Every Day Felt Different in Saint Maarten

The ocean looked too good so I ran in before my mom could say no.

Hi, I’m Laila.
I went to Saint Maarten with my mom and dad.

When we got there, the air felt warm even at night.
I liked that because when we left home it was cold.

We stayed in Grand Case and the beach was right outside our room.
I liked that I could walk straight into the sand with my toes.
I was looking for a bucket but I didn’t find one on the whole island.

One night when we were walking in town, I saw a cat on the roof of a pizza place.
It was just sitting there like it lived there.
I made my mom and dad go up there with me to try to find the cat, but when we got there it was gone.
I made a drawing of the cat on my mom’s phone so I wouldn’t forget.

At the hotel there was a brochure with a map of the island.
I noticed the island had two parts, one Dutch and one French.
The French side looked bigger, and I asked my mom why that was and if we were in Paris.
I wanted to know why two countries were on the same island.

One day we went to Rainbow Cafe and stayed there for a long time.
The beach was right next to the restaurant, so I kept going back and forth from the water to the table.
I played in the sand, went in the ocean, and got my hair braided.
I liked that we didn’t have to rush.

Another day we went to Orient Bay and I wanted to do something adventurous.
We decided to go parasailing.
My daddy’s tummy was hurting, so my mommy said maybe we shouldn’t go, but then we went anyway.
When we went up in the air I felt scared at first, but then it felt like we were on top of the world.
The water looked very blue from up high.

One morning at breakfast I had pink vanilla milk and it was very good.
They also gave me a coloring book and the eggs were delicious.

We walked down long roads with lots of little shops.
One time there was a lady singing in a store and I liked that because it made the store feel happy.

I liked driving up and down the mountains with my mom and dad.
Sometimes we put our hands in the air like a roller coaster.

One night I made a friend at dinner who was from Harlem in New York, where I used to live before we moved to Miami.
We were the same age, so I called her my New York twin.
We played all night at the restaurant and then we saw each other again at the beach another day.
I want to see her again the next time I go to New York.

My favorite thing about Saint Maarten was that every day felt different.
Sometimes we were at the beach, sometimes we were driving in the mountains, and sometimes I saw things I didn’t expect, like a cat on a roof.

I would go back to the island.
Next time I want to find the cat again.

— written by Laila, with help from my mom