The classic saying, “There’s always someone who has it worse than you” (Shaggy- Keepin’ it Real), didn’t come true to me until I had first-hand experience. As a child, I grew up in the lower middle class. So I wasn’t rich nor super poor. My mother came to the United States from El Salvador in the 1980’s. She has never taken my brother and me to her home country.
Each house-- painted a very vibrant, dazzling color, purple, orange, yellow, green, and pink. I had never seen houses like that in the United States the usual house colors are gray, white, tan, blue, very dull colors. The sight of these vivid houses was just a small glimpse of this beautiful country. As I nervously traveled without my family for the first time the lush terrain of Costa Rica dotted with colorful houses welcomed me.
Ever wonder what walking the Great Wall of China would be like? Ever dreamed of feeling the fresh cold air of Canada? What's it like eating baguettes in France next to the Eiffel Tower? Traveling is a popular dream among all of us, and making it a reality is a great learning experiences! I visited Canada in April of 2017, and had a personal emotional attachment to the culture and the whole environment, and the people I traveled with could say the same. Traveling is truly the most exciting part in a person's life because it makes their dreams of meeting different cultures a reality and gives them perspectives of seeing the world differently.
I firmly believe that you cannot travel to another country and come back the same. I’m excited for this journey ahead. I’m excited to be humbled; to be impacted; to be transformed; to be more educated; to be in awe; to be changed; to spread love; to make a difference; to be ALIVE in a new sense. Ma Jian, an author, said his book, Red Dust, “Everything I was I carry with me. Everything I will be lies waiting on the Road ahead.” This statement of his couldn’t be any truer in regard to my future travel to Ecuador. This journey that I’ll embark on will not only impact for thirteen days, but will continue long after I return to the United
My grandmother was born in Guatemala into a struggling family of seven. In Guatemala, kids are often forced to leave school and start working to help provide for their family´s food and shelter. Similarly, my grandmother was not able to complete her education. Instead, she had to take care of her siblings, providing for their basic needs. As she grew up, she had three kids, including my father, and needed to find a way to give them a better life.
Would you say that life has any sense? Or Is there an answer for everything in life? Three years ago I was completely messed up about this. Gustavo Adolfo Parra Chassaigne that’s how my parents called me and I was born in Maracay a little city next to Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. I used to be the first student of all my high school, also one of the first in tennis of my state and everybody said that my family was “perfect”. So, What did happen to me?
When I was eleven-years-old, I walked across the border for three days. At the moment, I had no idea what we were doing, all I knew was that it was necessary. El Salvador was extremely dangerous and my parents foresaw the violence coming our way so they knew we needed to get
I was born in a small town called Sesori in the country of El Salvador. El Salvador lays in the global south and it is extremely crime infested. I came to the United States of America when I was a small child; however, growing up in El Salvador allowed me to witness many of my neighbors and family members suffer from insufficient access to medicine. Knowing this has made me become a hardworking individual who acknowledges the opportunities and blessing that the United States offers its people. I wish to one day become a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and activist for woman's protection all around the world through an international humanitarian non-governmental organization called Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). I want to help individuals worldwide where the need is greatest. The world is in need of help with the
As I stepped out of the airport, followed by my family, I was unprepared for the snowfall and icy pavement that is so commonplace in January in Michigan. If I had thought enough about it, I would have worn winter boots on the plane and maybe brought my puffy white coat to block the wind. Instead, I stood shivering in brand new, pink ballet-flat shoes, while snowflakes filled my eyelashes.
Over the summer while in El Salvador, I had the unique experience of being able to engage in nonverbal communication which resulted in more than a few blunders. The reason I went to El Salvador was a week long mission trip. In which, I worked quite closely with a group of locals who understood absolutely no English at all; making verbal communication almost impossible. Although, most of the time our communication was just fine, and I would even go as far as calling many of the men we worked with my friends; however, we were not always able to communicate effectively. Early on in the work week I found myself alone with the El Salvadorian work crew. We were throwing buckets of dirt to one another up a steep hill to build a foundation for the
There are many things that one might expect when preparing for a journey to a different land. For example, one might anticipate a different climate and pack their clothing accordingly. Another person could read up on cultural customs before takeoff in an attempt to minimize the potential of accidentally offending someone. However, I believe that one of the largest barriers to overcome (and one that is often overlooked) is the language barrier. Language is the foundation of almost every interaction in very important aspects.
My grandmother, Anastasia Herrera, fearing my father’s death was imminent, put him on a plane bound to the United States. Apparently, my dad, barely fifteen years old at the time, had joined the Constitutionalists revolution in Santo Domingo. This rebel group was comprised of military agitators and civilian combatants fighting against Trujillistas or politicos adopting the imperialistic ideals of the fallen Dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. My father was not an idle supporter, but rather an active participant who manufactured Molotov cocktails, flinging bombs at law enforcement officers in the streets while the civil war gained momentum.
Initially, I was an Ecuadorian girl that had a Christian family, I grew up surrounded by my family and loved ones. My cognitive development was in progress, and I had created fundamental bonds in Ecuador. Provided that my dad is an American citizen and due to his work in America, he could not spend too much time with us in Ecuador, so, my mom, my little brother, and I immigrated to America. After three years of my life, our family reunited, and I became an Ecuadorian-American. Since I was very young, assimilating the changes came to be unnoticed, if it weren’t for the fact that during the next years I spoke Spanish at home and English at school. As a result, my translations of these languages affected my communication, creating slow comprehensive
In this assignment, the instructor Ms. Cross assigned us to do a virtual collage describing ourselves and our lives. In other words, to build a collage that depicts our self-concent. According to S. Verderber, Sellnow, and F. Verderber (2015), self-concept bases on “…the interpretations we make about our personal experiencesand how other react and respond to us”. (p.19.). In this collage I relate my personal experiences from when I lived in Venezuela,to my hobbies, my personality, my relationships, and my ambitions.
My family loves to go back to el Salvador to visit family. We go there for vacations each year in the summer. The past two years we went. My father’s cousin recommended a resort. He said “for your children’s to enjoy and for you guys to relax”. He also paid for our stance in the hotel which was 1 week and 3 days. He paid for all my family but my dad paid for my grandmas because he said that it was already too much. At first it was a little challenging trying to find the place, because it’s far from where we live but it was great at the end because the hotel service is also great. When we check in the people are polite and their system is fast, because it took us around five minutes to get our documents and our rooms ready. We went to our rooms and everything was great. Honestly I didn’t expect a good service when my cousin decides to paid