I started the process to be able to obtain a visa. Since my husband already had one, it wasn’t that hard for me to get it for my girls and myself. I was asked questions by the consulate of the US like, where was I going and where was I going to get the money that I was going to use in the US. The consulate also prioritize the fact that they wanted to makes sure that I understood this was a visa and I needed to return back to my country. The visa process finished and I left Guadalajara, Jalisco on March 23, 2002.

My journey to the US wasn’t really difficult since I did have the visa. All I did was go on the plane all the way down to Phoenix, Arizona. From there, we rented a van that was going to bring us to my uncle’s home that we lived in for about two weeks. Later, a brother of my uncle’s wife rented us an apartment with no deposit. My husband at the time still didn’t have a job nor did I. However, she still let us live there, the only thing my husband had to do was put tile on the floor.

The apartment was here in Glendale, Arizona. It was similar to a little home one restroom and two rooms. My husband then proceeded to look for a job to take care of us. He worked in house-keeping in a mall called Metrocenter; he made six dollars an hour. All I did at the time was take care of the girls; they were too young to be left alone. To be honest, I never have really worked. With the little that Pablo would make, that’s how we got by.

Even though we had it a bit rough in the beginning, it was okay because even this what a better life than Mexico. In Mexico, everything is expensive and the government doesn’t help out. I had to pay for daughters to attend school, lunches, books, utilities and it was too much. Here, the government helps a lot when it comes the education of children, especially if you’re part of the percentage of low income.

Another reason for moving was for security. One day, my daughters and I were assaulted. They ripped my necklace off my neck; imagine that happening with my daughters near me. Even on the busses, bad guys would get on with a knife and tell you to give them everything you have, it was awful. In Mexico it is not like the US, if something happens calling the police doesn’t always work because the police never really do anything for you there. I did not feel safe, if you got assaulted the only way somebody would find out is if they found your body dead the next day.

When I got to the US, I did not keep in contact with people back at home. Now, I do sometimes through Facebook and telephone. However, that is because I don’t have family back at home. Most of my family has also migrated to the US and my parents are dead. Therefore, I never had to send remittances back home. Once again, that might had also influence a reason for me leaving Guadalajara.

Here in Phoenix years later I still haven’t officially got a permanent job but sometimes I go and clean some houses and take care of my grandkids. My husband in Guadalajara was a taxi guy but here all he does now is work in construction. Basically, he waits around till a little job comes by and he takes it.

I’ve been living here in Phoenix for about fifteen years now and the most common way I keep up with my culture is through food. For example, on Thanksgiving Day in my home a turkey is never made. I know that it’s an American holiday but we have come accustomed to celebrating it but we only make Mexican foods like tamales and posole. As well with language, we still all speak Spanish in our home.  In that aspect, we still have our culture just merge into our new American life.

When I came to the US, I expected it to be expensive and knew that everything here is what you want you have to pay for. I knew it was expensive like I said but I didn’t think it was going to be overwelmely expensive. Also, I knew that to work here I had to have a social security. Although, I didn’t think it was going to be so difficult to obtain one and not only that, but to also learn a bit of English to get by. I did not know that without references it would be so hard to get a job and how much employers value those references. So I was a person who didn’t speak English, did not have a social security number, and did not have any references this made it hard.

I was surprised by the standards here but little by little it is possible. Anyone who truly wants to work will find a job here, it just takes effort and no hesitation. Another thing I would like to point out is that when I got here, I would go second-hand shopping. Fridays and Saturdays I would go to yard sales to buy furniture and be able to sell it. That is one of the ways I would come up with money for food and other necessities.

Some barriers I had in the US, was learning how to count money, and like I mentioned before, the language. For example, there were several times at the store where the cashier would tell me my price, but since I did not know how to count the money I would just give them a big dollar bill. That left me with pockets full of cents to spare. The way I learned to deal with these barriers was by going to a school that helped me with basic things for someone who has migrated to the US. I went to that school for six months; I learned how to count money, make a check and I learned a bit of English.

This was good because the language at first was so difficult I felt dumb sometimes when people would talk to me in English and I could not respond back to them. All I would do is look at them and smile and say, “yeah okay.” I would usually just stick to neighborhoods where it was dominated by the Hispanic race. It was difficult, but now it is not so bad, I find my ways. Just like I had to forcefully learn how to drive here too.

Luckily, with my barriers I never did run into somebody who ever discriminated against me. Well, at least I cant remember or ever detected that happening to me. Also, possibly the reason for never experiencing this is because I have stayed here in Phoenix where its populated with a lot of Hispanics.