When you walk down the streets of spanish Harlem , in North West 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 signs 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 a hour away by subway , the large underground train system . " Why do you travel so far ? " we 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'il 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 for the first time . Once I've been there I'll know if i want to chooose Latin America or the American Dream. "






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