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I was born in Belize city, belize in the autumn of 88.My mother, Jennifer, named me America because she wanted to come to America. A few months later, she got her wish. My mom left me when I was almost a year old to come to America where she worked two jobs and modeled so she could come back to get me. I grew up with my grandmother untill my mom brought me to the U.S. at the age of six.
Before coming to America, I knew next to nothing about processed food and products, and the fast life. My grandmother, uncle, and I lived off the land which was mainly jungle including wild herbs, fruits, and vegetables. we lived a very simple life close to nature. The parrots and tucans we saw and heard were in the wild and not in cages or Zoo's. You could hear monkeys screeching as they settled their family fueds in the tree tops. The boa's and poinsonous snakes were a part of our comunity and we all attended to our own business.
Upon arriving in the U.S. my education of life was a 180 degree turn about.I met my nine month old brother Zen. Both my parents were working full time while I babysat my brother. During that time I was introduced to an uneconomical way of life. I had been raised on natural, fresh, and mainly raw foods. The canned and processed dead fruits, vegetables, and sweets were all foreign to my tastebuds. The taste was new and interesting and I started to enjoy it.
The school was interesting in that everything was planned and controlled down to the second whereas back home in Belize, we had much freedom, creativity, and played in the dusty schoolyard creating our own games. The swing sets and slides in the U.S. were all new adventures which I had to adapt to.
At the age of eight, we moved to Ukiah, California. Dad (Aaron) gave up his paintig jobs to become an air conditioner and appliance repair man so he could support his family. Mom stayed home, pregnant with my youngest brother Zoren. Life gained speed for me as I watched and learned the high speed pace of the American society.
At the age of eleven, we once again moved back to Florida. No more than two months after we arrived, i found myself, along with my brothers, taken away into foster care. I was there aproximately two years and began learning how to live away from family.My first four poems were written during this time. "Dreaming of a mother" was published on poetry.com. My brothers were returned home after only three months. I then returned home to my family where I finished off the remainder of my middle school years and started my first year as a freshman in high school.
Not even three months into the school year, at the age of fifteen, I was placed into a deliquency school for girls and was there aproximately a year. During this time I had written over three hundred poems. My reason for being a judicated deliquent was for having over twenty grams of mirijuana in my possession.
At the age of thirteen I had began drinking, so upon returning home from the institution at sixteen, I picked up right where I left off. My artistic career started improving. I began painting and writing and because of the anger and betrayal I felt, I was really able to express myself on canvas and in poetry. A few weeks before I turned eighteen I overdosed on my alchohol consumtion and had to go to the emergency room.
A few days after I turned eighteen, we moved to Illinoise. After eight months, I moved out, and headed for Florida. I am now living in Forida. I have stopped drinking, did an all raw liver cleansed, and became an all raw foodest.
If I had a choice to go back and change one thing in my life, I wouldnt change anything, because I wouldnt be where I am today and know as much as I do now.
America A. Ramos
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