Chaw Chaw: Summer in Venezuela
The only memory from my childhood is very funny, and now that I think about it, it is very exciting. I have one older brother and two sisters. Although I was a girl, I was very playful with my third sister who is older than me by a year and a half.
One day, I was six years old and my third sister was one year and a half older than me. We were playing around with each other and my sister wanted to climb the guava tree. I told her “Don't come to me”. She said “why not?” and I said “The kitchen roof was very light and couldn't put the weight”. But she never listens to me and I climbed the tree and then she followed. Then we picked the guava off the tree. Then me and my sister went falling from the tree. Then me and my sister went falling into the kitchen roof because the kitchen roof was very fragile and it couldn’t handle our weight and it made a big hole. My parents weren’t home that time. They were out. When they came back home, they saw the big hole in the kitchen roof. But they didn’t yell at us and instead were worried if we were hurt. But luckily we didn't get hurt. On the same night, it started to rain very heavily and the kitchen was flooded and I started to get scared and got sick. Then I had a bad dream at night and shouted “OHH NOO!"
One day, I was six years old and my third sister was one year and a half older than me. We were playing around with each other and my sister wanted to climb the guava tree. I told her “Don't come to me”. She said “why not?” and I said “The kitchen roof was very light and couldn't put the weight”. But she never listens to me and I climbed the tree and then she followed. Then we picked the guava off the tree. Then me and my sister went falling from the tree. Then me and my sister went falling into the kitchen roof because the kitchen roof was very fragile and it couldn’t handle our weight and it made a big hole. My parents weren’t home that time. They were out. When they came back home, they saw the big hole in the kitchen roof. But they didn’t yell at us and instead were worried if we were hurt. But luckily we didn't get hurt. On the same night, it started to rain very heavily and the kitchen was flooded and I started to get scared and got sick. Then I had a bad dream at night and shouted “OHH NOO!"
Hava Lilaj: Childhood Memories
I grew up in Albania. We walked to school and came back with friends. Our dinner time was at 7 o'clock. Eating in a restaurant never happened. It just was nothing. You took off school clothes as soon as you came home and put on your game clothes. We had to do homework before they let us play outside. We had dinner at the table. Our choosing phone was sitting on our ' phone table ' in the main hall and had a cable attached so private conversations didn't exist. Tv only had a few channels. Actually 3! We actually had to ask before the channel changed. We played cops and thieves, hide and seek, jumped, football on the streets. Staying in the house was punishment and the only thing we knew about '' boring '' is --- '' you better find something to do before I find you!" We ate what mom made for dinner or didn't eat anything... Everyone was welcome and no one left our house hungry. There was no water in the bottle; we drank from the tap or the garden outside (and everyone was healthy). Our favorite treat was a piece of white bread with sugar, sometimes with homemade plum jam (it was even better with friends). We watched cartoons on Saturday morning, and rode bikes for hours, swimming in rivers, walking on streams, forests, meadows, climbing the trees, eating fruit on the branches. We were not afraid of anything. We played until dark... Sunset was our time to come home (and our parents always knew where we were). If anyone had a fight, it was okay and again we were friends a week later, if not before. We respect the older because all of our aunt, uncle, grandparents, grandparents, and the best friends of our parents were the extensions of our parents, and you didn't want them to tell your parents if you did bad! These were the good old days. So many kids today will never know what it feels like to be a real child. Thank you God for this childhood. Good times!
Jessica Cordoba Algeciras: Time of Discovery
When I was a girl ... I loved walking in the mountains, doing daring things like walking through narrow walls. I tried all kinds of ice cream, chips and sweets. I liked discovering new things. I still have that mentality. Children used to entertain ourselves with a stone. Now the use of technology has damaged everything. It is not the same and they will not know how to value what childhood is. I would love to see how the children value and enjoy each moment again.
Khin Tun: Childhood Memory
Childhood memory is the most innocent and happiest time of human life. I spent my childhood playing all the time. I had many friends that we used to play in our backyard. I remember that I always got caught by my friends. When I was at home, I used to play painting and dancing most of the time. So, I would say that I enjoyed my childhood life. The most vivid thing that I still remember is my mother requesting me to complete my homework. Also, I am the only daughter of my parents. Thus why, my parents were so caring and loving to me.
Naihualy Salvador: New to the USA
I want to write about the experience of my son when we arrived to USA. We are from Dominican Republic. We have lived in NY since October 2018. Immediately, I started all the process for our new life. The process for the registration of my son at the school was the easy part. He entered at 1st grade and that was a new experience for him. On November of the same year, I had the opportunity to see my kid in his classroom. I was curious to see how he was doing in the new ambience but that was painful. I saw how the teacher gave instructions in English of course to all the students and my son was lost. She said open your book on the page 12, my son just was looking around. He doesn't understand anything, and I was there, so sad, by my son. After I leaving the classroom, I meet with the principal and other parents that were doing the same. I told about the fault that the school had when it is situated in a Latin neighborhood and it doesn't have bilingual program. The school just said that they weren’t mandatory. A few months later my son begins to give me some signal that something was wrong. He didn’t want to go to the school. He wasn’t speaking English. He doesn’t do homework. He started to feel a rejection to the country and the language. He cried and just said he wanted to go back to his country. I suffered a lot because I was missing my country too, but I knew that going back it wasn’t a possibility. This was a new way and we needed to start to walk. I wasn’t be satisfied, I thought that it is impossible that all the children that arrived from Hispanic countries felt what my son felt. I had to look for special help for my son. I wrote to the NYC Education Department, psychologist from the school and the parents coordinator and I did it! The school now gives my son bilingual program and translator for my son in some English classes. I know this magazine can reach a lot people who had been in the same situation than my son and me or others people who can make a change for us. Don’t lose the faith. United States of America can be a hard country when you don’t know what you can get out of it. Along the way you will always encounter obstacles but the love for those who fight and keeping your goals clear will help you achieve everything you set out to do.
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Farzaneh Tourdeh: My Child
When my son was four years old, my husband came to the US. During these days, my son and I lived in Iran. We could not come to US because we were waiting for our visa and it took us six years to get it. After five years we wanted to see each other so we decided to visit Malaysia where my husband was going to be too. After a long flight, we finally arrived at the airport. My son did not know what his father looked like because we only sometimes talked to him by video call. When we were looking for him, my son ( Mazdak ) heard someone calling his name. It was his father. Mazdak was very excited to see his dad. After ten days we separated, and we went to Iran and he went to the US. One year later we got our visa and came to the United State of America. It was such a good moment. The first day of school was so scary because he could not speak English, but he graduated with good grades.