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Hello my name is Jose. I am from El Salvador. With my story, I want to share how I came to the United States, how the situation was in El Salvador, and the emotion I felt when I arrived to the country.

My story crosses most of Central America and Mexico. I met a man, known as a coyote, who was going to help me and my cousin, Alexis, cross the border from Guatemala to Mexico. We rode on a boat made of wood with a man that fell three times into the water because he was drunk.

When I go to Mexico, the woman that was with us was really mean. That is why my cousin and I felt sad and mad at the same time. What really empowered me was that I was going to meet my parents.

When I got to the capital of Mexico, the migra caught me. Then they sent me back to El Salvador because I was undocumented. But I decided to make the trip again and try to make it to the U.S.  Texas, where there was a coyote who at first looked very mean, but she was actually nice.

My cousin and I were able to get to West Virginia where we got off at a rest stop and stayed for about 1 hour. After we had some pizza, we got to our hotel and went to sleep happy. The next day we arrived, where we were dropped in front of a Rite Aid. There, our dads picked us up and I felt very happy and I saw in my dad’s face that he felt happy too.

At first, I had trouble adjusting because I had a hard time learning the language and making friends. After about 1 month, however, I was able to make friends with many people from different countries and backgrounds, but I still feel like I struggle with the language. Despite this, I am happy at my school and my new home.