Enrique's Journey post 3

Even with Enrique's resentment towards his mother, he ends up making the same choice as her. He hated her decision to leave him and Belky in order find work in the US. The loss of his mother created deep feelings of abandonment and depression in Enrique and caused him to start doing drugs. Only when he got to the US did he start to understand his mothers struggles. He wanted María Isabel to come live with him in Florida. Enrique has enough money to hire a smuggler, but it isn't that simple. María Isabel has to leave their daughter Jasmín back in Honduras. While on the phone with María Isabel, Enrique says to her, "We'll have to leave the baby behind" (p. 196). After everything Enrique went through, after all the anger and spite he felt towards his mother, he ended up making the same tough decision she did. He left his young child behind to give his family a better chance. He finally understood exactly what Lourdes had to go through. Having to be away from his child, never getting to speak to her unless it was over the phone. It was one of the toughest choices he and María Isabel would ever had to make. He has no idea what kind of challenges she will face or who she will grow up to become. After everything he went through as a young boy he still made the same choice that Lourdes did. Whether or not he accepted his mothers decision, he is making the same one.

Over all Enrique's Journey was a great book. The author, Sonia Nazario, did an amazing job of capturing the incredible experience of being an immigrant trying to come into the US. My favorite part of the book was oddly enough the prologue, because you realize that she actually went through the journey she's writing about. She even explained how she was relieved when she could get to hotel and relax after an intense day of train riding. Her experiences really intrigued me, because I've never known an author to actually understand to the full extent what they're writing about.