Family, life and migration

Hey !!! How's everybody? Sorry for my absence the last few weeks, I decided to take a trip to the outside of the city to visit my grandparents. Have you noticed how beautiful the countryside is? large green fields, you can harvest your food, there is no traffic and the nights are extremely quiet. This little vacation break made me question: What would my life have been like if my parents hadn't moved to the city?

During this short time that I shared with my grandparents, I was able to hear how their life has changed since my parents and my uncles migrated to different cities, as well as how the passing of the years and the difficult access to health has affected them. My grandparents say that when my mother was young and in love with my father they used to have huge crops, so much so that they look like a green sea, and then all the children helped to harvest to earn money for living, they still remember the joy of when their children managed to finish high school, that was a masterful achievement because none of my grandparents could finish school. My mother was the first to leave town, she was pregnant with me and was followed by my uncles, it was a generalized situation in all the families in the area that their children began to migrate to other areas of the country. Today the town of my grandparents has almost no children, or young people running through its streets, which is a place where old age dominates.

Intrigued by the words of my grandparents, I decided to ask my mother what it was like for her to live in the city as a small-town girl, her answer was interesting but quite crude at the same time, my parents went to the city because they wanted a future for me. They wanted to continue studying and go to university, however, they did not imagine how difficult it would be to adapt to this life, getting a house was not easy because life in the city is very expensive, and with my pregnant mother and my father studying we did not have many economic possibilities. Also getting a job was eventually difficult, my mother did not have university studies and nobody wanted to hire my father due to lack of experience, the job opportunities were many but the demand was massive, so the possibility of getting a job was low. With the time, living in a small apartment, in a city full of noise where it was possible to hear the fights of the neighbors and the pity of smock predominated, my mother began to question if it was the right decision to continue in the city, she missed the countryside, the rivers, and the bird's nest when she woke up, although she knew that studying in the rural area affect in a significant way the chance to go to university and to be honest I was also a very sick girl so I need constant visits to the doctor.

            After both testimonies I began to question how this affected me, for my parents it was not easy and neither for my grandparents, but ... what has it been like for me to grow up in the city? It was interesting, we lived with people from all places, it was a somewhat poor area where most of the migrants and foreigners lived, it was great to be able to experience going to the movies with friends or to a large shopping center, I loved it. But, sometimes I think about how my life would have been if my grandparents and uncles had been with me, maybe I had learned to sew like my grandmother or my grandfather had taught me to ride a bicycle, I ask myself sometimes if my uncles had been in my recitals and birthdays.

As a conclusion to all this journey, I understood that migration is not easy and affects everyone in a significant way. I was able to appreciate how 3 generations of a family were affected by migration to the city, how my grandparents miss their children, how my parents fought to survive in the city, and how discrimination affected me when other children considered me less for being a migrant. Migration is not an easy decision, but it can improve lives progressively, I hope to go further than my parents and have a business, buy them a nice house, take my grandparents to the doctor and hire someone to help them on the farm. This is my experience about the last 2 weeks, I will be writing to you soon, does anyone identify with my story?

Working on it!

How the weather changed my life forever.

Moving out. A tedious process, generally, planned weeks, or even months in advance. Not for me though. Life can only be so predictable, and when you are being thrown at two tornados and a one-in-a-lifetime blizzard, packing up your stuff can be easy, and even fun to do. Before all that chaos, things were looking better than ever before for my family, and moving out to a city never crossed their minds. We have everything we would ever need right at home right?

We lived at the borders of a small town, mainly living off our farm’s produce and cattle. My paternal grandfather, a grumpy man back then, managed it. He says he would have my father help to do chores all day long. “He always found new ways to jam the tractor and I had to come to rescue him,” he said when telling me this story. According to my father, that farm was a “labor camp”. My mother, on the other hand, had a way with business and managed a little stand in the community market where we would sell vegetables. Back then, we didn’t have much, money-wise, but I was living the life. My only two obligations were going to school and going to bed early. There were other family members living in my town, like distant cousins or uncles, but I can’t remember much of them and my grandpa can’t either, who will be the main source of information from this point forward.

