This autobiographical essay will define my experience as a Dominican immigrant living in New York City. Being an American citizen with a Dominican background are extremely relevant to the process of political socialization. My family background is founded on the principles of democratic values, which taught to me by my mother and father. In New York City, I found a “melting pot” of different immigrants that allowed me to feel more accepted as a Dominican living in the United States. More so, these aspects of the socialization process provided a foundation for my belief in democratic values throughout my life.
There were rice plants on my left and farm animals on my right. I grew up in New York City, so you can imagine the millions of questions that were running through my head. I’d never been to the countryside of the Dominican Republic before, but when I finally did, I couldn’t be more ecstatic, despite the scorching Caribbean sun burning down on my brown skin. I hadn’t visited the Dominican Republic since I was four years old. All I had was vague memories of my grandmother’s boisterous laugh and the chickens in the backyard I loved chasing after.
Life was so much better in the States where I’d have all my friends around. (Looking at photos of friends) Now that I’m in a different country, I’ve lost contact with all my friends. My parents said we were going to have a better life here in Canada because my dad found a better job and found a nice house and I was looking forward to living here. But things aren’t going so well.
When I lived in Dominican Republic my childhood was the best. I was surrounded of my friends and cousins. I loved to play with them. When a woman got pregnant I always went to her house to help her. When the baby was born I passed the all day in that house with the baby.
I was born in Colombia, South America and lived there until I turned seven. Before I moved to the states, I attended a public school and was on the competitive swim team for my school. I earned many awards the year and a half I swam for my school. I took pride in competing with girls three to four years older than me. I also remember how different things were there than they are here in the states.
My grandfather asked me “Which one?” I respond “Let’s get this one”. Little did I know that guinea pig was my dinner. Guinea pigs or cuy are not pets but food in Ecuador. When I arrived at the airport it looked like any typical airport, but it felt as if I was in a different world.
It was so hard moving because I felt like I was leaving all of my friends behind. Maybe my old friends have moved on
Moving to Dominican Republic as a young American came with many challenges. One of the main challenges was crime; crime is one of the biggest problems for tourist. I moved to the Dominican Republic at the age of 11 with my parents. I was in middle school when I had my first close encounter with crime during the summer, a week right before school started. I was robbed by two assailants, one on a motorcycle and the other man was walking.
Over the Border Every year my family decides what to do for the holidays and where to go. Most of the time I have no say in it because my uncles insist on visiting or they invite us over. It doesn’t help that all of my family lives in Texas, California, and Mexico. This year has been the first time that we have spent Christmas and New Years here at home with just my family in a long time. Last year we took a long trip to Chihuahua, Mexico which is the biggest part/state of Mexico where my mother is from.
There are many countries with controversial laws surrounding abortion and the reproductive rights of women. For the sake of focusing on certain moral issues surrounding these laws, this essay will focus on the country of El Salvador. Before analyzing the various moral issues it is important to first understand just how strict the abortion laws in El Salvador are. An article written by Michelle Oberman focuses on comparing the most recent abortion regulations in the United States to those of El Salvador. In 1998 El Salvador revised their penal code that gave passes to women needing an abortion due to cases of rape, incest, or threat to maternal health to one that banned abortion altogether.
"We are moving to Argentina"said my mom. Immediately I thought I do not know the language that they speak very much. Two months later on February 20 my mom and I stopped at my new school. I will never forget that day and what happened.
I thought to myself. Wow. In just a few hours, I was going to be in a totally different country. My last day in the United States was on a warm day in July of last year. I would be using an airport in Washington D.C. to make my journey to Panama.
In the world around us, everyone is different. Whether it be something small or something big, we all have problems trying to comprehend how people can be different for us. They say that the best way to understand a person is to put yourself in their shoes, to live their life so to speak. My junior year of high school I did just that. I was rotary youth exchange student in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
The first eight years of my life, I spent in India where I was born. Growing up I was constantly reminded by my parents that I needed to make them proud by getting a good job and living a good lifestyle. They told me this because they did not want to see me live a hard life like they did. When I was nine years old, I moved from India to the United States of America. The reason why I moved to America was not because I was living a bad life in India, it was so that I could have a better education and more opportunities in life.
It was hard for me to tell my friends that I was leaving and going to another country. We started packing all our belongings ready to go the airport. Before going to the airport, I went to my friends and said goodbye to all of them. I told them that I was moving to the U.S. They felt sad about the news I told them.