No single magnet, keychain, or t-shirt can encompass the magic of our family vacation in the Dominican Republic. It was truly a remarkable experience, and one I will never forget. It’s our first day here and I can’t wait to spend my first few hours at the beach. I’m excited for this vacation, the sunny weather, the gorgeous beaches. I’m convinced it will be the best vacation ever. Until now that is. “Irene is coming,” says the hotel employee, “We are in a state of emergency!” “Who is Irene?” I try to ask my parents but get shushed immediately and by the worried expressions on their face I can tell something is wrong. Flashing across the television screen I suddenly realize that Irene is not a ‘who’ but a ‘what’ and that Irene is actually a category three hurricane. Soon I learn that we are stuck because the airport is closed down and my heart starts to race. I look outside the window to see the angry sky weeping and moaning as the wind lashes out at the palm trees. So much for my day at the beach. The day is spent in the lobby huddled with hundreds of other guests trying to make phone call, book tickets, and call their agents. I’m bored to death and my parents have been on phone calls for ages. The wind is still winning like a child crying for its bottle and I am still distraught at the vacation that was supposed to be fun. The vacation that …show more content…
I realized that Irene wasn’t the thief, it was me. I took all the enjoyment from our vacation by being in a dark, sullen mood. We could still have fun, but it wouldn’t be in the way we expected. The storm outside was still raging, but the storm inside of me had cleared. We decided to make to best out of our unfortunate situation. For the next week, we had a vacation full of laughs and memories just like I had wanted. We didn’t need the glorious beach or white sand, to enjoy our vacation. A week went by in the blink of an eye and I almost didn’t want to leave the Dominican
And when it became clear to us that things were bad, the rest of the world still lacked comprehension.. We don’t see our own vulnerability until we’re standing knee-deep in mud in our basements” (Knufken 510-512). Her frustration about the desensitization of disasters and people’s reaction towards them is portrayed through statements such as this one. A different form of frustration is also noticed when she claims that she “wanted to help, but the rain wouldn’t stop. All I could do, all any of us could do was watch and wait, watch and wait"(Knufken 510-512). Her tone of frustration at this point is due to her reflection upon the inability which she had to help, her powerlessness and the lack of ability which all of the victims of this disaster had. This tone continues throughout most of the essay as she compares disasters such as this flood, to being another face in the crowd of headlines. She furthers this frustration by stating that “today alone, I read in the news that 260,000 people had to evacuate Kyoto due to a typhoon. In Washington’s Navy Yard, someone murdered 13 people with a gun. There’s the new episode of “Breaking Bad” and the threat of war in Syria. every headline screams to be first in line. Everything is a crisis” (Knufken
In Josh Neufeld’s Trauma novel, A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge the personal aspects of Hurricane Katrina are emphasized and explored. The book follows representative Katrina survivors, highlighting their experiences and coping with the aftermath of the storm. None of characters in the book are presented as having the “right” answers, but Denise, had a full experience of the chaos, horror, and destruction that Katrina inflicted on New Orleans. She had full exposure of the traumatic event, and the novel gives the reader a unique insight into her experiences.
He does not provide statistics or matter-of-fact statements to present the outcomes of Katrina. Instead, Rose writes about what he himself experiences as a result of the storm. This author is not weaving together a tale of imaginary faces in an attempt to gain sympathy. He writes as himself experiencing instances of tragedy, camaraderie, and despondency. There is no logical format for what subject matter he may explore. In this anthology of articles he utilizes dark humor, such as when he writes of the stench and subsequent war of refrigerators; optimism, such as when he describes the characters that remain and the absoluteness of Mardi Gras; nostalgia, such as when he reflects upon memories with his children and his first visit to New Orleans; and dejection, such as instances when he himself begins to lose hope and realize the poor outlook for his
I never predicted this beautiful trip ending up as a nightmare in my existence. I drove for approximately 40 minutes and my partner shared the driving for an additional 40 minutes. We were driving my friend mom’s brand new Toyota Camry XLE; one of the most comfortable cars I had ever been in. We enjoyed the elongated ride with new hit music, and air conditioning set to an exact temperature that met our necessities. On the way to the beach some doubts about going there started to circle around our minds, but the fact that we were about half way there made them a...
Throughout the story, the mood becomes more suspenseful. As Janet walks out of the strong spring storm and enters her cold damp house, she is overcome by feelings of isolation and loneliness. Her husband is not there; there are dead plants around her house as if nobody has been there for a lo...
