Where dreams become true

It was September, I was deciding what I was going to do to celebrate my fifteenth birthday; At Guatemala instead of celebrating the sweet sixteen’s we celebrate the fifteen. I decided that I wanted to go to Disneyland. This was the second time I was going to go to Orlando; the first time I went with my whole family. We went to Universal Studios, Island of Adventure, Sea World, but of the Disney Parks we only went to Magic Kingdom. I decides to go to Disney because I really wanted to know the rest of the parks and also because my mother and I love Disney and roller coasters too.

My parents started looking for the tickets for the airplane and for the parks, also they reserved in a Disney Hotel. In early October we had everything to go to Disney; I remember that my sister and I counted the weeks and the days. Time was passing very slowly, and suddenly the day arrived. I just took a little suitcase, because I wanted to bring souvenirs from the US.

I remember every detail when we arrived, I got really nervous in the airport because the man that was in the Aduana seemed to be angry, and thankfully my father answered everything. Then we walked in a hall that was full of animal and plant images, and the different parks. Then we went to the hotel. When we on our way to the hotel, I saw a plane that was drawing a happy face in the sky.

When we arrived to the hotel I was shocked, it had in big letters the name “ALL STAR MOVIES”, that was the hotel’s name. We entered to the lobby and my mother registered us, and the woman who was registering us gave my sister and me a balloon with Mickey on them. The balloon was filled with helium, and at the end of the string there was a little Mickey Mouse made out of purple plastic, which didn’t let the balloon to fly. She also gave us a card to each of us with our names on them that were like the tickets to enter to the parks; they were decorated with a Tinkerbell and the Magic Kingdom’s castle.   Then we started walking to our room, as we walked forward we saw that next to the lobby was a souvenir store. It had everything you can imagine with the Mickey Mouse and his friends’ picture; we kept walking and got out of that building, just to see an amazing and pretty pool with a statue of Mickey with the Fantasy costumes. We continued walking, and started watching kind of statues of the Toy Story movie, while we were looking for the building where our room was, suddenly we saw a huge door that was the Andy’s door from Toy Story movie too, it was open, we entered throw it and we saw the biggest Woody and Buzz Lightyear I’ve ever seen before, there was like a playground which had all the toys from the movie, it was amazing. In front of the “playground” was the building where our room was. We found our room, which was opened by the cards too, as we opened the door we saw a beautiful Mickey Mouse made out of towels, the walls were decorated with Toy Story wallpaper. Everything in the room had Mickey Mouse or a Disney character: the soap, the shampoo bottles, the quilt, the curtains, the carpet, everything ¡

That day we decided to go to Magic Kingdom. We returned to the lobby and went to the Souvenir Store because there was a gate to the special buses that took us to the parks. We waited from three to seven minutes for the buses; I remember that one day while we were waiting my sister got so desperate because of the sun that she got on a tree and started acting like a monkey. Finally the bus arrived, there was a woman on a wheelchair waiting too, and when the bus arrived we waited for her to get on the bus, what really impressed me was that the bus had a little platform that was for the wheelchairs and that the person just had to get on the platform, without getting down, and went up the bus. Again we had to wait, but finally we got on the bus, these buses were very funny because they talked, not like a person but when the bus was in the way to the park, always tell a message like “Welcome to the All star movies resort……” and when we arrived to the parks the message was “we have arrived to the Magic Kingdoms park we hope you enjoy your trip¡” or something like that.

When we arrived to the park I saw the beautiful castle of Cinderella, it was December so everything had the red and green colors.  We started walking, and I saw the little Mermaid, and the first thing I did was going to the line to take a picture with her, I felt like a child that was excited. I took pictures with most of the characters I saw. We got on every single roller coaster we saw. One of my favorites was the Splash Mountain it makes me remember a lot of good memories, the first time we went to Disney we also got on this roller coaster, when we saw the picture my father, my mother and I were grasping from the rail and my sister, that was six years old, was the only one that raised her hands, it was very funny.

The night arrived and we sat in front of the castle to see the fireworks. While we were waiting, again, my mom and I started talking and in that moment I really felt magic, it was the perfect moment in the most perfect place. The fireworks began with lovely music, and they seemed to dance with the music, when suddenly Tinkerbell was flying above us, it was a magic moment. It made me feel amazing that all the hopes and wishes came true, it was very special, it was one of the most amazing moments, and my best birthday ever. The show ended and we were going to go back to the hotel, when we saw a candy store, I bought the biggest strawberry and it was covered half with dark chocolate, and the other half with white chocolate, when I chewed it my mouth become water, it was very sweet and the chocolate was delicious, also I bought the most delicious cotton candy I have ever tasted its flavor is indescribable, it had different colors and flavors, and was on a bottle with Goofy on it, as it went throw your mouth it broke apart and the sweat spread throw your tongue.  It was the best way of ending my day, and even thou I couldn’t stay standing because my feet hurt, it was one of the most special and magic adventure ever, and if I have the chance to repeat it I would.

