Moving to New York was something I had never thought to do. I didn’t even know what or where New York was until my grandmother and my uncle’s family moved to New York, specifically in Long Island, when I was five. My uncle would call once in awhile telling us how great New York was and for my family to move there, but we did not take him up for it at first.
My life in El Salvador was great. I thought I had everything I needed and wanted. I attended a private Catholic school, I had all the latest clothing, a large house and all the toys I wanted. With all this I did not want to move away, especially to a country I did not know well. However, when I was seven my parents decided that it was best for our family to move to New York due to several things that were happening to my family and in El Salvador.
We began selling and giving away most of the things we could not take with us to New York. After many goodbyes and crying sessions with the ones we loved, my parents, my brother and I took our trip to New York on June 8th, 2000. Many stereotypes would have people think that we came through the Mexican border and had a coyote bring us all the way up to New York, but I guess I was lucky enough to have a much easier passage. My family and I boarded an airplane on that day and it was my first and last time on an airplane. After five hours on the airplane, we landed at JFK airport and we were given a three-month permit to stay in New York, but we knew that we would not be coming back to the airport to go back to El Salvador.
My uncle picked us up from the airport and took us to his home, which resided in Glen Cove, New York. Since my parents did not have enough money to get an apartment right away, we stayed at my uncle’s place where my aunt and cousin lived, as well. Their apartment was very small with only one bedroom; therefore we had to sleep in the living room. It was hard to live like that but we were fortunate to have a place to stay. My uncle found a job for my father right away and he began saving up money. After three months of extra hours at work and working all seven days of the week, my father saved enough money to rent an apartment.
In the first three months, I went through many withdrawals of what I used to have but I gained appreciation of what I did have and realized that I was a very lucky kid when I lived in El Salvador. Once we had an apartment I felt more at ease to live in New York, even if it was a tiny one-bedroom apartment. My mother began to work, as well, during this to help pay for the rent, food and bills. I had never noticed how hard it is to maintain a household until I noticed the hardships my parents had to go through. My uncle had painted such a great picture of life in New York that made me take all this much harder.
September came and I began second grade. It was the hardest school year in my life. I did not know English and I felt like an outcast most of the time. I did find a few friends who spoke Spanish, but it was still hard not knowing what they would say when they spoke English around me. Moreover, it was hard for me to learn English even with my English as a Second Language (ESL) class. My brother only took 6 months of ESL classes to pass the fluency class, while it took me four years to do so. Having to work twice as hard as all my classmates to try and understand the work while learning English gave me a new appreciation for education. Even after my ESL classes I kept working hard in school, because I had become accustomed to it and I thought it was the least I could do to make my parents proud after all the hard work they had to persevere in order to give my siblings and I the life we have.
Moving to Glen Cove, New York, changed my whole life and I would not change it. I feel that without moving to New York, I would have not understood that life is hard and that one needs to work hard for whatever one has and will get. Being exposed to the obstacles of moving to a new country led me to respect and appreciate everything parents do for their children. Furthermore, without having to be pushed to learn English, I would not have learned to push myself to my full potential in school. New York not only taught me to dream and set my own goals but, also, to have a realistic mindset and to know that everything one has is a gift that one must cherish. All the struggles I have faced since I moved to New York have made me stronger and they have helped me become the person I am today.
San Salvador is the Capital of El Salvador and also where I am from.
This is the statue of “El Salvador del Mundo,” the Savior of the World. It is El Salvador’s Saint and where the country got its name from. It is also one of my favorite places in the country.
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