My First Year Maria R

Maria Resendiz
ESL Level 6
January 30,2008

My First Year of Struggle
What brought me here to the United States were the necessities of a better life like most people who come to the United States. I wanted a better life for my family. The U.S. was a different country where people speak a different language, and have very different customs. It wasn’t easy to make this decision, but if making this decision was hard, it was going to be harder not knowing the language. I could never have expected all the trouble that I was going to have for not speaking English, not understanding what people were telling me, and afraid that I wouldn’t be able to provide for my family. I should have thought twice, before coming to The United States.
It’s horrible when somebody talks to you, and you only open your eyes and stay mute because you don’t have anything to say. I was on an airplane, and suddenly a lady came to me and asked me if I wanted something to drink, I got scared, completely scared. I didn’t know the word ‘pop’ or ‘soda’ because in my country we say ‘refresco’. Timidly, I answered her no and I closed my eyes because I didn’t want to see her reaction, and when I opened my eyes she wasn’t there. After this, I saw her asking something to the other passengers. That’s when I realized that she was the flight attendant, and she came with me first because I was in a front seat. What a relief I felt when I noticed that she was only offering a drink. This was one of a lot of misunderstandings that I would go through on my way and in the U.S.

Another experience I had was when my family and I were hungry. I remember it was about a week that we just arrived from Mexico and I didn’t know where the stores were. I went outside to look for something to eat, but I didn’t know which way to go. I asked a person for directions with body language because I didn’t know a word of English. She said, “go straight two blocks down and make a right and then walk half a block and there is a store”. Thank god she didn’t send me to Jewel at that time because I don’t know what I would have done. I didn’t understand her and I continued walking because I had to find something to eat. Compared to this country, my hometown is very small so I never had to walk much to get to the store, I would just have to cross the street and there was a store. Finally, after thirty minutes of walking I could see the store. Glad that I had found the store, I went inside to buy food.
Buying food was another problem that I had when I came to The United States. If getting to the store took me long, getting the food would take me longer. Another problem was the food; even though some English words sound or look the same as Spanish, I couldn’t find the salt. In Mexico the salt is in a big wooden box, and we use a scoop to get it. Here in the U.S. it comes in a round package with a little girl with a yellow dress, how could I know that was the salt? I also looked for meat, but again I couldn’t ask because of the language? In Mexico, if I want meat or something else I asked the owner of the store. In the U.S. you get all the food you want by yourself. I couldn’t see the meat because the meat was behind the counter and covered with paper now I find out that those papers were specials like $1.99 for a pound of beef, (those kind of specials). I was so frustrated, and I couldn’t find anything; every thing was different from Mexico. As a result of all this confusion, after looking through the entire store, I just had tomatoes and eggs. I lost my time looking for what I needed and I didn’t find anything because I did not understand American supermarkets.
In conclusion, I would like to give advice to people who want to come to this country. If you have the opportunity at least take a basic English course it is very important, or carry a dictionary because it is so frustrating when you try to find something and nobody can help you because you cannot communicate. I did not know how to react to the flight attendant, on the streets or at the food store. If you know a little English you wont be as confused as I was. At this time of my life, I laugh at all of my experiences, but it has taken me a long time to get to this place of comfort.
Maria Resendiz