I walked through the door of my room as I tried to brace myself for the news that my sister had for me.

“What! HAITI! 3 Weeks?” I yelled, as I found out that my mom had just purchased two round-trip tickets. The freshly inked paper slid down the printer ramp and onto my desk. On my oak desk sat my computer, and on the screen were the airport reservations. But the only thing that I thought about was the fact that my mother was trying to send me to an island with hardly any organized civilization.

Two weeks passed and I continued to beg my mom to see if we could stay home or if we could go to a different destination. But, she wouldn’t change her mind; the day finally arrived, and my dad was loading our belongings into my mom’s white Toyota van. Wearing my blue jeans shorts, red short sleeve Dior shirt and my blue sweatshirt in hand, I climbed in to the backseat of the car. In the back seat was a blanket and pillow waiting for me. Settling into the sheets I began to nod off; as the car engine turned on, the sound soothed me asleep. I hoped that maybe falling asleep would end this nightmare.
***

Suddenly my father was shaking me awake and when he pointed out the car door, I saw that we had arrived to the airport.

We got through security and headed toward gate number 37. I began to realize that once I boarded the plane there would be no turning back. After reaching the gate and still half asleep, I noticed my mom was checking her watch.

“It’s 2:07AM. That means in 45 minutes we take off,” she said to me.

I yawned showing her my excitement.
“Hey, Lucy do you see that café over there? Here a couple of dollars to get something to eat,” my mom told me.
Grabbing the money I headed to the café; I ordered a bagel and a ginger ale. Past experiences taught me that if I didn’t eat something, I’d be hungry during the plane ride and the ginger ale would calm my motion sickness. It was time to board the plane; finally our number was called. Walking through the tunnel that led to the death trap that would be holding me hostage for the next 4 1/2 hours, I rolled my eye and walked throught the airport door.
***
Round and round the suitcases went the ramp and around the carousel. After getting off the airplane, I began to search for my luggage. Finding them one by one, I struggled to load them onto my cart. We went through immigration then headed to the door. I could only see a gleam of light shining through the crack of the door. Feeling the island’s humidity, I took off my sweatshirt. Only steps away from the door, my mom put her hand out and began to push on the door handle. The gray room slowly began to illuminate as the sunlight poured in.
Outside the door were groups of people waiting to greet their families, I looked up at my mom as she searched the crowd for my uncle. Once she spotted him, we began to walk toward his direction. When he finally noticed us walking towards him he smiled and pointed to the car.
After loading all the luggage into the car my uncle began in Creole about how I’d become a lovely young girl since he last saw me. The words sounded like a mixture of French and Spanish. They began to go back and forth about how everything had been. Not knowing a lot of Creole, I sat in the back of the car quietly looking out at all the people enjoying themselves. I began to miss the chance to be home sleeping, but instead I had to sit in the back of a hot car observing my surroundings. I saw statues of a globe and people at president. This park had statues of passed presidents. Also there were a lot of vendors with super colorful merchandise. Also there were multiples restaurants with a lot of Caribbean foods. Seeing that we were driving through a poor neighborhood, I began to worry that we were going to be staying in a tent outside. My fears were quickly relieved when we passed the Montana Hotel, and headed toward a wealthier area. In these areas the houses were bigger compared to the other places I’ve seen so far. My uncle turned passed a gate and assured me that in about two minutes we would be at the house.
After stepping out of the car, I headed toward the foyer of my mom’s house. “WOOF! WOOF!” I heard, as my uncle’s golden retriever began to chase me. Running into the house, not knowing where I was going, I turned into the closest room. I turned left and slammed the door shut. Out of breath, I slid down the door with my back against it. I sat and waited until the tapping of dog paws went away.
“Lucy? Lucyyyyy,” My mom called out.
I opened the door a crack and looked out; my mom was going in and out of rooms in search of me. Instead of revealing my hiding spot, I closed the door and began to look around. The room had a white bunk bed and different paint samples on the wall. Suddenly, the door opened and my mom walked in.
“I’m glad you got a chance to walk around but I need you to go and unpack before you continue,” she said to me.
“ Okay,” I said as we turned toward the door.
As we walked through the hallway down to my room; I saw my aunt and cousin in the kitchen cooking lunch. I was shocked to see my cousin was inside cooking, instead of playing outside or watching TV.
I thought to myself… had I ever sacrificed my time for my mom’s benefit? Never had I gotten off of my “pink throne” to help her. She always took her time out, to bring me places or buy me things. But, I just took it for granted; I began to unpack. After finishing, I looked over my shoulder and noticed that my mom still hadn’t unpacked her suitcases. Deciding that the least I could do was to bring them to her room and unpack them, I walked into her room to find her lying on the bed.
She rolled over and asked, “ Lucy, what are you doing? Aren’t you suppose to be unpacking?”
Once she noticed my deed I saw a sparkle appear in her eyes.
After getting settled in, we walked to the den so that we could meet the rest of the family. My younger cousins sat in the corner of the room very quietly. Maybe they were shy or maybe I looked like a foreigner to them. Wanting to show them that I was completely harmless I headed back to my room in search of something that could shared. Deciding that in my small suitcase were all types of American snacks that they probably never had before, I dragged my suitcase down the stairs to the den. I began to pull my snacks out and handed each cousin their own bag of Cheeze-Its. As my cousins tried the snack; I noticed they weren’t as shy anymore.
***
Two weeks had passed, and constantly going to the beach or getting in the pool had gotten boring. Beside that I realized that I developed new skills that I probably would have never learned if I was home. In that moment, I made a promise to myself that when I got back home, I wouldn’t sit around all day but actually help my mom around the house. On this vacation I saw how much my mom really enjoyed herself, All of the amazing views of the beaches and warm summer breezes. One thing that I think my mom enjoyed most was the ocean view of the ocean from her room balcony. But even better during the sunset at the perfect moment when the suns in the perfect spot all the palm tree cast a shadow that are seen on the water. Also the water is and sky is different shades of pink, orange and purple. But my mom especially enjoyed when she wasn’t doing all the housework by herself.
***
Finally, the 3 weeks were over and I was still alive. Walking toward my seat on the plane, I began to become very excited about how soon I’d be home. Also, I ate a whole sugar cane by myself so part of that excitement was from the sugar rush. I arrived to my seat and put my carry on in the overhead compartment, but before doing so, I grabbed my book and blanket. I settled into my seat and looked out the plane’s window.
“All passengers please find your seat, as we prepare for take off,” the pilot announced from the speaker.
I took one last look out the window at the island that I’m leaving behind. I glance over at my mom; in her eyes, I saw the fact that she really enjoyed her vacation and I enjoyed myself too. I also saw that she going to miss not having to do all the housework on her own.