my trip to the slot machines

                                        my trip to the slot machines

The sparkling lights, the sound of slot machines, and the busy strip of Las Vegas. These are the elements for the perfect 21st birthday. After booking the tickets and making reservations, all that was left was to start packing my bags. Nevada here I come!

Okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly like that.

First of all, I’m 14 years old and I am not even allowed to step into a casino. Yet, just being over there a place I had till then only seen in movies and now going to adventure with my cousins, made it all the more exciting.

My destination was Henderson, a suburb in Las Vegas. This was it, the day I had been waiting for all summer had finally arrived.

On my first night, we went to an amazing Chinese restaurant. This was more of a family dinner, even though my aunt and uncle had to go to work the next day they had made some time for me. After dinner, some friends had invited us to go bowling with them, but jet lag didn’t permit me to stay awake that night. I went back home and slept like an angel after that sleepless night on the plane.

One of my favorite places was a fast food joint called Chicken Bonz. My cousins loved the chicken there even though I am vegetarian I dint miss out on anything, they had the most amazing fries one could ever have. Eating at different places was wonderful, but what I really enjoyed was hanging out with my cousins and friends, listening to their jokes, adding my comments and just being able to spend some time with them.

One of the days we went to the strip, we walked around watched the dancing water show, looked at the amazing casino structures, past by the mini Eiffel tower and entered a newly built casino to look at its specialties. That’s when my cousins opened my eyes to a new whole world, no, I am not talking about the casino and its priceless slot machines. But I am referring to being surrounded by friends and family and having a blast.

The main purpose of this trip was to bond with my cousins, something I am sure I can say I achieved. We grew up together in Chile, but ever since they moved to Henderson staying in touch has been rather difficult. It took me a while to get used to being around them, laughing at their jokes, telling them my little secrets, or just being able to converse with them without having to think about what I was going to say next. But by the end of the trip all of this was easy as pie.

In addition to having tons of fun, fifteen days made a big impact on my life. Las Vegas without my parents being there to taking care of me was something new inside out. The trip changed my attitude towards society, and allowed me to open up. From my aunt, I learned something essential to live a happy life from my aunt. She works, cleans, studies, takes care of her family and yet gets some time to spend with her family and enjoy life. This is called managing time. My trip made me think ahead, learn a lot about life, and look forward to the future.