When Raquel Ruiz was four she was the happiest little girl in Ambato, Ecuador. She had all her family and her dad whom she really loved with her. Raquel had a big house and all the toys and food she could ever ask for. One night her mother married a wolf in sheep's clothing, her stepfather. He took her and her mom to the United States to live with him. From that moment on her happiness slowly withered away like a ripened banana. She didn’t have a nice house, toys, yummy food, and her dad. Her stepdad was a man with low self esteem and an empty wallet. Raquel saw her mother cry every night because she had been lied to about everything,who he was and how he lived in America. Despite her mother's struggles and emotional pain, her mother left him …show more content…
Although she faced culture and language barriers she managed to go to college and graduate from CSUN with a child development degree. Growing up and seeing her struggle economically and emotionally were really tough. Her battles are my battles to fight as well. As a single mother she leaned on me for support; I was her only outlet. She taught me how to be strong, courageous, brave, dedicated, optimistic, and kind. Being four and having to witness how cruel and just devastating the world can be forced me to grow up and mature. Although my childhood has been a bit rocky and sad I am very grateful to have gone through those hardships alongside my mom because it has made me realize that to be successful we must be realistic about our world and how it …show more content…
My little brother was diagnosed with ADHD something that no one in my family understood. “ What in the world is ADHD?” my grandma asked. From then on we struggled to educate ourselves on mental disorders. Cultural misunderstanding would frequently get in the way of progress; my grandmother used to think that it wasn’t anything, that Satan was just infiltrating his brain making him act out and seem disobedient. We started to attend therapy sessions to help us cope with all that was going on at that time. The pressure that my mother was in at that time from college and work gave her no patience to deal with my brothers mental condition, so I had to step in. One night my mom had been helping him with his homework; she was yelling and was really frustrated at him for not understanding anything. There was screaming, crying, and arguing, so I came in, asked my mom to leave, and calmly with patience helped him. I had to find a different way to teach him because he learned differently. I have always been a bridge between them. I tried to understand and help him, I boosted his self esteem when my mother brought it down by calling him disobedient and bad. Until this day my mother jokes around by saying how I was a better parent than she could have ever hoped to
As you read you can picture his settings and characters. For the purpose of this book review, the reader will discuss how a migrant community in search of the “American Dream” encounters the “American Nightmare” as described by Tomás Rivera in his novel, “ …And the Earth Did Not Devour Him.”
Immigrants come to America, the revered City upon a Hill, with wide eyes and high hopes, eager to have their every dream and wild reverie fulfilled. Rarely, if ever, is this actually the case. A select few do achieve the stereotypical ‘rags to riches’ transformation – thus perpetuating the myth. The Garcia family from Julia Alvarez’s book How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, fall prey to this fairytale. They start off the tale well enough: the girls are treated like royalty, princesses of their Island home, but remained locked in their tower, also known as the walls of their family compound. The family is forced to flee their Dominican Republic paradise – which they affectionately refer to as simply, the Island – trading it instead for the cold, mean streets of American suburbs. After a brief acclimation period, during which the girls realize how much freedom is now available to them, they enthusiastically try to shed their Island roots and become true “American girls.” They throw themselves into the American lifestyle, but there is one slight snag in their plan: they, as a group, are unable to forget their Island heritage and upbringing, despite how hard they try to do so. The story of the Garcia girls is not a fairytale – not of the Disney variety anyway; it is the story of immigrants who do not make the miraculous transition from rags to riches, but from stifling social conventions to unabridged freedom too quickly, leaving them with nothing but confusion and unresolved questions of identity.
