My great trip to Myra

On our trip to Turkey we were so bored of the sun, beach and swimming pool that we decided to visit Myra, an ancient castle made out of stone. It is about 200 km from Antalya. Obviously, we did not have our own car there, so we decided to rent a car. After that little procedure was over, my mom said that she needed to practice her driving, so, making long story short, that meant my mom is going to be the driver on this trip. I don’t have anything against my mom's driving- oh no, please, of course not! - but I tightened up my seatbelt when sitting in the car. We stopped in the little shop on the way to buy some snacks for the road. I have bought these wonderful wafers with strawberry cream, which I could not wait to open and eat, but my mom said that eating too many sweets is bad for the health and etc. So, I had to wait until we would finally come to Myra. We drove for an hour, and I was pretty exhausted and hungry (at this wonderful time I had very high metabolism).


It is weird but I really believe now that intuition does exist. All the way that we were on the road I was thinking about the easiest way to escape from the car in case of an accident (weird thoughts for a nine-year-old, huh?). And it didn’t wait to happen. On one of the curves the car suddenly turned all the way to the left and landed halfway over the edge of the shore. I saw everything as in a slow motion. It was exactly like in the movies and I think we all thought at that moment that right now the part of the car on the road is going to be heavier than the part in front, and its going to stop right there. However, I think the most disappointing moment of my life happened then- like in some roller-coaster the front window of the car showed us how we came closer and closer to the water, with my wimpish parents shouting and holding me back ( after the shop I forgot to put my seatbelt back on). And suddenly it all stops. The car stops few centimeters before the water. My mom and dad shout -"Get out of the car!"- And I finally use the technique that I had in my head during the whole ride and jump out of the car. We run up the cliffs towards a crowd of people who stopped in order to see what had happened. None of us has any injuries except for a little scratch on my mom's neck. The police-officer tells us that a week ago 5 people died in a car accident right on this place. I guess that was supposed to make us incredibly happy. The next two hours we have spent in the police office. The nice officers offered us some dried cookies and cold tea. Amazed by their hospitality we were waiting until the people from the renting agency would come and look at what remained of their car.

When we finally got out of there we (translate: mom and dad) decided to hire a taxi and head to Myra. I thought that the accident gave some brain concussions, and argued with my parents about continuing the trip. However, they were deaf to my requests, so half an hour later we were on our way to Myra. On the part of the road where we had an accident we decided to get out of the car and walk instead. The driver thought that we did that because of our passion to the sea views, and then stops in front of every beach on the way. When we finally reached Myra (nothing special), we got a call from the agents from the renting company, who said that everything is arranged and we just have to come and pick our things up. The insurance will pay the repair, and we don’t have to worry about anything. My parents, happy to return back to the hotel, are joyful and order tons of room service. Nothing can cheer me up as the wafers, my great strawberry wafers, can't be found anywhere.

The Car Accident I was in

The incident described in this story happened about six years ago in India. It is the most unforgettable and strange accident that has ever happened to me. We were enjoying the trip from Chittorgarh, a small city, to Sagwara, a town in Rajasthan, to meet my uncle who is a doctor. My father, who drives quite fast on the highways, was driving the car and my mother was sitting right next to him in the front seat. My cousin and I were sitting in the back seat. The roads were pretty good, but there was no divider between the two sides of the road. The view on the roadside was only of marble factories and the smoke coming out from their chimneys. My cousin and I were really excited to meet my other cousins, but bored of sitting in the car and staring at the smoke going up in the air. We started complaining about how much pollution the smoke causes, but soon were tired of doing that as well.

Our destination was thirty minutes ahead of us. The time was passing leisurely, and we were continuously staring out through the front glass. A bullock cart was going on the same side as we were; it was going really slowly. It was truly annoying to watch a bullock cart going like a snail in front of us making the time pass awfully slowly, so my father picked up the speed of the car in order to overtake the cart. Suddenly, we saw a truck coming at a very high speed from the other side of the road, and my father decided to slow down; however, he was going fast, so it was pretty hard to stop the car. The bullock cart was going extremely slowly. When my father pushed the brake really hard, I started to shout because I saw the bullock cart and truck in front of me, and the sound that was made by the friction between the road the tire was making me nervous. He was trying his best to stop the car, but it was too late and our car crashed into the bullock cart. For about 10 seconds, all of us were silent, but also shocked while thinking of what had just happened. I was about 8-9 years old, and I started to cry not only because of the accident, but also because of the injury I had.

All of us went out of the car, and found that the oxen of the cart were lying on two sides of the road, but were alive. Our car’s bonnet was completely destroyed and smoke was coming out from under it. We looked all around, but as I told you before there was nothing except marble factories. The truck driver, who was partially the cause of the accident left as if he didn’t see anything. We were stuck in the middle of the road with that cart driver. We apologized to him, but he was saying the oxen are dead, and we will have to pay him a lot of money. We told him that they are alive, but he started to argue with us saying that he knows about oxen better than any of us do. The argument continued for fairly long time, and we were very tired of listening to his complaints. We knew it was our fault, but the driver was getting on our nerves by pointing at the oxen and talking in his own dialect, which was rather hard for me to understand. I was looking at my father and the driver simultaneously when they were arguing with each other and trying to know what actually was happening, but my cousin was able to understand everything, so I was asking him every minute, “what is he saying?”

