My Father's Story

Mario Q.

English 11/B

3.15.12

The Life Of My Father

When my father was younger he would get into a lot of trouble. He got into plenty of fights and he won a lot of them.  He would fight with his brother and friends help.  When his brother was their, he would beat the guy even more because he would love to show off to him.  My father lived in Mexico Zactecajas and he lived there for a long time.

 “Agriculture is of great importance. The city is a great producer of various crops, including corn, pepper, and tomato, among others. The neighboring towns and villages will focus on exporting its goods to the main city, as well as others. Economic sustainability is often connected to its agricultural success, along with silver mining.” (Wikipedia)  theses were some of the things my father would do. My father lived over all the mines and he was always afraid of an earthquake and destroys the entire city.

“Fresnillo, Zacatecas is often connected with Plateros, a central church that attracts many religious followers to the area. The church was built in the late 1690s in commemoration of Spanish miners finding a miraculous silver crucifix.”  My father is very religious and my mother would walk miles to get to the church.  This day we go to church every Sunday.

My father grew up living with his stepmother and his two brothers and one sister. His father would leave for many days and no one would know why until later many years after my father left to America he found out that my grandpa had another family, their mother was the woman that raised him so he didn’t mind that.

My father was a very troubled person as a child but he grew up into a great person. To me he is a great father, friend, to many people including me a good person to talk to. He has always supported me and I know he will always be there when ever I need him and I’m proud of having him as a father.

My Father

Paul S.
Period 5
3/16/2012

Image Project

          My father was born in Boston, Massachusetts. During his childhood his mother was an unfit parent that did drugs.  His father wanted to get custody but something got mixed up in the courts and for some reason my father ended up in a foster home.    My dad probably lived in the town of North End, Boston with a lot of Italian Americans and African Americans.  "A few African American people lived there, and soon went to a town called 'beacon hill'" where he stayed in a foster home (wikipedia).
        My dad wasn’t always a good kid, he’d get in a lot of fights and had a lot of anger problems.   Plus he’d move to different foster homes all the time which effected him as well.  Later in his life he want to California with his dad (I guess he stuck with him).  Why did they go to California?  I don’t know.  My mom’s friend told her about him and that’s how they met. They were together for about 4 years. During that time he shot up cocaine, and was very controlling over my mother.  He would sometimes do odd things, like hang weird objects on his wall; because he was bi-polar.

        During that time they had me, but when I was 2 years old he left me and my mom and went back to Boston. I only talked to my dad several times on the phone but I never met him. One time I decided to give him a gift along with pictures of me. I don’t know if he got it but in 2006 I got a letter saying he died of a lung infection and I’ll never get the chance to meet him.

Works Cited

North End, Boston from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales.

         June 2003. 4-10-12.Web.

Honduras, My Grandmother, and My Father

Tyesha H.
Period 5
April 11, 2012

 Honduras, My Grandmother, and My Father

            In 1969 there was a war against Salvador and Honduras over the 1970 Fifa world cup.  They had a lot animosity towards each other. Honduras won the first round and Salvador took it in the 2^nd, during this period they kept fighting each other. Up to the point where Honduras was kicking out the Salvadorans that lived in Honduras.

My grandma was born in Honduras; San Pedro Sula of September 11, 1941. According to a popular travel website, “this is a city for getting business done, rather than sightseeing” (Unknown, Yahoo Travel).  San Pedro Sula is a busy, highly populated area of Honduras. San Perdo Sula is the city where this war took place, which would make my grandma 28 years old at this point in time. She claims this soccer war didn’t affect her nor does she even remember it ever happening.

Due to research I know about this war. Seven years after the “war” my grandmother, a single mother of one child, immigrated to America through the desert.  A year later after she became a citizen and brought dad, who was only a few months, over to America with the help of a coyote she found out about.  A coyote is a person who helps bring people from other countries to the United States. According to USA Today, “Federal officials say the smuggling trade has grown more lucrative and violent in recent years” (Gonzalez).  During this time the government wasn’t so strict about papers or passports. So when the coyote was crossing through the border to America and saw my dad in a car seat they didn’t ask for his passport or birth certificate since he was a baby and more so because he looked black. My grandma earned her living in America by cleaning rich people’s houses and baby-sitting kids. Because of these jobs she was able to pay for her and my fathers citizenship and everyday life.