Eventually, we managed to save enough money to afford a radio. Just a few days later, a local broadcast informed all the community of an incoming tornado in the following hours. My grandfather says that no one, not even my father, lost a single second securing anything of value before disaster struck. I distinctly remember everyone running in all directions, and then being picked up in a panic. We got lucky the first time and only lost a few acres of crops. Our neighbors weren’t so. Then, the first snow blizzard in 20 years came down really hit hard. Our cattle suffered the most and our tractor was found 2 miles from our farm. We figured that moving out was the best option and began planning where to go, but then the second tornado came unannounced, barely leaving us time to pack the essentials and drive away. Before my grandpa told me about that day, I thought our house being ripped apart from its foundation was just a bad dream I had as a kid.

In a rush, we never planned where to go after we left our farm aside from a general direction: away from tornados. We apparently lived in a handful of motels throughout a month before we finally settled in the big city. My great uncle took us in shortly until we could afford our own apartment. Everything changed in what seemed to be just a day. The price for everything grew exponentially and no amount of experience farming would get any of my family members jobs. Against all odds, my mother got a job, conveniently, managing a small grocery shop. Turns out, organization is as valuable in the countryside as it is in the city, if not more. Nowadays, she is managing a supermarket, my father works as a plumber and I now go to a new school, with new friends. We even have our own apartment! It’s amazing how fast one can adapt to adversities. Not everything changes though: my grandpa still hates the noise of traffic at night.

*Accurate representation of us leaving our home by 3 year old me*

Goodbye urban life! Hello big city...

 As some of you might already know, I come from a rural part of the country, land that was used to plant crops and raise animals. Most of the families that lived there had done so for hundreds of years. The countryside had many incredible things to offer, even if it was far away from school and other modern-day establishments. Nothing could compare to the vast green spaces that covered the land and the chirping of crickets late at night.

My family owned a small farm with cows, chickens, corn, and believe it or not, bees that would make honey for us to sell every morning at a local market. Selling what we could get from our animals and plants was our only source of income, it wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep us satisfied, this all changed, of course, last year when sales started to drop and drought destroyed what was left of our fields, and so a few months ago I said goodbye to my old rural life.

(Pictures above, some flower pics I took before we left and a building I liked when we arrived)

Coming to the city has been an interesting experience so far, when my family first arrived we were greeted with kindness by our new neighbors. We live in a rather poor part of the city, with people that share problems similar to ours. One of our neighbors, in particular, is an old woman by the name of Clara that befriended my parents rather quickly, it was nice to see them already making friends, I, on the other hand, struggle immensely with the idea of having to meet new people, I’m starting school again tomorrow so I’ll try to write on a future entry about how that goes.

As I talked with my grandpa yesterday, I discovered that I wasn’t the only one struggling to adapt to big city life, and so I decided to finally open up about what this experience has so far meant to me and the people I care about, as I believe we can all learn something from it.

My parents had lived their entire lives as farmers, they loved getting their hands dirty when working to plant new crops and taking care of their animals brought them lots of joy, even if it was hard work with little pay in return. Our farm was a family business, one that they had hoped I would join someday, but, as my grandpa told me, this is now no longer possible, I hadn’t really thought about it, but moving to the big city meant having to sell our old home, and it devastated my parents, even if they now think it is for the best. My dad recently got a job working for some company and things are starting to look better lately, but I still feel like he and everyone else including myself are far from letting go of our old lives.

Moving to a completely different environment to the one I grew up in has been a difficult task, but to my dear readers out there, if you’re experiencing something similar, know that you are not alone. Migrating seems to be a growing trend with nothing to stop it, but if you ever find yourself in a similar position, remember that things can get better, it’s hard, but I’m hopeful!

Being a teenager when you grew up in a rural area.

Kerly´s on what it is really like

November, 2021
So, did you have problems when you moved to the city?
Here´s my perspective of being a teenager when you grew up in a rural area. Before I tell my story, I should write that you would think that moving to another city, is easy, and in my personal opinion, it´s not.
I lived in Shadowale  from the age of 1 to the age of 10, spending time on my family´s farm, taking care of animals, and also sowing food. Previously in Shadowale did not have Internet, so the Covid 19 pandemic affected us educationally because we did not have virtual classes like a normal student had. My parents, for many reasons more, for example, in the city there are more opportunities in life and there is my career that I want to follow decided to move to Sahowa, now I am a student of Colegio Menor San Victoria with a scholarship, I do not know the facilities, however, I saw it on the Internet, it´s beautiful and they have a lot of natural areas. Tomorrow, we return to pressencial classes, I only know my classmates by Zoom, I am a little nervous. Furthermore, this pandemic has affected us emotionally because I did not see my grandparents for a year, nonetheless today I am going to visit them and I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. 
 

