Sunbathing Turtles

In second grade of school, nothing is more exciting than taking care of the class' pet. At that age, I loved animals, especially the little ones.

Each week, one of my friends of my classroom had to take the pet to their house and take care of it because nobody was going to take care of it during weekend. I literally wished that I had to take care of the turtle forever. I wanted it every weekend but it wasn't possible because I wasn't the only one loving the innocent animal. I was kind of in love with the turtle. It was petit with a green shell speckled with black, little spots on top of it..

"Tugui" was our turtle's name. Gabriel, one of my classmates, suggested the funny, creative name and we all agreed.

At that age, probably eight or nine years old, a kid would find exciting and the coolest thing ever to take a pet to your house, and play with it for ours. At least, I did. I was particularly curious about the fact that having a turtle would maybe be just like taking care of a little baby... in my imagination.

Tugui didn't talk, didn't play with me as I hoped for, but for me it was the coolest pet I've ever take care of.

It was my turn. It felt like a game of who took care of it better of the class. My mom laughed at me because I wouldn't stop talking about the turtle. I was almost making a schedule of things to do including: "Buy food for Tugui."

I took the turtle home and played a lot with it. I got bored, but I wouldn't admit it because I had the idea of 'Hello! It's a turtle! It's cool!' I was speaking to myself, analyzing the fact that: Turtles are from the sea, they must like sun. I was an innocent, childish, typical kid that assumed but never asked.

I took Tugui and left it on the grass assuming that it would probably get happy and "thankful" to me for being such a nice, careful nanny.
I forgot completely about the turtle and it was dark already when I returned home. I went running, rushing to the backyard to where I thought I left it. I was thinking: "Oh my God! Lula you're such a bad person, you left it without water in there! How could you?"

"Where's Tugui?" asked my mom, "It's sunbathing outside!" She, laughing said: "Baby, it's dark already, there is no sun out there."
I went running again to the backyard and while I was approaching, I couldn't believe it. There it was, full of holes. It was bitten by my dog "Cutie"! I couldn't help the guilt I felt inside me. I started to cry because I was worried about what my classmates would say about me, I thought they would say that I was such a careless girl. That was a Saturday.

My mom told me that she could buy me a new turtle on Sunday, and even though it wasn't the same, I had to accept that and take Tugui's replacement to my classroom. We bought 2 turtles and I took them to my school, two days after... They disappeared.

I was a little kid with a huge imagination. I never thought, and it never crossed my mind, that Cutie was going to eat Tugui at all. I felt really disappointed about myself; I thought that I was the responsible for the turtle’s death and that I acted irresponsibly. My mom was constantly telling me that I wasn’t my fault that it was Cutie’s, but still, I didn’t care. I wouldn’t listen.

I will surely tell this story to my children and grand-children when I get older. I still laugh about myself thinking about this anecdote, my mom does too.

Since Tugui’s death, I don't sunbath turtles.

Unique people

Thursday at 5:30 a.m., the first thing I heard after my alarm rang was my mom’s voice asking me “Are you awake? “ She was standing by my bed and placing my hair behind my ear and telling me to wake up that today was the first day in my new school!  My feelings were a mess, a part of me wants to wake up and get ready for this new adventure and the other part was more motionless, not totally excited.  Finally, I woke up and get ready without saying a word to my mom.  Deep inside of me , I was willing to be only a dream a very bad dream.

On my way to school my emotions get over me…am I nervous, am I happy, am I angry, am I in deep anxiety stage that I cannot control myself??? All these questions where in my head and all my body was going through it.  But I can tell you that  the minute I walked in all my fears where gone and a few weeks later my feelings toward school were of happiness, and good and amazing emotions.

As time goes by, I had the opportunity to meet new people, specially girls who  have become very close and important to me in many different ways….Like  Vera,  with her curly and blond hair, is always taking  care of each one of us .  André, her boy friend , loves, looks and protects her in a unique way. He gave her an engagement ring  as a proof of his love for her.

