New to the Parish: ‘Even the drug addicts here are friendly’

Nacho Valdes: arrived from Mexico in February

Nacho Valdes hated being late for his English class. He sprinted down the street in a desperate attempt to reach the language school on Harcourt Street in Dublin before class began. He rounded the corner, ready to burst through the doors of the old Georgian building only to discover his fellow students on the pavement outside.

“I didn’t want to be worried, because sometimes people go outside to smoke. Then I saw classmates who are very responsible guys and I thought, Something bad is happening.”

The whole morning passed before a sign appeared on the closed door that the English language school had closed. The school’s manager came outside to explain to the international students that the owner had left and that the school was looking for a new investor.

The whole class – mostly Brazilians but also Venezuelans and Koreans – had already handed over €1,350 each in cash for a six-month English-language course.

“Everybody was in shock. What could we do? They had taken the money that we spent so long saving and abandoned us in an atmosphere of complete uncertainty. It was a dark week for all involved: the students and the unemployed teachers.”

Valdes left his hometown of Saltillo in northern Mexico in February to move to Ireland and learn English. Growing up he often dreamed of backpacking around the world, but instead he ended up working as an accountant for the Mexican government. As the violence in Saltillo developed over the years, Valdes began to think about moving abroad. He was eager to learn English and didn't want to take classes from a Mexican teacher.

“I couldn’t learn English in my city because it’s the same as studying by myself; reading books or going to school with someone who learned the same way I did.”

He wanted to learn in a European country as opposed to driving four hours across the border to Texas for classes.

"Half of the population in America, especially in Texas, LA, New Mexico, they're all Mexican. I said, 'Why not go to Europe?' I could go the United States every weekend if I wanted, but not Europe. "

Drug cartels

Valdes was eager to experience life outside Mexico. As a child, Saltillo was a safe city where he could play with friends in the park and cycle his bike around the streets. However, the growing presence of drug cartels over the past decade has transformed his hometown.

“Imagine waking up one day and thinking, This is going to be a great day; let me go to my lovely job. Then you’re driving and you see dead bodies hanging from the bridge, corpses on the streets.”

The popular narcocorrido music culture encourages teenage boys to join gangs, he says. "These narcocorridos talk about drug cartels. All of the songs say, 'I'm a guy, I have a big truck, I have whiskey, I have women, I have drugs'. These guys, they want to be like that, so they join gangs because they give them money, they give them drink. But in the end they die."

Valdes spent a year saving money and researching English-language schools. He settled on the Modern Education Centre in Dublin, which had good reviews and an impressive website. After 16 hours of uninterrupted travel, he arrived in an unfamiliar, grey city one cold February afternoon.

“It was so completely different to my home. The traffic went the opposite direction; there were traffic lights for pedestrians and loads of bikes. Even people’s pets respected the rules of the road.”

He was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to start his classes for at least a month, despite the school’s website indicating that new courses began every Monday. He was also dismayed to learn he would have to share the room he had arranged to rent with an Egyptian roommate who spoke limited English.

Valdes secured his study and work visa the day before he arrived on Harcourt Street, only to discover his school had closed down. He was already struggling to find work and had spent a large portion of his savings on the English classes.

“I wanted to punch someone in the face. I wanted my money back. I still have the hope we might get something back.”

He joined a group of students from the school to organise a protest, and in early May they led scores of international students through central Dublin, marching against the closure of English-language schools and calling for tighter regulation from the Government. “We said, ‘We need to protest, this can’t be happening. How is it possible that so many schools have closed and nobody has done anything? We had to try and stop it.’ ”

Meanwhile, Valdes’s funds were drying up as he continued the search for work.

“When I arrived here, I thought, I’m a rock star; I was working for the government in Mexico so I can work anywhere.’ But no, I couldn’t find anything at all.”

Service industry

Valdes decided to beef up his CV by adding experience in the service industry so he could get a job in a restaurant. “The guy asked me, ‘Do you know how to make salsa?, and I said, ‘Of course I know’. But inside I was thinking, Wow, I can make milk and cereal and that’s it. I had the attitude but not the experience. But I can tell you that now I know how to make a delicious salsa.”

After discovering free English classes for foreigners in Dublin city centre, Valdes began to really settle into life in Ireland. Now, working as a kitchen porter and cleaning offices, he feels happier than ever before.

“The rainy days here make me happy because all the people are so friendly and super kind. Even the drug addicts here are friendly.”

“When I was in Mexico working as an accountant I thought I was the best in the world. But trust me, I’m happier now working as a kitchen porter, almost a chef now, than as an accountant in Mexico. I feel happy, I feel really happy.”

• We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland in the past five years. To get involved, email newtotheparish@irishtimes.com