Tuesday, September 20, 2011

The dream of another country

When I came to this country, my parents had been here already for 4 years. They had promised that they would come back to mexico only after saving enough money for us to live comfortable in Mexico, but they ended up just bringing me and my brother over here to Kalamazoo after 4 years of saving. In mexico they had engraved in most of us that it was the "promise land" and the land of "dreams", but I was surprised from the start to see that if you get caught up in today's culture of spending and instant gratification, your "dream" can be cut short to stressful bills that may never end. I saw this through my aunt, who was years younger than my mom and dad, yet had more material things than my whole family because of her 4 credit cards and loans.
My family, for certain reasons I wont give, is not able to receive benefits such as credit, loans, and social security, and I believe that that is one of the main reasons why we are not in debt, why we prioritize what is important and necessary with luxuries and instant gratification. It always surprises people that I talk to when I mention that my 02 Jetta was paid in full cash, or that all of our cars are paid in cash, or that we have lived in a trailer park for about 8 years but we have saved enough money to pay for a decent loan for a home.

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