Juan Villarreal
Did you ever go to school? If so which one and how long?
I did go to school, up to the sixth or seventh grade. I don't remember the name of the school because its changed after so many years, but I went to school in El Carmen, Nuevo Leon .
Why did you quit school so early?
I quit school like mostly every other kid because I had to work so I can help my family.
Where did you want to go school or work?
At that time I wanted to work becasue I was making money but now as an adult I know that if you have an education then you will make a lot of money.
When was the first time you thought of coming to America?
I'm not quite sure how old I was but it was probably around sixteen or seventeen years of age. I would here my parents and neighbors talk about how there were hundreds of jobs in the United States and you could get a lot of money.
What year was it when you first came to the U.S.?
I'm not that sure of the exact date but I came with my brother to Houston in 1953, we went back to Mexico every couple of weeks so we could visit and help out our parents by giving them money.
Why did you come to America?
The main reason I came to America just like all the other thousands of Mexicans was for money and a better life.
How'd you feel when you got here for the first time?
At first when I was in the Unites States I was kind of nervous because it was the first time I was here. I came with my brother on a bus called the Continental. At one point I thought that we would get lost but it took us right to Houston. I was nervous but if it was not for the immigration papers, I would of never have come to the U.S.
What year was it when you brought your family to America?
Again I'm not quite sure about the exact date but it was in 1965. We came in a 1958 Ford that I had bought earlier in the U.S.
What challenges did you face?
At first it was kind of hard because we were getting used to the lifestyle, I for one was already used to it but my wife was not. I think the only challenges we had was when we moved to different places we would have to get used to new things?
Where did you move to and why?
We moved to Houston because I already had a house there and it was pretty big. I already had three children by then and we fit in the house pretty good.
Why did you move a lot?
We moved a lot because I was not satisfied in one place for too long. We first moved to Houston and then we went to
Selma , California for about fifteen years. Then we moved back to Houston for a couple of years.From there we moved to Mexico and then back to the U.S.
How long were you in these places?
Houston for about twenty years, California for fifteen years, San Antonio for avout five years and Pearsall for sixteen years, But when I lived in the U.S. with my family we would always go back to Mexico every month to go visit my family and relatives.
What kind of jobs did you have?
I had so many jobs that I probably don't remember them all but the main ones where agricultrual labor, construction work and fence making. I had a lot of jobs and they were of those three things.
What job was you favorite and how much did you get paid?
I didn't have a favorite job but they were all okay. I think the job that payed me the most was Constuction at about ten dollars an hour.
Did you ever get hurt on the job? How?
I did get hurt woking in Cosntruction. I feel from a ladder and I broke my knee. I could not work for about two months. Luckily my kids where working and they all helped me out a lot.
What was the place that you liked the most to live? Why?
Now that I think aobut it I would say that
Pearsall is my favorite place to live. Now that I'm older I want to live in a peacfull place where all the people are nice.
Did you ever think that you would live here in Pearsall?
At first I didn't but because my older brother was living there I decided to live there too and in the end it is a very good place to live.
In the end would you change anything that you've done in your life?
The only thing is that I should of bought more lotto tickets, I maybe could of won... (laughs).
Is there anything else that you would like to say?
I've never been interviewed before but it was a nice experience.
I learned that as an immigrant, Juan Villarreal moved with his family to a lot of places for a very short time. He would live in one place for about three years then move to another destination for the same amount of time. I thought that he would move to one place and stay there for a while then move to another place for a long amount of time, but I was wrong. The interview was pretty good he remembered a lot from his past that I was not even aware of, he thouight of what to say and he said everything real clearly. YOu can learn a lot about the past through an interview, you can learn first hand how someone felt about a set incident or whatever the case. The only drawback is that maybee the interviewee will not remeber certain dates and that could be a problem. But in the end it is good to do interviewes to get useful information of the past. I learned many things from my grandfather that I didn't even know he had done.
The Handbook of Texas Online is a multidisciplinary encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture sponsored by the Texas State Historical Association and the General Libraries at UT-Austin. It was produced in partnership with the College of Liberal Arts and the General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin. Copyright © The Texas State Historical Association. Last Updated: May 6, 2004.
Immigration This is a very helpful site for those immigrants who want to come to the United States, this site had probably helped a lot of people and it could also help you. Copyright 2005-2006, US Immigration Services. "United States Immigration Support" http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/
El Carmen, Nuevo Leon is a small town close to Monterrey. (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.nl.gob.mx/%3FP%3Dcarmen&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DEl%2BCarmen%2BNuevo%2BLeon%26hl%3Den) it tells the history of the town and what goes on in it. © Government of the State again Leon. Administration 2003-2009
Selma is a small town in California, Raisain Capital of the World.(http://www.cityofselma.com/)Copyright 2004 City of Selma, California
Pearsall is a small town about 50 miles away from San Antonio.(http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/PP/hfp2.html) This site talks about Pearsall and its history.