 First of all, we´ll get the negative of being a teenager when you grew up in a rural area

 My grandfather told me that our leaving the town of Shadowale felt like a void, they had no appetite to eat and to do their diary things for days, however, Simba, their dog, spoke to them with her eyes, and they understood that it is the best choice we made. Also, they called the Technician to put the internet to talk by video call with us, the problem was that in our rural area we did not have an antenna, but my grandfather talked to the mayor, and she listened to all the reasons to put it, she agreed with it and the rest is history. In addition, sometimes we miss them and vice versa because we lived together for 12 years and we felt his and her absence.

And now the good stuff of being a teenager when you grew up in a rural area

It has happened to me on several occasions, what? My accent and language are different from a citizen here, my neighbors tell me that when I speak I sound like a drowned cow, the first time they told me I felt blue, but then my parents told me "being different is not bad and it is unique" and at present I over the moon for being special. Also, I have a surprise for my grandparents, what is it? Well, I know it's difficult for them to turn on the computer, pay the light of their house, internet, among others, nevertheless currently they do not have to be worried about that, why? Because they are going to live with us, it's great, isn´t it? Today, I am going to tell them, I hope that they like the idea.

Sahowa as a teenager is cool. It may have problems at times, but I can love this place due to the opportunities it gives me, and after all, I love the food, places, history, and I will never be ashamed of my roots, again. Lastly, I want to write that I am going to be over the moon because my grandparents are going to live with me, again. I hope you visit this amazing city someday.

 November 18th, 2021

Have you ever imagined how difficult is to move to a new home? No right and if you know sorry, but now you are going to know my story. 

One day when I only was a little girl my parents decided to move to a new house in the city. To give you some context all of my family live in a rural area out of the city. Living in the rural part has its advantages such as that you can have large animals such as cows or horses, but now that I live in an apartment I can no longer have animals. The bad thing about living here is that you don't have a very good internet connection and if you get sick it is very difficult to be treated, but leaving that aside, everything is very nice. 

Today I am visiting my grandparents' house on the outskirts of the city and he told me that he is very happy to see me but he is sad that I am so big and that he has not been able to see me grow. He told me that when we moved it was very hard for them because they were going to be alone. He told me that my grandmother always called my mother to see how we were doing and told her that everything was very hard in the city and that there was a lot of noise and pollution, but that we were all fine and that my father started working in a new factory. The pay was not very good but it was enough for us to survive. My grandparents had many doubts that we would move to the city because it was a very competitive place but I knew that they had better medical attention in case I got sick or if there was an emergency it would be easier to solve it. 

The consequences that moving brought to our family were that I, the last granddaughter of my grandparents, we're not going to be able to take care of her like all my other cousins and that the festivities were only the three of us going to spend in the city alone without our family, so if life in the city is better up to a point, but if you are like my parents who had to leave everything they knew behind it was going to be very difficult and lonely, moving us made my family divided and my grandparents were left alone Moving house was good up to a point but I would have liked to spend more time with my grandparents during my childhood.

Goodbye Anaconda out...

How migration affect my family

 How migration affect my family

Today I would like to talk about what migration is and how it affected my family, I know it is a very talked-about topic but it is almost never known how people felt this process in their own flesh and how it affected that person's family, I remember when I was little my family had to leave the country and we had to go to the city to live, I remember that not all my family came with us, most of my family stayed in the countryside but my mother, my father, my sister, me, my aunt and my cousins had to leave the country. 

I remember that I did not understand the reasons and it hurt me a lot to leave my family behind especially my grandparents, my parents had to work too much so I almost did not spend much time with them, my aunt and my cousins had to leave the country, I remember that I did not understand the reasons and it hurt me a lot to leave my family behind especially my grandparents, my parents had to work too much so I hardly spent time with them, when I was little I used to spend with my cousins and my grandparents, but in the city, I spent most of the time alone because my sister had to go to college and my cousins the same, my aunt got a job that took her all day so most of the time I did not spend at home, I remember when we lived in the country we all had lunch together and we used to watch a movie and my grandfather loved horror movies since we moved to the city we almost never used to go back to the country, sometime after we moved to the city my grandmother passed away.

