MY FIRST INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

I grew up in a family-owned business, which was a printing company. We grew up playing among the piles of paper and in the office. For a long time, my father was nurturing our minds with the idea of having a family vacation to the United States by car.

I was very excited, but I remember trying to think how that would be. I was even questioning if that would be possible by car. But I didn't give much thought to it. Suddenly, one morning, my father woke us up. I don't remember what time it was, but it felt like 5 am.

He started to say, "Today we are going to the United States, so pick up the stuff you want to be with you," and then I remember them carrying things to the car. I would just prepare myself, unless there are details that I don't remember.

I was very young, so many memories of this trip are gone. But I remember passing by all of my grandparents' houses to visit them and tell them that we were going. I remember them giving us things to give to our families over there.

I remember many things while sightseeing, and I remember constantly asking my father where we were, and he was always showing me from the atlas. I remember my parents changing seats to exchange the driver's seat, while the other would constantly read the atlas for directions. Of course, we asked for directions to countless people along the way.

I remember our first significant stop: it was in Coatzacoalcos to visit the family of my cousin's wife. I remember their house, as it was made quite like the house of Pedro Picapiedra (The Flintstones), since the father was an architect. Also, I remember trying the best choco milk ever! I also remember going to a nice restaurant all together, and we ordered Huevos divorciados, which in Guatemala they put green and red sauce, but not spicy, but in Mexico they were really spicy.

We continued our road, and I remember visiting La Ventosa. I remember seeing a lot of windmills. Then we visited Tampico. In Guatemala we have a fake orange juice called Tampico, so we drank Tampico in Tampico. I also remember passing by Veracruz. And finally, we hit the north, where we crossed the border from McAllen to enter the United States. I remember my parents parking past the border. We came down out of the car to enter this building where we showed our passports and visas, so they could let us in.

When we finally left the migration office, I remember noticing that the air was completely different. With my siblings, we talked about how clean it felt to be in the United States. I remember we got some Target magazines and we started seeing products. At the same time, my father was telling us that he had promised us $100 to spend each. It was the time when the GameCube was released, and my brother was the brain who convinced my sister and me to buy it together. The cost of it was $99, plus we wanted extra controllers and some games. Of course, my father never let us do it.

I remember passing a bump, and right after it we got a flat tire, but for our luck, it was by the restaurant called "Whataburger", where the burgers were MASSIVE!

For the restaurants we visited, I remember mostly this one, Whataburger. Secondly, I remember a lot of Jack in the Box. I also remember In-N-Out. As for the supermarkets, I remember Sam's, Walmart, and Costco. As for the sodas, my favorite, but also for my family, was the "ROOT BEER." OMG, it's nowadays my soda obsession! It's a pity that we don't have that in Europe.

Our road included Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and finally California. From Arizona, I believe it was, I remember visiting with my parents an Apache reservation. We talked to the people there, and I remember they invited us in, and they shared their food with us. This was a beautiful experience, as it reminds me of the warmth of my parents as excellent communicators, adventurous, and cool people. Also, we got to experience something unique and beautiful; these people welcomed us very well.

In New Mexico, I remember going to a very tall viewpoint—we were basically on top of a giant rock. Very typical view, like in the movies. I remember that my parents bought a magnet there.

I remember a lot more in California; I really loved the city. I remember that first we visited my father’s brother, Chito, in Moreno Valley. He was very nice, as he always had root beer for us in his Porsche. Plus, instead of a can, he had the bottle version, which looked like a real beer. What I remember of his house was the nice smell, like cinnamon, and that we always had great food there.

We also visited and stayed at other family houses. In the house of Tío Juan Carlos, we played a lot with his daughter Jasmine. She was super cool; she was like 17 by the time, and she convinced us to join forces and buy together the movie Fantastic 4, which was new at the moment. Of course, she kept the movie. I remember this house a lot, especially after our Tío Juan Carlos wanted to give us the new XBOX 360, with 4 joysticks and God knows how many games, but my parents strongly refused.

We also visited our dear friends, the Ovando Family. I remember how fun that experience was. A good laugh was never missed in that house; so much joy and happiness, especially because the mother, Deborah, was just absolutely awesome. I remember playing with my sisters and their daughter Becky; of course, there was also Debbie. I also remember some of the adult conversations, such as economic topics.

We also visited my cousin Paula, her mother, and her daughter Nicole. I remember our cousin misled us there regarding an English word on purpose, of course, to be funny. And I remember my mother getting really upset about it. In my case, I just laugh a lot now, but at that moment, I didn't really get why my mother was just so upset.

As for the fun experiences as a family, I highly remember visiting Sea World in San Diego. We saw a huge orca. We also jumped in the Journey to Atlantis ride, which was really cool. I also remember this helicopter simulation, where they put a huge screen that looked like the window, and we moved accordingly, making us really feel like flying—that was mega cool. Also, I remember visiting the 4D movie we saw there for the first time ever. It was a story about two kids being in an abandoned lighthouse. The scenes that I remember are: when rats came down the table, we kind of felt them under our feet. Also, they spilled water over us when the kid dropped the milk. Also, we received some splashes on our faces when a wave would hit the lighthouse.

We lived so many adventures on this trip: never-ending roads, gas stations in the middle of nowhere, nice hotels, shitty hotels because there was nothing else in the area, desperate needs to use the bathroom in the middle of nowhere, also dropping water bottles in the middle of the road in case immigrants would find them to save their lives. Singing in the car, playing question games. Once we visited a restaurant that was a train.

On the way in, we delayed 7 days driving, and on the way back, we made it in 4, as my parents were really exhausted. I am very grateful for my parents, especially my father, for this amazing idea and experience to explore the world in a very unconventional way. These are the stories that added value to my life experience.

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