When I Was a Kid (Hector's Audio Story)

Hello everyone!  I am proud to introduce the final audio stories from Level 5 NYC!  These students worked until the final moments of our last class, right up to the end-of-the-year party.  These students did all of the work, typing, rehearsing and recording their stories.  I'm just here to push the publish button.  You will see updated posts from Julia and Blanca, now with their narrations.  You will see an epic tale from Carlos, where he honors his mother, and shares his family's long journey from Ecuador to New York City.  First, you will see a story from Hector.

Hector was familiar with big cities before he moved to New York City.  He grew up in a neighborhood of Mexico City, one of the largest cities in the world, before he moved to a small desert village, far from the excitement of the Formula One race track.  But Hector remains optimistic  and recalls the good times he spent with his family.

-Eric, NYC, USA

When I Was a Kid

     I want to share a story about my life when I was a child. 

     I was born in Mexico D.F. The name of my neighborhood is Tlatelolco. I remember living in the same building with my grandparents, my uncles, my aunts and my cousin. I have good memories about living in Mexico City. 

     Mexico D.F. is a big city. It has many different places to visit. Chapultepec, Alameda, Plaza de Toros, Bellas Arts, Ciudad Deportiva, Estadio Azteca, Paseo de la Reforma and the big plaza Zocalo. 

     I remembered that every Sunday my family would go to different places, but one of my favorite places was Ciudad Deportiva or Sport City. The actual name is Magdalena Mixuca founded by President Miguel Aleman. 

     Sport City was an Olympic park which was used during the Olympic games in 1968. The park continues to serve as an Avenue for cultural, social and sports events. They have the Autodromo hermanos Rodrigues for Formula one racing, the Foro Sol for concerts, Football fields and the Palace of Sports for Basketball. Sport City is my favorite place to remember. 

     My brothers and sister would play football, soccer and many other games all the time. We would remember the sounds of the Formula one cars, we could hear the motors from so far away. I liked to smell the food from the vendor on the site of Sport City. 

     A special day that I liked to remember was January 6, the day of the three Wisemen. That day, my brothers and I would wake up early to see the gifts and toys. In the night, my grandparents would make us dinner. This dinner was the traditional Rosca de Reyes or the King Cake with chocolate. 

     In 1970, my family moved to a new place called Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl. The first days were hard for everybody. But the good thing was that we were not alone. My cousin lived next door to us and my grandparents lived on the street in front of us. My father and my uncle had identical houses. 

     In Nezahualcoyotl, it was very bleak and had too much dust. But in the Summer, there would be a lot of rain. When it rained, the water would come into our house and our furniture would float around. In Autumn, there would be a lot of dust and this would cause dust tornados. 

     These first years were very hard. Little by little, the community and the government worked together to make schools, hospitals, streets and urbanized Nezahualcoyotl. When I was a child, my life was hard but I enjoyed my childhood. In spite of moving to a new place, I still enjoyed my time.

-Hector Vasquez