My grandfather used to cry a lot and asked us to come back but that was not an option, we did not have the resources to be able to return, a few weeks went by when we went back to see my grandfather we sat down to talk and he told me how the family suffered when we left the country, I remember he told me that my grandmother was worried every day because she didn't know if we had had lunch or not, my cousins didn't go out to play as often as we used to, for all of us it was an extremely big change when we lived in the city we had to limit many things, It was a very drastic change, my grandfather told me that things in the countryside were still bad so after my grandmother's death we decided to stay and live in the city permanently since the situation improved for us so we decided to help my family in the countryside so they could live better. Finally, after all this experience I would like to tell everyone that this experience is very difficult for many people, we do not know well what each person feels and what are the reasons why they had to go through this.

Does your family have any secrets?

 

Does your family have any secrets?

No? Well If you don’t have one don’t worry I am about to tell you about how my parents migrated from a rural area to an urban area and they didn’t tell me how this supposedly separated the family until now.

I live in a big city and I really like being here because I have friends and all the things that I need are close to each other, but there is a point in which I get tired of listening to all the noise of cars and trains. 

Yesterday we visit my grandparents on their farm, in which my grandfather told me that the migration of my family divided the family and that if we didn’t move into the city maybe we could be more together and closer to the other members of our family.

We move on when I was really small, I don’t remember too much about rural life, but the only thing that I remember in a clear way is that my grandparents were worried about this move to the city, at first it was difficult to adapt myself to these new things like big roads or all the noise that the city had. 

 

The first place in which we stay in was a tiny space because we couldn’t pay for a bigger apartment or a house, the first year was a mix of emotions that was kind of difficult to process for a kid that was not even aware of what was happening in his life at that time, with the past of years we could recollect enough money to buy our own apartment, that was bigger than the one that we lived on.

                           

The family was separated and my grandparents, aunts and all of my family called us all the time, they couldn’t visit us because they didn’t have the required money to buy an airplane ticket, I miss them so much but at least I can visit them in the vacations.

 

The change that my parents decided to do was, what they consider was the best option for their self-development and for having more opportunities of increasing our economic status. Personally, I don’t blame my parents for anything, because they did what they thought was the best thing for our family, and that migration allowed them to have more income and also allowed me to know more about the world.

 

Migration is not something easy to make, principally because of the consequences that this change can bring to your life, but if it’s something that you need to do, just do it. 

Don’t let anyone stop your development or any kind of advance that you can do in your professional or personal life. 

 FROM PEACE TO STORM: General Public

On Emily Andrango real life                                                                                                

18^th November, 2021                                               
 

Everyone maybe thinks that moving from the rural area to the city is something easy and even something beautiful, but truly believe me, not is not.

So, here is my perspective of how it was changing my life from a really peace zone to a really noisy and dangerous, with also some quotes of my grandfather, that is going to help us to understand this difficult situation, I hope you enjoy reading :D 

I was born in the rural area in the Holy Field (for being more specific) and I lived right there until I was 10, but all of you don’t imagine how incredible was living in the Holy Field, my first and unique home, I was all my day with the horses, ridding them or giving them food, also I was in love with the goats, I think that are like little dogs, are so cutie and beautiful. But of course, nothing will be rosy all the time, although I honestly would have preferred my perfect life to last a little longer.

First of all, let's talk about what my life was like when I moved in.

At the time the machines were created, the cities literally exploded, all the work and labor was in the cities which implied that the sales in my family dropped exponentially, my family made jackets with sheep's wool, but with the machines, nobody bought to my parents and people directly asked to the factories, that was a huge problem to our economy, we had to rationalize the food… Can you imagine eating all days tomato soup? But the last straw was when my grandmother fell ill with a fever and we couldn't afford a doctor, which made my parents decide to move to the city. The day we packed our bags and were ready to leave, it has been one of my worst days, saying goodbye to my uncles and cousins, it was horrible but nothing was sadder than saying goodbye to my grandparents, because as my parents worked all day my grandfathers took care of me and with the simple fact of moving alone with my parents it was like leaving with strangers…. that last goodbye made me really cry, but I knew it was a see you soon not a see you never.

And now, how this affected our entire family.