We called our relatives, my mother’s brother and his wife, and waited near by our car for about half an hour. No one except for me had any injury. After a long break, the cheerfulness came back to our faces when we saw my uncle and his wife coming towards us in their car. My uncle checked the oxen which were alive, as we already said; the cart driver had a few injures, so he treated him with first aid, and called some people to help him repair his cart. We went to a near by office of a factory and told them what had happened to us and sat there for about an hour.

Our car was insured, so we called the insurance agency, and went to our relative’s house in their car. I was quite scared while thinking about the accident but when we reached there, I forgot about what had happened and started playing with my cousins. Later my father told me that the agents from the insurance agency came and took the car, and they have paid about $2560 for the repairs of the car. The best thing was that nothing happened to anyone and everyone was fine in the end. Actually this car accident turned out to be a benefit in one way because the car was about 2 years old, but after being repaired, the car’s front part looked as if we bought the car a month ago.

Relay For Life

On May 14, 2005, it was time once again to head down to Crescenta Valley High School for the Foothills Relay for Life — a 24-hour walk to raise money for the American Cancer Society. It was my third year going, and experience told me that I was in for a great time. Turns out, I was right. That year turned out to be more of an “experience” than I ever anticipated.

The Relay for Life was founded by a doctor who wanted to raise money for cancer research. He walked non-stop for a full 24 hours to illustrate how cancer patients were fighting non-stop. So, every year they hold a Relay to raise as much money as they can. Participants or teams collect donations from friends and family before the event. The goal is to get $100 per team member. When we arrived, they gave us purple wristbands to show that we were team members. Also, everyone that had raised $100 dollars received a special t-shirt. Altogether, there were about 28 teams.

The idea is you go there at 10 a.m., pitch a tent in your team’s area on the grass, and stay for 24 hours- until 10 a.m. the next morning. As usual, my mom and I had our tent up in 10 seconds flat while the other, rather large, families in our church struggled with their rather large tents. Our tent is like an umbrella: you simply pull and it opens. My best friend Cassandra came with us, and we set up all our stuff- extra clothes, toiletries, etc. then settled down to watch the rest of the action.

First, there was a short warm-up done by a trainer on the stage. Then there were opening speeches and welcomes. Before everyone began walking, all the cancer survivors present walked an honorary lap. I believe the youngest one was less than five years old. Then, members from each team started walking. Our team had a sheet that showed everyone’s turns and “shifts.” My shift turned out to be longer than I had signed up for because I just kept walking, and it felt so good.

All around the track, each team had set up some sort of booth or area where they sold things or let you make things. All the money gathered from these activities went into the total quota, which later turned out to be more than $123,000. There were slushies and candy bars for sale, light sticks at night, games you could play, live aquarium fish to buy, everything you can think of. Our church was the “Fishermen Team,” so we had a little toy “pond” where kids could fish for 50 cents. Every fish had a little prize on it, and you got to keep the prize and the fish.

Also, there were luminarias on sale. A lumanaria is basically a paper bag with holes cut out of it, that later has sand poured into it, and a candle stuck inside. At night, all the candles are lit, and it looks very nice. This year, I decided to buy a luminaria in memory of my grandma, who passed away in 2004 from cancer. I wrote a message on the luminaria which would later be displayed with the rest around the track.

All throughout the day, there were activities, songs, dances, and games. My favorite was scrabble. They began giving letters for every lap walked. When someone formed a word, they got a prize. Cassandra and I formed a word and got a little fish toy. Prizes, along with food and many other things, were provided by certain generous organizations. In fact, the whole thing was sponsored by those organizations, and they were recognized on the t-shirts. The food was very good. They gave us four meals, plus snacks and water in between. That year, it was very hot, and I believe someone fainted from dehydration. After that, they told us to drink lots and lots of water. Truckloads were brought in because there were so many people.

In the evening we had the luminaria ceremony, which turned out to be quite emotional. There were stories, testimonies, prayers, tears, and music. The luminarias were lit, and everyone was given a candle. Then we all walked a slow lap, carrying the candles, while we read the messages on the luminarias. I thought about my grandma, and cried, but it was a bitter- sweet moment. The luminarias were not only “in memory of,” those who had died of cancer, but also “in honor of” those who had won the fight.

There were movies playing during the night, including, “Pirates of the Caribbean.” I walked throughout most the night and got only about 4 hours of sleep. I was walking and collecting beads. Basically, you get one bead for every lap that you walk, and on every 6th lap you get a letter bead. By the time I was done, I had spelled out, “Araks Ohanyan WWJD.” I had a long necklace of 100 beads. Those who saw it were impressed.

The following morning we had breakfast, then there were closing speeches and awards: for best decorated area, for most laps walked, etc. They called up everyone who had walked a lot, and then eliminated one by one. The announcer called everyone who had walked more than 80 laps, more than 90 laps, and so on. I left the stage when he called for more than 100, but everyone clapped for me. The award for most laps went to a member of our church, who walked 139 laps. Four laps is a mile, so he basically walked 34.75 miles.

Then, it was time to pack up and go. Afterwards, at church, I got another round of applause. I was so happy that day. I never expected to walk so much, or to have so much fun. The last two years that I went were also a blast, but that one year holds a special place in my heart. I was rooting for the American Cancer Society, especially because of my grandmother. I guess that was my way of showing my appreciation for everything they have done and continue to do. I will remember that day for a long time. I still have that necklace and to me, it’s a symbol of everyone’s dedication at the Relay for Life.

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