 Works Cited

"San Pedro Sula, Honduras." Yahoo! Travel . 11 Apr. 2012. <http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-485324-san_pedro_sula_vacations-i>.

Gonzalez, Daniel . "Coyotes: Criminals to the U.S. but heroes to many immigrants." USA Today. 1 Dec. 2003. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-11-30-coyotes_x.htm>.

My Grandfather's Life

Carmen V.

Period 5

April 10, 2012

My Grandfather's Life

             My grandpa used to live in Mexico City when the big earthquake happened. It happened in 1985 and was a magnitude 8.3. He was by himself in the house because my grandma and my aunt went to the store. He was getting ready to go to work when suddenly everything started to fall so he was worried because of my grandma and my aunt. He was trying to walk to the door but it fell in his back, he was trying to escape but he couldn’t because his leg was broken. His house was destroyed but he didn’t care about it because he was worried about his family. After the earthquake finished he went to the store and he found my grandma and my aunt on the floor. My grandma was crying because my aunt’s arm was bleeding, they tried to escape from the store and my grandpa took them to the hospital. On his way to the hospital he saw that many houses were destroyed and a lot of people were looking for their relatives. When he was in the hospital the doctor told him that my aunt was ok. He told me that he was sad because other people in the family were hurt, but at the same time he was happy because nothing happened to my grandma and my aunt. “The event caused between three and four billion USD in damage as 412 buildings collapsed and another 3,124 were seriously damaged in the city.”  (Wikipedia).  “According to official estimates, 10,000 people were killed, 50,000 were injured, and 250,000 people were left homeless. It is believed that the death was underestimated and that as many as 40,000 to 50,000 people may have lost their lives”. This was one of the most important events in my grandpa’s life and he will never forget it.

Coming soon..

My Grandmother-Joshua

Joshua W. 

Period 5

April 30, 2012 

Coming soon..

My Mother's Story

Stephanie D.

March 16,2012

Period 5

When my mom was little she enjoy singing and coming out in school music plays. Her step dad wouldn’t let her be in the school plays or stay after school to practice. She felt good and free when it came to singing. She would get really happy when it came to performing. She went to Jefferson high school in that school she would do a lot of musical plays and she enjoyed them all. Selena the Mexican singer better known as “The Queen of Tejano Music”(Wikipedia), was my moms hero. My mother wanted to be just like her singing in front of billions of people world wide. She never let her step dad bring her down from who she wanted to be. She never had her mother to talk to about her goals so she was pretty much was on her own when it came with her life goals. She knew who she wanted to be and she just need the right tools to take her to her where she wanted to be.

.

During her senior year she focus on her singing career. One day she had to perform a musical. That musical she perform was the best she ever perform. When the musical was over a scout went up to her and told her” with that voice, you’ll make it world wide.”(Wikipedia), that when my mom realize she had to get out of her house and find someone to help her with her singing. Every day she would practice singing no matter what her step dad would tell her not to. She started working at the mall so that she could earn money to travel and find someone to help her with her career and she would work everyday so that once she was out of high school she would leave her parents house right away and go to where she wanted to go so that she could become a singer. The last day of her senior day she packed her stuff and said her good bye her parents weren’t to happy about it but it was something she wanted to do so they couldn’t stop her from reaching her goals in life.

Her friend Suzy went with my mom to her journey. They found this guy Name Aaron and he was a music producer. He was willing to help my mom with her career but only that he lived in México so my mom and Suzy had to travel to México. Once Suzy and my mom arrived to México .Aaron met up with them and took them on tour around the town. Then later that night he told my mother he was going to take her to some singing places and see if she liked one of them. He took them to the first place and my mother told me once she enter the place her and Suzy fell in love with it. It was a Burlesque club where people where friendly and they did funny musicals. “Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical intended to the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects”(Wikipedia).

