NANCY PEREZ

I was born on July 29, 1991, close to a small city in Mexico-Michuakan, Purandero. It is south of Mexico City. My mom already had three children, and she was having another baby so she asked a friend of hers that lived next door to us, if she could take care of me. So the one that took care of me was like my stepmother. When I was five or six years old, my real mom took me to live with her, but I still went to my other mom sometimes. I have three sisters, July (pronounced Yulie), Kathy, and Berenice, and a brother, Ruben.

I was six or seven when my stepmother took me to see her son. When I came back I was going to my house, and the doctor was coming to my stepmother's house. He told me to go with him. When we got there, he asked if I wanted to go play with my little cousin, and I did. I heard him say that my dad had died, and I went rushing up to my house. All the people there were praying for him. Then my mom carne and told me the truth. I saw all my aunts were there. They had come clear from the United States to see him. He had a heart attack. He took a bath in the morning and then was throwing up, and then he just fell asleep. That was when my mom called the doctor.

Dad had a small business. He made windows and doors. He made the house where we used to live and he was making another one. My grandma lives in the house now and July lives there, too. My dad made cement places for people to sit, and benches. He used to help lots of people and everybody knew him. He used to drink when he was 20, but when he married my mom he stopped drinking. He used to go to an organization to help people not drink.

I was eight years old when we came to the United States. We didn't talk ahead of time about coming. My brother came first, but we all came about the same time. My sister, July, didn't want to come because she wanted to stay with my grandma. She was afraid to leave her alone. My morn and I went to Nebraska to be with my aunt. My other sisters and brother went to California with my other aunt, but then my Aunt Ruby went to get my sisters and brother from California.

We lived in Nebraska and then my aunt took us to Marshalltown. We lived there with my mom's uncle and then we found an apartment. My mom's brother came to live with us so he could help us pay our bills. They worked in a factory in Marshalltown.

When I was older, me and my sisters Kathy and Berenice were playing hide and seek. I had a bandana over my eyes and I don't know how it happened but I cut my tongue and it was bleeding. My morn took me to the doctor and I still have the mark on my tongue. When my aunt knew about it, they wanted to operate on me but I didn't want them to.

I went to kindergarten in Mexico and first and second grade, but I had to finish second grade in Marshalltown. In Marshalltown I had two schools, Franklin and Woodbury, because we moved from my uncle's house to an apartment. I didn't know any English when I started to Franklin School. A friend of mine in Franklin helped me learn English, and the teacher helped me, too. There was another lady in that school who knew both Spanish and English. It was pretty hard because all the kids spoke English and all our lessons were in English. Alejandra was my best friend. I had another best friend and her name was Nancy, too.

When I was about nine or ten, we moved to Osceola so my mom and her sister, Alejandra's mother, could work at Osceola Foods. We don't have a car so Mom rides to work with them. By the time we came to Osceola, I could speak both languages. I still have some trouble in reading and writing classes, but most of the time I can communicate, and I interpret for my mom and my aunt. My cousin Alejandra and I might not be best friends now. She and Stephanie are best friends. My best friend is Karina and we were in fourth grade in the same room and now we are in the same room in fifth grade.

Last year I had Mrs. Tokheim and she was really nice. My brother had Mr. Tokheim in seventh grade. This year I am in fifth grade and I am lucky because I have Mrs. Goos and she is really nice, too. The first quarter this year I had one B but now I get all A's.

My aunt from Mexico came and she asked my mom if she could come with her and live here so she wouldn't be alone. My mom said "yes," and now my other sister wants to come.

Our family goes to the Catholic Church and last year Berenice had her first communion. Her good friend, Alejandra Trevino, also had her first communion. I did my first communion when I was seven, but I went with them to classes because I forgot some things.

Last summer I went to Nebraska and stayed with my aunt and babysat for my cousin. On July 4, the aunt who brought me to the United States came to Nebraska to celebrate. On July 5 we went back to Marshalltown because my other aunt that I babysat for was going to Mexico. We stayed awhile in Marshalltown and I babysat my cousin there, too.

In 2002, Osceola had a celebration on May 5, in honor of the Cinco de Mayo celebrations we have in Mexico. It is a special day in Mexico when 10 or 12 year old girls walk from the main street down to the church with dolls wrapped in a little blanket on their backs. They carry little pots with flowers. They represent the Mayas. We studied about them in school and I have kind of forgotten but the dictionary says they were members of a modem American Indian people, who are descendants of the ancient Maya civilization.

At that celebration there were about nine or ten of us who sang with Mrs. Wallace, the music teacher, and Mrs. Watkins, our English as a Second Language teacher. We sang Spanish and English songs, and there were about six couples of girls and boys who danced. This year we are going to do it again, and there will be eight couples to dance and lots more singers.

About the 22nd of April, we have another celebration in Mexico. People dress like clowns and walk on stilts. They throw t-shirts that get caught on the wires. In the middle of the town, they have groups of bands that come one day, and another group of bands come another day. They play their instruments and sing and people dance all the way to the church. They have people who ride on the torros (bulls), and whoever stays on the longest wins. Some people get killed on the horns. One day we went with my family and my sister Benenice saw a man fall down. She started to cry and my dad had to take her to the car.

One of my favorite things to do is reading. I check out books at the Library. I like to read geography. I’ve also read books about Harriett Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Helen Keller- that's my favorite book. I am taking lessons on the flute. I am in chorus. I like soccer and basketball but it is too muddy to play soccer outside now and the boys take all the basketballs. I have a basketball at home and I asked Mrs. Goos if I could bring it to school. She said she would think about it.

Today I am going to help a friend make piñatas. She likes to make them for fun - not to sel. We blow up a balloon and we mix flour and water to make sticky stuff. We put that on the balloon and put newspaper around it. Then we cut little strips of paper and cut them apart and put them around the balloons. The balloon gets hard and then we put the candy in. We always have them for birthday parties or celebrations. On July 4, at my aunt's house, we had one.

When I am out of school, I want to be either a teacher or a secretary, and I don't care where I live, just so I am close to my family.

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Last Revised November 4, 2012