Walking through security, taking of my belt and shoes, I was clear but uneasy entering the plane. Excited for the destination as the pilot said, “Non-stop to Trinidad and Tobago”.
It took some time but the plane began to accelerate. After it sped up the planed lifted off and we were ascending higher and higher. Despite my fear, the sky was blazed in beauty and the view amazed me. The rest of the ride was smooth and about a couple hours later we touched down. Arrival at Trinidad.
After we obtained our luggage we went outside. Everything was different the cars, people, trees, the air it was all foreign and new to me. I realized how distinct one place can be from another. As I compared Trinidad to America, which I did a lot over the trip, I found so many differences, just from a couple glances.
My mother the spotted a woman, who had a similar smile to her own, I figured this had to be a relative, soon finding out she was my aunt. Then riding in her Mercedes-Benz, with the steering wheel on the right (As opposed to America on the left) we shortly arrived at her house. She had somewhat of a mansion and instantly I had nothing but great thoughts about this country.
After packing my luggage there, where we stayed for most of the trip, we headed to my father’s stomping grounds, San Juan. This was a bit of a longer drive so I began to further study the environment. There were many coconut trees (As opposed to the New York Oak’s and Spruce’s) in addition to the myriad of shacks where people lived (instead of houses or apartment buildings). Trinidad hardly had any buildings apart form a couple in the capital, tallest one being only about 30 stories high.
As we exited off the highway, I began to notice poorer looking people. The houses began to look more frail and much like the shacks I saw on the way. I thought to myself, “How can it be this way when I was just in a mansion?” Well this was my fathers old neighborhood. Here I met a lot of my dad’s family. Most of them work out in fields picking various fruits and vegetables to bring back to eat and sell. They were very hardworking and they actually built their homes themselves. I felt proud at the fact that they created the place where they live. I thought of anyone building their own house in New York and figured it was unheard of.
Trinidad is a great place. Through my experience there I appreciated my life in New York more. There are so many opportunities’ here that people take advantage of while others would put their life to attain them. Our middle class is strong while in Trinidad it seems as if there is only the rich and the poor.
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