Rosa Delia Herrera is an immigrant from Dominican Republic. She was raised and born in the Santo Domingo, which is the capital. Currently, living in the Bronx. She has 43 years old. She is married and has three children. “I have 25 years living in New York, I miss my country but I do not want to go live there again because life is much easier over here. Life for me was not so easy because instead of going to school I had to take care of my siblings so my parents can go work and provide us with what they can even if it was not much. I was sixteen years old when I first came to this country and it was hard for me because I left my sister and other siblings I grew up with, not only that I fell in love with my husband Pascual David Rodriguez. My father asked me when I came what I wanted to do I said “work so I can bring my future husband.” That was a hard choose for me and I did not want to go to school because I did not even finish school in Dominican Republic. When I found a job in a factory, I was so happy because I wanted to be independent and move out of my house so that way I can bring my future husband. While working in the factory, I earned some money and got my own apartment then, I went back to Santo Domingo to go visit Pascual and my family members. Pascual asked me to marry him and I accepted because I knew in my heart he was the man for me and still to this day Pascual and I are happily married. We have 24 years and still going (gracias a Dios).
“To be honest, life in New York is hard even in Santo Domingo. I feel in Santo Domingo is better because you are not always looking at your watch and do everything fast. The life in NY is fast pace. People are like robots go to work then home or work, school the home, back home is not like that, yes you have to do the same thing but you are more relaxed and have more time to spend with your family. In NY I hardly talk to my children all I do is tell them what I expect and what I do not want them to do. I try my hardest on Saturday’s or Sunday’s to spend time with them but they all have things to do. My oldest daughter goes to college and takes night school so I barely see her, my son is in culinary school and when he gets home he plays basketball and then comes home to eat then sleep and my youngest daughter is a teenager she just wants to be in myspace, texting and being locked in her room. We use to have a family day, but is hard with scheduling. In my house everyone has to speak Spanish unless my children are talking among each other. My children go almost every two years to Santo Domingo to go visit my family. I do not have plans to become a American citizen for what. I am Dominican not American, if the President wants to send me to my country, no problem. Immigrants in the U.S. have a hard time dealing with the language including me because I do not understand much and I prefer not to speak it because I am embarrassed and I have a strong accent. My children make fun of me because instead of saying “Home depot” I say “home pipo, they just laugh and correct me. For me to move back to Santo Domingo I would have to be economically stable because I have worked for many years and is hard to start from scratch. I would have to have a good job or a business so I can maintain myself and my husband even though he works. My children would have to be married and I can retire, but I am not planning on retiring now, I’m to young and capable of doing things for myself still. I hope my children learn from me even though I am a manager at a McDonald’s it took me hard work to get to that position. I do not regret anything not even finishing school because I learn and I tell my children all the time “education is power.”
“To be honest, life in New York is hard even in Santo Domingo. I feel in Santo Domingo is better because you are not always looking at your watch and do everything fast. The life in NY is fast pace. People are like robots go to work then home or work, school the home, back home is not like that, yes you have to do the same thing but you are more relaxed and have more time to spend with your family. In NY I hardly talk to my children all I do is tell them what I expect and what I do not want them to do. I try my hardest on Saturday’s or Sunday’s to spend time with them but they all have things to do. My oldest daughter goes to college and takes night school so I barely see her, my son is in culinary school and when he gets home he plays basketball and then comes home to eat then sleep and my youngest daughter is a teenager she just wants to be in myspace, texting and being locked in her room. We use to have a family day, but is hard with scheduling. In my house everyone has to speak Spanish unless my children are talking among each other. My children go almost every two years to Santo Domingo to go visit my family. I do not have plans to become a American citizen for what. I am Dominican not American, if the President wants to send me to my country, no problem. Immigrants in the U.S. have a hard time dealing with the language including me because I do not understand much and I prefer not to speak it because I am embarrassed and I have a strong accent. My children make fun of me because instead of saying “Home depot” I say “home pipo, they just laugh and correct me. For me to move back to Santo Domingo I would have to be economically stable because I have worked for many years and is hard to start from scratch. I would have to have a good job or a business so I can maintain myself and my husband even though he works. My children would have to be married and I can retire, but I am not planning on retiring now, I’m to young and capable of doing things for myself still. I hope my children learn from me even though I am a manager at a McDonald’s it took me hard work to get to that position. I do not regret anything not even finishing school because I learn and I tell my children all the time “education is power.”
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