have a better life than the one I had in my country.  I like the life over here.  I like the quality of the houses, clothes, streets, freeways.  I like the people.  The people are very nice, friendly, and helpful.  And I came because my mom and my little sister are here.

My Life and the Reason I Came to the US

By Irene Gomez

Hello my name is Irene Gomez.  I am from Apatzingan, Michoacán.  I grew up in Apatzingan, but I was born in Veracruz.  When my mom was pregnant, my mom took a trip to Veracruz and there I was born.  I lived in Apatzingan up to 18 years.  When I turned 18 years old I came to the United States for a better life, because in my old city I didn’t have a home.  Later my husband decided to immigrate to the United States, and 1 year later I did as well.  It was very difficult when I crossed because I had my 1-year-old daughter with me.  When I arrived in the United States I came to Lacey.  I was in shock because I didn’t speak English and I couldn’t drive.  I didn’t leave my apartment out of fear, because I didn’t understand any English and I didn’t know anyone. I cried a lot because I didn’t now what to do, until I started going out to stores and looking for jobs.  I taught myself to drive and took English classes.  Then I felt how my life began to change.  Now I bought my own house and I have my own company and I work hard to achieve even more, and I continue taking classes to further improve my English to get a career.

Mi Viaje (My Trip)

By José Jems

Hello, my name is José. I’m 24 years old. I was born in the state of Jalisco. I was brought to the USA thanks to my uncle, so I can work in a restaurant.

My Life in My Country

By Eladio Martinez Cruz

In my home country, all the food we eat is homemade because we get our ingredients from our gardens. The music we mostly listen to are bands and Cumbias. Popular celebrations we have are on December 12 and 24. On December 12, we celebrate The Virgin Mary and on December 24, we celebrate Christmas.

My Culture

By Ana Mendoza

Coalcomán, a municipality in Michoacan, México, is recognized for its December parties of the Posadas, which are held for 9 days, from December 16 to 24 of each for year. The Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 2. It is customary to bring flowers and bread for the dead to the cemetery. National holidays are also celebrated in September. We also celebrate Palm Sunday, which is the last Sunday of Lent and that is when Holy Week begins. It is rich in culture and traditions.

A Scorpion Sting

By Eloy Morales

I almost died when a scorpion stung me. One day, when I was a child, I was playing with my friends outside the house, and I picked up a little rock with my hand. The rock was a scorpion’s home, I didn’t see anything at first. I only felt a really hard pain in one of my fingers and later I saw a scorpion walking faster. I knew about scorpion venom. So, crying, I ran to my house asking for help. I didn’t know how much they could help me when we didn’t have health services in our small community. But I thought my parents could do something for me. I was scared because some species of scorpions have venom capable of killing a human.

At first, my parents were not scared. Because they knew that not all species of scorpions are very poisonous, and they hoped that the one that stung me was one of those. My parents washed my hand with cool water and gave me garlic and raw egg to eat and told me to drink a lot of water because that’s supposed to help counteract the poison. I am not sure if that helps or not because as time passed, I felt bad. I don’t know how my parents saw me, but I was feeling really bad. I think they were waiting to see how I was progressing. The next step that people in my small community would normally take is looking for a ride and taking the patient to the closest hospital. But 35 years ago, nobody in our small community had a car and they had to walk two hours to get to a hospital.

After two or three hours passed, I was really sick. I had difficulty breathing, fever, hypertension, muscle spasms, blurry vision, and an accelerated heart rate. I remember I had hallucinations. I felt like I was the size of an ant in a huge bed. I couldn’t drink water or eat anything. I couldn’t see my parents’ expressions, but I still heard them comment about looking for help and taking me to the hospital. I thought I would die because I couldn’t feel anything and couldn’t walk to the hospital. After that, I did not remember anything.

The next day when I opened my eyes after waking up. I was on my bed, and I was alive. I saw my mom cooking breakfast and I was hungry. I was dizzy, and thirsty and I couldn’t walk properly but I was happy because I was alive. My brother almost died when a scorpion stung him. He had an opportunity to get medical assistance, but the doctor told my parents if you came two hours later, he would have died. I was stung by scorpions two more times in my life, but I didn’t feel sick like I had after the first time I was stung.

Although now I know most species of scorpions do not cause serious injuries to humans, I try to avoid encountering them. Scorpions still scare me because I knew children who died from a scorpion sting, and they didn’t get medical attention soon enough. Today we have people who have been trained to treat patients who have been stung by a scorpion with medication unlike when I was younger. I learned an important lesson that day and now know that we need to take a lot of care with scorpions because some can cause serious injuries.

The Reason Why I Came to The United States

By Blanca Olivares

I’m from a small town near the ocean in Colima, Mexico. I’m the second child out of six, I was sixteen years old when the economic situation me and my family were going through, pushed me to make the decision to find a way to come to the United States. The idea of moving to a different country was full of different thoughts and challenges but I was willing to do whatever it took for my family. I knew I had three aunts living in Dallas, Texas that I could live with.

Even though I was excited about the trip, I did not want to leave my family and friends. I was worried about what could happen on the way to the United States because that was my first time going out of my little village. I went to say goodbye to my cousin Alma, who was my best friend, and she got sad, but she wished me good luck and made me promise to come back. I also needed money for the trip. My mom had to ask one of her brothers to lend her some. All of that was very difficult to deal with but thank God everything went well. The next thing I needed was a passport.

