My First
Trans-
gressions;
Season 1
S1:E1 From Home to The Unknown
My life became meaningful thanks to a mistake. It all began on a Monday, November 22, 2004, at 11:00 pm. I had a leather backpack, a blue t-shirt that read 'Brussels Belgium'…
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S1:E2 The Plane Awaits
We walked out of the building, toward the jet bridge. I saw airplanes of different sizes and colors, waiting for the passengers to step into them. The sun of the…
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S1:E3 From Hermosillo To Nogales
If there had been a way to taste the air I breathed, I would have claimed it tasted different in Hermosillo, Sonora. It did feel different, no doubt. It was…
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S1:E4 Moments of Truth
8:07 p.m. A knock on the door woke me up. I was afraid to open the door, even though I knew someone was coming to pick me up. A second…
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S1:E5 Inside
Wednesday, November 24, 2004, is the day when I was born for the second time. It was the day I crossed the border and entered the United States of America.…
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S1:E6 Into the Red, White and Blue
When I landed on American soil, the noise I made was akin to that of a sack of potatoes. I didn't break any bones, although I was ready to face…
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S1:E7 From Nogales to Tucson
My first meal on American soil was scrambled eggs with a drizzle of ketchup, buttered white toast, and black coffee. Cecilia was there, eating with me, and our conversation featured the…
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S1:E8 The Boss
The woman who walked toward Cecilia's pickup looked serious and quiet. There was something about her brown, deep eyes, olive skin, and even her confident gait. Her dress was a…
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S1:E9 Going West
Soon, I had to say goodbye to Esmeralda as well. "I'm going to take you to Manuel's house," she said. "Who is Manuel?" "He's friends with Juan, your cousin," she…
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S1:E10 Santa Barbara
I woke up thinking of cigarettes and coffee. People were already up and walking around the house. There was a little girl –I knew this only because of her pierced earlobes-…
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S1:E11 Six Months Later
May 2005 In the United States, I realized I was a bit different from the people I spent time with. My first job was at a construction site, with people who were friends of…
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S1:E12 Laundry Day
There were more changes in my life, which proved the journey I was embarking on would be chaotic. I want to say that I was ready for the ride, but…
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S1:E13 A Phone Call to The Past
There was a day I decided to move out from Agustin's place. Saul, the only friend I had at the time, asked me if I could stay at his house…
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S1:E14 Trying to Fit In
Working at the restaurant in Isla Vista wasn't so bad. I was making good money, but at the same time, I'd lost fifteen pounds. They say working the graveyard shift…
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S1:E15 Lost and Found
Everyone has more than one story to tell. In my case, many of my stories carry so much fiction sometimes I have a hard time trying to remember what is…
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S1:E16 Holidays
Halloween: My favorite horror movie is Scream, a flick from the nineties where blondes and stupid men run up the stairs, trying to escape the sharp blade of The Ghost,…
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S1:E17 College Life
When I started going to school at Santa Barbara City College, I moved out of Saul's house. He'd come back from Mexico and needed his room, which was understandable, and…
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S1:E18 Talk Business to Me
It was a Saturday in November, at six in the afternoon, when I decided to ride a bicycle I'd bought from Lazaro, one of the friends I used to hang…
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S1:E19 Poetry, God and New Friends
Riding the bus was beginning to be one of those undesirable things I regularly did. Thankfully, because I was a student at Santa Barbara City College, I didn't have to…
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S1:E20 Margarita’s Dilemma
I think 2007 wasn't a bad year after all. I know I'd been fired, but there were other events (good and bad) that made the year interesting. Yes, even the…
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S1:E21 Looking for A Job
On Monday, February 12th, 2007, I walked out of the box with only one objective in mind: I needed to look for a new job. I didn't know where I…
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S1:E22 Developments
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 7:00 am When I opened my eyes that morning, the first thing I looked at was a green, deluxe edition of One Hundred Years of Solitude…
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S1:E23 The New Job
The next day I woke up early and went to McDonald's to have that breakfast I wanted to have yesterday. It was nine in the morning, three hours before my…
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S1:E24 Devotion
Near the end of February, I was already wearing the Staples red polo shirt and black pants. I didn't have to do more tests, thank God, and all I had…
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S1:E25 Another Job, God, And the Promise of Romance
April 2007 was taking over the calendar, and my 22nd birthday was around the corner. By then, Facebook had been out for two years, and people began to forget about…
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S1:E26 The Plant
Normal, happy people have cake and smiles on their birthdays. I'd never had that. True, I wanted it when I was a kid, but at that moment, when I turned…
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S1:E27 The Hours, the Days and the Weeks
Roberto was the first person to know about my first unsuccessful attempt at romance. As a choirboy goes to a priest, I went to him while he stocked a shelf…
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S1:E28 A Preamble to A Business Opportunity
June took over the calendar and half of the year 2007 had faded away into oblivion. It was on a Thursday, at 10:34 in the morning, when I sat in…
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S1:E29 The Business Opportunity
Mr. Big Shot Quiroz looked like the Mexican version of Donald Trump; he had on a black suit and a red tie, a cellphone on his ear at all times,…
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S1:E30 People in Suits
The first time I wore a suit was at the age of two, when breathing, sleeping, eating and pooping were the only things I needed to worry about. My mother…
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S1:E31 A Dysfunctional Relationship
God is like this child who whines at a diner, crying, making a tantrum, hoping his mom would listen to him and buy him that apple pie a la mode…
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S1:E32 A Dysfunctional Relationship (Part 2)
I saw Margarita at school one day, in the cafeteria. She was doing homework. It was Wednesday. I was wearing a blue Dodger's t-shirt, a black jacket I picked up…
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S1:E33 Old Friends and New Characters
The Shell Gas Station is a thing from the past, a rather unmemorable memory. Eating lunch at my favorite McD's, I pondered my life, thinking about my past and present…
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