"Are we there yet" I whined for the millionth time.

"Deqa we haven't even left even left Massachusetts." My uncle shot back.

It all feels like a dream. Today was the day we set of for our two month vacation to the homeland, Somalia. I never actually thought this day would come. I was a bit hesitant of going but now we were sitting in a SUV heading down to New York for a flight leaving to Turkey at mid-night. As my mom and two sisters and two brothers are fast asleep and my uncle was driving, I was watching White Chicks on my phone. After a couple of hours we finally arrived in New York, New York. It was a enormous city, tall skyscrapers, yellow cabs, pedestrians and everything I ever expected.

"Faduma, we are here; JFK airport!" My uncle declared to my mom.

When everyone woke up we got all of our luggage on those weird cart things and headed for our terminal. Once we checked in and got our boarding passes, we said our final good byes to my mom's youngest brother.

"Remember you are the oldest and your moms right hand." My uncle reminds me for the hundredth time.

"Please not with this lecture again I had it from Abo (Dad in Somali) and from auntie and I definitely don't need a repeat. Don't worry I'll be responsible. Have faith in me."

"Okay, I have to get going I have another six hours of driving, good luck and you better take care of my older sister and my favorite nieces and nephews." My uncle replied while giving me my last hug.

"Don't count on it I replied with a smirk."

"That's my typical niece." He yelled over his shoulder while walking out of the airport.
As I catch up to my family as they were heading to our gate. As we a boarded our plane we all immediately feel asleep. Knowing tomorrow was going to be busy day, we needed the rest.

"We will be landed in Turkey shortly." Says the flight attendant. As we got inside the airport we found out that our flight has been delayed and that we werre supposed to sleep at a hotel. As we rode in a cab to the hotel, we took in our surroundings. We were in Istanbul one of the biggest cities in Turkey. It had beautiful buildings, but unfortunately the signs were written in Turkish. As we got to our suite, my mom went down to the front desk to ask about our flight. As I watched the two youngest falling asleep I took them to bed and tucked them in. Once my mom left my brother,sister and I took that as a chance to wander round the hotel and order room service.

"Forty-eight euros on room service" My mother screamed.
We all exchanged looks and my sister spoke.

"Hooyo we were so hungry."

"And hooyo there was a delicious chicken caesar salad and a vanilla icecream cake, screaming my name." I chimed in.

As my siblings chuckled, my mom had a furious look in her eyes. She looked like she was about to puff fire out of her ears. I thought fast of something to soothe her. Then I smirked with a plan.

"Hooyo you look so exhausted, let me give you a legendary massages. Aisha put on CNN for hooyo and I'll give her a massage."

My mom had the defeat look on her face knowing she can't resist my massages, identifying my plan worked.

After pigging out on our dinner, I made my way to the most comfiest bed I've ever slept on. It had the most fluffiness pillows and extremely soft blankets. After a couple of minutes of admiring the bed I found myself fast asleep.

As I strolled out of the bed next morning as fresh as ever, the warm, unresisting smell of pancakes it me. As I followed the scent of heaven I came across another smell, As I entered the living room of our suite noticing I was the last one out of bed, I glanced at the clock. 7:34am.

"Good morning hooyo, hey guys. When are we supposed to head back for the plane?"

"In one hour." My youngest sister said.

"Thank you Miski, can I sit next to you for breakfast?"

"Deqa, I'm not stupid I know you want my pancakes."

And with that everyone started bursting out laughing, including me.

"Even the six year old can predict you." Abdihakeem added between breathes.

I just sat there flushing not wanting to admit I wanted her pancakes yet caught red handed, With that I went back to the room my sisters and I were sharing and grabbed a robe, slippers and the 40 euros which were on the night stand. and left the suite knowing they wouldn't stop teasing me about what just happened. I headed down to the main floor not having the slightest idea where the dinning hall was. As I paced back and forth I came across I bellhop and decided to ask him where the dinning hall was. After ten minutes of trying to find out what the man was saying I realized he didn't know English. That's when it hit me. The delicious smell of muffins, eggs, hashbrowns and so forth. As I followed the scent I came to a big set of doors and ripped them opened. There I stood in heaven.

As I ate like a maniac I headed back to the suite to get ready for our flight.

"HOOYO SOMEONE STOLE MY 40 EUROS YOU GAVE ME." Miski screamed and whined.

"I would feel bad, but you deserved it for making funny of me. Ha!" I replied smirking.

"You know hooyo favorites the youngest so you better give it to me."

"Oh, I used it, all of it." I said with a wide grin.

Might I say at the age of six my sister was a pro actress. As she got her salvia and rubbed it under her eyes she rushed to hooyo's room crying.

"DEQA GET HERE THIS INSTANCE." My mom yelled with force.

And just like that I was grounded, even on vacation. I gave one last glare to Miski and called her a snitch while putting the last suitcase in the trunk of the cab and called her a snitch. Of course that earned me a slap in the back of the head.

"We will be landed in Somalia shortly" The flight attendant declared.d

As we got off the plane and headed to the airport my jaw literally dropped to the floor.

Walking down he stairs of the plane, the humid air hit me, almost making it impossible to breath. As I took the last step off the plane I feet sunk into the blazing sand. I took in my surroundings we were in an isolated place indicating the airport was on the outskirts or the city. That's when I noticed a little build ahead of us.

"THIS IS THEIR AIRPORT? ITS LITERALLY THE SIZE OF MY SCHOOL BACK HOME!"

"Deqa take note that Somalia has been in war for more than 20 years. It's been years since Somalia has been peaceful."

"Hooyo can I have my passport? Abdulquadir said.

And why do you want it? My mom questioned my brother.

"Because we are going straight back on the plane. Over my dead body I'm staying here. Aisha finished.

"We are not staying here." We all said at the same exact time.

"I just payed for six tickets unless you guys will pay me $8,600 worth suck it up and follow my lead. This is just the start. You guys will not be leaving until you learn your culture, language and the way of life in Somalia."

We were all silent letting the words sink in. I studied my mothers face to notice she was serious.

"Let's go guys, let's see what the homeland has in store for us. I said with a determined attitude. "How bad could it be."

Then I realized the worst scenarios with a gulp I leaded the way into the airport. Thinking what could fate be storing for us. With that we entered that airport.