Krista ,  with her dirty  blond hair and really dark eyebrows,  is very sweet, naive and her  dyslexia has not been an obstacle in her studies. Natalie has very dark green eyes, the same color I have. She is not only smart and pretty but very athletic. She practices Karate, and now she is black belt.  Try to be her friend , don’t mess around with her.  Luisa, Wichis aw we like to call her, she is the prettiest girl in school. Her long and blond hair, her green eyes and her awesome funny humor, made her  a wonderful and  the most huggable person I have ever met.  Marcela, my best friend girlfriend, along with Natalie  were the first persons who spoke to me. She is always happy , friendly and fun. Gos , my little hairy dog, was a very special gift that Marcela gave me.  He was one of Marcela’s dog litter.Claudia and Dessire, they are best friend’s, they even called each other “mela” , a short word from the Spanish word “gemela” that means twin. Both of them are petite with curly and blond hair, their laugh is very contagious. Dessi is a cheerleader and dance ballet like a professional.  I love ballet!!   Claudia is a really good friend, if you have a problem she will give you the best advice ever. Belen, with her long hair extensions, has a pretty smile, big  bright eyes and what I like about her is that even though we make crazy things together, she always knows when to take things seriously. She is an amazing and very talented flamenco ballerina.
Paola is a really good friend, everyone loves her. Is the type of person that you can count on , she will always be there for you without asking for her help or support. I remember one day  after school Dessi and I  are going to Pao´s house, Dessi missed the bus and Pao was planning to take public bus to go an pick up Dessi at school. Paola is a friend that will do what it takes for a friend without thinking it twice. And for last but not least is  Andrea. I love her, we became friends after a friend of mine kisses the boy she likes.  Now Andrea and that boy are dating.  We go to the same religious group, and is fun and grateful to know a person that believes in GOD the same way you do.  We can share many thoughts, beliefs and things. We even share the same struggles in school, we both are  lazy and miss school very often.

I’m thankful for the friends I have and the ones I’m going to meet.  I cannot decide who is best or who deserves to be my best friend because I believe that GOD make them part of my life for a purpose and I could never asked for better friends than the ones I just describe. 

An Important person

I closely listened to the rain pound against the glass as a sudden clap of thunder nearly

made me fall out of my bed in terror. Without a second thought I grabbed my pillow as I

stumbled across the darkness of my room towards my mother's bed. "Mommy, can I come

in bed with you?" I whispered to her. She stretched out her arms and pulled me in close to

her. Suddenly, in my seven-year-old mind, I was no  afraid.

Whenever I have these type of memories I think my mother is the most important person

in my life. I have been mentioning her in almost all of the essays I write. The problem is, I

cannot really express how I feel about her in just words. My mother is not my whole life,

but she is a really big part of it. My whole world does not only revolve around her, but she

is the most influential person who inspires me. My mother is not just another woman. She

is extraordinary.

I have known her for sixteen years, 9 months, 11 days and nineteen hours. I know her very

well, and I had learned to love her since the day we first met. Relatives always tell me

stories about my birth, specially my grandmother, she always say “There is no relationship

like a mother and daughter” Maybe that’s the reason for she had 6 daughters.

Anyway my mother and I always have a friendship relationship. She is like me but older,

we have the same laugh, the same smell, the same tone of voice and the same hair and

eyes  but of course we have our differences, but She is the kind of person whom everyone

wants to make friends with because she is very charming, honest and reliable.

We could have the same type of humor but she never loses her mother role. She always

know how I feel, what to say in the precise moment, when make a joke and when not and

I know that it is her job but she make her job more than perfect. So perfect that in a short

period of time when we have economic problems, she made sure that my brother and I

have something to eat at dinner no matter how much hunger she have it,  She had to drop

college to take care of my brother, She left her country, family and friends , for married

with dad and live here in Guatemala city and things like that are the reason  for I admire

her, because she always sacrificed all of it and more for us.

I remember all the things she did for our familly. I remember the story of the little girly ant

that she count me with her sweet voice as a whisper before I go  bed. I remember the

thunder nigths when I was scare and she was there ready to made a space in her bed.