When we arrived in the city it was a bit difficult to find a place to live, everything was too expensive, but fortunately we found a place, it was not beautiful as my room in the country, but at least I had a place to sleep, the rest of the days were not improving, I changed the tomato soup for the spinach soup and I had neither horses nor goats to distract me, only the trains and factories were heard all over the place, however, sometime later my parents did get a good job and our life In the city was improving little by little, but in the rural area things were not going very well, my grandfather told me "Nothing is the same without you Emy" that phrase hurt me to the soul, he also told me that they were all sad, after our departure, my cousins ​​no longer played and only fought, my grandparents had no reason to smile and their life was more boring and despite the money that we sent them, they did not feel comfortable - Grandpa- "Everything changed, the family broke up and although we have more money, I prefer the life of before than this life without happiness".

Honestly, how could you have read about this blog, coming to live from the countryside to the city has been a bit complicated until now even that now I 16 years old, honestly neither money nor technology replace my life with horses or my Grandparents, so I'll go live with them when I'm 18, remember that this is just my point of view and how I see life, people only learn when it happens to them.

 

 

 

 

Family migration

How migration changes a whole family?

Migration, this word invites us to think about the movement of people, even so, have you ever migrated? how would you feel in the shoes of those people who went through this? 

At the beginning it may not be easy to think about it because we have not experienced or lived this situation. Migrating implies leaving behind everything you have lived with your loved ones, you need to search new opportunities, whether for work, medical or educational conditions, and maintaining economic and social stability. In a way your family stays in their native country where they grew up, but you, either alone or with some family members must leave to form a new life, go to know the lifestyle of other countries, and adapt to the reality, sometimes by necessity we must learn something new even if it is against our will.

While it is true, starting a new life will be very hard at first because you must be familiarizing with your environment, be respectful, be open to learn and meet people who at some point could be saving us, and so as a good time passes you are already highly adapted, now let's think, what if my family had to migrate? how would I feel about that?

For some, having to leave their childhood behind is heartbreaking, for others it is the opportunity to start from scratch and open to the world, the family is stronger when united, but the experiences lived with them will last, as we have been away for a long time, we grow up. In some cases, families separate and do not know when they will meet again, others separate and never see them again. That said, family is important because it shows us that individual development and to be strong in this world, only we decide what to do with our life and to what extent to enjoy it. As time goes by, we grow older, and we will be able to let our grandchildren know what life was like for the family.

When you are young you say that nothing is going to happen to you until you reach a certain age where you realize and reflect on the advice of both parents, what would we do without the support of our parents? If we think about it, some parents are absent to give the best quality of life to their children or other members of the family.When you are young you say that nothing is going to happen to you until time goes by and that is when you reflect, what would we do without the support of our parents? If we think about it, some parents are absent to give the best quality of life to their children or other members of the family. For issues of study, health, stability, and welfare are some factors that are at risk to survive, this can affect psychologically or emotional deterioration.

In conclusion, migration in the family is a temporary stage where the member leaves in search of better opportunities in all areas with the absence of the parents who are the people who provide welfare, so that both the person who migrates and the one who stays suffer independently either by loneliness, cultural differences, feelings, or suffer from separation anxiety and sadness.

Move to the city.

 

How difficult is to move form rural areas, pros and cons of the live in a city.

18 nov, 2021

Moving from a place to another can be difficult in any circumstances, now imagine moving from a beautiful and calm rural area to the chaotic city, this may fell like the change of someone’s live and it is, but it can be a little bit preferable if you prepare for it. So, you just move to the urban areas from the country side? or your family is planning to move some time nearby? Well, here I tell you the story of my family and our experience including some tips that can help your whit this estrange travel and probably cultural clashes between the rural areas and the cities.

 

Time ago years later of my family move, when we already had become accustomed to life in the city and seldom missed just a few the countryside. I had the opportunity to spoke with my grandfather about how our move from the countryside to the city affected the family. First, he noted the positive aspects of our prior rural life. We breathed clean air all the time, had a farm, and maintained close family ties. There was a great deal of interpersonal communication, as there weren’t a lot of computers, internet, or video games.

 

However, my grandfather proceeded to explain the reasons for the move to the city. Financially, it was very difficult to earn a living in the countryside. In addition, he stated there weren’t many educational opportunities for me or for the younger generation. In addition, if someone got sick, medical attention is harder to find in rural areas.

 

My grandfather observed that in the city there are many modern conveniences. For example, there is access to cultural activities and better schooling for me. However, he also said there are disadvantages to city life. There is crime to worry about, traffic can be a problem, electric and water bills are high, public transportation isn’t always reliable, our home is smaller than our house in the countryside, and there is pollution from many vehicles and other sources of contamination, there is even visual and noise pollution, I didn’t know that existed.

