Touched by the states:
I went on vacation to the states with my mum in the six-week holidays before i started secondary school, to visit my sister who lived in Brooklyn New york.
We should have have been going for four weeks but ended up going for three weeks due to some misinformation with regards whether we needed a visa or not from the travel agent, which resulted in us having to leave Ringway Airport as it was known then at the time and return home.
I will always remember that long journey home and thinking will i ever get to America.
In addition, what do i tell my mates, who are not expecting me to see me for four weeks.
as we arrived back on our housing estate, i was just sliding down the chair out of shear embarressment; most people were looking at us in a puzzled fashion, wondering why we had returned home.
-That was a quick four week holiday to the states Mr. Robinson, says a gloating Mrs. Smith. Did you forget your passports? I could see my dads hand gripping the handbrake as if it were her neck.
-Just a slight problem Mrs. Smith, nothing that cannot be rectified, while he smiled and sucked his teeth.
My mum on the other hand just smiled stayed her composed self because she knew the inqusition would start when we got in the house.
I remember trying to walk in-between my siblings so i would not have to face looks i did not want to see.
The funniest moments i remember even though i was extremely upset at the time, was the mock inquest that was held in our front-room by my dad and reletives about the whole visa issue.
-Look Robbie (dads nickname) you should have made sure you got the correct information, says uncle Earl with his gold teeth shining and adjusting his trilby while helping himself to my dads Benson & Hedges fags. That and being criticised does not sit well with my dad.
-Its not my fault the travel agent said we didn't need a visa, shaking his head in annoyance, looking over to mum who is not even looking at him.
Then diplomatic uncle Roy offers words of wisdom while eating his favourite cashew nuts. -Well at least you got back from the airport safely.
The atmosphere was so tense that the men all went outside for a smoke and left their wives inside.
Jamaican people always have this knack of dissecting a problem to death, then finding a variety of answers only to start all over again.
While in the backgrounds the wives just hum hymns and say, -Don't worry over dissapointments.
We had to eventually got to the American Embassy in London to explain the mishap and obtain a visa.
So imagine what it must have been like to wake up on the day i'm going to America after everything we went through last time, i am eleven years old and i'm in heaven knowing this time we would be definately going.

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