From The Peopling of New York City

Mary Tawil

Mary Tawil was born in Mexico City on October 23, 1990. Life is Mexico was great, but she didn’t have the life of a normal child. Her community and her family faced kidnapping threats and it wasn’t safe for her to have a normal life. She couldn’t play in the street; she couldn’t learn how to ride a bike. In 2001 her mother decided that they had to get away from the threats and they moved to New York.

Originally they planned to be in America for the summer, until some of the threats died down, but after the summer they decided to stay for the school year. After the first year passed they decided to stay. They left all their belongings behind. They decided to start from new.

Mary had little difficulty adjusting to the life here. In Mexico she went to a Montessori school and the basis she learned from the imaginative teaching allowed her to learn English in the fastest way possible. Even with that she still had much trouble learning the language and had to spend hours doing homework every night. The children here were very kind to her and were excited to make a new friend. She didn’t understand what they were saying but it was nice to have someone care about her.

Living in Mexico, the United States was something to look up to. Life in the US was much more advanced and Mary and her family were excited to live in America. Her family fully embraced the life here. Her brother and sister married Americans and had children. Mary recently got married and is happily awaiting her Green Card.