#MemoriesOfAnInmigrant: Angela

• Place of birth: El Progreso - Guatemala
• Reside in: USA, since 2013.

Family problems were the trigger that pushed Angela to make the decision of leaving her home in Morazán in search of the american dream. The wetback path, the most feasible exit.

"It was a journey that I don't recommend to anyone, I traveled for 17 days, I walked for seven days and seven nights in the desert without eating, I fainted, I was close to being bitten by a snake, there were times when the lights of the migration were suddenly on and had to run and hide... I had a lot of thorns on my body, that even today, they haven't left me, it's a really strong journey".

Canned food was her nutrient; the filtered water improvised, her sustenance. "The road was difficult, there was no water, we had to drink it from the soil where the cows leave their mark. Necessity led us to that. We slept hidden in the mountains while the coyote watched for the migration".

Children, young people and adults of different nationalities were together towards the same destination, ignorants of what they would live on the road, they had no choice but to believe in the words of their guides: the coyotes. "They said that we weren't going to suffer, that we weren't going to be in need... but we weren't prepared for that, many of the people on the journey cried and they reprimand them for that, sometimes they wanted to take advantage of us, and we had to be strong to not let them, there were moments when I wanted to stay there and let the migration police trap me".

The journey, far from representing the end of the odyssey, it only marked the beginning of an even greater one: sowing roots all alone in an unknown country. Looking in retrospective, the doubt consumes Angela and without further ado, answers the question of whether she thinks it was worth it the crossing with a forceful: "If I could return time, I would not do it again."