 

Something my grandfather is proud of is how we have adapted as a family to city life. Despite the challenges, we make an effort to eat meals together, go on vacation together, spend time on the weekends as a family, and share our good and bad experiences with one another.

 

When you or someone in your family starts to feel nostalgic and think about the countryside and how it was better despite all the opportunities that urban areas give, think about the reasons why your family moves, think about what you want to achieve in the city and always keep in mind that people make some sacrifices to have a better life.

 

In conclusion, moving from the countryside to the city was a big challenge. It was for a better lifestyle for the next generation. By being adaptable, we have made it work for everyone.

Changing lifestyle: From rural to urban

18 November, 2021

Oh, living in the countryside is beautiful, wake up in morning and admire the mountains, the green grass and the beautiful and blue skies, animals all over the place, oh dear I miss that, now I live in the city, but don’t get me wrong this place is also beautiful and I have lived most of my life here with my father, mother and grandparents, we move on here when I was a child because they wanted to have a better lifestyle, the rural life is not easy, but I was happy, and so I am now. My parents thought that here in the city they will get better job opportunities, that didn’t go well at all, they were used to work for themselves and for the family producing goods, and jobs in the city are way more difficult than that. 

I recently talked with my grand-father and he told me that this decision has affected my whole family. First for he and my grand-mother, they think this urban lifestyle is not for them because they have lived their entire life in the countryside, they felt productive because they used help with the work in the family, and in the city, they don’t have much to do. Likewise, my
parents haven’t adapted at all, because finding a well-paying job was difficult, eventually they found a job, but they money is not something we have in abundance.

But, for a 17 y/o this change was good or bad?

To be honest, in the beginning it was difficult, changing your whole form of living and grow without closer family and friends. With time, I get used to it, I was able to have a good education, and more opportunities to help my family economically. Most of the teenagers who live in rural places at this age don’t have much opportunities for a good school or university, so even though this change was difficult it is going to be helpful for my future. 

So, migration was worth?

As I said before, my family haven’t adapted at all, but we can live happy enough, and many opportunities have been raised for both me and my parents. But not everything is good, discrimination and the competence is something that wasn’t present in my countryside home, and is hard to stand out when people don’t want to listen you because you are not from the city, or the competence of the big enterprises are way too hard for an honest job, but if you are strong enough you can have a good life, believe me. 

As a conclusion: 

If you have the opportunity to move from a rural area to the city, and if your family can afford it, do it, it will help you as a teenager, and your family finding better job opportunities, it is hard to leave the place where you born and were your family is, but you can always go and visit them. Migration is hard, but if it is not forced your life will change for good. 

Thanks for reading :D

Migration

 Hello everyone, 

I write this blog because I want to tell you that I moved, from my rural home to a new city one, but this happened when I was a child, my grandfather told me the impact we had and the influence our family has about it now. As many people know, this is called migration or immigration depending on what side you are. My grandfather says that the rural area had many difficulties to keep living there, especially in the world we are now, we were living in the rural area since the colonization (not going to expand a lot on that, but a lot of history events led us divided here). Families and society were very expanded, so I had to walk 15 minutes till my neighbor´s home. My dad was farmer, and my mom was housekeeper, they only did what they need to survive, we ate what we farmed and lived where we build. My grandfather did that with his family and his father the same, it was a tradition but a tradition of stay there forever. I am not saying I didn’t liked life there or that rural people are suffering, but my families’ desires were different, so we only could see the bad things. I study only the farm things, only the things a child could handle. My parents planned to move when they thought the cultivation was not improving, they also thought of the education I must and should have, so we moved to an urbanization area, which has its benefits and disadvantages, my grandfather days. 

First, we packed everything, except the farm things, and we started the trip in our old van. I barely can remember that, but my grandfather says it was a long boring trip, but he was fine cause he felt in home in that old van. We rent and apartment in downtown cause it was cheaper to live in the area that had all from the city, even if the apartment as it was kind of expensive. We are living in it since then, now it seems like home, but it always felt like that. Being in the city is amazing, I go to school now and I learn more than how to treat a seed, but I never lost the interested of the farming stuff, I combined it with everything now. My grandfather says that the big change is the transportation and the health system, in the rural area we didn’t have hospitals or at least not as big as these one, probably I would go there just to see how it works, must be amazing. Also, the transportation, it is easy for me since a take it every day for school, but my grandfather always confuses and don’t know how it works, it’s kind of adorable, he is patience with himself and laugh about it. Our initial problems were that is a different system and a different culture, they are all into their life and only their life, and I get it, in a busy city you got a busy life. We adapt and learn all by ourselves, my parents and I are now good citizens with busy life’s.  