Precious Moments

The day I had been waiting had arrived, it was the day I had the possibility to win a triathlon race. It was June 12^th, the sea was calmed, and had a low tide, there were no clouds, and the climate was made to make a race, it was perfect. Most of the competitors, who win most of the time, were in a competition in Colombia, so I had more possibilities to win. I was prepared to give all my effort and try to win.

 The race began, I started swimming as fast as I could and gave all my effort in the water; I was the first one that got out of the water, then I made my transition, took my bicycle and started the second part of the race that was twenty km. cycling. I was alone, when suddenly another racer was drafting behind me. Her name was Andrea, she is a little faster than me cycling but I am a hundred times faster than her running, because she is chubby. Also she is very popular because she, most of the time, cheats in races, by pushing others, or affecting other competitors. When I saw her I moved to the right so she could overtake me and leave me alone, so I could finish the second part with no risks, but she stayed at the back. In that moment I understood that she wanted to harm me or that she wanted to make something against me. I stopped cycling, and she stopped too, then a group of other competitors of other category passed us, and finally she overtook me. I tried to join to the group too, but they were faster than us, so we stayed alone again. She stayed in front of me, and every time there was a cone she tried to avoid them in the last minute, so I would not see them and I could fall. Fortunately and thanks God, I saw them. She got mad because she could not leave me behind, so she made a sprint (started cycling faster) and I followed her and then she stopped (there was no reason for stopping) and rapidly continued cycling, I couldn’t stop, and my front wheel crashed with hers and I fall down. The only way she could win was taking me out of the race, and she made it.  I remember that in that moment I closed my eyes, and while I was falling, I felt my two front teeth scraping the pavement, and my arms and legs getting hurt. When I opened my eyes, after the horrible crash, I saw her cycling, until I couldn’t see her. I started crying, but not because of the pain, because it didn’t hurt, I was crying because of the anger. I knew from the start that she wanted to harm me, but I didn’t obey the signals. Then two judges helped, they were going to lift me, but I had a positive mood and I got up myself. I asked them if my lips were bleeding, they told me that they were bleeding and that I had two teeth broken.   They called the ambulance, while we were waiting for the help I asked the judges if hitting in the face a competitor after the race was a penalty, they agreed so I didn’t hurt the lady (I was joking, I just wanted to relieve my anger). The ambulance arrived and then I went  with my parents. I tried to be strong but when I saw my mother I couldn’t resist and started crying,  even now while I’m writing my story I get sad just to remember that horrible moment. I didn’t finish the race.

I grabbed my things, got into the car, and began the trip home. My mother called the doctor, who was going to fix my teeth. In the return, I started listening music, sad music; the day turned gray and started raining. My perfect day was ruined; I was thinking about what happened and if I could change things what should I change to avoid the crash, when suddenly the phone rang. The triathlon’s federation president, who is the father of one friend of mine too, called my mom to see if I was ok. My mom told him that I was fine and that I was going to go to the doctor in the night. Then my mother’s best friend, who is like an aunt for me, called to know how the race, and my mom told her my tragedy.  The rest of the afternoon the phone didn’t stopped ringing. A lot of people called me and asked me if I was fine. In that moment I understood that a lot of people cared, appreciate, and loved me (and sometimes I thought some of them really didn’t cared), even my uncle, who never calls, called me; also in that precious moment I understood that God was with me at every moment in the race, because the crash was to have worst consequences and I just broke two teeth. I really thank God because I have health and I have the opportunity  to practice the sport I love, but most of all that He is always with me and takes care of my family and me. It was an opportunity to see how much people care me (which I thank) and to realize how much God loves me.

What You Learn from Judging

It was a stab in my stomach when I heard the news; I was going to change from the swimming club where I used to swim. Since I have memory I had been swimming in the same swimming club for more than nine years. I had made very good friends and we have had great times together practicing our favorite sport, swimming. I didn’t want to leave a place that was part of me, but at last my mom I opened my mind and accepted to make a change.

My parents took my sister and me to Acuatica Slowing, a sport club. It was bigger than my old club. As we entered we realized that it was bigger than we thought. We entered through a glass door, and I saw a wonderful pool. It was one of the biggest pool I’ve ever seen, with the most crystalline water, surrounded by an antiskid and with the typical smell of the chlorine they use to clean pools; It had eight lanes and each lane had a block (the thing from where you jump to the pools), at the end of the pool was a rack with fins, paddles, kick boards and pulls (items that help you improve your swimming). My father got very fascinated with the pool, so did I, and enrolled us to the club.  The receptionist showed us the pool’s rules; what most attracted my attention was that there were three lanes were the training team was swimming, and then I saw the trainer. Her name is Karin Slowing; she is white colored with black eyes, which were outlined, black long hair, not very tall. She went to the Olympics in Athens, then trained her sister who went to the Olympics too and now she is training her eleven year old daughter Valerie and wants to take her to the Olympics next year. I didn’t believe that she went to the Olympics because she is chubby. But what I first saw was her face expressions, she seemed to be mad or angry, and that she was very concentrated in what the team was making. She was sitting at a white, plastic chair at the end of the pool, she stand up and started talking with my parents, while I was appreciating the rest of the place; then we left.

