Dreams and Challenges: My Journey To Becoming A United States Immigrant

By Noé Tobias

   The second day of the journey towards the American dream began. We were in a place called Aguas Calientes in Guatemala. I remember it was a very populated town with many stores and people walking through the streets. But what surprised me the most was that most people spoke other languages, and even though they knew Spanish, they preferred to speak their languages among themselves. We had breakfast and then took a very early direct bus to another town called Santa Elena. The trip was long, but I was able to see much of the countryside. I noticed that in Guatemala, there are large, very green mountains full of flora and fauna. I also realized that peanuts, bananas, and many other things are heavily cultivated there. After a long day of traveling with great views and more, we reached our destination. We were in Santa Elena at 5:00 in the afternoon and it was time for us to eat something. While we were looking for a place to eat, our guide took care of buying the bus tickets for the next part of our trip. We spent about two hours at a bus terminal where we had dinner and rested a bit. At 7:00 pm it was time to board the next bus. This time we had to travel at night because we did not want to prolong the journey any further, so we quickly took the next bus and slept while traveling.

   The next destination was Santa Ana, so we spent the entire night and early morning on the bus.  At 5:30 am, we arrived in Santa Ana, and someone already had our rooms ready for us, someone known to the guide, although this time it was a bit less. That same morning, we got up at 8:00 am, and almost by 9:00 am, we were already leaving Santa Ana towards the border of Guatemala with Mexico. As we advanced, we also had the eagerness to go faster. Sometimes, we had the opportunity to communicate with our relatives so that they had news of us and not worry too much, but also, days passed without being able to make a call.

   After three days of travel from my home until then, we were reaching the second border. However, more difficulties awaited us ahead because Mexico is the largest country that we had to cross to reach the United States, and also the most challenging for many reasons. 

   Having crossed the border, they took us to some houses where we had dinner and rested. I remember it was very late, so what we asked for dinner was pizza. After dinner, we simply slept all night, although the next trip was postponed to 4:00 in the morning the next day. That way, at 4 am, the 11 of us were ready, but this time, we were taken personally by car. It was a long journey, but the places we passed were very beautiful, so it was not so boring. After having spent almost the whole day, we arrived in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. In Villahermosa, we stayed longer than we thought, as we spent about 5 or 6 days in a warehouse where we were staying. Our group and many others were there. The first day was normal, but then it became tiring. We did not go out on any of those days, and we could only sleep and talk among ourselves.