The autobiography Journey of Hope Memoirs of a Mexican Girl and the documentary short “Children in No Man’s Land” has brought into light three important topics that are results of immigration. The first is the “American dream” and the notion of yearning to migrate abroad to seek dreams formed by misconceptions of the limited knowledge one has of their destination. The second is assimilation and the process of assimilating oneself to their new homeland. The third is a unique situation presented in both these works, which is estrangement from their family members. This paper attempts to critically analyze the unique journey of immigration for Rosalina, Maria de Jesus, and Rene. It argues that glorified images and dreams of what America could be like falsely creates a sense of hope. It focuses on the dual task of reviewing the process of assimilation based on each immigrant situation, and an examination of familial estrangement as
In a country full of inequities and discriminations, numerous books were written to depict our unjust societies. One of the many books is an autobiography by Richard Wright. In Black Boy, Wright shares these many life-changing experiences he faced, which include the discovery of racism at a young age, the fights he put up against discriminations and hunger, and finally his decision of moving Northward to a purported better society. Through these experiences which eventually led him to success, Wright tells his readers the cause and effect of racism, and hunger. In a way, the novel The Tortilla Curtain by T.C Boyle illustrates similar experiences. In this book, the lives of two wealthy American citizens and two illegal immigrants collided. Delaney and Kyra were whites living in a pleasurable home, with the constant worry that Mexicans would disturb their peaceful, gated community. Candido and America, on the other hand, came to America to seek job opportunities and a home but ended up camping at a canyon, struggling even for cheapest form of life. They were prevented from any kind of opportunities because they were Mexicans. The differences between the skin colors of these two couples created the hugest gap between the two races. Despite the difficulties American and Candido went through, they never reached success like Wright did. However, something which links these two illegal immigrants and this African American together is their determination to strive for food and a better future. For discouraged minorities struggling in a society plagued with racism, their will to escape poverty often becomes their only motivation to survive, but can also acts as the push they need toward success.
One of the basic reasons for the Rivera family to emigrate from Mexico to the North is because America is the only as well as the best choice they have. They choose America to bring their daughter, Maribel- who suffered from a brain damage after an unfortunate accident, because as instructed by the doctors, only in America Maribel might have an opportunity of recovering with the right way of education and effective care for her condition. Many families migrate to the United States from a country half a world away with a desire to change their life to the positive situation which meets their expectations of qualified life elements, such as climate, traffic, education policy and safety; while in this novel, the Rivera family decides to emigrate to America, which is not so far from Mexico. Although the distance between the two countries is not great, America is like a new continent to the Rivera family, when they, as well as any other immigrant families, some of whom are at middle age,
The emotional letter that Juan left for his mother might be one of the most emotional scenes in the documentary. The pure emotions that the letter was written by Juan to her mother leaves the audience with the bonds and emotions felt between the kids and families. Juan Carlos’s father abandoned the family years ago and left to New York, consequently Juan believe it is his responsibility to provide for his family. He also wants to find his father in New York and confronts him about why he has forgotten about them. The story of Juan is not just about migration of children, but also the issue of family separation. The documentary does not dehumanize but rather bring the humane and sensitive lens to the story of Juan where the human drama that these young immigrants and their families live. Juan Carlos is not the first of Esmeralda’s sons to leave for the United states, his nine-year-old brother Francisco was smuggled into California one month earlier. Francisco now lives with Gloria, his grandmother, who paid a smuggler $3,500 to bring him to Los Angeles, California. Once Juan Carlos is in the shelter for child migrants his mother eagerly awaits him outside. After she sees him she signs a paper that says if Juan Carlos tries to travel again, he will be sent to a foster home.
As my father and I finally fit the statue of the little Virgin Mary in the back of the car, it was time to get on the road. I could already taste the guavas from my great grandfather’s ranch. Feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin. The smell of my aunt’s cooking. Hearing the excitement of my great grandmother’s voice. I wanted to be there already, be in the beautiful country of Mexico. My thoughts wandered as we left my house. How much welcome, love, and the sadness of leaving was going to happen. It was too soon to find out.
