BY GINNY RAUE
Born and raised as a young girl in Mexico City, Maria Alvarado, 32, has many memories of her country of origin. She recalls that her mother was always worried for her children’s safety and kept her brood close to home.
Alvarado and her siblings would enjoy a day at the park, but only in the company of their parents. Otherwise, they went to school, did their household chores and entertained themselves in their apartment where there was always music and singing.
“It was a different culture and my mom was very protective,” she said.
The children looked forward to weekends when they would visit their parents’ rural hometown.
“They were the best days of my life,” she said. Playing with cousins in the fields, outdoors all day with no supervision. When they were hungry they’d eat fruit from the trees. And as a family, they’d party, sing and dance.
Her father, Austrebergo Alvarado, was the first to come to America. He found employment and the family soon followed. Maria found it difficult to relocate, mostly because she had to leave her cats behind. It was 1993, she was 10 years old, spoke no English and suddenly found herself living in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Always a good student, and despite the language differences, Alvarado was an honor student with a 98.9 average in her Brooklyn school by sixth grade. That is until she received some very questionable advice from a teacher; she was told that if her grades kept going up she would be removed from the school.
“I didn’t have friends or people to trust and I was very shy,” she said. She noticed that when awards were given out she was never invited to the ceremonies. Frightened and confused, she deliberately let her grades slip.
“I wish I had the chance today to tell that person what she did to me,” she said, all these years later still befuddled and hurt by the experience.
Fortunately, bad advice and circumstances cannot crush innate intelligence and today Alvarado, the mother of nine-year-old Jacklyn, is a waitress at Frank’s Pizza in West Milford and a student at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn. Her aim is to someday become a kindergarten teacher. She just received an A- in a required chemistry course and is currently looking at her options for next semester.
Since 2009, Alvarado has lived in Greenwood Lake, N.Y. with her father, her mother, Teresa Ramales, and her daughter. She readily acknowledges that her mother is the heart of the family, taking care of Jacklyn when she is at work or school. Grandma is a bit more relaxed now when it comes to child rearing.
Alvarado has worked at many jobs over the years, beginning at age 14 when she sang along with her father’s guitar accompaniment at local restaurants and parties in the city. She graduated high school, attended college until the money ran out then went to work at delicatessens and cleaning houses. She followed her father’s advice; do whatever you can, just do it.
Alvarado realizes she’s getting a late start on a career but she’s determined. She’s learning to drive which will help with her commute to work and to school, which currently takes over two hours by bus and train. Her hours are long and she sometimes feels the strain but her eye is on the end game.
“I’ve seen people who graduated at 98 years old. If they can do it, I can do it,” she said.
She lives in a different culture now and wants what’s best for her daughter in the future. She advises her to shoot for the moon.
“You are your own person,” she tells Jacklyn. “Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. Do what is good for you as well as for others.”
She enjoys her job at Frank’s and is grateful for the opportunity to work there. She’s met many nice people and spoke highly of her co-workers. While she used to run for exercise, that’s taken a back seat for now. Being a mom, studying and work come first. She knows how lucky she is to have such strong family support.
“I don’t have to worry about anything at home.”
While she likes to cook, it’s her mom who does most of that chore for now; although Alvarado was on a kick of making vodka sauce for a while until the family realized that vodka sauce takes a direct route to the hips.
She sent in a traditional Mexican recipe. If you don’t know what epazote is, look it up first. It’s a common Mexican herb, but optional.