My mom became a burlesque singers, and I believe Aaron was their agent. So he would organizes their schedule. My mom was a burlesque for 8 years. Once she turn 24 she had to quit her burlesque job she didn’t want to but my dad wanted her to be able to spend time with because we wouldn’t be able to see her when we would be out of school. It was going to be hard for her to let go of her career she love but she knew it was the best she could do for her kids. To this day on my mom sings to us like how she would sing when she was in her burlesque job, my didn’t go world wide as she wanted to go. But she was proud she was able to live her career life that she always hope for.

Coming soon..

Stories of the Salvadorean Civil War

    Stephanie Guevara

    Period 5 

    April 12, 2012  

 

Stories of the Salvadorean Civil War

 

There have been many stories that have linked history with my uncle  Reynaldo Guevara, which was my uncle, he was born in San Miguel, El Salvador in the year 1960. When he was 9 years old his father, Francisco Lopez, died on a terrible accident with changed his life forever.   Since he was one of the oldest he had to work with my dad and two of my other uncles. My grandfather had left a ranch for his family experience, but since he had such a sudden death the family lost the ranch. My grandmother still sent him to school because she at least wanted him to have an education.

In the year 1980 my uncle was 20 years old and the meet a beautiful woman. He fell in love with her by the minute he saw her.  Since he work as an office in San Miguel she also fell in love with him. One day when they went on a date he saw that she was acting weird. She had to tell he what was happening, and what was happening was that she was the daughter of guerrillas. The guerillas were after the police officer and everyone who worked for the government. My uncle told her that he didn’t care. Esmeralda Torres, my uncle’s girlfriend, was from Chalatenango, El Salvador.

My uncle saw many horrible scenes as a police officer. When people had enemies they would put a false accusation on them and sent El Squadron De La Muerte (death squad) to kill them. Military death squad swiped out entire villages believed to be assisting the guerrilla efforts (Wikipedia). El Esquadron was a dangerous gang that who torturously kill people who were in favor on the FMLN. The war in El Salvador started in the late 1970’s and ended in 1992. The war started because there was a communist party in El Salvador called FMLN. The FMLN were a political. Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or umbrella organization of five left-wing guerrilla groups (Wikipedia). The FMLN wanted El Salvador to became a communist country .  The other political parties didn’t want El Salvador to became communist. The war was mostly a political war.

One day Esmeralda came crying to my uncle Reynaldo telling him that her dad had just found out that they had a relationship. The first thing my uncle thought about was to escape the U.S. She told him that if he left to the U.S she would also leave with him. Esmeralda’s dad sends the death squad to kill my uncle and his friend. Carlos, my uncle’s friend, also had problems with Esmeralda’s dad. A week before my uncle, Esmeralda, and Carlos were going to escape to the U.S, the death squad captured Carlos and the death squad killed him. Since my uncle thought he was next he quickly gathered everything and left with Esmeralda to the U.S. When they got to the U.S they both immediately looked for jobs. The year they both got to the U.S was 1984. After five years of being in the U.S they both got their residency. After they got their residency they waited 2 more years to go back to El Salvador. When the went back to El Salvador they both found out that Esmeralda’s dad had been killed by one of his enemies.

On February 17, 2009 Reynaldo Guevara died on a stroke. Esmeralda is still alive and stayed with their four kids. There have been many more stories in between all of their difficulties in El Salvador, but the time they both escaped to the U.S was the most interesting one they both had.

Coming soon..

My Grandfather Aniceto

Clarisa C.A.

Period 3

April 18, 2012

My Grandfather Aniceto 

My grandfather, Aniceto Acosta, was born on April 17, 1935 in Hacienda la Trojita. He was the first of two children. Being just little kids, he and his younger sister, suffered through their mother’s death.  He mentioned that he always felt the need of his mother and that he missed her a lot. Later on, as a kid, he moved with his family to Jerez de Garcia Salinas, where he grew up.