Now I can say that rural area has its difficulties and benefits but I already get used to them, it's awesome how two different worlds coexists in the same planet, if there are any other rural friend out there, I hope you are happy where you are and if not, u can always ask for help to mutuals as me. And if you live in a city but feels like you will be better in the rural, there are also help, ask my grandfather for more information about how is to live in the rural area and how fun it could be. 

Moving from a rural to an urban area. Is it worth it?

 My life has been a very wild journey, I was first living in a beautiful farm in a rural town, no worries about school or even getting a job. I got my lifestyle for granted, until when I was 12 my grandfather sat me down at the table one afternoon and told me we were moving to the city. I wasn’t totally against it, but I wasn’t too thrilled either. My parents got a job in the city, while my grandfather had become very sick and needed to have access to a better healthcare system. Of course, I had to go with them since we didn’t have someone else who could take care of me. Things were pretty rough at the beginning, I had no friends, we had a bit of a financial struggle which led us to living in a very small apartment, and worst of all, we experienced quite a lot of discrimination. Nevertheless, as time passed by things got better, we had a better income than before, so we moved to a bigger place, I found a group of friends, and we got better access to healthcare and education. Overall, moving to an urban area has its negative and positive characteristics, and even though I already mentioned them, I will explain them with further detail.

Since most people choose to know bad news before good news, I will begin with the negative characteristics. As I previously mentioned, we had a bit of trouble to make ends meet. My parents had a better salary than in the rural town we previously lived in, however, things in rural areas were much more expensive, leading us to be able to only afford a small apartment in a very dangerous area. We sometimes weren’t even able to afford meals since my grandfather’s medicine and treatment was a priority. At school I had a lot of difficulties such as not being able to socialize well with others, since I was a very shy person, and having trouble to catch up with my classmates in an academic level, after all in my rural town educations wasn’t mandatory, and the material we reviewed there was far simpler. Still, those weren’t even the worst parts of moving to an urban area was the discrimination we experienced, and even continue to experience nowadays. At school, my classmates would constantly bully me for being from a rural area, making fun of my accent and claiming I could talk to chickens, they called me the chicken girl. They would also make fun of my poor grades, escalating things to the point they would blame me for anything they did wrong, and of course the teacher believed them since they didn’t have any faith in me. Things outside school weren’t good either, while walking in crowded places we often head things like “go back to where you came from” or “you’re stealing our jobs”, fortunately nothing escalated to us being physically harmed, but by watching in the news that discrimination could go to that extent, we never felt truly safe. Even now I still experience discrimination in my new neighborhood, with some neighbors often avoiding my family or calling us thieves behind our backs.

 

Still, when you hit rock bottom, the only way you can go is up. My parents worked really hard, and eventually it paid off with them getting a promotion, causing our income to increase significantly. We were able to move from that small apartment to a very nice and relatively calm neighborhood, and we didn’t have any more problems to make end meet, quite the contrary, we could afford more expensive things. When it comes to school, as I previously mentioned, the teachers didn’t believe in me, except for one who would give me extra classes so I could catch up to the others. One time, while I was made fun of by my classmates, one of them stood up to my bullies, leading to others also defending me, and later offered me their friendship. Even though I accepted, was a bit reluctant at first. I thought they would eventually leave me, but they didn’t, and now we are all best friends. Their parents met my parents and also became friends, we even host barbecues every now and then. As for my grandfather, he is healthier than ever thanks to the healthcare system here in the city, very talented and prepared doctors attended him, and after some time he was no longer sick. In the academic part, after catching up to my classmates, my grades increased by a lot, and I’m currently applying to scholarships for academic merits in various colleges. 

 

You could say moving to an urban area is very hard, and it’s really difficult to get ahead and thrive without a significant effort, but it’s not impossible. My experience may be harsher than the experience of others, as well as less difficult than others, it all comes to luck sometimes. But if you really work hard and learn to survive despite all the hardships, all that hard work will really pay off in the end.