My decision to come to this country began when me and my family
realized that we would not be able to survive in our home country.
What began as a thought to find a way to achieve more became
a hard trip here, to the U.S.

Can I achieve what I have planned? Is something bad going to happen
to me on the way?

We arrived in Querétaro and waited for the man who was going to help
us. 2 hours passed and before they arrived for us and took us to a house.
We went to buy things for the road like water, juices, juice boxes, and
canned food. We arrived at the bus terminal and met up with other
people who were also going with us. We got on the bus and readied for
a twelve-hour drive. Throughout this time, I was in contact with my
mother and my girlfriend. It was a hard trip for me. Many thoughts went through my head, and at one point when we were almost getting off, we
had to pay the bus driver to take us down to the side of the road. In a
moment of adrenaline, we got off the bus quickly and ran to a hill. We
started walking for about 30 minutes and finally came to a river. The
river was very big and cold. We put our things in a black bag and started
to get into the river. The water felt very cold and the current was pulling
me and I separated about 20 meters from the others.

As soon as I could, I was able to get closer to the other bank of the river
with them in American territory. We ran about 100 meters, passed a
road, and then a water channel and we hid, but a sergeant saw us and
detained us. Immigration arrived and took us to the offices. I was the
only minor in the group I was with, so they left me in the country, but
the others were deported. I was taken to a shelter where I had to stay for
10 days while my father filled out documents that were requested of him
so that I could be taken with him. The days in the shelter were very long
since I missed my family and only communicated with my mother for
10 minutes a day. The days passed slowly and one Thursday morning at
the shelter they sent me to tell me that I was leaving. I was very happy
to be able to get out of there because I didn't like being there. I went to
say goodbye to my friends and teachers, packed my suitcase with the
clothes I had, and left.

From there they took me to the airport where I was going to take a flight
from Texas to Atlanta and Atlanta to Boston. I was excited since it was
also my first time flying but on the first flight I didn't get a window, so
I had to sleep. On the second flight I got to look out the window and I
saw the whole city. I was nervous about arriving since I was going to
see my dad again.

© Cesar . All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.