Ezequil
I was born in Mexico, Tamaulipas Rio Bravo
on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1980. They say when I was born
it was time for the turkey, but I did not taste it, because I was
just born. On April 12, 1989 I came to the United States of
America, it was a lot different from the place that I came from.
In Mexico where I use to live was, very different from here, such
as when it rains it was really muddy, There is a lot of dirt so
when it was windy dirt blew around the whole city. Basically
there's nothing much to do in Mexico when I was there. All I did
was play in the dirt, get muddy, bare foot all day playing in the
sun. Sometimes we got in trouble for playing in places that we
should not have played in, but all we wanted to do was have a
little fun.
What a shock when I started working in the fields at 8 years old.
I did not work as hard as they did, but I did help my 
father,
my brothers and sister with their rows so they could finish fast.
They wanted to finish early so they could start another row to finish
early, and go home and rest and come back the next day to work again
in the sun and the fields. After that year my father decided to keep
coming back to Washington because we earned money. Within two years I
was working as hard as they did taking only one row, but it was still
a lot of work for me being just 10 years old.
During the mornings before I went to school I worked for only one
and half hours each day before school. Monday through Friday I went
to school and studied. My father says we should go to school to learn
more things, so we won't have to work in the fields like him, or make
my family work in the fields when I get married and have children. He
says he did not get the opportunity of going to school. That's why he
is living his life like this. He feels that even though he can not
give his family all that they need, he always gives them his support,
and the most important thing, he gives them his love.
So I began going to school full time. But sometimes I wasn't
lucky enough, some days I had to work after school because my family
wasn't finished working so I had to help them so they could finish
early and go home. On weekends I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to work all day
in the sun, so I did not get much. I never get the opportunity to
wake up late like some other kids do during the weekends.
I do like the life I am living. I even like the hard work,
sometimes. My father says we should learn how
to work hard, because you often have to work hard even when you have
an easy job.
I have been a migrant worker for 7 years . It has not been easy
to move from school to school. In a way it's fun because you make new
friends and see other new places, but is not easy living your best
friends in Texas. I do enjoy been a migrant, but most of the time is
a lot of bother. Now I am 15 years old going on to 16, years past so
fast and very quickly when you go to different places in a year and
meet other people.
I am a Tejano because I come from Texas were most of our family
is. I come from a family of 2 sisters, and 7 brothers. It's hard when
you have lots of people in your family. But it is worth it, because
they help you in anything that you might need. So we are a united
family. We might sometimes have our dislikes but we are still in one
family. Even though some are getting married and only 2 more are
left, it does not matter, because we are still one big family, since
the day that our parents brought us to earth and to the United States
Return To: Teenage
Children of Migrant Workers