Do you know the weird feeling of being in a foreign place where everyone is staring at you because you have blue eyes instead of brown and brown hair instead of black? Well that’s what it felt like to be in Guatemala. We went there to visit the little girl we were going to adopt, Kate. We were going to visit her for about 10 days then we would come home. Then a few months later my parents would go back to Guatemala and bring Kate home. I couldn’t wait. We had to get on a plane and travel to Miami Florida, then get on another plane and go to Guatemala. When we arrived in Guatemala it was way different than I thought. It was very beautiful. There were a lot of weird trees and plants I have never even seen or heard of. I thought it was sort of like a jungle compared to our airports. But I wanted to get out of the airport to see more.
We took a bus to our hotel and we were all very quiet the whole ride. Just looking out the window the whole time and trying to soak all the scenery in. As beautiful as Guatemala is we also noticed how poverty stricken it is. Lots of the people’s houses were just large pieces of cardboard or metal leaning on each other. It was very sad. I knew Guatemala was a poor country but I didn’t think it was that bad. But we soon got to the city were there were bigger buildings and more people. When we got to our hotel it was way bigger and nicer than I thought considering all the poverty stricken people I just witnessed. The lobby was huge. There were 3 gift shops and huge restaurants were you could see out to the pool deck. On the first day in Guatemala we basically just got settled into our hotel then went to the pool to swim for awhile. But I still couldn’t wait for tomorrow so my adventure could truly begin.
The next day we all woke up early to go to the orphanage to see our almost new little sister for the first time. The orphanage was only a few minutes away so we had to take a taxi from the hotel. The city was way different from our cities at home. There were way more people and the streets were full of cars and motorcycles weaving in and out of the cars. My favorite part though was all the different stores and shops they had there. Instead of all the I-pods, X-box 360s and other electronics we have at home these shops had a lot of different sculptures, paintings, and a lot of other cool art you could buy. But we soon arrived at the orphanage and it was time to see my little sister. When we arrived one of the caretakers opened the gate and we got to come in. When we walked in all of the little kids surrounded us and pointed at us. They all knew who we were and who we were here to see. Then my parents saw Kate. My Mom started crying and my Dad was just smiling. But then the people who ran the orphanage took us upstairs to one of the rooms so we could talk to them about the adoption alone.
We sat there for a few minutes while my parents talked about all the paperwork and the adoption, and when they were going to come back to get Kate. But after that the caretakers finally took us down stairs so we could play were they had a few toys and a little slide and jungle gym. We didn’t talk much of coarse because Kate couldn’t speak English, but it was still fun to watch her run around and play with all her friends. My Dad would push her on this little swing they had and help her down the slide, and we would watch her laugh. It was a life changing experience. I’ll never forget that first day I got to see my little sister and play with her, and I’ll also never forget Guatemala and all of its wonders, and that’s why my family matters to me.