The Botelho family

The airport intercom buzzed. It was time for the Botelho family to board their flight and start their journey to their new home and new life in the United States. Antonio was waiting at the gate with his family, while admiring the airplanes along the runway.

His father turned his hazel eyes towards him. “Antonio, our better life is about to start. It’s time for us to board the airplane,” said Pedro.

“Okay Daddy,” replied Antonio obediently, but he was sad to leave his home and friends behind. “Why are we moving so far away? Who will I play with?” he whined.

Antonio’s mother turned towards him. Her beautiful white smile shone through her dark skin. Her beautiful braided hair lifted as she kneeled down towards Antonio’s eye level. “Honey, I know you’re sad about the move, but we went over this last week. Your father and I got better jobs in the Land of Opportunity. Once you start school, you will make new friends,” encouraged Silvia.

“Your mother and I will get higher salaries in our new country; nurses are better paid in America. More importantly, we will all be safely away from this horrible civil war that seems to have no end. Once we have a better life, you will not miss this place at all,” added Pedro.

Antonio’s older brother turned towards him and patted him on the back. “Cheer up little brother. Mom and Dad will be rich once we get there. We’ll have a bigger house. We won’t have to share a bedroom anymore. Mom and Dad will have their own cars. You will have a lot more toys,” said Silvio.

“Yeah, you can be anybody you want in our new home,” added Pedro.

“I want to be a big shot soccer player when I grow up,” said Silvio. “Once I’m making millions, I will only fly first class.”

“Once you start school, you will sign up for the school’s soccer team. You will have a real team with a real coach. You’re already thirteen, so keep up the good work, and you might become a professional in a few more years,” encouraged Pedro.

Once the family boarded the airplane and took their seats, the flight attendant’s microphone buzzed. “Please fasten your seatbelts and put your carry-on luggage in the overhead compartment. We are preparing for takeoff.” The flight attendant repeated the same phrase in English.

Antonio could not understand anything. “Mom, Dad how can I go to school in our new home? I can’t even understand what they are saying.”

Pedro and Silvia both kissed Antonio on the cheek. “We know how to speak English. Since there will be nothing to do during this flight, let’s practice a little bit.”

“But how do I learn?” asked Antonio.

“Well, you will learn your new language the same way you learned Portuguese when you were a baby,” said Silvia. “Let’s just talk! You’re only five. You will learn the language very fast. Just wait and see.” She turned towards her older son. “Silvio, you learned a lot of English in only one year. Will you help us teach Antonio a few words?”

“Like what?” asked Silvio.

“Just enough for somebody to survive in a foreign country,” said Silvia.

The airplane started moving backwards onto the runway. The plane started taxiing throughout the runaway until it reached a long stretch. Finally, the plane roared its jets and picked up speed. After picking up enough speed the plane finally took off. Antonio unbuckled his seatbelt to try to get a better view from the window.

Silvia buckled Antonio’s seatbelt back on. “Not now, the fastened seatbelt sign is on. I’ll loosen your seatbelt for you to get a better look.”

Antonio looked out the window and saw the ocean below with the city behind it. The cars and buildings looked like toys to him and the trees looked like broccoli. As the plane climbed higher, the cars started to look like little bugs. Antonio was fascinated about the view, but also sad about leaving his home and friends behind. Pretty soon the plane was so high that everything below seemed to disappear.

Silvia tapped Antonio on the shoulder. “Alright, we can’t see anything below. It’s time for you to learn some English. We’re a long way from our new home.”

Silvia slowly moved her lips. “Thank you. Obrigado.”

“Tank you,” said Antonio repeating his mother’s Portuguese accent.

“Please. Por favor,” said Silvia.

“Pleasie,” repeated Antonio.

“Restroom please. Banheiro por favor,” said Silvia.

“Restieroomie pleasie,” repeated Antonio.

After a few lessons of translating from Portuguese to English, the flight attendant’s microphone buzzed. “Please keep your seatbelts fastened. We are experiencing turbulence.”

The airplane started shaking a lot. Antonio’s stomach began turning and he felt nauseated. “Mommy, my tummy hurts.”

Silvia pulled a paper bag out of the seat pocket and put it towards Antonio’s mouth. Antonio threw up in the sick bag.

Silvio and Pedro, who were taking a nap, woke up. “Hey, are you okay little brother?” asked Silvio.

“No,” replied Antonio.

“It was probably the plane shaking,” said Pedro. “It will stop soon.”

After the airplane stopped shaking, the flight attendant rolled a cart with food down the aisle. Pedro looked at Antonio. “Do you want anything to eat?”

“No,” said Antonio. “I’m not hungry.”

Silvia looked at Pedro worried. “Antonio is feeling sick. Do you think he will be alright? What if this motion sickness gets worse and worse? Should I ask the flight attendant for assistance?”