I was born in the Dominican Republic, November 2, 1982. I lived and grew up in a countryside where everybody knew each other. My childhood years were full of wonderful experiences where I felt loved by my parents and my family. I went to school around 6 years old. I had to walk around 30 minutes to get there from my house. My father was a farmer who had to work long hours in order to sustain our big family. My mother was a housewife; she was in charge of taking care of us. I have five siblings, three boys and two girls. I remember that at that time we did not have many things in our house. We did not have electricity and also we did not have a service of water. I remembered that my father had to go to the river to get water for the necessities of the house. At that time my family was very poor, but my
As my family and I walked into the plane, we were excited. The plane ride to jamaica stopped in L.A. and, after that, it went to jamaica. When we arrived in Jamaica it was really hot, but it was wet. I immediately took off my sweater I was wearing on the plane. We took a bus to our hotel. Then we started swimming in the water park. Every night there was a show in the main stage. The next day we woke up early to go to chukka. It was awesome. We saw a great house, rode on horses, and did a challenge course. After we came back from Chukka, we went to the water park and swimming pool at the hotel. Then we ate at fresh, which we went most of the time. The next day we woke up earlier to go to the dolphin cove. The bus was an hour late, but the wait
Never being one of those kids that had many friends seemed like a challenge; I have always felt like I had all I needed. For me, it’s special, that the people who I consider my friends, know so much about me. This past summer, I traveled to the place that gave birth to me, the Dominican Republic, where I was put in an environment where I had no prior knowledge of the people who I was going to encounter doing the things that I was interested in doing, like community service and traveling to certain parts of the country that I had never visited before. Being able to bond with the individuals from my trip while working on mountainsides, digging ditches to help install Black Water Treatments that would help a local community, participating in beach cleanups that belonged to a national park, made me feel that I was growing and expanding my horizons on what I could make a reality.
It was hurricane season. I didn't even know until I saw the weather report the week before. “Hurricane Michael raging on the East Coast. Hurricane Paula strikes Alabama,” the weatherman said. It didn't faze me. “It happens every year,” I thought. Never did I think that this would affect me in the small town of Center, Texas. In the middle of September, the day felt strange. Then, a friend called me from San Augustine. “It's coming!” she shrieked. I was very confused. “The hurricane! You need to get ready!” I replied slowly and hung up. Scared to death, I started to get ready for the disaster coming towards us.
On the night of October 29, 2012, my world as I knew it was flipped upside down. As the flood waters surrounded my home, I thought my entire house would float away. The sounds of the rising storm surge beneath the floorboards pierced my ears. My experience with Hurricane Sandy was an invasion on my sense of security. It changed my perspective and made me realize that one’s life can change in an instant; I had to deal with intense emotions and fears I had never dealt with before. That may seem to
Vacations Can be hard to plan, especially during the holidays. Greg’s family plans a family vacation in a place where Greg’s parents had their honeymoon, that place is called, Isla de Corales. As usual with the Heffley’s, the trip goes horrible. The title of this book is, Diary of a wimpy kid: The Getaway. The author of the book is, Jeff Kinney. A brief summary is how Greg’s family plans a family vacation that doesn't turn out as well as they expected. First, Greg starts off by explaining how this trip came to mind. In the book, Greg says, “The commercial was for this place called, Isla de Corales, which is where mom and dad went for their honeymoon…” (Kinney 3). In the middle of the book, Greg’s family starts to get the trip ready and is off
The Monster in the sky Listening to the singing rooster while the sunrise caress my face, the calming tropical breeze that swift through the kitchen that reaches my bedroom. As I drag myself from bed and walk toward the living room to start my day. I turn on CBS News and walk toward the bathroom. While brushing my teeth the news announced of another Hurricane approaching Puerto Rico,again. I stared at the bathroom mirror, with a Surprisingly expression on my face."
Suddenly, I snapped awake. It really was the day of my party, and it really was pouring down rain outside. I trudged out of my room and had breakfast, all the while staring gloomily at the storm raging outside.
“Hey mom, does someone else live here with you and dad?” I asked out of curiosity. “Why would you think that sweetheart? Your father and I have lived her by ourselves since you moved out twenty years ago.” she replied. “No reason.” I responded. “Well Mrs. Sanchez, the meal was lovely, but I feel it is time for Courtney and me to be adventuring home.” Zack said with the same expression he had when we arrived. Just as Zack and I were heading to the front door to leave, a roaring wind came and went carrying an angry cloud of rain and hail with it. “Well Zack, looks like we are having a sleep over with my parents tonight.” I smirked. “I will show you to your room then.” my mother said with a huge smile shooting across her face.
Rolling waves gently brushed upon the sand and nipped softly at my toes. I gazed out into the oblivion of blue hue that lay before me. I stared hopefully at sun-filled sky, but I couldn’t help but wonder how I was going to get through the day. Honestly, I never thought in a million years that my daughter and I would be homeless. Oh, how I yearned for our house in the suburbs. A pain wrenched at my heart when I was once reminded again of my beloved husband, Peter. I missed him so much and couldn’t help but ask God why he was taken from us. Living underneath Pier 14 was no life for Emily and me. I had to get us out of here and back on our feet. My stomach moaned angrily. I needed to somehow find food for us, but how? Suddenly, something slimy brushed up against my leg and pierced my thoughts. I jumped back and brushed the residue of sand of my legs. What was that? As my eyes skimmed the water in front of me, I noticed something spinning in the foam of the waves. Curiosity got the best of me and I went over to take a closer look. The object danced in the waves and eventually was coughed out onto the beach. “Emily!” I called to my eight-year-old daughter who was, at that time, infatuated with a seashell that she found earlier that day. “Come here and see this! Mommy found something.” Although I had no idea what that something was and I definitely didn’t know it would change my life forever.