The Curcuit

Wow. The story The Circuit has touched my heart. I felt bad for them. Getting up before the crack of dawn to move to another place to find work. They were like nomads, moving place to place to find work. The children did not go to school until a season is over like strawberry or cotton season. When the family moved to the Sullivan house for work, they stayed in a run down old garage. There were holes everywhere and worms in the ground. The women slept on the mattress while the men slept outside under the tree. The next morning Jimenez went to school. He enrolled in sixth grade. Mr. Lema is his sixth grade teacher. He was very nice and understanding. When Jimenez struggled with some words he was glad to help. They spent most of their lunch hours teaching Jimenez words and how to play an instrument. What really got me the most was he couldn’t wait to go home to tell his parents the news. Instead of coming home to a cozy home he came home to a home with packed boxes. I then felt really bad.

I’m sure the immigrants in the 50’s had to travel a lot and go to labor camps to find jobs. Life sure was tough for them back in the day but now in this time era many immigrants sneaked in through the border and apply for citizenship. Many have made it successfully but many failed and got thrown back to their country. I want to tell you a story about a person in my family, whom I will call, “Chica” for an identity reason. She is from El Salvador. Chica left her home because there was no work and no way to make money. Before she left home, she cleaned houses, babysat, cooked and worked on a farm. There was a war going on. they made children into child soldiers. She was worried because she has children of her own. Chica left home she walked to a town and caught a bus heading north. At one point she paid a guy five thousand dollars to get her across the border of some country. When she made it to America, she first went to Nevada. On her way to Nevada she walked mostly and hitched a ride. She told me that a person robbed her in Arizona. Then she went to Reno, Nevada and worked in a restaurant there. she eventually made it to Virginia and has been there since. Imagine she had to leave her home, her children so she can find work. Every month she sends money down to her family to take care of them. she married someone in my family and has a child together. She was 27 when she left for America. She has three children back home. She has been here for eight years.