698 Nelly (Uzbekistan, Age 16): English

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Nelly

Age 16 Uzbekistan

            My name is Nelly. I’m from Uzbekistan. When I was 6 years old I was in kindergarten with my bro and my parents work everyday. My two grandmothers get a sugar diabet before I born. When I was 6 years old I wasn’t knew about some kind of bad sickness like a sugar, and cancer. I learned those sickness after my two grandmas die.

            When I was 6 years old I don’t like to go to my kindergarten school because everyday I bullied by my classmates. My teachers doesn’t says anything to my classmates, they were like my classmates (my teachers), they use to curse me a lot.

            I always get sad because for me it seems like a kind of thing that anyone doesn’t need. I try to ignore them and just try to find my way. Those sad days, and things happened for a lot of years   because of her sugar diabet one of my grandma went to hospital, after like 1 month she died, she didn’t live little bit longer.

            I didn’t even know how her heart stopped because I wasn’t with my grandma, my aunt call us at 3:00 am and she told us that my grandma died. Everyone was crying on that day. After a few hours my grandpa came, and take me to his home, but he wasn’t alone my other grandma, my aunt and my uncle was there. My other grandma has sugar diabet too.

            After few days I start a elementary school it was close to my house, the teachers, and students were nice. I was a little bit happy about this. But those happy days that I had wasn’t that much because on November 11th 2006 I lost my other grandma because of sugar diabet. I can’t imagine that how I lost my 2 grandmas at same year, and on November 3rd it was her birthday she was 53 years old when she was dying.

Before like 6 months my uncle take my grandma to Pakistan to change her kidneys. The doctors can’t do this kind of operations in my country. That operation was so expensive, but the new kidneys didn’t worked, because of sugar my grandma didn’t live longer and my uncle waste his a lot money. Sugar killed my grandma after 6 months.

After that my mom told me, and my brother that we have move to my grandpa’s house, but my mom didn’t tell us the reason. My other uncle wasn’t OK after my grandma die, he always like fall down when he think about my grandma. I think that’s why we moved to my grandpa’s house. Than I was sick for like 1 and half month I don’t remember what happened to me, but I have fever, I can’t go to the school, I can’t eat anything, and I can’t move from my bed. If I want to get up I have be careful because when I get up, and try to walk my head hurts, and I can fall down. Everyday my mom bring me something to eat, but I can’t eat anything.

After we move into my grandpa’s house my mom changed my school, that is close to my grandpas house. My mom said “this is my school, when I was in your age me and your aunts came to this school”. In that school I saw my mom’s teacher, and her teacher become a principal to that school.

When I change my school I thought I can make lot’s of friends, but I didn’t make that much friends. In my new school, the students always bully at me, and I did not tell this to anyone even to my mom because she lost her mom that’s why I don’t want to tell her.

I try to hide my feelings from my family members because I want to learn how to protect myself from my classmates. But I wasn’t alone some of my cousins are same age as me, I always try to become a friend with them. They are the only people always make me happy.

I went to my new school like 3 years, I can’t imagine how I wait and heard bad words from my classmates in those 3 years. And 1 day my classmate said “I don’t like you” when I heard this I feel like I like annoyed and some of the boys make cry in school, that was my first sad day in school and I think it happened in 2nd grade.

I still know that I am going to make lots of friends in future. After like 3 years I change school again on January 23rd 2010. The reason why I change my school is my parents find apartment, and my mom tell me that we have to move into that apartment.

Before like 4 months my mom receive a letter, the letter said that we have to go to America which is Green Card, because my uncle want us to come here and he play the Green Card like 9 years for us and for others. My parents try hard to get visa. First we went to the doctor because all of the people who leaving to other country or just going to visit has to go to doctor to check their health and make sure that they don’t have any disease or viruses.

When we went to the doctor I get scared because of the some technology and the smell is like medicine, in every hospitals, the smell is like a medicine. On that day I didn’t went to my new school. I was proud of my new school because I make so many friends, even the boys was so nice.

And our new apartment wasn’t that big but it was enough for us and we was only two kids. We have like 2 rooms. It was little bit old.

After a few days we went to the visa office, when we was there (visa office) we get scared. In everywhere the cups was standing and mom said “empty your pockets, if you guys have something that you can not have inside just give them to that cups”. The workers in visa office, they x-ray and we wasn’t have that much things my parents left their cellphones at home so we don’t really have to worry about anything, the things that we have a lot is documents because my mom take lots of documents.

In visa office people has to ask some questions to people that who is coming to America, we thought they (visa office workers) are going to ask some questions to me and to my bro, but they did not ask any questions to us, they just ask some questions to our parents like “why do you want to go to the America”, and “what does your childs gonna do in America”, like this kind of questions they are going to ask.

Also before that day I was like preparing myself to answering the questions because I wasn’t know that the people in visa office, they are not going to ask any questions to childs.

Then before we are leaving from the visa office the workers keep my parents passport and that’s means we get our visas. We was so happy about this, when we come back from the visa office my father took us to the restaurant.

After few days some of my friends came to my home and said “you still here it’s July already and you did not went to America?” I think it was July 2nd “I will go soon” I said.

My country wasn’t bad because I were born there. It’s not that big like United States, but it has a lot beautiful places and good memory from the past. In my country no one gets bored, and alone. Something that I don’t like about my country is my school, and I am came from capital city of my country. The weather was clear, and soft. If people live in building or house that has a lot of flowers outside it will smell better.

