My mother gave birth to me in a small farm house that was surrounded by rain forest. I grew up in family of five, with two older and different sisters. I went to school and loved it. Even when I had to leave my family, I wanted to finish my elementary school. So, I went to live with my grandparents and my uncles. There, I was taught how to work in the fields. I was nine years old and it was very hard for me.

When I finished school, I went back to my home and continued working the fields and taking care of many animals. I loved to ride horses and look for baby birds and feed them. I also had rabbits, chickens, pigs, and parrots. I used to grow peanuts, carrots and sugar cane in my big garden, as well as wild flowers, and many other kinds of them.

Everything was going fine, until I started to feel a strong desire for studying in High School. It happened when I was sixteen years old. I made a decision which completely changed my life. I left my family and moved to San Jose. By that time, my older sisters weren't at home, but I had a little sister who was two years old. I missed her a lot, because she was like my doll who I always was with.

I got a job and had studies, and responsibilities, but I could not stop missing my parents and sisters. I stayed firm in my decision and kept focused in my studies, because my dream was to have a career. For years, I studied hard, worked and helped my family; by then, I had another little sister. 

In later 1991, I got a good job programming computers and I was doing well. I also started studying computer science at the university. Two years later, I got sick of a terrible disease. A significant change came to my life once again. I spent weeks at the hospital and months at home trying to get over that. Thank God, I gradually was getting better. But, it took more than ten months and many dreams from my life. Subsequently, I lost my job and some of my emotional and economical stability. During that time, I went to live with my family, and I was happy to be near to them. But I moved back to the place where I used to live, as soon as I got well.

Always, starting over is difficult. But, eventually, I got a job and tried even harder to finish my career. In 1995, I visited my cousin in Puerto Rico. She offered to let me live with them and study there. Of course, I accepted and moved there the same year. In early 1996, I started the university in Puerto Rico. It was a great experience and I made many good friends, as well as visited many fantastic places. Also, it was really interesting to learn about another culture, and share some of my own with them.

After ten months living in Puerto Rico, I came to California. I wanted to visit relatives and some friends of mine. I was supposed to return to Puerto Rico. But, during that time, I met a wonderful man who I fell in love with. It was very difficult to decide to stay in this big country and be exposed to a new language. It was a challenge in my life which I took with determination and true love. From then to the present time, I give thanks to God for my life, my family, my husband and my future in this country, which I'm improving with courses like Reading and Writing.

Hopefully, after a short time, my husband and I will be lost in a jungle again, but then it will be a real, green and thick jungle in Costa Rica.

Memories can be special for all the people. Memories can be good or bad. It is wonderful when we remember the good things that have happened in our life. There are a few important experiences that have happened to me.

First of all, when I was 14 years old, my parents and I planned my fifteenth birthday. I always dreamed about having a big party with all my friends and my family. Two weeks before my party, my grandfather died. Subsequently, we had to suspend my party. In those days, I felt very sad about my grandfather. I didn't care about suspending my birthday party. A year later, I realized that dream and I was very happy.

Second, in 1994, I went to Mazatlan with my friend and her parents. I had a very good experience there because her parents were in a separate room from us. Therefore, we could go outside without caring about the time. We met friends. As soon as we arrived in Mazatlan, we went to an island and we spent one day there. I was very happy because I could see a few kinds of animals there. Also, they went down from the mountain looking for food.

Third, in 1995, I was living in San Luis, Mexico when my parents decided to go to live in Yuma, so I left my university. When I started to go to the college, I felt very strange because I didn't have any friends. Some days later, I began to meet people. Then, I started to work at print services. At the beginnning, it was very difficulty for me to leave Mexico to go to the U.S.A.

Finally, 1997 has been the most important year in my life because my life had a big change. I met my husband in 1996. Subsequently, we decided to get married on June 27, 1997. We had a beautiful wedding with all our family and friends. It was very exciting for both of us. After our wedding, we went on our honeymoon for one week. Then, we came to La Quinta, CA. It was a big change in my life because I left my family, my friends and my school. I was not worried about that because I knew that I was going to stay with the person that I love.

