Memoir Case

It was a brisk, cloud covered July night as my friends and I headed to Niagara Falls International Airport. As I was unpacking my bags I realized that this was the last time I would smell the air coming off of Lake Erie: a damp, sort of musty smell. Standing in line as we were checking our bags, I said bye to my mom as I went to wait next to our gate. As the plane was taking off, I looked out the window and watched the yellowish lights of the city slip into the darkness while the plane ascended. The next thing I knew the shaking and rattling of the plane woke me up as we touched down in Ft. Lauderdale Florida. Although I was in Florida for my first time, being in an airport instead of on a beach was not my plan for my first experience. Security wasn't bad because I'm a good person and wasn't trying to sneak anything on the plane. Only a 4 hour wait in that hot, crowded airport then I was on my way. As soon as we got in the air, I fell asleep, only waking up to be awed at the sight of the Andes. Sun glistening on the monstrous mountains that seemed to be guardians of where I was soon to be landing. The plane was descending as I could smell the air, filled with the smells of the various fruits that are native to there. Exiting the plane the heat was like a wall, almost knocking me down. Entering the airport we were greeted with the phrase "! Bienviendo la Colombia! ", which, helped by friend who was born here, I understood as "Welcome to Colombia! " My vacation has started.

The next month was very busy. There were so many sights to see and family to visit. We played soccer every day from sun up until noon. Then it was off to visit someone or something. The most breath taking sight that I remember the most is The Three Crosses. There were these three enormous crosses that bared different designs, and looked over the city like watchman. To get there we had to hike up the smallest of the Andes Mountains, even though we were told that they were small, in our eyes it was still a great adventure. Hiking up the mountain wasn't like walking up a path, it was walking up straight slopes, navigating through huge rocks, and weaving our way in and out of brush. About half way up my legs started burning; it felt as if the backs of my legs were caught on fire, and no way to put it out. Even with the burning I pushed on, we all pushed on. Sweating and panting, laughing and talking we hiked it as a family. And when we reached the peak and stood in front of these towering structures, it felt as though I just completed a marathon and won it. I was so happy with myself, the reward was even greater when we turned around and the city of Cali, Colombia was below. On one side the Andes curled around to almost hide the city, while on the other side there were distant cities, only connected by far stretches of road. From our perch we could se for miles and miles, almost never ending. The walk back down was very easy, the