Jerez is a city in Zacatecas. “It was originally named after Jerez de la Frontera after the town of the same name in Andalucía, Spain” (Jerez de Garcia Salinas). On September 15 of each year, the residents celebrate the Virgin of Solitude and the Mexican Independence Day. Throughout the year, each church celebrates its patron with food, music and fireworks. The main Festival is The Spring Fair, which takes place during Spring break. “It starts with the Holy Saturday and continues with the Easter week and the week after. On the Holy Saturday the streets are close to burn the Judas effigies; you can see many people riding their horses and bands playing. The celebration involves rodeos, traditional dances, horse racing and cultural festivities” (Jerez de Garcia Salinas). All of these festivities are part of a great and enriched culture, which makes Jerez the special town it is. Jerez is an excellent place to spend vacations with the family, especially during the festivities.

My grandfather had to work as a kid to help his dad. He went to school, but decided to drop out since he didn’t like it. Even though he only got to first grade of elementary school, he learned to read and write by reading the Bible. He is a really religious man that likes to predicate God’s word. When he was in his twenties he married my grandmother, Josefina, and together they had eight kids. Throughout his life, he has been working doing different things.

He started as a truck driver and commercialist. He sold oranges and transported them to places out of town. His job would be really exhausting, since in many occasions his trips were long and he wasn’t able to sleep well. One time, he almost fell asleep as he was driving along the road. My grandma mentioned that he would always like to give the oranges at a really low price and sometimes even for free; of course she didn’t agree with him, because the money he earned wasn’t enough for the family. The truth is that my Grandpa always likes to share and give out food.

When he was around his early 30’s he came to Texas as a hand working man in the cotton fields. The problem was that during that time, there wasn’t enough work because of unknown reasons. So, he was able to stay there for only three months.  The bracer program allowed people from Mexico to come and work tirelessly in the agricultural fields for a certain period of time. The program was instituted by the Mexican government in August 4, 1942. The bracers would sign their contracts without understanding them, because of the language. “By the 60's, an excess of "illegal" agricultural workers along with the introduction of the mechanical cotton harvester destroyed the practicality and attractiveness of the bracer program. The program under which more than three million Mexicans entered the U.S. to labor in the agricultural fields ended in 1964. The U.S. Department of Labor officer in charge of the program, Lee G. Williams, had described it as a system of “legalized slavery"(Marentes Carlos). In other words, the program had been seen in a negative way too. If the program had been controlled and gave rights for workers, including a Spanish contract, the bracer program might have lasted until this day.

Later in life, in order to became a shoemaker, he commenced as the helper and student of one. He would also transport footwear. He used to go to Leon, Guanajuato in order to transport shoes. “The city of Leon has a strong leather industry, offering shoes, boots, belts, jackets, and other leather accessories both to national and international markets. Throughout the year they have conventions and trade shows” (Leon Guanajuato).  Many people say that in these conventions you find the footwear at a really low price. So people like to go to buy their shoes there.  When he started his own business he would get the ideas from what was the style during that time and would design his own shoes. He would make all kinds of shoes, including leather boots. After many years of making shoes, he would only repair them. The people started to get poorer so, they would often owe him money or never went to pick up their shoes. Meanwhile the people that did have money preferred to buy new shoes rather than fixing their old ones. Although he doesn’t have as many clients, he still repairs shoes.

            His job and his personality caused him to have a lot of friends. A lot of people like to stop by his job to greet him and to talk about different topics such as: politics, religion, anecdotes etc. My grandfather is known as a humble and really social person. To me he has given me great advice and has always cared for me. I thank God I am his granddaughter. 

Works Cited

 “Jerez de García Salinas”. Wikipedia. March 19, 2012. Digital.

Out At Sea

Jessica V.