In conclusion, memories are very special for me because these are part of my life. I have had very bad experiences too, but I decided to talk about my good experiences.

My name is Celia Arellano and in this essay I am going to tell you a little bit about my life. I am also going to tell you about some of the obstacles I had to overcome in order for me to get to where I am right now.

I was born in May, 1948 in Sonora, Mexico. At that time, Sonora was a beautiful little town. My family was middle class. My father was the owner of two ranches. I have three sisters and one brother.

When I was three years old, my mother died. During those months, my father started to drink and lost all his properties. From then on we started to move from one place to another.

In 1952, we moved to Mexicali, Baja California, to live there. At the appropriate age, I was enrolled in elementary school. There I learned my ABC's for the first time. As a little girl, I loved to study and make friends. I still have friends from my childhood years. I graduated from elementary school at the age of thirteen. At that time, my father decided to move to the United States.

I have been living here since 1962. My father never sent me to school here. I started to work at the age of fourteen. During those years, I was very unhappy because I wanted to go to school with the girls my age.

In 1970, I met my first husband and I got married. I have one son from that marriage. After five years of marriage, I got divorced. I met my second husband one year later. We got married in 1977. From this marriage, I have two children. As soon as my youngest child turned twelve, I went back to school to have more education. I always wanted to go back to school.

My husband died in 1995. I still miss him and always will, but I have to go on with my life.

It doesn't matter if my mother died when I was three, and I only went to elementary school. I have been married twice and now I am a widow, but I still think I lived a very good life and now I will gradually further my education and enjoy the life I have ahead of me. 

One of the most wonderful men that I have ever known was my father. He was a medium man. He loved to tell stories about his early years as a Colonel of the Army of the Republic of Guatemala, Central America. When he talked, there were sparkles in his eyes and a smile came to his mouth. 

The colonel, journalist, writer and historian, Jose Lizardo Diaz Ovalle was born in Quezaltenango, Guatemala on January 14, 1891. He was the oldest son of two. His father passed away in his early years. He was surrounded by revolutions. He went to the military academy because his father was a colonel in the army. 

He was involved in a military career because of his political point of view in the revolution to overthrow a dictator, resulting in his exile from the country. During his years in exile, he came to know a political lawyer and journalist and they became good friends.

Some years later, his friend became the vice-president of Guatemala. After the bad years in exile, he was able to return to his country, where his family was awaiting his return.

He started to write his experiences about his exile in the newspapers. By that time, his first wife passed away. Later on, he married my mother. By then, he was 58 years old. From this marriage, he had three children.

By this time, he was retired from the government. During those years, he wrote a book about the Unification of Central America as one nation, called The Revolution of 1872, and some other books. He was a dedicated father with his children, especially with his youngest daughter.

He developed prostate cancer. During his years of illness, he suffered a lot, but he never lost his control. He kept his pain to himself. He lived quietly with great serenity. He died on November 23, 1978, with dignity.

The last time I saw my father, he looked sad and quiet. That was about eleven months before his death. He lives in our minds and I talk to my kids about him a lot. He was a great man!

Many things happened in my life, a lot of memories, good and bad. I am going to talk about the good memories, which I prefer.

I was born on October 6, in Asuncion, Paraguay, South America. I grew up in a quiet neighborhood. I came from a family of five. I have three sisters and one brother. My parents got divorced when I was a child. As soon as the divorce was final, my father got married again. Later on, my mother got married, too. From then on, my life wasn't easy. I was five years old. At fifteen, I left home. I went to live with my big sister and her family. After that, I went back to school. From those years, I have a wonderful memory.

In 1977 I graduated from high school. This was a very important event for me. I was an adult and I had to be responsible for my own destiny. By then, I was already working part-time, in a beauty salon, making appointments and as a cashier. But, what I really wanted was to get a job in the business world, which I did.

