My Rodeo De Ayala

Goldie Barajas
English 1A
10/25/10

My Rodeo De Ayala
I was born in Los Angeles, California, a windy Thanksgiving eve, while my family took advantage of the fresh killed turkey cooked that evening. I grew up in the 1990’s, a time in which the puffy, curly hair, along with the cowboy boots, and red lip stick was in fashion. Rare? Not quite or at least I did not think of it as something rare when I was a child. Furthermore, during that time mom and dad were moving homes slightly often. Until the day they made the decision of my life, which was to move to El Rodeo de Ayala, a rancho, which for non Spanish speakers this means a village, located in Penjamo, Guanajuato, a state in Mexico.
All this moving business to El Rodeo de Ayala happened when I was in the second grade, in Eastman Elementary School. I was a 7-year-old speaking mostly English. I did not understand why we had moved and why people in this new place did not speak the English language at all. But what really appealed to me was the fact that I was going to live near and attend school in Corralejo de Hidalgo, a village in which Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a historic Catholic Priest, that contributed to the acquisition of Mexican independence, was born. I was thrilled by the idea of living minutes away from a historic place for Mexicans and it was even more exciting to attend school in this place. Growing up in El Rodeo de Ayala was better than I thought.
Although, El Rodeo de Ayala is an agricultural village surrounded by farms, and soil, with almost no roads because everyone travels by horse, this did not impeded me to find the rancho interesting. I found it fascinating that finally I did not have to watch for cars when crossing the streets and that I had my cousin as a next door neighbor. So, whenever I wanted to play all I had to do was walk a few steps, scream out “Monica, vamos a jugar”, which means “Monica lets go play” and there was Monica looking excited and messy with her light brown hair hanging down her shoulders. We would play for hours until the moon and stars would come to be visible at night. There was no need for adults to watch over us because everything around us was so safe and welcoming. The cows were in their place, the chickens were running away from us, and the pigs making that oink oink noise that I always found hilarious. Everyone in the rancho, even the animals were so mindful of their own business. No body there was considered a danger to the community. Everyone was a family willing to help anyone that needed help without a question or expecting anything in return. If it was really hot and a neighbor asked for some water, then water would be granted. If it was pouring with hail falling down the sky, which I loved to be hit by, and a neighbor was passing by then an umbrella or perhaps a cup of chocolate would be given to that neighbor. Selfishness was not frequently seen in my rancho.
In El Rodeo de Ayala the lifestyle people carried was all about working the farms for a better tomorrow but with little emphasis on education, which was upsetting to realize later when I grew older. People in this village were so generous, but ignorant about many issues such as the importance of education . Realizing that generosity was not enough to survive in the real world opened up my interest towards learning and its importance. Comprehending that it was crucial to get educated in order to better one’s self economically and mentally was something that shaped me into the person that I am today. If it was not for my parents moving to El Rodeo de Ayala maybe I would have never gotten the chance to have this realization that motivates me everyday; because everyday I remind myself that if I want to be a professional, like the teachers I had in my elementary school, I must go through college education. I do not want to be ignorant and remain silent, like the people in the rancho, when someone asks me a question that requires thought and some sort of education. Therefore, it is it is important for me to remember where I came from as I grow up the latter of education because this allows me to be humble and have the honest hard-working skills my lovely community from El Rodeo de Ayala taught me.