Period 2

May 3, 2012 

Out At Sea

                  

          Once graduated high school, at age 18 my brother decided to join the Navy. In 2011 he left to work at sea for 6 months. On his way back he decided to get off In Hawaii instead of in Seattle where he lived. He called his wife to meet him there so they can spend some time. They had already met up there when they herd loud tsunami sirens so they asked what was going on and that’s when they found out there was a tsunami in Japan and they were alerting several other coasts. Rowen and Mcniff stated that, “according to the official toll, the disaster left 15,839 dead, 5,950 injured, and 3,642 missing.” That is a lot of disaster for Japan thank God it didn’t reach Hawaii where my brother was. According to the website, “Japan was hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake on March 11,2011, that triggered a deadly 23 foot tsunami in the country’s north.” That was a really big wave that hit that’s why there was so much disaster and then the shake was of a big magnitude. People really believe a tsunami could hit in a lot of other coast too. For around a whole day there was tsunami alerts in most parts of the coast as indicated Rowen and Mcniff, “ The pacific tsunami warning center issued warnings for Russia, Taiwan, Hawaii, Indonesia, The Marshall islands, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and the west coasts of the. U.S., Mexico, Central America, and south America.” So Many places had the alert but good thing nothing happened anywhere else. When the Alert was over my brother gave us a call to let us know they were fine and they were going to enjoy themselves. They got really worried because while they were there the kids were with my sister in Law’s mom in the Island of Oak Harbor, Washington, where they lived.

Works Cited:

Mcniff, Catherine, Rowen, Beth.Tsunami In Japan 2011.Infoplease.March 2011.March 2012.web 

The Life of My Grandfather

Claudia H.

English 11 B

March 19,2012

Period 3

       When my grandfather was young he was independent. He started working at early age to help his mother to pay the house bills and to buy food. At 27 years old he got married with my grandmother, later on they had 6 children. When his youngest daughter was born he decided to go and live in the United States.

            When he arrived to United States he started to work as a chef. “A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. The word “chef” is borrowed from the French term chef de cuisine, the director or head of a kitchen.” (Wikipedia) My grandfather would get paid a lot of money with that job but he would only send a little bit of money to my grandmother. ”Chefs get roughly, $35,000 to $100,000 per year, depending on training, experience and talent. Coordinates, plans menus, and oversees all food preparation and cooking, National Restaurant Association (NRA) give the median salary for an as Executive Chef approximately $50,000” (Answer.com) The money that my grandfather would send her it was enough to buy clothes, food, bills, etc. He would rather save that money in a bank than sending it to her wife.

      

He stayed in that job for almost 8 or more years. Then he decided to get another job where it would be less time working. He started to work as a massage. When the time passed he kept working for years. He made a lot of money with that job but he still didn’t send enough money to my grandmother. He would only visit his children twice a year not enough time to be a good parent.

Coming soon...

Coming soon..

The Story of A Great Man

Emily R.

English 11B

03/19/2012

Period: 3

A GREAT MAN

   Bravery, accomplishment, anxiety, hurt lies, and consequences. All these characteristics signify my father. August 16, 1976 in a pale and humid hospital my grandma gave birth to Gerardo DeSantos , the youngest of five. From this day on, the world invited a great man to join the value of life.

  My Dad was born and raised in a small town of Bell Gardens, better known for its Hispanic cultural background as a home to people escaping the Mexican government. While growing up during the late 1970s life was tough for a young Hispanic boy, either by being tormented because of his race, or getting in trouble with the law. I say this because my father has always been a  rebel. A story I remember that he has told multiple times is him and his friends were scavenging through the riverbed and like little mice, they went inside one of the dark damp tunnels. They heard the police outside and scattered off terrified in the dark. After that afternoon they kept going back for the thrill. Being the youngest child in the family, I feel he was neglected. So as a little boy my dad probably did things purposely to get him in trouble and gain attention from it. My dad’s stories are really visual, I can imagine a medium skinned, 4’2, bushy haired child as his character.

  If you were to ask me to describe my dad in one word during his teen years it would be ‘Greaser’, all he would talk about is grease, friends, cars, music, sports, girls and partying. He has a couple of friends that have stuck by his side most of his lifetime, sort of like the handful of boys in the film “Stand By Me” they have been close since my dad was around four and although a couple have passed away they are always inviting new members to their crew. In high school the boys decided to name themselves after the rising film and novel “the outsiders." Yes, at the time it sounded extremely cheesy, but they out lived their name. In Bell if you were friends with a member of "the outsiders" you were an instant hotshot. Sadly to this day the former greaser gang no longer exists at Bell high and now the classes of 1995 are all in their mid thirties. I can't be recognized as an heir to the throne of fame.

