Guatemala

My First Travel

By Felipa Francisco

I am a primary school teacher in my country. Now I am a student of English at SPSCC. My dream is to learn to speak English.

Moving to the United States

By Antelma Mendoza-Ortiz

In 2007 I came to the U.S. I arrived in Naples, Florida. And then I started to work in a fruit company. But the lady who supervised us was very strict, and she scolded us when we didn’t the order on time because the truck that picked up the order sometimes arrived early, so it had to wait much time. But also, the pay was very low, and the place there it’s really hot, so I decided to move here to Washington. In 2011 I moved to California and at the same time I got married, and my family were so excited. And after that I came back to Washington again, and I took English class at Sound Learning in Shelton. Suddenly I met a classmate who was taking class at SPSCC, and he gave me the information about that, and I took classes here 2 quarters in 2018. I left the class because I went to visit my family in Guatemala. Now I take the class again because it’s so very important to me when I go with my kids’ doctor or dental and school, too, when they have conference day. That’s why I need to study more. SPSCC is the best place to help students.

Dream

By Andres Montejo Tomás

I like it in the US. I came to the US in October 1998. I live with my family. I’m happy. It’s my dream to learn more English.

Things I Miss About My Childhood

By Herminia Perez

Childhood is the happiest time of a person’s life. While growing up, I spent many unforgettable moments in my hometown with friends until I moved to another country (the U.S.) where everything was different. I came to the United States when I was 14 years old. It was very difficult for me because the culture, people, and language were so different. It was also hard for me because I lost touch with all of my friends, and I had no one to talk to.

In Guatemala, I had 2 best friends, Laura and Kim. We were neighbors and they were also my friends. We became friends at school. Every recess we would buy food and play basketball together. Playing basketball was not always easy, because there were many children playing around. But even with the crowds of children, we had fun. And sometimes we played against teachers or against other children. We always won because we knew how to play basketball.

Growing up my family owned a store. After school, I had to go to the store to work. My dad worked at the store in the morning while I was at school and in the afternoon, I was the one who worked at the store. And that’s where I met another friend Lia. She had a store, too. One day, I was playing basketball and she came and asked me if she could play with me, and I said yes. We started to play, and she won. She was a good basketball player. We became friends that day and every afternoon we got together with my other friends (Kim and Laura) and played basketball. We didn’t really have a basketball court and a basketball. All we had was a plastic ball and we would hit a wall and we would score.

After we had known each other for a few years, my father decided that we had to immigrate to the United States for a better future. But first, he had to sell the store because no one in my family was going to stay. He sold the store to a man and his family. I was sad because it was where I spent the unforgettable days of my life and because I could not see my friend Lia anymore. My parents didn’t want me to tell anyone that we were going to the United States so I couldn’t tell my friends I was leaving or say goodbye to them. One day we just left, and it was like we had disappeared.

Even though I met people in the United States, I began to miss my friends. I wanted to talk to them and explain why I didn’t tell them that I was coming to the United States. I started looking for their social media and I found them online. I started talking to them again, and recently I went to Guatemala and visited them. We went out to eat and we played basketball together. We remembered the good times we had. I was sad to leave them, but I know we will keep in touch. I learned that people change but that what you lived in your childhood no one is going to be able to change.