JESUS MARTINEZ

lindsey martinez

It is a different life, and different environment here.  I didn’t come, or thought about making a better life, I didn’t have any expectations when I was going to come over here, I just move because my wife.  My wife never wanted to live in Mexico, she wanted to move here since she lived here all her life.  I met my wife in Guadalajara, Mexico, working as a teenager in Mexico at a warehouse “Legumbres and Vegetales Selectos” that belonged to my uncle.  I met this girl, your mom, who worked in the next warehouse.  We dated for a year, got married December 1981.   I found out she was an American citizen when we were dating.  After we got married we decided to move close to the border, cause my wife’s brother Jorge offered me a job in Mexicali.  We moved, I worked for six month then the devaluation of the peso happened and he close it down.  Instead of moving south, we came across to visit and start living here.  I got a passport then me and my wife got married December 7, 1982, we started the paperwork and after six months I got my immigration papers. 

It was easy.  If you are an American citizen you can bring someone, that’s why it was easy for me.  My situation was better because of my wife.  I did not have to do anything illegally, cross illegally, get a job illegally.  If anybody comes to the U.S. from anywhere people can help find you jobs, illegally.  It was a different environment for me.  I never went to look for labor-intensive jobs.  My jobs were technical, my situation was different.  Even when I went to Mexico relatives would ask me to get them a job, I didn’t understand.  I couldn’t I was in a different environment.  I was finding jobs by myself, all I knew was that you had to find your own job, and go through interviews.  The first job I got your uncle Jorge introduced me to the owner, I had some skills because of working with him, and I started going to school.  

My first job was at a warehouse making five dollars an hour, twenty percent more than minimum wage.  When I got experience I became a driver deliver of medical equipment and medical supplies to patients.  Then I started going to school to learn English, I went to college to learn grammar, reading, writing and electronics courses for an electronic technician.  I did this for two years.  It became difficult to go to school and to hold jobs.  I went from morning to night, night to morning.  I took care of you while you mother was at work.  When I was working there I was getting more skills and skills in electronics through school.  Basically I have high school and two years of college, maybe less since I took mostly English classes.  I know about 85%-90% of English. 

My next job at General Dynamics opened the door for my electronics career.  Since then I do the same job I was doing for the past 15 years, electronics technician.  I guess it has just been different for me.  I never worked with other Mexicans who spoke Spanish, they were citizens and did not talk Spanish.  When I went to a different job I was the only Mexican.  Now this is the first or second job that I have had a Mexican in my lab.    

I have spent most of my life here.  I experienced my childhood when I was in Mexico, then I came to the U.S. when I was a young adult.  It is a different life, and different environment here.  I probably lost, I don’t want to say I lost my culture, I love it, love my Mexico.  Just living here is a different lifestyle.  Between the culture I have now and my traditional culture is different, between the culture my mom and dad has is different from me, it just changes in generation.  I guess you can say I also followed you mom’s family.  I learned from them, Uncle Jorge, and Uncle Zeke.  For example getting into cars, I learned from Uncle Zeke, he told me things I didn’t know.   

In the beginning it was difficult to accommodate to this country, to the language, the people.  It was difficult to express myself and also communicate and comprehend.  I deal with it, I learn, it was difficult.  In the beginning your mother helped me.  I would put her in front of me to speak for me.  Then she stop and I did it on my own.  The TV helped me, I learned a lot through the TV.  Of course school, that help me.   

A couple of times I did not feel comfortable since I was coming from a different culture.  I think I experience discrimination, I do not know if it is, I feel it, nobody tells me it is but I think so.  I can be at a job for six months but someone that speaks better than me get better opportunities.  It is my accent; I have a big thick accent, that is what it is. When I go buy bigger things, a house a car, just because the way I speaking, with my big accent, they don’t think I am going to buy a luxury item.  I tell you this from experience this has happened to me.  But after they see what I have, my credit history, then they do not have any problems, right away they have no problem.   

We moved back to Mexico in 1991 because your same uncle Jorge offered me a job in Guadalajara, Mexico.  Things didn’t work out the way we plan, so we moved back.  When we moved back in 1991, yes we move because it was difficult to get things.  And for you and your brother, that’s why we moved back.   

I have had some good and bad experiences here and in Mexico.  My best experience in Mexico probably being together with my family, my brothers and parents, celebrating Christmas and holidays.  My worst experience was being a kid, that my parents did not have enough money to buy me things.  Well they had sufficient money but my father had an alcohol problem.  That was my worst experience.  My best experience in the U.S. is having you guys, my children, and celebrating life with my family.  My worst experience was losing the first job I had and trying to get a new job.  I was in a new country and I needed to find a job by myself, nobody helped me.  I was scared and insecure.   

If I ever go back maybe I go spend time over there and come back.  I want to be here to be with my kinds and grandkids.  There is nothing really motivating me, I have my life.  I do not want to do the same mistake my parents did.  Just visit Mexico, not stay forever.  I don’t have nothing over there. This country given us a lot, to me to you guys.  If anybody comes here from anywhere, Canada, Europe, Mexico, we need to be glad about what this country gives.  That is the beauty of this country it was built by immigrant people from everywhere and it offers so much. 

cROSSING THE vALLEY