The small, flat building they called an airport reeked of African spices. “Welcome to Asmara,” a man in a vomit green colored jumpsuit spoke coldly. I laughed at the way his heavy accent prevented him from appropriately pronouncing the word “welcome.” I was on my way to finding out who I truly was.
For most of my existence, I considered myself to be an American whose parents originated outside of the United States. I tried relentlessly to make this distinction clear to anyone I came across. The way I dressed, acted, talked, and even ate was my way of asserting that I was an American.
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Hence, I was a young girl, struggling to come to grips with my cultural identity. My moral mistake, however, was not that I had lied about my identity. Legally, I was an U.S. born citizen. Instead, my wrongdoing came from my unintentional need to separate myself from a country I felt was lesser than what I desired to claim. For all my life prior to my trip to Eritrea, a small developing country located in eastern Africa, I tried strongly to disconnect myself from my cultural roots. When asked about my ethnicity, I would claim Eritrea only because I have all the typical physical characteristics of an Eritrean girl. Even if I tried, my huge forehead, gigantically round and dark pronounced eyes, and colored skin, the shade of slightly-burnt caramel, would have given me away.
Thus, when I finally arrived in the place I referred to as “my mother’s country”, I spent a whole week trying to declare the superiority of America to anyone who would listen. When my cousin would blast traditional Eritrean music through the house on her little battery operated radio, I would go get my mp3 player, in which I stored only songs by English speaking artists. When my aunts and uncles would ask me which country I preferred, expecting me to reply with Eritrea, I would shamelessly and without a doubt answer, “America.” When my whole family ate traditional foods together on one large platter, I went through the trouble of making my own dinner to eat by myself, on my own plate.
It wasn’t until the third day of my second week in Eritrea did I came to an important realization. While sitting at one of the tables of an American style restaurant waiting for my burger to arrive, my uncle revealed to me an honest concern. He asserted that he understood my admiration for the United States and he knew it was the first time I’ve traveled out of the country. He also said that he appreciated how well off the U.S. is economically and their large role in the world. “What I don’t understand,” he said thoughtfully, “is your need to ignore your origins in Eritrea. We may not be as rich and may not live the same way you do, but at the end of the day, the blood that runs through you is from Eritrea.”
It was at that point in my life that I realized who I was and who I wanted to be. I ignored my Eritrean heritage for seventeen years of my life because to some extent, I was ashamed of it. I didn’t want to be associated with the “uncivilized” people of Africa. I was ignorant and uninformed. However, my trip to Eritrea served as a revelation. I learned that in order to understand who I am today, I must understand past. It is only after one accepts their personal history that they are able to live an honest and fulfilled life.
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Around the beginning of August of 2011 my parents decided to take a cruise to Mexico. At first I didn't want to go because my classes that I had at high school were College level classes and I didn't want to fall behind in them. It was my senior year, and I wanted to be on top of things. I would think that I would want to go and miss days of school, but this time around I was more focused on my education than anything. I fought really hard to stay in Florida, where I originally lived, so that I could focus on my studies, sadly, I had no choice but to go with them.
Upon arrival on the cruise things were ok. Actually it was more than ok. It was something I never experienced before. It was a mixture of different emotions. When I arrived, we had to go through a metal detector for obvious reasons. I thought I was in the clear, but every time I walked through, it would beep and I would be told to go back. I was sent back at least 10 times until the people behind me started to get mad. After about the 12th time, I finally realized what prevented me from going through. It was my belt. I had to take it off, and I thought it would be no big deal, but the minute I took it off, my pants began to drop. I quickly grabbed it, but then the officers gave me back all of my items that were metal, and without thinking I let go my pants and grabbed for the items, and the expected happened. My pants dropped. Luckily I had on long boxer shorts, but what was on the boxer shorts were even more embarrassing. My boxers had Sponge bob on it. What made it worse was that the little girl behind me saw it and shouted in excitement "Sponge Bob" and ran up to me and hugged my boxers. An outburst of laughter changed the angry crowds mood. Boy, was that embarrassing. After the embarrassing moment, it relieved some tension that I had about not going on the cruise. Even I had to admit that it was pretty funny. Eventually we settled in, got comfortable and cruised right along to Mexico.
Now since I live in Florida, I thought Florida was Hot, I was wrong. The instant I stepped off the boat into the sun, I felt as if the sun it self was cooking my face. The only way to describe or even come close to explain how hot it was is to tell you how I felt. The sun was so bright that my eyes squinted so hard that eventually after the trip I got wrinkles on my forehead from squinting so hard. I never felt a heat wave so strong as to where it made me regret ever stepping off the boat. Try standing a hot sun all day with your head hurting, eyes, and forehead. Any shade that I found was heaven for me; cause walking around in the sun was hell. The sun seriously cooked my face in to look a certain way. When I came back to Florida, everyone said that I looked older and angry. I laughed because I knew exactly why it looked the way it did.
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Nice piece of information! May I reference part of this on my blog if I post a back link to this web page? Thanks.
Glad you found Bethany's story on traveling in Rome helpful. You are welcome to quote from it on your blog, but we ask that you please give your readers the link back to the full story so they can get all the details. Then, please email us through the Contact Us form below so we can see your blog!
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You're absolutely right, but for most families, these special occasion restaurants are a once in a lifetime occasion.
And foodie NY families also take advantage of the city's 2 annual Restaurant Weeks. They're usually for a month (I know it's called Week!) in Feb-Mar and in summer of 2011, it's from July 11-24. All lunches charge $24.07 and all dinners cost $35, and in the past, these 2 amazing restaurants and many others of their calibre have participated in Restaurant Week.
So, that's certainly a good time to get the kids dressed up and show them an amazing foodie night on the town. Check out : http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek for details. And bon appetit!
Per se and La Bernadin are two of the best restaurants in NYC, possibly the world. But dinner for 2 will cost several hundred dollars at each one. They're not within reach of most families.
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Hours
10 am–4 pm Tuesday through Friday
10 am–5 pm Saturday
12 –5 pm Sundays
Closed on Mondays * and Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year's Day
* Open Mondays during July and August and MA school vacation weeks.
Admission Prices
Adult admission $9
Youth (under 18), Student, Teacher and Senior Admission $6
Family Admission (2 adults and 2 youth) $22.50
You are too funny! I actually wrote 6 guidebooks about Greece for the Frommer series, so yes, I know it pretty well. Changing fast though! Thanks for your comments. Kyle
Are there any East African cruises which combine with a Tanzania safari – http://www.ziarasafaris.com — or is the horn of Africa deemed to dangerous to pass through en-route for cruise ships?
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