The sound of kids laughing ringed through my ears as the Disney All-Star Movies transportation bus pulled up to the parking lot at Walt Disney World Resort. My stomach began to turn as the butterflies fluttered rapidly. I trailed behind my family as we walked towards the opening gates. My smile stretched across my face, and my cheeks began to feel sore. I listened as my mom gave her safety instructions. I was ready to go. I was ready to ride the rides. I was ready see the famous Disney Castle. I was ready to meet all of my role model Disney princesses. I was ready to go.…
After filing a motion against him, I let my lawyer do his job. Because he was a close friend he extended his normal duties and gave it all he could to help me win. Since Shaq lived in Miami, I had to get another lawyer to file another motion because we had to be in his jurisdiction. I flew to Miami and we sat with a mediator for 8 hours trying to come up with a solution. Shaq did not show he must of thought it was not that important to take time out of his life. Although we were there for a serious situation, Miami was nice, amazing food, beautiful weather, and a lot of things that would make me want to go back. Coming back home empty handed I thought it was disappointing.…
Miami, FL is a place that has to be felt rather than seen or heard—and by that I mean observed beyond all senses, with mind, body, heart, and soul. I’ve been entrenched in it my whole life, a little Cuban princesita not so different from all the rest, but it’s only as I’ve gotten older that I’ve fully felt like a part of a community, a culture. I feel it when I talk, casually, to the elderly cashier at my neighborhood grocery store, a familiar combination of Spanish, English, and what many call cubanismos, phrases with meanings that simply will not tolerate literal translations, spilling forth. I feel it while seated at a table of no fewer than four relatives on any given evening, judging the quality of a restaurant on the quality of their flan de caramelo or their café. I feel it, too, in the colorful songs of Ernesto Lecuona and the ardent verses of José Marti, but most of all in the anecdotes of my grandparents and great aunt, the nostalgia of long-settled immigrants, echoes of sorrow, shared over dominoes and rice and beans and coladas of espresso.…
One of the oldest questions in philosophy is whether humans have free will. When I look in retrospective, my journey to Miami makes me wonder is everything predetermined. Ever since I was a kid, I had vivid dreams about a sunny beach, soft golden sand, palm’s waterfall, and beautiful girl who will love me unconditionally.…
Although living in Florida all my life and never witnessing snow before, I traveled to many other states and countries, experiencing their environment and cultures. Yet, I traveled to all those places during the summer, which limited me to only understanding temperatures above 50 degrees Fahrenheit.…
Grabbing the baby bounced him patting his back, all the baby wanted was comfort. Kyle finally calming down, with his head laid on Santana's chest his eyes roamed the room. A few tears still coming from his eyes Santana kept rocking him until he was out like a light." what did you do dani, he was so shaken up.…
A day of May of two thousand and six I have to sadly move out of my country, leaving behind my city my house, family and friends, the school and all the places and the people that I grow up with and spend very good moments, the most precious things for a seventeen years old boy, and before I could realize all this changes I was already in Hialeah, this when my Hialeah story begins. At this moment everything turns very confusing and inacceptable but now I look back and I don’t regret anything, Hialeah it was the place…
One day in Florida, two nine-year-old kids are playing in the park. The birds are chirping. The sun is shining. A dead body is rotting. The kids, Quentin Jacobson and Margo Roth Spiegelman, run home to tell their parents. Quentin wants to push the whole finding-a-dead-body thing from his mind, but Margo finds out the man killed himself and wonders why.…
The day had come, as usual, I woke up in the morning and it seems nothing different. It’s around 8 o'clock. I found my cell phone; however, the time was show 23:00 pm. Due to the different time, I realized, here is Arizona, certainly, I with my friends arrived last night. Since that time, I was worried and felt excited. Everything for us are unfamiliar, we should to fit into this new circumstance.…
I have lived all my life in sunny Florida. I have always been a little different. While most of my friends were playing basketball or baseball I was tinkering with electronics and repairing or improving any item that came my way. I learned a lot from my older brother, who taught me everything I know about computers and technology. When I was a sophomore in high school, my brother and I worked together to build my own gaming computer. I have had a passion to learn as much as I can, so that I can be the best that I can possibly be. I was bullied as a child for being different, but I knew that if I pushed on, I could achieve my…
When I walked in the doors of our house, I looked to the left where our couch was and saw my parents sitting facing towards me with nervous faces. I set my bag on the ground next to the door, and I set my shoes next to my bag. I slowly turned around and walked towards the couch, hesitant to take a step forward. Part of me considered bolting--running for the door. Their faces were plastered with anxiety, and I tried to think of what I had done. Nothing clear came to mind. Once I finally sat down, I looked at my parents and said, “What's wrong?”…
Going into my senior year I still had the idea of, I can make it into a Florida school, I wanted to go to a Florida school to play baseball. So my senior year starting the baseball season with a new coach, I made my mind up, I’m going to work hard to stay in Florida and change my coaches mind. Through my senior year I was by far the best pitcher my ERA was under 1, I had 27 pick- offs in just one year. Also this year I was interviewed for being the hot shot of the week, an article in the newspaper. I was nominated for picking off 7 base runners in one game. I learned my pick off move from my coach in middle school before I knew my summer league coach. So I was still working with my summer league coach every once in a while at this point, but…
Going to Southern California, no one would think of packing an umbrella. Why would they? California is in the middle of a drought. When someone thinks of California, they think of baby blue skies and palm trees along the streets. But, of course, the weekend my family decided to visit Disneyland, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld is the weekend Southern California experienced what the local news called a “tropical depression.”…
Driving is so convenient. I have to go so many places: doctor, work, grocery store, school and the baby sitters. My how it has made me lazy. I wouldn’t be caught walking anywhere today; for me, driving is a way to get somewhere and, in the summer, it is a pleasurable entertainment for me and the kids. Winter driving? Well, that’s another story!…
Last Christmas, I spent 5 fun-filled days and 4 magical nights in Disneyland. Daily weather in Anaheim was beautiful. The driveway leading to the park entrance was lined with tall palm trees as they stretched to the heavens in the blazing sunshine.…