By: Milly Eastburn
"Ticos do not like conflict. We like to live on our own. We want to work, save and buy our own things. This is the peace that we have."
My name is Maria Cristina Peralta Rojas de Sánchez. I was born in San Jose, Costa Rica. My grandfather, Juan Peralta Fernandez, left Spain with his parents and came to live in Costa Rica. He was a wonderful grandfather and a great man. He always worked for the government. Papa Juan, my grandfather, owned his own home. He was rich. He owned: property, businesses, shoe stores, fincas de ganado y frutal.
My maternal grandmother’s family was English. She had light skin and blue eyes. She was raised on a finca near Guanacaste, which is in northern Costa Rica. Her mother, Cecilia, was raised on that finca as well. They both worked there. Since Cecilia’s parents were murdered, she remained there and that is where Abuelita was born. When she grew up, they left the finca and came to live in the city of San Jose. In San Jose, she met my grandfather Gonzalo Rojas. They were married and had nine children together. After the War of Tinoco, she came to live with us.
My father was Rodolfo Peralta Cordero. He was an accountant and worked for the government. He was a great and smart man and could speak English. My grandfather sent him to the United States to live in Boston, hoping that that would help him with his drinking problem. Because of this, my mother raised my older brother on her own until my father was ready to return to live with them in Costa Rica. My father was irresponsible and would often leave. My mother’s name was Sara Rojas Rodriguez. They had seven children: five sons and two daughters. I am the eldest daughter.
During my childhood, we lived happily together. In Costa Rica, children get used to living with their grandparents. I was raised with my grandfather. He helped our family a great deal. He felt responsible for my father’s reckless behavior so he took it upon himself to help us.He taught us that an education was important. He always said that we had to study. He paid for a portion of schoolbooks and supplies in order to help my mother with the kids.
We were taught the importance of working to earn our living and help our parents and ourselves. We were not poor per se but that is just how life was in Costa Rica. There was no electricity--we used candles. I remember when they installed electricity and we had one bulb hanging from the ceiling in our home. We cooked on a wood-burning stove.
I was very capable and could manage the bills and business of our home. Even though I had older brothers, I handled our family business My mother was too shy to deal with the banks and business people. With the inheritance from my grandfather’s will, we set up a shop, a sodita, where we sold baked goods and other treats. We also bought an electrical stove and upgraded our home. In those days, there were no drugs or anything of the sort. You simply did not hear of drugs. Costa Rica has always been a very cosmopolitan country. There are people from many different countries living there. There were many Americans and Polish people there. It was a nice time to be alive because there were no drugs or anything elicit.
I remember when I was a young girl, I learned of the Guerra del Tinoco. In 1948 Jose Figueres, a Spaniard, came to Costa Rica seeking to be president. He was a revolutionary. He remained there about 2 years, and then the Ticos removed him. My grandfather, Gonzalo Rojas, was also revolutionary. He got sick to his stomach on the twenty-fifth of December and died on the twenty-eighth of December. On that same day, the revolutionaries came looking for him with the intention of shooting him. The wanted to kill him in a firing squad. Thank goodness my grandfather died because they would have killed him otherwise.
Since then, there have not been any wars in Costa Rica and they no longer have a military. That is why the United States helps us with soldiers and everything. In this country, we do not like to fight. There is police force to help with traffic and those sorts of things. Nowadays there are a large number of Nicaraguans in Costa Rica and many Colombians. Ticos do not like conflict. We like to live on our own. We want to work, save, and buy our own things. This is the peace that we have.
Since my father had lived in the United States, he always spoke about the many different places, such as San Francisco. As a result, I always told myself, “One day I will go to the United States!” I never gave up on that idea. Many Americans that came to Costa Rica and I enjoyed speaking with them. I thought that if it was possible for them to come to Costa Rica, then there was no reason why I couldn’t go to the United States. It had always been my desire to come and see what my father had been able to see. It so happened that my two younger brothers came first.
When I was a young woman, I served as a missionary for my church. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–Day Saints. On my mission, I had American companions and that was the deciding point for me. I made it a goal to come. My American companions treated me well except for one who was older than I was. She did not like it when I called her suegra, or mother-in-law. There was another male companion that would call me india or Indian. It was meant to be an insult because it implied that I was poorly behaved and feisty. I would not allow anyone to treat me badly! My mother had taught me that I was of worth it. I had been educated and that was valuable. I was not less than anyone else was. My mother taught me to hold my head up and not allow others to make me feel inferior. I felt that I could defend myself in the United States.
After my mission in El Salvador and Guatemala, I came home and married Edgar Sánchez. I never gave up the hope of coming to the United States. Edgar did not share my same desire. He worried that if we came to the States, I would leave him and take the kids away from him. Because he had been orphaned as a little boy, he was insecure with the idea of leaving Costa Rica. We were all he had. He loved his kids and could not bear the idea of losing us.
