Personal Narrative: Port Isabel

My parents and I emigrated from Mexico when I was very young. I was born in Zapotlanejo, Jalisco, Mexico. There my father, my mother and I lived in a shaggy one bedroom brick shack that lacked all the common utilities we take for granted here. There was no electricity nor was there plumbing inside the house. During the night time we had to light up oil lamps only when absolutely necessary and everything that required water usage was done outside. When my parents discovered my mother was expecting another child they finally decide that was not the life they wanted for their children. They left behind

The first day of my life took place in a military hospital in Wurzburg, Germany. My father was an officer in the U.S. Army and my mother stayed in the home. While living in Germany I attended a German school where my brother and I were the only students who spoke English. Despite the fact that we did not speak the same language, we were able to interact the same way most young children would. As an adult I have often thought that my desire to travel and search for diverse human relationships was influenced by my early childhood.

We meshed instantly. Scott had been on a trip with Michael and Henry during the prior summer, so they were already well acquainted. All of us got along really well right off the bat, and it was apparent enough to the eight or so other groups that they quickly fashioned the nickname DanClan for us. When the three days had come to an end, we began the drive up to the Georgian Bay. We shared a bus with a Georgian Bay girls trip, one of whom became a lasting friend and future girlfriend. Once we made it to our embarking point, we unloaded and packed all our supplies (except for the toiletries that we managed to leave in the trailer) into our kayaks and prepared to begin our journey.

One grand adventure that I went on this summer was a missions trip to the Dominican Republic. It was probably the best two weeks of my life and not a day goes by that I don’t think about it and want so badly to go back. I didn’t always have those feelings though… The first couple days were pretty rough from lack of sleep, being in a totally new environment in a country I have never been before, being way out of comfort zone and being slightly home sick. The first full day at our site I nearly had a panic attack because I just couldn't get over the language barrier and that was the first time I have ever worked with kids. I just felt so helpless and that I was’t showing these kids God’s love. But I was because just being there for them showed them God’s love.

I am a 17 year old Hispanic, military brat and athletic young woman. I am the younger of the two kids in my family. My brother and I were born in North Carolina while my parents were stationed in Fort Bragg. Currently, my parents are stationed in Fort Hood, Texas and my brother and I decided to stay in Kansas to attend college. During my time in K-State, I am going to be spending time in Kansas, Texas and Puerto Rico.

When we started growing up, old enough to start school, my mom, brother and myself moved to Pharr, TX. Here my parents bought our property and built our home.

Growing up in my hometown of Granbury, Texas was interesting. Only because while I wasa child it was a small town that required you to drive at the minimum of forty five minutes in order to vist the nearest hardware store or an hour to go to a water park. Not much has changed since then and now besides the fact all the main hardware stores have now set up shop inside the city limits of Granbury and as well as more restaurants. Even though more restaurantshave come to Granbury the one that I have enjoyed since my teens is names Mi Famila and it has the best Mexican food I have had since first trying

My trip to Catalina island was the best trip I've ever taken. We did so many fun things like going on a cruise, zip lining, and swimming in the bay. I was so glad my family made it possible for me to go. We had so much fun doing all those activities.

My parents did not come to San Diego with a lot of money, they only had ten million dong when they came, which to me sounded like a lot but my mom laughed and told me it was a thousand dollars in the U.S. For my parents, this meant they would go homeless in two months if one of them did not find any sort of work. For the first month, it was very difficult for them to find a job because they did not know how to find one. My mother would tell me how my father was a very strong man and yet no one would hire him because he would not know what to say during the interview. My mother would tell me how there were many nights she would fall asleep crying because she would think back to Vietnam when she was with her family and friends, where she did not feel limited or restricted by anything but money, and how now that she was here in San Diego, it was not only money but also her opportunity to socialize and communicate with many of the people around her. Even with my father by her side, she felt helpless and excluded from the community, like she no longer had a voice. Fortunately, near the end of the first month, one of the Vietnamese neighbors actually noticed my parents and greeted them. This man had a family and welcomed my parents greatly. He even helped my father find a job and get access to government services such as rent assistance, Medi-Cal and Food Stamps. Many immigrants share the same experiences my parents

