Riches to Rags Have you ever felt fear such as a life or death situation? A relaxing vacation to Jamaica spiraled into an unwarranted trip to Kingston; which was known to be the murder capital of the world. You would think that a TSA agent in Philadelphia airport would recognize an expired passport. Immediately landing at Sangster airport, my family and I were directed to a secluded room in customs which was surrounded by armed guards. More than an hour has gone by before we were informed that the reason we were held captive was due to my passport. We had two options; leave immediately and go back home, or go to the U.S. Consulate and obtain an emergency passport. The problem with traveling to the U.S. Embassy was that it was five hours away and we had a three and a five year old with us. Kingston had the …show more content…
Our vacation began by calling our travel agent, obtaining passport photos and researching the safest way to travel to the embassy. Many advised to take a cab and hire a local for protection and it would “only” cost us $1,000.00 dollars. We were warned to not take a bus because we would have to walk to the bus station at 4am, alone. After much debate and frustration, we decided to take the bus. Armed with only our bodies and wits, (the embassy has a strict no cell phone policy) we headed into Kingston. The bus trip provided us with many burning images such as one man, barely living, and carrying his own detached arm. Upon arriving we had to walk a mile to get to the embassy where many citizens approached us begging for money and food. When we reported to the embassy, it was a battle to acquire my passport. Since my biological father wasn’t with us and my mother did not