Rising River

Lizeth Rivas

English 100

October 7, 2015

Rising River

“Natural disaster is a wake up call for humanity” Most people who live in the city called  Santiago Papasquiaro, which is my hometown saw the flood that happened in October, 2010. Five years ago, my hometown was affected by a flood. People had to live under bad condition because the water was everywhere. Too much rain caused the flood. This disaster was caused for all the rain for a week. The rain also caused that the river  to grow. The river grow and the river eventually swept away houses, families and animals. This natural disaster affected my family, because we live near to the river, and we had to leave the house. As result, all of the people  in the  community near the river could not  have communication, transportation and food.

At the beginning, this natural disaster caused a lack of communication with other communities. This natural disaster destroyed the telephones signal was down. Whenever the river grew people could not talk with other people who live in  another community. When the river grew people could not communicate with their family because they did not have cell phones. This disaster affected my family because my grandmother lived in another community. Moreover, this disaster affected me because we had to leave our house,  and my family could not communicate to the rest of the family, and I could not attend school.

In addition, this disaster also caused transportation problems. According to my family, people needed to cross the river to go to the another community because they needed to go the grocery store. In addition, people who lived near to the river had to leave theirs houses and live with family or friends. My family who had more family  members in another community could not know if they were affected or not. In my hometown the river was a kind a river bad, which people had to cross to get to the real street and go to the other community. When the river grew people could not cross the river and go to visit the family and friends. The river grow too much that almost all the time the river took enters houses and cars. It is hard not having transportation to other communities because people had to buy food. Each time that the river grow people could not  cross the river because it was dangerous.

Finally, the flood made it difficult for people to go and buy food. Another  effect is that people need to have enough food in their homes and be prepare to this kinds of natural disasters his river is very dangerous, and people needed avoid to be near of the river. I have better life in the United States because I did not have to worry about food. Therefore, my life  had changed a lot because I do not live near of any river and I can go to the store and buy anything I want to eat. Moreover, when my family live in my hometown, they usually bought wholesale food. There were a lot of families that they did not have the opportunity to buy food such my family. This flood affect the community because people were not prepared to survive this natural disaster.

To conclude, My family was the first that moved out of the town to another place to avoid this kind of flooding. As a result, my family decided to leave Santiago Papasquiaro and come to the United States to have a better life with more protection and live in a place which is less dangerous. However, I have always wondered what happened to the people who still live in my hometown. My family was able to survive to this natural disaster, but there were families that lost some families members. Because we had to leave our home, my family was not able to  communicate to the rest of the family.

Lizeth Rivas

English 100

September 14, 2015

The Virgin of Guadalupe

The Virgin of Guadalupe is unique to Mexican culture, and the big Virgin of Guadalupe festival is celebrated on December 12th. For Catholic religion, Guadalupe is the patron of all the Mexicans. Also, Mexicans respect her because she has made many miracles. On December 12th, people from all parts of Mexico celebrate with a traditional fair and mass ceremony in her honor. Over the years, this ceremony has become a holiday. In fact lot of people travel to Mexico to be there to celebrate this tradition. I had lived in Mexico for fourteen years and I had enjoyed this celebration until before coming here.  This holiday is a party that include food, dances, and clothing. According to folklore, the virgin of Guadalupe appeared in one mountain and since then she has become very special for Mexicans. For this reason “El dia de la virgen de Guadalupe” become a lovable day to celebrate. However, many of the festivals traditions has been lost for me now that I live in The United States.

Perhaps the most significant tradition is to make tamales. For Mexicans tamales are essential in a holidays. When I lived in Mexico, my community used to make special food, for example Tamales, Bunuelos, and ponche. When the mass in church is done, everyone brought the food to the church and everybody share with the other people. All the people who brought something to eat for the ceremony put it all together on the table. Also, there are two different flavors for tamales the sweet and the spicy. In addition, bunuelos is a fried dough ball. People also used to make ponche , which is a hot drink that is made different kinds of fruit. Since, I arrived to the United States, Mexican celebrate the day of the virgin of Guadalupe making food, but they just share it with the family. In the United States people attended to mass, but they do not celebrate and share the food with the community. In this country, people attend to mass, but after that every family celebrate by themselves and not with the community.

Moreover, in Mexico people used to make dances the church. People who want to participate in the dance had to practice before the celebration. Those dances are very fun and interesting. The musicians use drums during the dance, and they also use masks to make the community laugh. Those dances attract a lot of people in the town. Those group do not need music, because they make their own sounds with the drums. However, in the United States, people do not do these kinds of dances that people do in Mexico. In this country, people who believe in the virgin of Guadalupe go to church in the mornings and listen to the “ Mananitas” for her birthday and celebrate the holiday.

In addition, on December 12th people who participate in the dance wear traditional clothes. All of the people who dance wear the same kind of clothes, but in different colors. On the back of the clothes, there were an image of the virgin. They also used a duster hat which is a brush for dusting, made of a bundle. Another thing that this group of people who dance put in the clothes are slats of different colors. The clothes that they wear are handmade. However, in the United States, Mexicans do not dress in these traditional festivals. All of the people who believe in the Virgin, attend to the celebration. People who live in this country do not like to follow the traditions, that people wear in the cloths such an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

To conclude, in Mexico the Virgin of  Guadalupe is the patron saint. People believe that the 

Virgin of Guadalupe had a son, but she did not have intimacy with her husband. My family is 

Mexican, but we do not celebrate on the same way that as when we lived in Mexico. Whenever this 

holiday approaches, I would like to travel to Mexico and have a fun time because I believe that this 

day is special way to spend with your family. American people should go to Mexico to try out this 

tradition and learn about it. For me, this day is important because I believe in her. This holiday was 

an important part of my childhood.

Lizeth Rivas

                                                       My Name

       

       Lizeth  is a name for a girl. Lizeth is from a Hebrew and English origin. My name means ¨ God 

is my oath¨. My parents were waiting too many years for a girl. I am the fourth child and the only 

girl. When my parents knew I was going to be girl they stared looking for a name. First, they had too 

many names in mind. One day my mother told my father that she wanted to name me Estrella which 

means ¨Star¨, but my dad disagreed. My father decided to name my Lizeth, which means hard   

to believe, lovable, excellent and promise

      I would not change my name for another. I like my name and I feel strong when my family calls 

 me by my name. I am friendly and respectful person. I like too many names such Delayla, and 

Ytzel, but, I would not change mine. My family told me that I am something special that they were 

waiting to have for many years.