Raul
Mexicali 1969
The station
wagon they were using was old and beat up, not filled with much other than his
brothers and sisters, his Mother Nina, his Father Juan, and the clothes on
their backs. Not much needed to be packed, they didn’t have much, probably the
only benefit of being poor. They were heading to a small farm near Firebaugh,
outside Fresno CA, where their father was already settled. There they could be
a family again, something Nina longed for.
Juan and
Nina were not educated people. They married young started their family right
away, and as the family grew so did their struggle to find work in Mexico. Times
were tough and the work in Mexico didn’t pay. They lived in a poor community in
Mexicali. The house they lived in was in poor condition, no front door, dirt
floors and random drunks stumbling in uninvited. Much like any other border
town, Mexicali was dangerous and no place to raise a family. Juan would have to search for work
elsewhere, leaving his family behind. Separating from his family left a bad
taste with Raul, and if Raul ever wanted a family of his own, he knew he wanted
to be close by.
Juan would look for work in
California under the bracero program in the early 60s. The bracero program
allowed migrants like Juan to cross the border and work temporarily, mostly as
farm labor. Farm labor was hard, and it didn’t leave time for much else, like
family. The farms Juan would work on rarely had phones making it difficult to
communicate with his wife and children. Juan would return home once maybe twice
a year if they were lucky and leaving Nina alone with the 6 children proved to
be challenging. After a
lengthy discussion it was decided that the best decision was to pack the family
up and move to a place where they could live, work, go to school, and just be
together.
Before the trip began, Raul would
often walk up to the border, an old and rusty chain link fence and stare into
America. He wondered what was past the airfield that was in view. His family
was separated by this clunky old fence, yet Raul knew his father was somewhere
beyond it. Everything past the airfield would be new to him and his
family. Although being young and naive,
roughly 9 or 10, had its advantages. Raul would not fear the uncertain possibilities
of moving to a new country, like not being able to speak the language, having
to meet new people, or having to start all over again.
Leaving Mexicali was fairly easy, a
couple of trips to the American consulate a few papers to sign and that was it,
the family was set to leave for their new life in America. It would be the
first trip they took as a family together. America promised work, maybe not the
best jobs, but with a large family to feed they had to take what they could
get. It also had conventional schools, something Nina had always wanted for her
children. Nina would be leaving behind her family, which in most cases is sad
but not to her. Moving someplace new, looking for something better was always
the goal but it would be fruitless if they couldn’t do it together as a family.
The Journey
was long, roughly 800 miles. It was spent mostly driving on long boring
highways to small, uneven dirt roads. Nothing memorable except maybe a large
dinosaur on top of a store being used as advertisement. To all the kids it
would prove to be the only truly memorable moment of the trip. They only made
one stop on their journey, to their Aunts house in Indio Ca, however even this
stop wasn’t enough to adhere to their memories as well as that dinosaur did.
The next day
the family filed back into the rust bucket they were using as a car and
ventured to their final destination. Along the way the roads turned from paved
asphalt to muddy backroads. It was less than 10 miles to go, and rain poured
form the sky, turning the dirt roads into slush. The sky was nearly black, and
rain showered down on this lone car driving on poorly lit roads.
“How could Dad see, how can he drive through this, is this
even worth it?” Raul wondered.
Luckily the
rain died and the last couple of miles to Firebaugh would be a breeze compared
to the dark storm that had overtaken them moments before. The farm was small
but at the very least it had a front door.
Firebaugh Ca, 1969
The Family spent years working on
farms in the Fresno and Firebaugh area. They started working young, rain or
shine. Even Nina would have to work the fields 6 months pregnant just to make
ends meet. Raul continued working odd jobs going to school in order to better
himself and his family’s lifestyle.
The new life
they started proved to be much like the one they had left behind. Working
similar jobs to the ones they had worked in Mexico. Although with some newer
challenges, Raul being one of 6 children had to start working at a young age to
help support his growing family. Balancing work and school are hard for most
but having to deal with these problems in a new country where Raul didn’t speak
or understand most of the language was very difficult. Although there were
challenges, Raul didn’t have much of a reaction to his new life. Yes, the work
and school were hard, but the lifestyle was similar to the life they left in
Mexico. There was excitement in the fact that he was living with his Father
again, but he also didn’t have much of a choice. Raul followed his family to a
new uncertain world. They had left for something better but there wasn’t a
guarantee. Raul was content with working on farms providing for his family,
because at the very least he could wake up and see them every day.
Works Cited
Raul. (2020, Feburaury 27). Mexicali 1969. (Andre, Interviewer)
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