TRANSCRIPTION
(The interview was conducted in Spanish.)
Where and when were you born?
I was born in Jesus Maria Jalisco, on June 23, 1957 around 6 in the afternoon
What is a memory you have about your parents as growing up?
My mom was the greatest women on earth she was always there not just for me but also for my sisters and brothers, my dad was a hardworking man always on the fields, one think that I remember was he never called us twice we knew better not to make him wait or called us twice
How were living conditions back in Mexico?
Living conditions were hard in Mexico we lived in a ranch, we were poor we didn't have much money but we were hard working people that helped us being better people
Having a large number of family members how did y'all managed to live? Can you describe me in the house you lived in?
Yes life was hard but we all worked since a young age to have a plate to eat, what we eat everyday was beans and tortillas and if we were lucky we had wild cactus, are house was really small we only had one bedroom where in one corner my parents slept and in each corner girls in one and boys in another one, we did have furniture at all we slept on the floor with a blanket and a small kitchen where we only had one chair.
What was your life as a child?
I really didn't have a child hood I would have to work on the fields and with the cattle's in the ranch
When you were a young kid what were your future goals?
When I was young I really didn't have dreams or nothing like that we were realistic, the only way to reach are goals is to work hard, one thing that I did want was to have a family and ranch with horses
At what age did you stop going to school and why?
When I was 14 years old I stopped going to school because it was far and I would only go for five months so I decided to stop going to school and help my dad all day at the ranch
What was the most difficult thing for you while growing up?
The most difficult thing for me was seeing my twin brother dying slowing, my twin brother passed away when he was just nine years old, I remember my brother being in bed for more than nine months and couldn't go anywhere, his favorite animal was turtles so I would go to the river and get turtles and take them to him, another one was that my dad would buy him bananas and he would eat them and I'll eat the banana peel, it was a twin thing "hahaha" he started laughing
Why did you decide to immigrate to the United States
I decided to immigrate to the United States because I wanted a better life
How old were you when you first immigrated?
I was just 16 years old
Were you afraid?
I wasn't really afraid I knew what I wanted to do and nothing was going to stop me
What was your experiences?
There was good days and bad once too but it wasn't something I couldn't handle, one day I remember my brother in law Chuy wanted to help me out and told me if I wanted to work where he was working at and I took it but he got lost from the group for a week I would be under a tree and at night I would get on top of the trees because I was afraid of the coyotes would eat me alive, then eventually I found my way back, I remember the only thing that was covering us was a plastic roof and we had to make our own food, sometimes we didn't have food and sleep on the floor
What did it mean to you to be a father?
It was the greatest feeling, thanks to God for blessing me with all this kids, me becoming a father made me become a better person
Was it hard for you to be far away from your family?
Yes, there was no day that I didn't think of them and how fast they were going and me not being able to be there
Did you communicate with your family? If yes how?
Yes, by letters because we didn't have a phone back then, one thing that I remember was when your sister Azucena passed away when she was just nine months old, I wasn't there for her funeral because I received the letter days later after she passed away
When did you become a residents?
Yes, in 1986 I was 29 years old, I honestly didn't want to fix my papers I was force, because at that time your sister Veronica was going to be born and in order to fix I had to stay in the United States for a year, but I asked for a permission to go and come back and it was granted
What made you decided to bring all your family to San Antonio Texas?
I missed them so much that I didn't want to be away from them no more
Was it hard to bring everyone/ what was the process
Back then it wasn't really hard you just had to put a form for everyone and pay it was around $450 for everyone well not including Alejandro, Brenda, and you (Blanca)
What was the greatest accomplishment you achieved?
Bring my family to the United States and living together as a family that we
If you could go back in time is there anything you would change in life?
I'm really happy with my life