 However, my father's teenage years also had their hardships. Especially in a low income family living off of welfare , of course my grandmother and grandfather are nice, but most of my dad’s stories include that they were always addicted to a drug that would be fatal to get out of their systems: gambling. One of the worst of them all. So as the youngest and not being able to always have someone to look up to, my dad also went through things like homelessness, crimes, drugs, and alcohol abuse. Thank god he is now around 11+ years of sober and he is a better man completely. In an article about sobriety and underage drinking its shows the struggle for people like my father as statistics, “only 4% even make it to AA (alcoholics anonymous) in the first place, and of that 4% who do, only 2% decide to stay on”₁. Another interesting thing about my father is his story on how his first child came to be, Me. He met my mother in tenth grade. They were high school sweethearts and they ended up falling “in love.” My mother was a preppy private school girl who was also in the greaser edge as a teen. At around the ages of sixteen and seventeen they became a statistic and she became pregnant. It was rough but over all our family still stood strong throughout these years; although my parents are divorced I am able to see my dad every other weekend.

 I know my father Is a great man , as so are many other fathers. We have to learn to appreciate every little moment we have with a person no matter how wrong their morals are or if you are not able to function with them, just realize everyone is great in their own way. A famous quote said by Dwight David Eisenhower explained the characteristics of someone with a sturdy foot into life “the qualities of a great man are vision, integrity, courage, understanding, the power of articulation, and a profundity of character."(Eisenhower)

Essay coming soon..

My Grandfather's Story

Gerardo Calderon

Modern Literature Composition B

Mr. Pierson

13 March 2012

                                                                    “Jose Gamez”

                                                           

My grandfather “ Jose Gamez” was born in February 19, 1930 on Cuba. He passed away in February 27,1993 here in California. I’ve never got to meet him since I was born the year after his death but I feel that I known him by listening stories about him from my mother and grandmother. I would hear that he was a very kind person with people, he would always smile, hardly angry at anyone and a great dad according to my mom. He was very tall at that time , maybe about 6 feet tall since my family are short between 5’4-5’10feet. The story I liked what he told my mom when she was little about is how beautiful the ocean is on Cuba and the music people play in the streets. He would also tell her that he would always play kickball near the beach with his brothers when the waves would come because the loved the sound when the water comes down.

Unfortunately in 1959, my grandfather was 29 years old that time and he mentions that it was the worst year of is life. The reason was because Fidel Castro had overthrown Fulgenio Batista from power becoming Cubas new leader. At first he didn’t mind about Fidel taking over until one night he heard gun shots firing around the house when two soldiers enter the house taking his dad away by first putting him unconscious with their rifle. Later that day he finds out they took his dad to a jail without knowing what he’d done. Since his father was in jail he decide to take his brothers with him to migrate to America with his friends but his brothers decided to stay in Cuba to wait for their dad get out of jail but for him to go with his friends to America without them. My grandfather had no choice but to leave them and go in a banana boat to America, he hugged them and other family members to say goodbye. He noticed while at sea lots of handmade boats with  people were going the same route as they were. The sad part about it was when a storm came a day before he got to America it drift some boats to a different direction and those who were asleep never woke again from either dehydration or from drowning asleep.

           

When he got to America, he landed on the state of Florida were a friend of his     father was waiting for him, he got into his truck and they head to California were a  year later he would met my grandmother. I believe he said to my mom when she asked about my great grandfather that he gets told from his fathers friend that his brothers find out that there dad had been killed by the soldiers a while after my grandpa left Cuba. Many others were killed on the conflict of the bay of pigs were Cuban rebels tried to kill Castro where they failed because Castro known the plan early .The captured rebels would be captured and killed by castors soldiers. I just hope one day when Cuba is a democracy country and become peaceful, I can take my mom to visit Cuba were my grandpa was born

Gerardo, Calderon.” Jose Games “Cuban Migration”.

Wikipedia , From my family.

 Gerardo Calderon.19, Feb , 2012. 

Web. 19, Feb , 2012.