Getting a passport was easy because my mom helped me to apply and we did it in Colima, very close to our village. The visa was not that easy, we had to go to a big city named Guadalajara four hours away from our village. When we arrived at the bus terminal in Guadalajara, we got a taxi to take us to the United States Embassy to apply for a visa. After waiting a few hours, the response was positive, and I got my visa. Not being used to crowded places like Guadalajara made things very confusing but at least everything went well, and I was ready for one of my aunts to come to Mexico so I could go with her.

Aunt Guera was the first one that came to Mexico, and I got excited, all I wanted was to leave and start working but things were not as I thought. My mom talked to my Aunt Guera about our plan, and she said that it was ok for me to go with her. I do not know why but as soon as we left the town, she started acting mean to me, I did not like it but there was nothing I could do about it. All I wanted is to go to the United States. When we got to the border, my Aunt Guera sent me to cross by myself. I was very afraid, but I did it because I did not have any other choice. I asked the officer for permission to come into the country and he said that being a minor he could not give me permission to enter the United States, so I went back to get my Aunt Guera. By this time, I was not liking Aunt Guera at all. When we got to our final destination, I talked to my Aunt Rosa about Aunt Guera, and she was very nice and offered to let me stay in her house. When I told my plans to Aunt Rosa, she said I was too young to look for a job. She said I needed to go to ESL classes first and I did for a few months. One day Aunt Estela, the youngest of all three of my aunts, came to visit and she gave me good news. She said she found a perfect job for me with the Franklin family as a nanny for a five-year-old little girl named Lacey.

Immediately I accepted the job. I knew it was a good opportunity for me. I was so happy my life was starting to change in a positive way. I moved in with the Franklin family and they were very nice to me. They made me feel like I was part of their family. Lacey and I got along very well, and we made many memories together. They were paying me good money and I was able to help my family in Mexico which was the main reason I came to the United States. After all that happened, everything was good. My family in Mexico was happy and I was, too. Since then, I am very grateful to this country for the opportunity to be here.

First Day in America

By Joel Peña

Can you imagine someone who comes to The United States without knowing anyone? I remember my first day in America like it just happened yesterday. I came from Mexico when I was 23 years old. When I started my journey to The United States, I was so excited, but at the same time I didn’t want to leave my family, especially my mom and my little brothers. However, when I took the bus from my town to Mexico City, I got mixed feelings sad and happy. I opened the bus window and I looked at my house, the animals that my father used to have and I started crying for a moment because I didn’t say good bye to my family. For an instant, I thought it is better to not say goodbye otherwise they would cry. After 6 hours traveling, I arrived to Mexico City. The next hour I boarded to another bus to Tijuana, Mexico, where I stayed for a couple months. I worked and met some people from my state. Later we were talking about economic situation in our country and two of them were planning to cross to The United States same as me; later I asked them if I could join and the answer was yes, but I had no place to go after I crossed. So, in three day we started our journey with just 2 bottles of water and three granola bars. After 7 hours walk finally, I saw part of The United States, San Diego! It was amazing feeling. At that moment I called my mom to let her know that I was in The United States already. Also, I asked her for help and find me a place where to go. Luckily, she found a person who lived in Redmond, Washington; he is from Mexico as well, and this guy came to pick me up as soon as possible and brought me to Washington, but next day in the morning, I was feeling completely strange because it was too cold and I was sleeping on a small sofa, with no family, friends, no money and people speaking English only. That is how was my first day in the United States. Overall, my journey was very stressful, but I will never forget the anxiety to come to The United States.

I Miss My Country

By Angelica Salas

My parents I have not seen in many years.  I live in Champeche, Mexico.  I miss my mom’s food.  I miss my sister and brothers too.  My city has a very good river.  I like swimming in it.

My Little Town

By Maria Salazar

I lived in Mexico in a little town; the name is Ocuilan De Arteaga. I had the privilege of growing up in this beautiful town. There are some things I would like to talk about my hometown. The town is small, the weather is warm, the people are very gentle and there are some tourist places. I had a beautiful childhood in my town.

The weather is warm, and the best season of the year is in March until the last day of May. You can enjoy the spring in my home country. It is a perfect time for vacation so many people take this time to go for a trip or go to vacation. In this time, you can enjoy eating a lot of different kinds of fruit, for example, papayas, mango, plum, guayaba, lima and corn.

The people are gentle when you go for a walk or go to the store. If you find people in the street, they always greet you or talk with you. Almost all the people know each other because some families live on the same streets. In the afternoons many kids or friends meet on the sidewalk, in the park or play soccer. It is a good distraction to forget about stress.

Also, we have some tourist places for you if you like to visit someday. If you would like to know my home country, we have a famous place, the name is “El Santuario de Chalma”. It is a church. Thousands of people visit it all year. It is something like the of the basilica of Guadalupe. The people came to visit from the different states from Mexico. Another thing has a great mountain, where you can climb, waterfalls, pools and places where you can enjoy delicious food. To end, these are some things that my little town where I grew up has. I would like to tell more but I would not finish writing.