My father is originally from El Salvador and he migrated to the U.S when he was twenty two years old because he wanted to have a job there. He explained to me that his country was on the horizons of poverty and he would do anything to help his family.
So he came to the U.S to find more jobs and to live a more happy life and to have more opportunities. At the time he left, he told me he was very sad when he was leaving his home country and leaving his family because he doesn’t know whether he’ll be able to see them again. But at the same time, he was feeling very happy because he was able to find a job in the U.S.
He also told me that when he left, he wanted to bring his son along, but he wasn’t able to because there wasn’t enough money. So during that time, he had many regrets not bringing his son, but he wanted him to stay with his family. Ever since came to the U.S, he wouldn’t call his trip a special memory because he explained that when you travel to a new place, you experience something new and sometimes you will suffer a lot because you don’t know where you are going. You suffer a lot because you’re going somewhere that’s not your place. From my father’s perspective, he had to cross the border of Guatemala, Mexico, and the U.S, which was not an easy road for him because he had to deal with immigration in those moments. Something that my father remembered from his first days in the U.S was that when he crossed the border, he remembered that he felt awkward because it’s a whole new place because it’s a place he’s not used to. He felt so emotional because he missed his country, so then after that, he went to his mother’s house and he was very happy, but also frustrated due to the poor treatment.
After all the hard situations my father had to go through, he got to the point where he never considered living anywhere else because my father claimed that living in the U.S is not the same as living in El Salvador. So then he told me that kept a positive mindset and he never thought about it again. Something that my father misses about his original residence is his culture back from where he lives because he told me that in El Salvador, it’s very relaxing and you can live in peace with doing whatever you want without being scared. But after that, he explained to me that in the U.S, you have to be extremely careful with what you do, especially as an immigrant. To sum it up, I asked my father how he maintains his culture from his homeland and he explained to me that it’s not easy for him but he maintains them by working as hard as he can and to always have a positive mindset. Some of his interests are playing soccer and reading the bible.
The interview and narrative were done by his son.