Mireya Rivera was just seven years old when she came to California. She first lived in apartments with her sisters in Los Angeles. She also talks about the other places she lived in Los Angeles. Mireya talks about the jobs she had, like a medical assistant, and the process of her becoming one, like going to college and medical school. She now is a stay at home mom and takes care of me and my brothers.
TRANSCRIPT:
Allen Ceja: At what age did you come to California?
Mireya Rivera: Seven years old.
AC: Umm when you…When you came where did you live here?
MR: It was in apartments that they used to be on Washington and Trinity and they umm.. umm they took the apartments down and they put the school, the San Pedro Street school, they made it bigger so the side of the school that is now the playground or something like that, its on Trinity and Washington, it used to be the apartment there that we used to live.
AC: Did you enjoy living in those apartments?
MR: Yes because there was like stores there they called the Jimmy Store, and we used to go there and buy a lot of candies, we used to buy the Now and Laters candies and the gums I think there is still some gums of those and then there was another restaurant right there that we call the guy Don Pipo, umm, we used to like to go there and eat umm…The hamburgers, we loved to eat hamburgers there they were so good.
AC: What was your favorite Now and Later flavor?
MR: Umm I don’t really remember… but I like all of them.
AC: If you were too umm… If you were to be able to live in those apartments would you live in them again or no?
MR: Yeah.
AC: Did you enjoy living there?
MR: Yes it was fun being there because in the night all the kids we used to go down and play in the.. In the.. It was like a parking lot and we used to play there.
AC: What would you guys play?
MR: Different games, spin the bottle umm we used to play with the ball, like different games.
AC: Umm do you still remember any of the kids that you used to play with at the apartments?
MR: Yeah, your dad is one of the kids we used to play with in the apartments.
AC: You guys knew each other since you guys were really little.
MR: Yeah we were like ten years or nine when we meet each other, but then he moved to another school and I go to another school, and then we met up again, like we see each other, like when we were, like probably sixteen or seventeen years old, and then we uhh, he asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend so then I told him that in a week I’ll let him know if yes or no and then I said yes so since then we been together.
AC: Did any of my aunts live in the apartments with you or was it just you?
MR: No, it was my sisters. All of them used to live there, three of them and the other one used to live in a different one.
AC: What about my grandparents, did they used to live there or no?
MR: Yeah they lived there too.
AC: After the apartments where else did you live?
MR: We moved to a house on 52nd and Avalon, but we didn’t like the place there so we just stayed there for only like a month, and then we moved to 22nd and Griffith and then we lived there for like a couple of years from there we moved to 23rd street and then, I moved to 25th with your grandparents from your dad’s side.
AC: When you used to live in those houses, is there any like funny memories you used to have in one of those houses?
MR: Yeah when we umm used to live on 22nd.. [clears throat] we lived in the house and we were in the room like with my sisters. It was three rooms so we used to live each one in a room.
AC: Mhm
MR: So I had my first child and then he was on the window so I don’t know why ,he just go back and flew through the window, and then I called your dad too…Well I screamed, I got scared and I was telling him that, um, Papas flew through the window and when I turned he was like Superman flying to the window in back of him to. [laughs]
AC: [Laughs] How old was my brother when he fell?
MR: I think he was like a month it was like, he wasn’t even a year I think he was like nine months.
AC: [Laughs] Umm, is there any memories that were sad when you used to live in those houses?
MR: Yeah cuz once your dad didn’t have a job so I was the only one working and um when I see the ice cream guy, the truck, I tried to go in the room and put something loud so Papas won’t hear the ice cream man so because if he would ask me for some ice cream, I wouldn’t have money to buy for him.
AC: When you lived here in Los Angeles, where would you work?
MR: First I went to work on a company that they made cloths for baby Guess and I used to work there, uh, the first time I worked there was just one time but I came out around 11 pm so I got so tired and I said “I’m not going to go to work no more” so I stopped going. Then I got another job where your dad works, we used to work there it was another company too and I used to work there for like probably like two or three years.
AC: Mhm.
MR: Then from there I started working on another company, uhh, called L and L and then there I worked there for like six years I think.
AC: Did you enjoy working there?
MR: Yeah I liked to work there, even though I came out so late but I used to.. I liked to work there.
AC: if you were given the chance to go back and work over there would you go to work?
MR: Well yeah but after there, then I go to college to do, uhh, to become a medical assistant.
AC: How was your learning in college?
MR: It was good. I liked it, and then I started working as a medical assistant for like ten years or eleven, and then I stopped working because my parents got sick so I.. there was someone that needed to take care of them and I had to stop working to take care of them. But I still worked as a home caregiver with them.
AC: When you were in medical school what were some of the things they made you guys do?
MR: What you mean?
AC: Like when you were in the process to become a medical assistant, when you would go to school, like what would you guys learn, what would you guys do?
MR: Well we poke each others’ veins to draw blood, umm we take our vitals, and when they teach us a lot of things because I can work as a EKG technician, uh, phlebotomist and I’m a medical assistant, a medical assistant too.
AC: Would you go back to working as a medical assistant?
MR: Well I don’t think as a medical assistant because when my parents got sick I had to take care of them and I was in the hospital for like.. for a couple of years with them and then seeing my mom’s procedures they do on her ,so I think I got kinda scared of that. Well probably if I go back to work probably I’ll look for, like, EKG technician, I think I would like to do that instead of being a medical assistant or phlebotomist because I have to draw blood and I don’t feel like good right now to do that.
AC: Whats a EKG technician?
MR: When they check for the heart.
AC: Mhm.
MR: They check your heart, like they monitor with a lot of cables all over your body so they can check your heart.
AC: And now how are you in life?
MR: Well right now thanks to god, we’re good because, um your dad has a good job and I don’t have to work and then he told me he wanted me to be taking care of you guys and um, like, I’ll just for fun probably, I just do well, I sell Prince’s House, Mary K, and Toper, but thats just to entertain myself so I won’t get bored.
AC: Okay so I think that is all of the questions I’m going to be asking you today is there anything you would like to say?
MR: Umm no I think that will be all.
AC: Okay, thank you for letting me interview you.
MR: Thank you.
AC: [Laughs] you’re welcome.
MR: Byee.
AC: Bye.
