Duran 1

Liliana Duran
Prof. Beth Bailey
English 2010
March 29, 2015
Goodbye!
It was 3:00 a.m. of a warm July morning, I opened my eyes and noticed the now
empty walls of what I had called my room for the last fourteen years. The furniture,
bedding, curtains, pillows, everything was gone. At least I didnt have to sleep on the floor
like my parents and sisters, I said to myself. My bed and the dining room set were the only
two things left. It was hard to believe that only three days ago everything was in its place,
and even more surreal to think that only one month ago I had no idea of how fast
everything was going to change.
This wasnt what I wanted. It was my dads idea to rush everything. For me and my
sisters, it all began with a letter delivered two months ago. A letter my parents had been
awaiting for over twelve years, a letter neither me nor my sisters knew anything about. A
month later we were at the Embassy of the United States in El Salvador getting our visas
and now, exactly thirty days after that, getting ready to get on a plane. It was all happening
too fast!
Perhaps, it was a good thing. For years I complained about the situation I had to live
in and how I could take advantage of all the opportunities I didnt have there, in El
Salvador. No one likes to say bad things about ones country, but there are things that
cannot be ignored. It is true, El Salvador is a beautiful place. Its beaches, mountains,

Duran 2

volcanos, historical as well as modern cities, and you can get anywhere in only a few
minutes because its a small country. It has everything you need in 21,044.8 km2 of territory.
Unfortunately, after the civil war in the 80s, years of incompetent leaders have pushed the
Valley of Hammocks to the edge of the economic and social disaster. Im not an
economist, but its obvious that the many debts acquired by present and past presidents, as
an attempt to recover El Salvador from the Civil War, are one of the reasons salaries are
bad, and that is if youre lucky enough to get a job!
Education is cheap or even free, but thats how it is almost everywhere now. Basic
education is perhaps a little better that it is in the U.S. Universities are not so good, to the
point that many prefer not to go to the U because they think is not worth it. Not only that,
but imagine leaving your house in uncertainty every morning. Hoping that you and the rest
of your family will come back. Knowing you can get robbed or hurt on your way to work
or school. Of course, if youre raised in a situation like that, you have no option but to get
used to it, live with it. Anyway, how was I to know that July morning of 2012, over two
years ago, that Id be in a better situation today? Like everybody else, I always talked about
how great it would be to get out of there, but I never thought it could really happen.
Its OK if we leave, I kept thinking, but we could wait for at least three more
months! I was not ready, and my dad didnt seem to understand it. Well, he has no family
here, they all left before him. My father have always been very selective, so he didnt have
lots of friends either. The only five reasons that would make him stay are coming with him;
plus, for the last twelve years, he knew this day would eventually happen. He had twelve
years, I had two months! And my case was different. Unlike him, half of my family is still
in El Salvador, tons of friends and people I love too. People Ive known for years.

Duran 3

I stood up, looking at the window at the top of my bed. The sun was beginning to
raise over the hills the same way it did for the last fourteen years. I took the clothes I
prepared the night before. They were cold and wrinkled, but I didnt pay attention to it. As I
changed, I thought about how much I wanted to stay. I thought about my family again.
I thought of my grandmother, who I grew up with, and who for the last fourteen
years lived only three houses apart. I could see her at any time just by walking down the
street, and now she wasnt going to be there anymore. Suddenly, a sense of guilt came to
me as I started to remember all the time I wasted, remembering how days went by without
seeing her, even though I always had her so close to me. That seemed to be a familiar
feeling lately, but that day was stronger. It wasnt only her, my uncles and aunts, people
who had been so close to me for years, people I loved, but I barely saw every three months,
or once a year.
I heard loud voices downstairs, of course, at 3:00 a.m. everything is loud, I thought.
For a second, I got curious of what they said and who they were, but my head was too busy,
and immediately lost interest in them. I assumed everyone was awake and almost ready
because I was the only one upstairs. Im usually the first one to be ready, but that day I took
longer than the rest. I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. I looked
terrible, like I hadnt slept for a whole week. My eyes were swallowed and had bags
underneath them, but I didnt care about it, not that day. I walked back to my room,
thinking about my family and people I had, for years, taken for granted. Perhaps, thats
what most of us do at our twenties.
It was until then I realized I wasnt upset at my dad or my mom for not saying
anything twelve years before, or for rushing us to go. I was upset at myself. It was at that

Duran 4

moment, two years ago, I knew it didnt make any difference if I had known about this
change for twelve years or three days, I would had still taken everyone and everything for
granted.
Years of complaints about everything, and suddenly, I realized how those
insignificant things that I let bother me so much in the past didnt allow me to appreciate
those around me more than one time. I can now say you dont know what you have until
its gone, and in my case, until a few hours before I was gone.
I finally started to walk out of my room with these ideas in my head. I turned and
looked at it for the last time. The green walls my sister and I had painted purple when we
were twelve and the stain next to the door that we made one day we were playing there.
That and our beds, were the only things left. I left the room, still sad and upset for how long
it took me to realize what I had.
I walked through the hall. I got to the end of it and started to walk downstairs
slowly, like counting the steps, as if I didnt know there were twelve of them. I really loved
that house. A door to the backyard was at the end of the stairs. I walked out of it. It was still
dark outside but I could hear the birds chirping already. I was warm and nice outside. I
stayed there for a few minutes. Looking at that yard for the last time, remembering how
different it was than when we moved to the house in 1998. A few minutes later I notice the
sunlight in the yard and realized I was taking too long, so I walked to the living room.
My uncle was already there to drive us to the airport. I was prepared for some drama
that morning, but everyone was calmed, maybe, I was the only one feeling really bad. My
dad was excited, my two younger sisters looked like they were still not completely aware of

Duran 5

what was about to happen, and my mom, who I would be the worst for leaving her mother,
was oddly calmed. My other sister, whos only a year younger than I am was fine, making
jokes with my dad and uncle.
After putting all the bags in the minivan I was the first one to get inside of it. My
uncle started driving it. I knew every street he drove that morning. I had memories there, I
recognized so many placesit wasnt helping!
When we made it to the airport, my entire family was there, my aunts, uncles,
grandma, everyone was waiting for us. On a different day, I would have criticized that and
said airports are not family recreation parks or something like that, but that day, I was glad
everyone was there, that I could see everyone for the last time.
Only minutes later, the goodbyes were over, and we were walking to our gate and
getting in the plane. At that moment I was feeling better. I was even excited of getting in the
plane, hoping to see the half of my family that was already in the U.S. soon. We got on the
line to get into the plane and it took longer than expected. Security was opening each one of
the passengers carry-on bags and taking everything out for inspection. I took me a whole
hour to organize everything to fit into that bag and then, this lady took everything out and
then just push into the bag again, and forced it to close it. I thought this was a random
security check at the airport, but when I went back to El Salvador for vacations this last
summer I found out they do the same thing to everyone that enters and leaves country.
We finally got in the plane and I was so tired I immediately fell sleep after the
airplane took off. I was a smooth flight, at least I was told that later that day. Twelve hours

Duran 6

and one stop later, our last flight had landed in this new place, a place I knew very little
about and I had to call my new home.
I had arrived in the United States of America.