Ahmed Adnan

The Strip

            It had been a month since my 13^th birthday, and I was on my way to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. It was winter break, and I was going to visit some family in California. I arrived at the airport to the smell of gasoline and cigarettes. I made it through the security checkpoint and walked through the airport. Many people were in a hurry, looking at their watches and walking quickly, and everyone was rushing to get to their boarding gate.

            Once I got to the boarding gate for my flight, I stood in line waiting. I stood among some anxious people, most of which were with family or friends. The attendants announced that it was time to board. When I started walking through the tunnel to the airplane, I could feel the cold outside air seeping in the gaps of the tunnel. I boarded the plane and found my seat. The passengers and I had been waiting in our seats for the Captain to begin takeoff procedures, but we heard the intercom ding and the Captain spoke, “Good evening, folks. Sorry for the delay, but it looks like we’ll be another 20 or so minutes while the jet gets refueled.”

Everyone groaned when they heard the news. I decided to take the extra time and eat a snack. After I finished the snack, I picked up my blanket, put on my headphones, and got ready to take a nap. The Captain finally announced that it was time for takeoff. The airplane sped up and lifted off. Once we reached 30,000 feet, I felt more comfortable and fell asleep.

Once my family and I arrived in California, we were picked up by our relatives. One day later, it was time to drive out to Las Vegas, Nevada. The ride was about 10 hours, and it wasn’t very comfortable. We took two full cars and I was cramped in the middle of the very back seat of a van. The people on either side of me decided to fall asleep, so they ended up taking up more space and I had to sit tightly.

When we arrived, we checked into a hotel and slept. We woke up the next morning and decided that we would go out and just explore the area. Our hotel was on this part of Vegas called the Strip. It was filled with casinos and entertainment areas. It was also a crowded area with a mall close by and many people around. The smell of smoke was abundant as were the homeless. My younger sister was wowed by the amount of lights in the area. She said, “Mama! Look at all the lights!”

The next few days we planned some activities. We went to a magic show, the Venetian, a mall type area with a river with boats inside, and some other places. The magic show was considerably dazzling, since it had some tricks I had never seen before. They were death-defying and looked quite realistic. The Venetian was a nice place to visit. It had a small ice cream shop and other restaurants and stores. We toured that area and took some pictures with the statues. My uncle was especially happy touring the area, because he lives in London and doesn’t get to do much there. He said, “Come on! We have to take a picture.” He said that for pretty much everything.

When we left Las Vegas, after three or four days, I had to sit in the same cramped seat in the very back of the van. This time, it was almost 2:00am and the people on either sides of me were using me as a pillow. I was quite uncomfortable for the majority of the ride back. After we returned to California, we spent some time there before I had to return to my home in Virginia.

The trip was an overall fun experience. On the ride there and on the flight to California, the thought that it would be boring was going through my head. I was thinking, “Why do I have to go?” It turned out that when my mom and the rest of my family told me it would be fun, they were right.

There were some activities that I found to be entertaining, even though my family had to drag me there. I realized that I should spend more time with my family and that I should learn to enjoy it as well. I visit them at least once a