My Journal

“Walking back from the center of town, after a pleasant dinner at my favorite local restaurant, I got choked up. This would be my last meal (hopefully at least) in my homeland of Mexico. As the sun disappeared into the colorful, majestic clouds of night, I began to prepare myself for the journey of a lifetime; I was going to cross the border and enter the land of the free: America. My two-room shack seemed abnormally quiet on this night, but every little noise added to my anxiety. Being that my journey would be a long one, I packed very light; a couple shirts and shorts, socks, a large canteen of water, and most importantly a jar of dirt from an eroded garden outside my house. This dirt symbolized my upbringing. Although I was embarking on a journey to a completely new country with an array of new opportunities, I will never forget Mexico. It has made me the man I am today. Because I can feel the tears beginning to form in my eyes, I am going to stop discussing my past and continue with my future. I laid in bed, or more accurately rolled around in a cold sweat, for nearly five hours before I finally fell asleep. I almost wish I hadn’t fallen asleep because my dreams (or nightmares) that night only made me more anxious. I saw myself in handcuffs pressed up against a border patrol vehicle. As I exited my home at 5:30 AM, I could not get that image out of my head. Everything was surreal; I could not believe that this day had finally come. My head was itchy, my face was as hot as the rising sun, my heart was beating faster than ever before, and my legs were shaking like leaves in a windstorm. I started this journey by on my own and hopefully will successfully enter America on my own. This journey was either the beginning of my new life, or the beginning of the end.”

“As I ventured further and further away from my hometown (a small town outside of Guadalajara) I became more lonely. There were less signs of civilization and the scorching heat even scared away most animal life. My imagination kept me going. I would think of myself wearing a nice shirt and a tie entering a prestigious company building somewhere in Los Angeles as a true American citizen. Imagine that? Everything else in my life seemed to disappear when dreams like that popped into head. Being alone was great for a short period of time but after a while it seemed to bring down my spirits. It made my journey feel endless. Luckily, after what seemed like hours of walking, a came across a small town smack in the middle of the desert. There was not much there but I was able to find a family who offered to give me a bed and a meal. Day 1 is complete.”

“The brightness and suffocating heat of the sun woke me up the next morning. The home that I had stayed in for the night was deserted when I strolled out of ‘my’ small room alongside the kitchen. There was a dish with fresh fruit on the counter in which I completely devoured within seconds. The sweetness of the pineapple and the tanginess of the mango rejuvenated my entire body and mindset. Not wanting to waste any time, I gathered my stuff, wrote a note reading “Gracias mis amigos”, and took off into the horizon. Because I felt great, concerning food and water, from the fruit, I failed to remember to pack any water for my day’s journey. After an hour of two of being pelted by rays of the hot Mexican sun, I began to die down. I saw something in the distance but I couldn’t make out what it was. MIO DIOS! (Oh my God!) In front of my eyes was a luxurious beach side resort. The pool was big and the water was so relaxing. There were trays of food and drinks just for me. Was I in heaven? I soon found out that this so called resort did not exist. Dr. Rivera told me the story when I woke up in a hospital bed the next morning. Day 2 is complete.”

“While sitting up in a hospital bed, sipping on a cold glass of water, Dr. Rivera told me what had caused my first ever visit to a hospital to occur. Apparently I suffered from a severe case of dehydration. Luckily, a man from the nearby town spotted my sprawled out on the dry, light brown dirt. The resort that I had seen was indeed a mirage. I thought that those only existed in movies, but I guess not. I thanked Dr. Rivera for helping me recover and I walked out of the hospital with my head held high. A billboard hung from a building directly outside of the hospital, “Come to America, the best country in the WORLD!!!” This was a sign; I had to get there. America here I come. Day 3 is complete.”

