Coming To Roswell

I will start by letting you know how I ended up in Roswell.

My parents were the main reason why I moved to this state-NM. As you know, the cost of living in LA is sky rise. Coming from a family (possibly culture) where work is more important than education, you can envision a lack of schooling from my folks. Nevertheless, coming from a family of 9 children can also add to the importance of work to support such big family. It is almost impossible to live comfortably with minimum wage jobs. My dad earned just enough to pay bills, feed us, and provide the essential things to get by daily. One day, someone out of the blue mentioned Roswell to my dad. They let him know that the cost of living was not as high as in LA. They added that their parents had bought a house in little time. What dad does not dream of having his own home—mainly for his wife and kids that are still under his care. (Oh, by the way, I am the youngest of the 9.) After that, my dad spoke with my sister about coming to Roswell. My sister was ready for a change as well, and agreed to bring my parents with her and her kids. Before we knew it, they had my sister’s van fully loaded with the few belongings they had. What a courage they had, I thought, to leave just like that! No hesitation to an alien (literally heheh) place!

Following many hours of driving, they finally arrived to their destination—Roswell. They stayed with the parents of the people that had mentioned that place to my dad. In less then a week, my dad had a job and, most important, had signed all the paperwork for a house. I guess it was true! One of his dreams had then just begun. Back in LA, we all heard the great news. My sister was going to college, the kids did not have a problem adjusting there, and my dad was ever so happy and proud. 6 months had gone by.

It was time for my Christmas break. My brother and I were very eager to see our parents, so he decided to take me with him to come and visit them. We stayed a week. It was a huge difference between both cities. When I first arrive to the town, the trees were leafless and dry. The temperature was colder than “normal.” I did not see hardly anyone outside. The few people I saw were just driving. The town claimed to have a population of 40K then. “I bet they counted the people from the cemetery as well,” I thought. None of those things made me forget my parents’ happiness to see us. They were very excited letting us know how well things had gone for them.

Shortly after we got back to LA, there were earthquakes that scared another brother I had. Since he has children, he was concerned with their safety. Not to forget the riots, and of all the attention LA was getting at that time: not positive of course. A day before my birthday (January 22), he decided to pack his bags with his family: off to the dead alien town. I did not what to feel when I received the sudden news. I was in shock when my brother said he wanted to leave LA—the place where all his life was made. I certainly could relate to that myself. In a way, I wanted to be closer to my parents. At the same time, though, I did not want to abandon the environment I was very content and pleased to be in.

LA schools had intimidated me enough to make me feel unsafe in them. For that reason, I always tried getting into schools that were outside of LA. Santa Monica High was the school of my dreams. I could not get in because I needed to live in that district. Since I lived in LA, there was a school already assigned for me to go to. By this time, my sister was going to West LA College, where one of her friends happened to live in the Santa Monica locality. She offered to help me get into the school by letting me use her address as my residency. Things just could not have gone better for me then; I got into my “dream” high school. (Getting back to the story) Everything in my life was going perfect: I had many friends from all over the world, I was carrying more than a 4.00 GPA, I felt safe, and loved going to school. I still remember having to wake up at 5am. My brother would give his wife a ride to her work in Westwood. That was my stop as well. I had to take the bus from there to the school. Everyday, I would arrive to school between 6am and 6:30am. Given that it was not open yet, I would have to jump the fence, and wait for the cafeteria to open and stay there till all my friends would show up. After school was over, I had to ride 3 buses throughout the metropolis of LA to get home. By the time I got home, it was already close to 7pm—that changed when I got my first job. I used to be a bus boy at a restaurant called The Good Earth. With my first earnings, I had bought a car. That made my life even better.

Now, I did not just have great friends, good grades, and a good reputation but a job and a car as well. Work did not interfere with my studies, though. At that early age, life seemed to be paying off all the things I had gone through to get and be in this country. (sorry back to the story again) I am sure that by now you can have a lucid feel as to what my life was then when I was told to come to Roswell: to start all over again :-( I knew that if I stayed, I would be left alone. I did not have any other brothers or sisters that lived there. My job helped me get by with things for school, but not enough to stand on my own. I did not have much to say but packed my bags. I did not know that it would take me another 4 years to come back to visit LA once again.

The day that we got into Roswell, there was a sand storm; the only thing we could see was the road about 5 to 8 feet away in front of us. Finally, we get to my parents house, and start unloading. The more I thought about it, the more I knew I was not ready for such big change in my life. My brother was not able to bring all of his belongings, so he went back with another brother. I thought I was going to go with them since I had not checked myself out from the school. Wrong! By the time my brother was able to take care of that for me, almost a month had passed. I was already in my new school, but still need the clearance from SAMOHI (SAnta MOnica HIgh) as well as my grades and points I had earned so far to determine the classes I need to graduate. It turns out that, my gpa went to the drain because they still counted the time until my brother officially checked me out. When I saw my grades, I felt very upset. If that wasn’t all, I used to be extremely shy. This was a problem as well. People from this area were much different from what I was used to. It took me almost 3 months before I talked and got to know some people—mostly girls. For some reason, I was able to make great relations with women than guys. Figures! The brother that came with his family, in a short period of time, had a job and also had bought a house just a house down from my parents. It was true what they told my dad in LA about Roswell. And that concludes that part of my life!