Editor’s Note: This is the first of three stories about the Mejía family of Ottumwa.

OTTUMWA — No matter what language they speak, few people enjoy the process of moving: packing boxes, loading up furniture, and keeping track of where everything is located.

“Moving is very difficult,” said Maria Delores Mejía. “Today, we lost some papers so we’ve been very busy looking for them.”

The Mejía family has just bought a home in Ottumwa and moved out of the house they were renting.

Ellianna, 12, pointed out the living room.

“I liked our old house. This is smaller,” she said.

But she’s laughing as she says it, then begins telling a story about how she saw some bugs when they first arrived.

“Ewww!”

Ellianna, who will soon be 13, shares a room with her sister, Katie, 11.

“I like to be more relaxed than her,” said Katie, who had been out riding her bike with neighborhood kids in the mobile home court.

There were both Hispanic and non-Hispanic kids outside playing.

“She’s not more relaxed; she’s a slob,” said Ellianna, “I’m the one who likes to keep our room neat!”

Ellianna laughs again when Katie shrugs her shoulders.

Her mother, though, doesn’t laugh when she says she’s disappointed with her “new” kitchen. Through Ellianna, who is translating from Spanish into English for Maria, the mother said the previous owner told her everything worked fine. Come to find out the oven and the stove need to be replaced, as do other parts of the kitchen.