“Don’t worry too much,” said Pedro. “Some of my coworkers who have flown in airplanes say that people get motion sickness all the time during turbulence. When the plane stops shaking, Antonio will feel much better. Even if he doesn’t, it has been seven hours already and six more hours of feeling sick won’t kill anybody.”

“Yes, but we still have one more flight to San Antonio, which will be another four hours,” said Silvia.

“Four more hours is not that bad,” said Pedro. “Antonio only threw up five hours into the flight. We will decide when we land if we should get him some motion sickness medicine. I am sure they will sell this in the New York airport.”

The turbulence finally stopped. Antonio’s stomach felt so much better. Bored of sitting down so long, he fell asleep on Silvio’s shoulder.

Five hours later, Antonio and Silvio woke up with their parents shaking them. “We’re almost there!” said Pedro and Silvia excitedly.

The plane started to make a descent. The microphone buzzed again. “We are preparing for landing in . Local time is 6:30p.m, so don’t forget to set your watches six hours behind.”

“Antonio and Silvio!” said Pedro excitedly pointing to the window. You two need to look at this!” Antonio and Silvio looked through the window and saw a green statue of a woman standing on an island. “Do you know what that is?” asked Pedro. “That is the Statue of Liberty. That’s what symbolizes freedom and democracy.”

The plane descended even more. Buildings and cars seemed to be getting bigger every second. Finally, the plane made a landing and headed to the gate. The fastened seatbelt sign turned off and everybody got off of their seats and started leaving the plane.

The whole family got up and stretched their arms. “Ahh!!!” Pedro sighed in relief. “Finally we are out of this plane.” Pedro turned to Antonio and Silvio. “So how did you two like the flight?”

“It was alright, only the takeoff and landing part was awesome,” said Silvio. “The middle of the flight was boring.”

“And how’s your stomach?” asked Antonio’s mother.

“Better,” replied Antonio.

“Only one more short flight and we’ll be done,” said Silvia.

After the family left the plane, they waited in line at the immigration check point. When it was finally their turn, Silvia, Silvio, and Antonio walked ahead in front of the line. Pedro walked behind them.

The immigration officer glared at Pedro. “Sir, step behind the line. It is not your turn yet. Wait until I check on this lady and her children here.”

“We are all together,” replied Pedro as he stepped in front of the line with the rest of the family. Silvia and Pedro showed the officer their visas and their immigration paperwork.

The officer looked at all of the passports and examined the family’s faces thoroughly, then checked the passports again, then waved the family ahead. “Welcome to ,” he said.

As the family walked towards the baggage claiming area, Silvio angrily looked at his father and in Portuguese, he asked, “What was that guy’s problem back there?”

Pedro smiled. “Back in our country, the Portuguese have been there for several centuries already, and interracial marriages are rather common. Here, there used to be racial segregation, which only ended about thirty years ago, so it is still rare for a white man like me to be married to a black woman like your mother or vice versa.”

Jetlagged and exhausted from the long flight, Antonio was almost falling asleep while he and his family were waiting standing up for their baggage to show up on the conveyor belt. After what felt like an eternity, the family finally claimed all of their baggage and went through the customs checkpoint. A search dog sniffed all of the baggage for drugs. The customs officer waved the family ahead.

Pedro and Silvia checked the television screen for departure times. “Our flight to leaves in only thirty minutes!!!” exclaimed Silvia.

“If we all run we can make it,” said Pedro.

The family started running to make their way to the gate. Antonio ran behind his family as fast as his short legs could carry him. Silvio kept up easily because of his fit soccer player body. After what seemed like an endless run, the family finally arrived at the gate and boarded the airplane. Antonio sat down and was fast asleep before the plane took off.

He woke up four hours later with his parents shaking him. “We are almost there. You will get to sleep in a comfortable bed real soon.”

The plane made a landing and the microphone buzzed. “Welcome to . Local time is 11:00p.m.”

Pedro stretched his arms in exhaustion. “Wow, for us right now, it’s like we’ve been up all night. It’s already six in the morning back in . We’ll go to sleep the minute we get to our temporary housing and get used to the time zone the next day.”

After leaving the airport, the family took a taxi and arrived at an extended-stay hotel. Pedro turned the lock and opened the door.

Antonio and Silvio both looked into the home in disappointment. “What! You said we would have three bedrooms!” complained Silvio. “This place is a lot smaller than our house in Luanda!”

“This is just a temporary arrangement.” said Pedro and Silvia together.

“This place is like a hotel, only it looks like a home because it is for extended stay. We booked it for the whole month. Texas has affordable housing, so tomorrow we will start looking for an apartment to rent until we save some money for a down payment on a house,” said Pedro.

“I can’t wait until we actually get a house,” said Silvia, yawning. “But now I am grateful that I have a bed… Let’s all rest, guys!”

By then, the boys went to their bedroom and fell asleep.