Maria, Spanish Harlem When you walk down the streets of Spanish Harlem, in Northwest Manhattan, you might think you are in another city, in another country. You hear the Latin beat of 'salsa' music everywhere, and many of the shop sings are in Spanish. Here we met long-haired, dark-eyed Maria. She is a first-generation American whose parents came from El Salvador fifteen years ago. 'These days we speak Spanish and English at home. Whichever comes out first!' she told us. 'But we used to speak only Spanish when I was little. My parents spoke very little English then,' she added. She goes to a girls 'school half an hour away by subway, the large underground train system. 'Why do you travel so far?' er asked her. 'Because it's a very good school, and my parents want me to have a good education,' she said. 'But it is a long way away,' she complained. Maria told us that she spent most weekends preparing interviews for the Children's Express. The Express is a press agency which is run entirely by teenagers between fourteen and eighteen. 'Our articles are published in more than 100 adult newspapers all over the USA,' she explained proudly. 'This month I'm doing an interview with the Mayor of New York. I'm very nervous about it! It'll be the first time I talk to the head of a city.' 'Do you feel American?' we asked her. 'I feel American, from the American Continent,' she told us. She then explained, 'I was born here in New York, but my roots are in Latin America. Next summer I'm going to visit my grandparents in El Salvador from the first time. Once I've been there I'll know if I want to choose Latin America or the American Dream.'
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