“I could feel it. I was getting closer and closer with every step that I took. My clothes were stained yellow from the accumulation of sweat and dirt from the past three days. The street signs alongside the roads were transforming from Spanish words to English words. No longer did the red octagonal sign read “Alto”, it read, “Stop”. After a light meal at a local taco stand, I rested my back up against a tree and went into a daze. I was not asleep but I was most definitely out of it. I had to plan my route to cross the border without being spotted by the bloodthirsty border patrol of America. I sat under that tree until the sunset and all light transformed to darkness. I spotted a group of about six or seven Mexican men that undoubtedly had the same goal as I did: get into America safely. As they disappeared into the dessert, I followed behind from a distance. I watched there every move. As we edged closer to the border my nerves skyrocketed. My hands were as sweaty as Patrick Ewing’s forehead after an overtime game. I became woozy and began to see dark spots every time I blinked. The six men that I had been tracking for nearly an hour kneeled down, almost waiting for a gunshot to go off for “their race” to begin. Five minutes later, they all went into a dead sprint. Their bodies disappeared until a big, bright light appeared. There were sirens and two or three gunshots went off before is all of the men pinned up against a cop car in handcuffs. I could not fully understand what the officers were saying, but they were screaming and physically abusing the men. After watching this happen, to fellow countrymen nonetheless, doubts about my master plan popped into my head. Why would I want to go to a country after seeing these men getting beaten and verbally abused? What is the point? I sat in my “hiding spot” for another five or ten minutes and decided to do something that I never thought I’d do on this journey. I turned my back to the border and began my journey back to my hometown in Mexico. There was no point for me to attempt to sneak into a country that truly did not want me there. Mexico was my homeland and that is where I will stay. My journey is now complete.”

Quotes

Throughout the novel, many lessons were taught to Mai by her mother: "you have to stand up to the Americans if you want anything in this country (p. 23). Although Mai and her family left Vietnam, her country "had a special pull" for her. "It was where her mother was born" (p. 102). After death and hardship, Mai finishes the novel with a great quote: "Outside, a faint sliver of what only two weeks ago was a full moon dangled like a sea horse from the sky" (p. 260).

Coming to America: What's the Point???

For most immigrants, there is nothing better than the idea of coming to America. My question for these people is: What is the point? They are leaving their homelands because they are escaping poverty, war, or just in pursuit of a better life. The fact is, life in America (for these anxious immigrants) is no different from their lives previous to entering the borders of “the best country in the world”. They are treated as if they are the lowest piece of the totem pole and still live amongst people from their homelands. My lesson plan basically deals with the idea that there is no point for immigrants to come to America. TV shows and movies may make America seem like a great place to come to, but it truly is not (at least for many immigrants). Their lives remain virtually the same. Below are some videos, pictures, and articles to help you better understand my topic. Enjoy!

Assignment
I know all of the blog posts are overwhelming, so I will stay away from making you do ANOTHER post. While sitting in my room, trying to be creative for once, I actually thought of a decently creative assignment (with the help of Carly of course). I want you to research your ancestors roots: find out where they immigrated from, where they ended up living in America, why they came here, and any other information you can come up with while searching the Internet or talking with your relatives. I think that this “ancestor finder” will help you out just a little bit. Once you have gathered up your information, I want you to create an ID card for an ancestor or group of ancestors. You should include a picture, the information you gathered (where they are from, where they lived, etc…), and a list of stereotypes that those particular people face in America today (not inappropriate ones of course). You also should ask yourself and include on the ID card, why people of the same ethnic background live near each other and why they still come to America even though their situations do not improve. I hope this assignment is not too confusing; I am just trying to get my point across in a creative way. GOOD LUCK and have fun finding your ancestors!

Finding articles and clips relating to immigration is a very easy task, but I know no one will read or watch any boring clips so I attempted to use “funny sources”. While searching YouTube, I came across a Family Guy clip that relates to immigration. Everyone knows Family Guy is a classic, so this clip should generate some laughs (even though making fun of immigrants is no where near funny!).

I know everyone is sick of blogs and “blogging”, but I found a pretty cool blog dealing with Asian Americans. There is no specific topic but just about the general lives of Asian Americans. As you all know, it is easy to stereotype and put down immigrants and minority groups. This article from the Asian Journal disproves many sterotypes!

Since I am one of two people in the class to read Monkey Bridge, I am going to direct you to Friedy’s Blog to get a different perspective and lesson plan relating to our book.

Two things that I am not so familiar with (I’m hate using technology of any sort) are EBSCO and iTunes. However, since this project means so much to me, I will give you a source to use for this project from each of these databases. USA Today has an interesting article discussing the detention center for immigrants in America. On iTunes, I want you to search for Led Zepplin’s “Immigrant Song” and Nas’s “I Know I Can”. These songs briefly discuss immigration and are also two very good songs to listen to! Check out the music videos on YouTube.