Parenthood is the hardest job anyone could ever have and it demands the constant attention of two loving parents, but what happens when one parent is left with the care and responsibility of a child. Well my mother had the burden of raising two kids, holding down a full-time job, and attending school. With her busy schedule it was hard on me because I was on my own almost of the time that I needed help whether it was to feed myself or if I needed help with homework. My mother knew I was having a hard time acclimating to our new situations so she took it upon herself to teach me to become as self sufficient as a 9 year old boy could be. I first saw this as a disadvantage, but quickly learned that it had become a blessing in disguise. Under the
Second chances may or may not always bring about great opportunities. Cándidó, an illegal immigrant with a strong sense of the faultless lifestyle he constantly lusts for, gives migrating with his wife to the freedom land another chance. Because the couple are so unsatisfied and unsure about the minimal opportunities that Mexico once offered them, Cándidó and América anticipate that their new “home” in the states will provide “a house, a yard, maybe a TV and a car too,” (Boyle 29). These materialistic things may seem to be such basic, yet selfish resources, but to Cándidó and his wife, they are a way for the refugees to feel like they belong within such a pressured society.
As soon as I arrived to the Perez family reunion, I immediately felt out of place. Since my family and I were the only ones not wearing the designated family reunion shirts, we stuck out like a sore thumb. Nevertheless, we received a warm welcome from the hostess who was my step-dad’s cousin. Although my stepdad, Shawn, has been in our family for a few years, we had never met any of his outside family. We’d heard the stories about my step-grandma and her fifteen brothers and sisters but we were excited to finally meet them. The first cousin that we encountered commented how she hadn’t seen Shawn in fifteen years. That would probably explain why she thought my sister and I were his daughters. I thought this was a strange assumption at first seeing as he is dark complected and my sisters and I are blondes. The longer we stayed, however, the more I realized that nearly all of the children below 25 were blond or near
Living in Venezuela wasn’t always pleasant. The living conditions were poor and the poverty levels were high. Things began to get violent and Amina’s father lost his job, due to the opposition against President Chavez. Their family had the opportunity to move to America for a safe life and Amina’s mother and father chose to accept the opportunity. Amina and her family left everything and everyone behind without a goodbye. Amina wasn’t particularly happy about leaving but it was for the best. Throughout the process of moving and trying to fit in Amina faced many challenges, for instance Amina was not happy about moving, and not knowing anyone or anything about where she was going to be living. She had to start over, she had to learn to live the life of an American teenager. Amina struggled with fitting in, but she soon found friends who accepted her and helped her find her way.
Fortunately, my mom has gotten better, but the environment around her is physically and emotionally draining, nonetheless I will continue to support her throughout my life. While at UCLA, I was physically there for my mom and it was one of the greatest feelings in the world. This reflects the determined, focused, and motivated person I am because I take part in school clubs and organizations that aid students who have similar problems, so no one else would have to endure experiences like mine. Being there for my mom made me a stronger person and it pushed me to continue fighting for problems that are set aside in our
I interviewed Valente Martinez and I can tell that he is very pleasant. These are some basic facts about him. His nickname is Valentin, but prefers that people call him Valente. He is Mexican, is twenty and is single. He born in July 31, 1996 in Austin Texas. He lives at Austin with his parents since he born. He never moved to another place. Valente wants to become a master mechanic at Nissan and open his own auto shop within 10 years, he chooses that major because he loves fix cars; he hasn’t served for the military, he thought about it but changes his mind because he decided to go to Austin Community College and try it. When I talked to him about the school, he told me that he dislikes reading or writing, do homework, test, or going to school
... they need. She has volunteered at homeless shelters and worked with the mentally disabled. She gives any clothes or items that we no longe need to the orphanage in Mexico. She always puts others first and I am proud to say that my mother has worked very hard and came a long way. She does no know the words “give up”. If there’s anything she has in abundance, it is perseverance; most importantly, she is able to see the potential in me and gives me the courage to do the things I hesitate to do.
While in school, Mom didn’t have it to easy. Not only did she raise a daughter and take care of a husband, she had to deal with numerous setbacks. These included such things as my father suffering a heart attack and going on to have a triple by-pass, she herself went through an emergency surgery, which sat her a semester behind, and her father also suffered a heart attack. Mom not only dealt with these setbacks but she had the everyday task of things like cooking dinner, cleaning the house and raising a family. I don’t know how she managed it all, but somehow she did.