By: Jazmin Dominguez

A Journey to a new life

El Rosario, Sinaloa Mexico My Ancestry Life in El Rosario Immigrating to the United States of America

Content:

El Rosario is a city located on the south part in the state of

Sinaloa.

El Rosario, Sinaloa

Rosario was founded by Spaniards in 1655. Spaniards brought farming and ranching, but Rosario’s main economic growth was mining. In just a few years Rosario became one of the richest city in the northwest.

There’s a local legend that describes how Rosario along with the first mine was established. According to the story, ranch foreman Bonifacio Rojas went looking for a lost cow. At a spot now known as Santiago Hill, his rosary broke and fell to the ground, beads scattering. Throwing his hat down to mark the spot, he continued on horseback searching for the cow. As night fell he still hadn’t found the cow, and decided to camp on the spot where he had thrown his hat. In the morning he found a large vein of silver under his campfire . The mine El Tajo was established and lasted 290 years.

Rosario’s economy was based on mining during the first years, but the 70 km. of tunnels built underground the city affected the stability of the buildings and most of the important buildings were destroyed.

The church of the city was demolished and all there is left is ruins. Catholics moved by faith decided to move the church stone by stone to a safe place. The church was completed in 1954 with a beautiful altarpiece made of 24-karat gold.

Lola Beltran was born in El Rosario, she is one of the most important Ranchero singers of all time.

Lola Beltran spread an appreciation of Mexican culture throughout the world and gained the nickname of “Lola La Grande” (Lola the Great)

She performed at the Olympia music hall in Paris, the Tchaikovsky Hall of Moscow and the Conservatory of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in the former Soviet Union.

There is a monument of her in front of the church.

There are about 4 parades during the year. The whole city starts decorating the streets a few days before. Schools, dance academies and other organizations get ready to participate in the parade.

Tourism in Rosario

The Spanish pantheon is oneof the attractions in Rosario.Only families from Spain were buried there.

There are three beautiful lagoons in the center of the city.

The presidency is at the center of the city and is where the most of the important events take place.

More Tourism

There are a lot of houses that still have the Spanish Architecture.

The beautiful beach of el caimanero is 20minutes away from Rosario .

From my father side I know that my grandfather’s family was from Spain. They immigrated to Mexico because they were trying to escape a civil war that was happening in Spain around 1937. Their real last name was Gavilanez but they changed it to Dominguez when they arrived to Mexico.

My Ancestry

The rest of my family was born in Sinaloa. The Totorames were the people that lived in the area of

Rosario, Sinaloa so I might have some connections to the Totorame people.

Totorame people lived from agriculture and fishing. There are two museums that show the Totorame culture and their traditions.

I was born in a middle class family so I never had to work at a young age like most of the kids in Mexico.

My parents had 3 tortillerias which are businesses dedicated to make tortillas and sell them to the community. My parents where on this business for 13 years but a lot of competition started rising and we weren’t making enough money. My house was on the back of one of one of the tortillerias which I enjoyed because I used to eat tortillas right when they came out of the machine. Yummy!

Life in Rosario, Sinaloa

Schools in Mexico always try to embrace the culture of our country, so as growing up I danced and learned some regional dances.

I was very involved in the social activities in my city, when I was 9 years old I was selected to be the queen of Rosario. Every year during the Feria de la Primavera (Spring Fair) a little girl is selected to have the crown and take the name of Reina de Rosario (Queen of Rosario).

When I was 14 years old I started going to a school of art called CERBA. That school offers free classic guitar, chess, paint and reading classes. I used to only take guitar and chess classes. I performed on most of the concerts in the school and I also participated in chess tournaments.

When I was 16 years old I went to play chess at the state Olympics representing the city of Rosario. It was my first tournament at a state level and I won the bronze medal which is third place.

My achievements:

My dad owned a company that use to take people out to work to on the field cutting tomatoes, mangos etc. These people worked all day for only $10 dollars a day, most of them started when they were about 9 to 10 years old. I was very lucky because I didn’t have to do that, but that didn’t stop me from seeing how hard life can be without an education.

Immigrating to the United states of America

On June 18, 2009 I came to the United States to look for better job opportunities and a better education. I also wanted to learn English and be able learn about other cultures.

There are other factors that made me take the decision of coming to the United States.

Violence in Mexico has been increasing and a lot of innocent families have been affected by this. Some people are afraid to go out on the streets at night because they don’t know if they would go back home alive. The drug cartels have built fear in almost all the communities, including Rosario. Rosario is not the same calm colonial city that was before, now is full of fear. When someone tries to stop this cartels they get killed, this is controlled by a powerful mafia that controls the Mexican government and the police.

The drug cartel take advantage of the fear the community has and threaten the people by telling the that they must give a certain amount of money to them, if not, one of their family members will be killed. My family and some friends have gotten several of this threats.

Immigrating to the United States of America.

Since I arrived to the United States I have been trying to learn English and to keep with my education. And I am not stopping into I do it. My journey has helped me to become a stronger person and to meet wonderful people from other countries. The United States is a country with a lot of opportunities to grow and I am determined to take advantage of those opportunities.

THE END