Green Light Project

• What country are you originally from? 

I am from Mexico 

• Why did you leave this country?

I left my country because I wanted to visit my sister that lived in Arlington Tx.

• When did you leave? How old were at that time?

I left in 1994 when I was 27 years old.

•  What were the conditions in the country when you left? 

Many people didn't have jobs and were poor. I was one of those lucky people in my family that had a college education and a good job. 

•  How did you prepare for your trip here? 

I went to get a VISA in Monterrey Mexico. 

• Who came with you when you immigrated? Who did you leave behind? What did you leave behind? 

Nobody, I came by myself. I left most of my family; sister, brothers and parents.

• How did you get here? Did you stay somewhere else before arriving here?

I traveled by bus. 

•   Why did you choose the United States? Why not some other country? 

My sister had a house in Arlington and I also wanted to shop and visit.

• Who decided you would come here? Did you want to leave?

My parents decided for me to come here because my sister needed a family member. 

• How did others in your home country treat you when they knew you were leaving?

People didn't treat me differently because they knew that I had a family member that could look after me. 

•  What changes in lifestyle did you make when you came here? 

I had to learn the language and the culture of the United States. 

•  What was your first impression of the United States? Has this initial impression changed over time? 

My first impression of the UNited States was all the nature and different animals. Also the different social classes that interacted with one another. 

• What are some of the differences/similarities you've noticed in the cultures here and in your home country? 

 The lifestyle of each person, how they based their lives on money and work. 

• What were your hopes for yourself (and/or your family) when you came here? Have you realized these hopes? 

I wanted to learn a new culture and the way that Americans worked to get money. I wanted to learn how to become independent of my parents.  

• How were you treated when you first arrived in the United States? How are you treated now? 

Everything was normal because my sister was with me at all times. 

• Were your expectations of America met? Was your idea of America the same as the reality?

Everything was beautiful but people had to work a lot to have the so call American Dream.

           My mother came from Durango Mexico when she was 27 years old. She had a college educations and a job that was well respected by her family. She came by bus to visit her sister. Everything was so different from Mexico, she explained that in Durango the state she is from is it was all desert their was no plant or animal life. She said that one thing she noticed the most from the United States was that people had to work for everything. All that surrounded the lives of Americans was work and money. Her intentions from coming to the United States were to spend some time with her sister and shop, but then she saw how hard working everyone was that she decided to stay. At first she thought that every thing would be easier because she had a college education but over time she knew she needed to learn a new language and culture.