When we were newly married, I spoke to an uncle of mine about helping my husband receive an education. Edgar was intelligent but what he needed was for someone to help him. I wanted to progress, therefore, I had to help him to progress as well. My uncle held a controlling interest in a successful company. With his financial backing, Edgar went to school and received his degree in accounting. He became an important and successful accountant in my uncle’s company. We lived comfortably. Thus, I didn’t need to come here. However, he mingled with successful men and that lifestyle made it difficult for him to be obedient to God. He didn’t want to follow in his ways. I felt that for him to be converted to my faith I had to get him out of there, away from his business friends and that lifestyle so that he could be free to get closer to God. I fasted and prayed that the Lord would bless me to achieve my goals for my family.
It so happened that the company began having problems and they feared that they would have to close their doors. That is when he changed his mind about coming to the United States. The company paid all the expenses to relocate him. They paid his ticket and helped him to prepare all his documents. That was the answer to my prayers. It was my miracle. God answered my prayers. The company never closed down. Living in Costa Rica, we could have lived close to God but not Edgar--there was too much temptation there for him. Going to the United States, would separate him from that world--that infernillo.
Edgar came ahead of the kids and me. In those days, it was so easy to come to the United States. If you could buy your ticket and find someone to vouch for you in the States, the rest was so easy. He came in February of 1964. He sent me $25 a month and I was able to live with that for a month. Coming to America with my children to be with my husband was my dream come true. I knew that it would be difficult. I did not speak English and still have difficultly with it. I was able to get our visas and arrived in California in October of 1964. It was difficult in the plane with five kids. The whole crew had to help me with the kids. We arrived in San Francisco at three in the morning and there was my husband waiting with this old beat up car. It was too small but we did not care. We all piled into the old car, sitting on top of each other and drove off happily. In a Pontiac! (The kind with the long tail fins.) We were happy to be here. It was my dream.
Life in America was difficult for Edgar. Pobrecito, it was so hard on him. He had great challenges here. Because his accounting credentials did not transfer and he could not speak the English language, he was forced to take on work as a janitor without even knowing what it was to be a janitor. At first, he lived with my brother. They put a bed in the living room and that is where he slept. That was very hard for him. He began to study English books and paid close attention to the way people spoke at work. He would ask others to help him with words and phrases. Soon he began to learn how to speak English. He always had the dictionary with him to know how to pronounce new words correctly. He had no accent; one would think that he was born in this country because his English was perfect. That is why I always say that this is a country of progress, not one to fall sleep in or come and just hang out. If you want to progress, you will and you can, because everything is available to you here. If you cannot study in the day, study at night. Just study
When we arrived, we went to live in a Latino community in San Jose. We rented a house for $90 a month and we were very happy there. The $300 a month that he earned was just enough for all of us to live on. After a few years, the city asked us to move because they had plans to construct Highway 280 through there. We did not have any money to buy a house but my husband offered to paint houses for this real estate agent in place of our down payment. The agent said that if we gave him three referrals that that would satisfy the down payment. We found three members from our church and with that, we were able to buy the house. For me it was awesome to see the large freeways and everything. There were Spanish speaking people everywhere and that made it easy for us to adjust. Since my husband was able to speak English, he spoke for me. In time, the kids learned to speak the language at school but for me, it was extremely difficult. In Central America, it is customary for people to make eye contact when they’re speaking but not so in America. When I would look into the Americans’ eyes as they spoke, they would become very uncomfortable and look away. That was most difficult for me. Later on, we attended an English speaking church for 11 years and the members there knew I could not speak English very well. Those were trying times for me as I attempted to communicate with the English speakers. Nevertheless, I did not shy away. If I could not say it with words, I would get my thought s across by using my hands. I even took on the challenge of conducting the music at church. It was my joy to come to the United States with my children. It meant everything! Still coming here was such a challenge for me.
Today’s immigration situation is a difficult one. When I entered this country, I entered with all my documents in order. To come here you have to be able to defend yourself. You have to respect this country, fill out your papers, and complete all the requirements so that you do not have any problems. I never had any problems. Today all my children are citizens and I am a citizen. I passed the exam I answered the questions half in English and the rest in Spanish, and I was able to do it. What I am saying is that to live in this country and to come in freely and not have any problems, you need to fill out your papers, pay all the fees, and be immunized so that you can enter into this country without any problems.
I think it is hard for those who are desperate to leave their countries due to economic hardships, extreme poverty, or political unrest. Nonetheless, it is better to go hungry in your own country then in a strange country. I say this because we entered this country poor, without anything, earning just enough to pay rent, but we entered with our papers, freely. I was free to choose what I wanted to do. I set up a day care in my home so that I could help my husband. I was never afraid to go out into public because I had my papers--I had my green card. I never had any kind of problems. Now I am a citizen. I can walk with my head held high. I do not have any problems..
I think that those who should be allowed amnesty are those who are refugees or have to leave their countries. Otherwise, they will be killed. Especially because the other country’s government will be ready to receive them. They have to respect the borders of other countries.