The next day I started swimming at this club, but I didn’t started with the team, because Karin thought that my sister and I needed to start with the techniques.  The weeks passed, and I continued swimming with Tracy, the technique teacher. One day thought it was going to be a normal class day, when suddenly Karin told me to swim with the team. In that moment I got a lot of feelings at the same time, I got very happy because I was going to swim with the team, but also I got really nervous to swim with them. My first class with the team was very exhausting, I swam five kilometers, and after I took a bath, I fall asleep.

The next classes were very exhausting. I made new friends at the pool and we tried to make the training together, but when we stopped and started talking, Karin scolded us, sometimes she just give us a strong rebuke, but when she was mad, she gave us a punishment that consisted in repeating the training series where we started talking and sometimes it was to make five-hundred meters fly style that, in my opinion, is the hardest one. But when you made a good training, you give all your effort, Karin was a really good person; we make jokes together, and trained at the same time. Now I understand why she most of the time is mad, and is because she wants her team to shine, and specially she really wants to take her daughter, Valery, to the Olympics. She is a determined person and wants to achieve her goals. She helped me to improve my endurance, and taught me one important lesson for life, that if you want to achieve your dreams you really have to demonstrate that you really want them. I thought Karin was a person with bad attitude that only wanted to exploit athletes, but she is a really nice person. Now I’m not swimming with her any more but I really miss my friends, and miss her too, and even thou the trains were to sleep for more than a week, I miss them too.

I really appreciated Karin because her attitude is the kind of attitude that makes people give more than what they think they can give, also I admire her effort for achieving her goals and the goals she has achieved. And from that time I learned that you don’t have to judge a person before knowing him or her, because you may be mistaken about that person.

When Did Everything Change?

It is 7:00A.M., the ring bells like every morning and the class starts, the forty minutes of the period begin and they seem to be longer every day, and the homework seems to be harder, but now I realize that school has changed and the way I see it has changed too.

Since I was three years old I had been in the school called “Colegio Internacional de Guatemala”; I have seen the same buildings for thirteen years.. My school is divided in six different buildings of one level and secondary school is separated from primary school. The buildings have from nine to ten classes and two bathrooms, one for girls and one for boys; the classes have three big windows, four walls from which three are made of blocks and the other one is made of bricks, the high ceiling made out of wood. My school also has a soccer field, a library, and a playground for the children.  It sounds like a typical school and it is, but when I was just a three year old girl the school wasn’t so boring, it was a world of adventures and fun.

I remember that when I was younger I used to play at every moment with my best friends Marisa and Ana Sofia. We imagined that we were in a magic wonderland of different creatures, some of them were good and others were bad. Each of us had a magic pet and our job was to feed them, so we imagined that in the switches was the food and every time we fed them, someone or something gave us points; these points help us to advance levels. We imagined that the levels were the brick rows from the walls and the highest rows were unreachable. Now I don´t even care about the walls, but when I am remembering my childhood I always remember those walls.

One of the most important places for me was the recess. When you are a children you don´t care with who you are playing, if is a boy or a girl. I remember one of my favorite games that we created that was called spider. We played this game in a kind of web that was in the playground, it was a four column structure. The columns were fastened with ropes, a lot of ropes that created a kind of spider´s web. The game consisted that a group of children get in the web and a child was outside of it, he or she had to touch one of the persons that were inside the web but through the holes the ropes created. We spent our whole recess playing this kind of games, but now in the recess when there are quizzes I spent my time studying or reading, or I try to make my homework. (The stories I have described before happened when I was between six and ten years old.) But as I grew, the views of school changed physically too, because old structures and our favorite games were taken and new buildings were constructed. I remember when the library´s building was being constructed. My whole class made different hypothesis and imagined for what the building was going to be. It was very funny when we imagined the different things that happened in the school.

But the rest of the years even though we weren’t children we had fun. I remember that when we were at sixth grade we had a teacher that gave us from five to eight minutes to write in a journal. She always entered to the class, put her stereo on the table and let us write about everything we wanted. I remember that I wrote about what happened in the day before, but in those minutes my class transformed in a world that I created. In that moment my mind used to fly and show what I really think.

Now I am Fifteen years old and the school in some ways is just a building more, that sometimes seems more like a jail than a school; but when you see the places in a positive way it changes the way you think and feel. I feel good among my classmates and with my teachers, and I really love to learn new things. Sometimes I thought that places really didn’t influenced people, but now I realize that it is not true, I really like my school and I think that it is part of me.