In September 8, 1980, I got the job. I started from the bottom. My job was to make files of all the legal documents. By that time, I knew that I had to work hard, in order to accomplish my dream, which is to make more money for my traveling adventure. Prior to that, I enrolled in college to study business. I did it for two years. Gradually, I got the position that I was looking for.

In 1983, I realized my first dreams. I went to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and I had my first airplane ride. I spent one week there. It is a beautiful city with friendly and happy people. I got to see the two most famous beaches--Ipanema and Copacabana. I spent hours on the beach. I tried all of the delicious foods they have. I visited a few discos and danced the Samba. I had the time of my life! But, I still wanted to go to France. I was going to do it soon. In between 1983 and 1987, I went to Brazil many times to visit other places. 

On August 16, 1987, at 8:00 PM, I left my country and flew to Paris. That was a long trip. I was tired, but I didn't want to waste my time sleeping, so I took a French-Spanish dictionary on the Metro. I did it, asking directions and I got to the Seine River. This became a habit for me. The next day, the first thing I did was to go to school. From then on, everything happened. I started to look for a job. I didn't want to return home, not until I got to see everything. Through people from school, I met a family who needed somebody for three hours a day to pick up the children in school and help them to do their homework. That was perfect for me. In about eight months, I got a job in the Import & Export company. I worked there until I went back to my country. The company name is Espino Trading S. A. They exported housewares and special perfumes to Brazil and Paraguay. My job was to do all of the paperwork and , also, to communicate with the people who work in Paraguay and Brazil. That was quite an experience for me. It was very interesting. This job helped me a lot, especially economically, because money has always been an important issue in my traveling adventure. But, I have never let anything put me down. Therefore, I enjoyed every day I spent in Paris. It is a beautiful city. There are so many things to do and see. Also, I got to travel through Europe. I left France in 1989 because I met my future husband. I got married in 1990.

These are a few things that I have done in my life. What little I've accomplished has been by hard work and the real desire to do so. Now I have a different and wonderful life. I am very happy but still have a long way to go. 

I am going to describe important stages of my first son's life. First, my son Julio Cesar, was born in Mexico City in 1979. My wife and I were very happy. All of our family and friends brought many gifts. This baby filled our home with happiness. But, when he was four years old, he had health problems, and it was necessary for him to have an operation, because he had breathing problems. Fortunately, after the operation, everything was okay.

When my son went to kindergarten, my wife and I were very happy and sad at the same time. We were happy because he started going to school and sad because we love our son a lot and he needed to be alone taking his first classes. One year later, we realized that our son started a large way in starting elementary school. In that stage, we discovered that our boy was a good and intelligent student. I remember when he got very good grades and he participated in a music band.

Afterwards, when he finished elementary school in Mexico, my wife and I decided to come to this country and my son started a new and very hard system of life. He started taking bilingual classes. Obviously, this change surprised him, because he needed to find new friends. But, the principle problem was the language. I remember when my son came from school, he was very sad, and he told me that he wanted to go back to Mexico, because the majority of his classmates just spoke English, and, in the time, he didn't understand them.

Years later, he finished middle school. Fortunately, he had very good grades. After that, my son started high school. I felt very proud of him because he started with effort. But, the most important thing in this stage was that, being very young, he decided by himself to have a part-time job. He was just twelve years old. He worked helping in the C.O. D. swap meet. In that place, he got a lot of appreciation from everybody, and he kept a good record since then, always being on time and was very responsible. I would like to mention that the schedule was very hard. He worked Saturday and Sunday from 4:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

The last thing I want to share with you is that my son is eighteen years old and he has been working for almost six years. He is taking English fifty in C.O.D. He pretends to be professional mechanic. He enjoys going to the gym in his free time, and he is working as a busboy in a very nice restaurant.

As you can see, I love my son very much because he has been a very good boy!

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