It was a hot summer afternoon in Mexico; I was 12 years old at the time. I was just coming home from playing soccer with my brothers and friends. I was really exhausted, I felt as if I had ran a marathon. With a weird voice our mom told us to come to the kitchen table for dinner. We all sat down on the table, as my mom began to serve dinner, and as she was pouring some soup on my plate I noticed her eyes were red as if she had been crying. We all noticed there was something wrong and the situation became really awkward. We began to eat and everyone was looking down on their food with out saying a word, I felt as if I were on lunch detention where I wasn’t allowed to talk or make any noise.
Suddenly my brother broke the ice by asking, “How was your day at work today dad?” With a very low voice almost whispering he responded “good.”
Finally my mom said with her voice shaking and mumbling “we have something to ask you guys” our eyes opened up and we became really nervous, my brothers and I were looking at each other with a look that said “what did you do now to get us I trouble?”
I was about to confess every single bad thing I had done in my life because my parents had never been that serious before.
Before I could even say anything my dad began to speak, “You kids already know how unsafe and dangerous things are becoming here in our town.”
Ever since the president of Mexico had declared war against drug cartels in Mexico things had gotten really bad, kidnappings, murders, extortion became more abundant everywhere. Our father began telling us that it was unsafe for us to be living there anymore. At the end of his talk he ended with a question that shocked everyone in the table “How would you like to live in USA?”
He then told us that he would be staying in Mexico because of his business and that he would not force us to leave. My dad as a kid, around the same age as me had the very same choice to make. He wanted to give us the chance to decide whether to leave or not, because he knew what it meant to move to a whole different place and start over. But at the same time he encouraged us to leave because he worried for our safety. It was all very confusing and I couldn’t think straight, so I went to bed.
Alarm goes off, my mom is yelling at us to get ready and go down to get breakfast. I open my eyes and s I try to get off bed I found my self staring at the sealing, still shocked about what had been said the night before. As I’m walking down the stairs I can hear my steps echoing, there was an empty feeling surrounding the house. Quietly we all eat breakfast and rush to school, I was hoping school and seeing my friends would help me get my mind off what had happened. It actually made it worse as I began to remember how it was really hard for me to make friends because of my shyness. Just the fact that I had to start from zero was horrifying. A new language, culture, way of life were just some of the things that I would have to adapt to, I just wasn’t sure if I wanted or was ready to make that change in my life.
The bell rings when the clock hits 9, time for classes to start. With an empty feeling on my stomach, I walk into a classroom full of people laughing, yelling, talking to each other and whose only worry was last night’s homework (which I had forgotten to do). Teacher walks in and everyone suddenly becomes still and on their best behavior. That is no surprise since she was the meanest strictest teacher of all school. Unfocused I could not wait to go out to recess, I could not stand being there another minute, finally recess came and everybody runs outside to socialize and complain about how boring classes are. I go sit down on a corner all by my self; I just didn’t want to be around anybody.
I suddenly hear some people talking about the most recent stuff that was going on in our town. “Did you hear about last nights shooting?” my ears opened up completely and that got my attention and I began to wonder, what if one day I’m in the wrong place at the wrong time or I’m kidnapped or who knows what. Suddenly it hit me, what if my dad is right and moving to the US was the better option. I felt a great relief, as if someone had lifted a one thousand pound rock off my back after it all became clearer. I would have to adjust to a new world and it would be really hard, but that would be better than living at an unsafe place where my family and I were in danger.
Now that I live here, I just keep hearing how much worse things have been getting in Mexico, murders, kidnappings, extortion have only increased and I just look back and thank my father for sending us here, if I hadn’t made this decision, who knows maybe I wouldn’t be writing this essay. I guess moving here was the best decision I have ever made.
Suddenly my brother broke the ice by asking, “How was your day at work today dad?” With a very low voice almost whispering he responded “good.”
Finally my mom said with her voice shaking and mumbling “we have something to ask you guys” our eyes opened up and we became really nervous, my brothers and I were looking at each other with a look that said “what did you do now to get us I trouble?”
I was about to confess every single bad thing I had done in my life because my parents had never been that serious before.
Before I could even say anything my dad began to speak, “You kids already know how unsafe and dangerous things are becoming here in our town.”
Ever since the president of Mexico had declared war against drug cartels in Mexico things had gotten really bad, kidnappings, murders, extortion became more abundant everywhere. Our father began telling us that it was unsafe for us to be living there anymore. At the end of his talk he ended with a question that shocked everyone in the table “How would you like to live in USA?”
He then told us that he would be staying in Mexico because of his business and that he would not force us to leave. My dad as a kid, around the same age as me had the very same choice to make. He wanted to give us the chance to decide whether to leave or not, because he knew what it meant to move to a whole different place and start over. But at the same time he encouraged us to leave because he worried for our safety. It was all very confusing and I couldn’t think straight, so I went to bed.
Alarm goes off, my mom is yelling at us to get ready and go down to get breakfast. I open my eyes and s I try to get off bed I found my self staring at the sealing, still shocked about what had been said the night before. As I’m walking down the stairs I can hear my steps echoing, there was an empty feeling surrounding the house. Quietly we all eat breakfast and rush to school, I was hoping school and seeing my friends would help me get my mind off what had happened. It actually made it worse as I began to remember how it was really hard for me to make friends because of my shyness. Just the fact that I had to start from zero was horrifying. A new language, culture, way of life were just some of the things that I would have to adapt to, I just wasn’t sure if I wanted or was ready to make that change in my life.
The bell rings when the clock hits 9, time for classes to start. With an empty feeling on my stomach, I walk into a classroom full of people laughing, yelling, talking to each other and whose only worry was last night’s homework (which I had forgotten to do). Teacher walks in and everyone suddenly becomes still and on their best behavior. That is no surprise since she was the meanest strictest teacher of all school. Unfocused I could not wait to go out to recess, I could not stand being there another minute, finally recess came and everybody runs outside to socialize and complain about how boring classes are. I go sit down on a corner all by my self; I just didn’t want to be around anybody.
I suddenly hear some people talking about the most recent stuff that was going on in our town. “Did you hear about last nights shooting?” my ears opened up completely and that got my attention and I began to wonder, what if one day I’m in the wrong place at the wrong time or I’m kidnapped or who knows what. Suddenly it hit me, what if my dad is right and moving to the US was the better option. I felt a great relief, as if someone had lifted a one thousand pound rock off my back after it all became clearer. I would have to adjust to a new world and it would be really hard, but that would be better than living at an unsafe place where my family and I were in danger.
Now that I live here, I just keep hearing how much worse things have been getting in Mexico, murders, kidnappings, extortion have only increased and I just look back and thank my father for sending us here, if I hadn’t made this decision, who knows maybe I wouldn’t be writing this essay. I guess moving here was the best decision I have ever made.