Frolicking through the Festival Fringe
The clock was ticking as we sprinted towards the open doors of the Tube. With the promise of a West End show in less than 2 hours, and a suspecting group to come back to, we knew we had to book it. “Come on!” shouted Sundance, our director’s wife. We pushed through a swarm of people and filed onto the still car. As I stepped up, I felt cool metal brush my arm, and I knew the doors were closing,...
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“Panama, Panama, Panama, Panama” – Van Halen
This summer I traveled out of the United States for the first time; I got to journey to and explore Panama. I am grateful for this experience, which took me out of my head and bubble. When I first landed in Panama I was immediately struck by the humidity. Being from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where there is typically no humidity at all, the 98% humidity of Panama City hit me like a truck. The air...
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A Fear of Thunderstorms and Falling in Love With a City
It is seven thirty at night in Washington D.C., and my family is rushing through a deluge, shoving through the flooded streets of the city and flinching each time the sky lights on fire, the thunder soon to follow. I count the seconds between the lightning and the thunder - three - and insist we find some sort of shelter. Unfortunately, the majority of buildings in D.C. lack any form of overhang, so...
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A Picture Into the Past
~Memory~ We were at my grandma's house in the little outside corridor connecting the house to the rest of the world. The only thing separating the two spheres was a tall black gate. (Every Lagos house has a gate). My father and I were playing and I wanted him to carry me, so I did what children do and lied. “Daddy, my legs are broken, carry meeeeee!” I remember his thick black mustache widen...
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Puerto Rico: La Isla del Encanta
Crash! A slamming door startles me from sleep. After frantically looking around to see the time, I lay down next to my sister, burrowing closer to ward off the frigid air pouring from the AC. The droning hum soothes me back into a drowsy sleep until I am again awakened by my parents opening the door. They are back from their morning waterfall hike and want to see if I am ready for breakfast and Old...
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Beholding Beauty
I had heard stories about the Grand Canyon before, as have most people. We hear how it is so enormous that you can hardly even believe it is real. There are tales of its immeasurable size and horrors of its deadly trails and cliffs. I had mentally prepared myself for these things before I had arrived. On May 30, 2016, I stepped foot onto the outer edge of what some may call the best of the “Seven...
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Under Montebello’s Trees
For my brother and I to travel to South Africa without our parents required a lot of effort from them. Since I still counted as a minor when I sat out a flight across the globe, my parents had to sign permissions for my brother to watch over me (in reality it was the other way around) and for my aunt to act as my guardian once I was in South Africa. This trip wasn’t just to shave away a chunk...
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C’est la Vie: Midnight in Paris
A delayed flight. A connecting train. “We’ve only got fifteen minutes to get to the train station, pass it on!” The message spirals through the line of rushing teens who walk aimlessly down shadowy cracked sidewalks, winding back and forth in front of gothic-style, graying buildings. Streets are nearly pitch black. Narrow sidewalks brim with quick-paced men buried in scarves and hats, weaving...
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Out of the Woods
Traveling with family is never without complications. My little brother and I experienced this firsthand this summer, on a vacation to Colorado. On a bright and sunny day, my family and I set off back down the pristine Emerald Lake Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park. In typical parental fashion, my mother and father were more focused on taking pictures of their children (“for posterity!”)...
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Breathtaking Alaskan Views
My eyes darted to and fro as I desperately tried to imprint the image before me into my brain. This wasn’t necessary. Little did I know that the view--and the day--would be one I could never forget. It was 10:30 in the morning of June 25th, 2015. My mom, brother and I were all in the small city of Ketchikan, Alaska. It’s a cute little place, with colorful houses on stilts and fishing boats battered...
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Creature of the Coast
The car had seemed comfortable, roomy even, when we’d first hopped in at the airport. Now, my legs were cramping, the air was stale, and my younger sister crowded me in the back seat. My mother excitedly urged my father to find a parking space as we rolled into the small seaside town of Depoe Bay. “The view is too beautiful to pass up! And a pod of gray whales supposedly live here!” After...
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Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
My summer vacation of 2017 contained several interesting adventures, none of which could parallel the wilderness camp. Camp Tirthan is a riverside camp located in a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Great Himalayan National Park. The pristine waters of the Tirthan River and the surrounding gentle slopes, with proximity to over 400 species of flora and fauna, made it a picture-perfect campsite. On...
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