Tossing and turning in my bed on Sunday morning I hear salsa music blasting on stereo downstairs. As I make my way downstairs I see my mother dancing while cleaning and she tells me “This reminds me of the days when I used to live in Puerto Rico.” As the songs change she keeps talking about her memories, until my father walks into the room and says “Oh! Its Sunday so you know what’s on TV? Sunday football turn it on!” Once he turned on the channel the national anthem began to play and my father spoke about how when he entered the Navy he knew nothing but Spanish because he came from Puerto Rico but the only thing he knew in English was our national anthem. He stated how when entered the Navy he quickly assimilated into the American lifestyle

Raised in a lovable small town with generous people, I couldn’t even dream of living elsewhere. However, with my grandparents in America, fighting for us to come to their foreign side, I knew we would eventually move. Soon, my parents started preparing for the nightmare. My curiosity started building up but I would retain myself from throwing questions to my occupied parents. Paperwork, passports and the long-difficult process of immigration was the only talk in the house. To save myself and my brother from the boredom and allow my parents to work efficiently, I started to parent him. Some days I would walk into my parents room to ask to go out and consequently retreat back after just a glance of their tired faces. Pushing away my desires, I decided to assist them as much as I could like an sensible adult. .

I was in Mexico living without my parents for a little bit longer than seven years and every night when i would think about it I would get upset, Feel alone, I mean how can’t you not be upset when you haven’t see your parents for 7 years? In Mexico what I would do was help my grandpa with his crops and I also studied, My parents would call me once a week to see how we were doing at the time and basically just talk to us since we didn’t during the whole week. During those calls my sister and I would always ask them “when are you guys coming back and live with us” they

I am an international student, I arrived to the United States in January 2011 with only part of my family. For almost five years, we did not own anything we either walked or had to ask relatives for a ride. We lived in the house of several uncles, and even lived for months in our neighbors' house. My mother was the head of the family, she worked only evening and night shifts at restaurants earning only money to pay my uncles the rent. My only entertained day was on Sunday when my mom’s aunt took us to church and later went to buy a one-dollar sandwich. My father could not do anything to improve our situation, he worked as a blueprints reader and earned a low salary in Mexico. A year ago, my father became permanent resident and started working

Moving as many times as we have was never my parent’s plan. However, when better job opportunities arose for my mom or dad, the other gladly gave up their lives there for each other. As well, my parents have made many sacrifices for us, even living in a different country then all their family, just to provide us with the best education they could. As well, my parents have taught me to be myself, not to let bring me down. Through these values they have taught my siblings and I, if we were being attacked and unfairly persecuted, I feel as though we would band together, and fight against the injustice being put on us. I know for a fact that my parents would do anything for my siblings and I, just as I would do the same. Just like my parents, my “gift” I could bring to my family is that I would do anything for them, because I love them. Not only this, but I am very calm in tough situations, and are able to calm down people when they are faced with these stressful situations. Overall, my family and I have developed a close bond together and would be willing to do anything or sacrifice anything for one

A few years ago, I was looking a place for vacations in Colombia. I selected Santa Marta, a city in the Caribbean coast and my relatives recommend me Decameron Galeón, an awesome resort next to the beach with a lot of services. The resort has single and double suites with twin or queen-size beds. You can find different facilities like Wi-Fi, cable TV, air conditioner, iron, beach umbrellas, wake up service and safe box. Free airport shuttle is really important because the resort is about 10 minutes from the city. The gardens are beautiful and surround some places like restaurants, pools, bars and a tennis court. The resort has services like clubs, gym, boutique and meeting room. Decameron has “all included” plans and you can find prices since 787000 Colombian pesos for 2 nights per person in low season.