On July 8 2010 we came to New York. Before we’re leaving from my home it was 4:30am. From my house to airport takes us 1 hour in the car. The airport was little bit far. My brother didn’t see the airport before it was his first time, but I saw the airport before like 2 times before we getting to the airport I was describing the airport to him (to my bro). When we get to the airport my my parents has to fill in some papers and we have give some bags to workers in the airport. When we get into airplane feel like a kind of exciting because it was the first time I was getting into the airplane, and flying. We stop at Riga after 4 hours, and we stay in Riga like 2 and 15 minutes. My mom was pregnant to my sister, she was so tired in airplane.

When we are sitting in Riga it was rain, the bus came and take us to the waiting room, we wait like 2 hours and 15 minutes in there. After 2 hours and 15 mins we went to the airplane. We go back into the same airplane, some of the people said “go and find your old set.” We wasn’t know that we are going to same airplane again. When we find our sets, a woman explain the rules again. Me, and my father sleep a lot in the airplane so that we are not going to get confuse with time in America.

In my country the time is different like 9 and 10 hours. And it takes us like 12 hours from Riga to New York. My mom and my bro can not sleep well in the airplane, and they was so tired in airplane. When the airplane was going down it was very exciting because sometimes people can get scared and my mom was pregnant, it was 7 months.

We get to the New York finally, it was hard to get outside from the airport because my parents my parents has to fill in some documents. It take them like few hours to fill in some documents and for other things too. After that we take our bags from airport, and we get outside from the airport then we saw my aunt (my uncle’s wife) she was waiting for us for us, we find her easily.

We have like 5 or 6 bags. We get into my uncles house in 45 mins by car. When I saw the streets in the car it look really different to me because of writings, people, and some of the houses I can’t think about my country’s streets.

In my country the houses are not that small they are so big (the houses). I was feeling like I am still in my country and I don’t know why, maybe because of my aunt. I saw some flowers in the streets, that flowers remind me of my country’s flowers.

We  went to my uncle’s house and it looked so small, but in that house just two people was living. When we get inside of the house the living room was little bit smaller and there is a small table in the living room. The whole way was together with living with the living room, on the living room’s table I saw a cherry coke it was first time that I saw the cherry coke, and when I drinked it didn’t taste so different almost same as regular coke.

On July 9 we went to the Coney Island with my aunt because we have to get our insurance and food stamp cards. To get our insurance cards we wait like 3 months, but my mom’s insurance card came so fast because she was pregnant and our food stamp card came in 1 month. In three days (July 11) we find apartment, our apartment was so small it has just kitchen and 1 bath and master bedroom. We was using the kitchen the as a living room too. We live in that apartment like 1 and half year.

After 2 months my mom has a baby, my sister was born we was so happy, my sister born in the Coney Island Hospital. The Coney Island Hospital id so big hospital. And my sis born on September 5th 2010 she give us smile in our face, now she is almost five years old.

On September 8 2010 I went into my middle school (Cavallaro) my uncle took me to school because my mom was in hospital. Some of our neighbors take my brother to school, he started elementary school (P.S. 200),  he started off with 4th grade now he is in 8th  grade, actually he is a senior  in middle school.

I started off with 6th grade which is first year of middle school. In middle school I wasn’t feeling well because of bullyings, but first I thought it’s not bad but it was worse, my classmates always make fun of me those things happened like two years, 6 and 7th grade my classmates they are from Uzbekistan too. I remember something that happened in 7th grade, my classmate told me that I was failing from my social studies class, but I did not hear this well and I said  “what” my another classmate told me that my grade is low on social studies. I heard that two of my classmate’s were talking about me they were saying that “she’s been here like two years but she can’t speak english’’.

Actually I wasn’t been here for 2 years I was been here for 1 and a half years. She was also from Uzbekistan. Everyone use to bully me but I use to ignore them.

When I took my report card it wasn’t 55.

           Starting on 8th  grade I was feeling little bit well because some of my classmates moved to another classes we were separated. It was senior year in middle school I was ready to graduate. I saw Mr.Sean in my middle school, when he talk about International High School I was thinking it might be a good school that’s why I choose to come to this school. When I was graduating I was so excited because I pass my New York State tests it wasn’t easy to pass the three exams at same time.

            After graduation I finish with my school. I went to Virginia for whole vacation because my parents went Uzbekistan with my sis. We take a bus to Virginia. Me and my bro, we stay at Virginia with my uncle. Every Sunday my uncle take us to the bowling, swim pool, zoo, and six flags.

            On September 8th 2013 we came back my uncle bring us back to New York also my parents came back on July 8. On September 9th I start high school it was my first day in high school. I feel little bit shy, but I make lots of friends and my thoughts became true about this school I hope that in next 2 years I am not going to bully from my classmates. Last year was my shy year in this school (International High School) I was feeling shy about talking to someone. But now it’s not like last year I am feeling comfortable in this school and with english language.

            Another happy thing happen on last year which is my get baby boy again, he also give us smile on our face. If someone’s life is similar to my life, and if someone is going read this I would tell them that “keep your head up when you get bully from someone because will protect yourself. And also spend your time with your parents and grandparents don’t take them for granted.