The wind was blowing my hair everywhere, the heat was tickling my palms and the sun was blinding me in every direction. Shielding my eyes from the light, I rolled my suitcase to where my mom dad and brothers were waiting. Breathing in the deep thick smell of fresh plants and ocean breeze I smiled big and let out a sigh of relief. We were finally here. A dark older man, with sweat dripping down his cheek, grabbed our bags and loaded them into the back of a small bus. He stood before us with a toothy grin. “Hello my name is Martin, is this your first time out of the country?” we all smiled and nodded our heads “yes sir” while shaking all of our hands he welcomed us with joy.
When we all piled into the bus, we were so anxious to get to our all-inclusive resort none of us could sit still. Although it was an hour and a half away from the airport, I had so much to take in. Picking my seat carefully at the front of the bus, I wanted to be the first one to step out. When I watched Martin climb into the driver’s seat I noticed him sitting on the right side of the bus. This was a huge difference for me since In the US; the driver sits on the left side. I was starting to get nervous. When we pulled out of the airport we were driving on the left side of the road instead of the right like I’m used to. Grabbing onto the rail in front of me with fear, I was braising myself for the journey ahead.
It seemed like everything was so natural and fresh. From the tall palm trees to the high rocky mountains, where small rugged houses were quietly placed. The crystal blue water was shining so blue and the breeze was soft and warm. Everything that was tall and near water was a bright rich color of green. Being distracted from the scenery, the bus made sharp turns around slick corners and up narrow roadways. It seemed as if we were going to hit anything that was within an inch from us. I was beginning to get extremely antsy so I grabbed onto the railing even tighter. Trying not to focus on the wild driving, I was looking at everything I could, Whipping my head from one window to the next. When we passed through a small town I watched as the people walked without shoes, and wore dirty clothes. Kids played soccer in dirt fields and woman walked with baskets on their heads. Men carried heavy loads from wood to barrels of fruit. They walked inches away from the bus and didn’t seem to care. Most just stared almost in envy .I was almost scared to look them at them and let my eyes linger. When we passed through the town we went through neighborhoods of beat up shacks and houses, if you could even call them that. The land was dry and rigid and looked as if it hadn’t been maintained for many years. Although 5 feet away from the lifeless, poor homes was a huge blue ocean that was such a beautiful color of icy blue and green it felt as if you were looking into a magazine. The water was unreal. While we passed through town after town, I saw more kids and more poor neighborhoods. There were make-shift playgrounds and small schools with only a few windows. One of the things I’ll never forget was all the tiny goats that ran around freely, as if they were pets. Seeing how harsh it was in the local areas started making me almost depressed. I couldn’t believe that I was about to go to sit, tan, relax and sip a pina culado at 5 star all-inclusive resort and right here 10 miles away was poor, dirty, and helpless world. It really made me sit back and take in reality.
Although I couldn’t let this ruin my birthday vacation, I shook the sad thoughts out of my head and imagined how soft the smooth sand would feel between my toes when I took my first steps into the beach. We were speeding down endless roads, weaving in and out of passing cars. We were almost there. We drove by different resorts one at a time. “Is that it? Is that one ours?” even more anxious than before I asked my mom every time we saw a resort if it was ours. “No Brit, look for a sign that says Beaches” “ok ok” Twisting my neck trying to see around the corner of our next turn, we started to slow down. Was this is it? Was this finally our resort? No it was just another bus backing out to go pick up more vacationers. We drove for another 5 minutes and started to slow down again, turning into a small drive in gate way I saw a sign that said “Beaches Sandy Bay”
I almost squealed with excitement. When our bus pulled up to the jaw dropping open air lobby, my eyes lit up and I held my breath. I must be in a dream. It was perfect. Our bags were unloaded and taken straight to our rooms, we didn’t even have to lift a finger. We were led to a big couch to be met by a woman named Lidia. She greeted us with a cheeky smile and asked us what we wanted to drink, and if were hungry or needed anything. I ordered my first pina culada and slouched back into the couch. I let my eyes wander and was in awe at the beautiful tropical flowers that surrounded the entire lobby. Not to mention the gorgeous hand crafted wooden furniture and glass painted floral vases. Everything was so clean, detailed and neat I didn’t want to touch anything. Even though the lobby had an expensive look the friendly faces of the workers made me feel relaxed and welcomed. Before I was done looking around, I stopped and dazed when I saw the welcoming sign at the entrance of the lobby. I read over the words. “Welcome to Jamaica”