Mexican Immigration

I was eating my dad's famous tacos after a days hard work when my dad had told me his parents always told him "work hard or do not eat." What does that mean? It ment being an immigrant from Mexico, like my dad, was difficult because as he grew up, the focus was not in education, but work eas the priority. My dad's family is from Zacatecas, Mexico, specifically Garcia de la Cadena, Zacatecas, Mexico. Not all Mexican immigrants are "low" class as people steroetype them to be. Contrary to America's expectation on Mexican immigrants lives as an unseccessful part of society; many Mexican immigrants can and are achieving success.

Now I am not talking about becoming a millionare, but to thrive in areas many immigrants tend to struggle on when they move to America. In the reading "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood" by Richard Rodriguez, he talks about learning english while growing up. he explains how it was difficult at first and he mentions how he "imagined that english was intrinsically a public language and spanish was intrinsically private, [he] easily noted the difference between classroom language and the language of home. At school, words were directed to a general audience at listeners...words were meaningfully ordered" (page 619). Unlike Richard, my dad knew how to speak spanish all ready by the time he came to America, but it was that much harder to learn english. Therefore, people in Zacatecas, Mexico only speak spanish, like most people in America speak english. This was my dad, when he came to America, were he lasted up to a week sometimes without eating at school, embarressed that he could not pernounce english correctly, not able to speak for himself. Until a teacher was around to come to the rescue and help him. Successfully learning english, reaching achievement, so he soon was able to translate and help his family learn english to communicate with "los gringos" as Richard's parents would say. Not only was language a difficult area for immigrants, but family was as well.

The styles of living were much more different in Mexico then in America. For one thing, in Mexico, students or children would quit school in order to work. Schooling was not as important as work or their practice of religion. My dad told me that their values had not changed very much from coming to America, because lucky for them, there were others who came from Zacatecas, Mexico with them to have a better life here in America, in Washington, in Pasco. They brought the culture of Mexico here, accepting the fact that they were a little different. A difficulty would be the fact that they, Mexican immigrants, or any other immigrants, would be leaving some family behind, because family is the most valuable thing to most immigrants. It certainly was for my dad and his family, but in order to keep the family in order, an immigrant must find a job, to make a living.

My grandparents