As I looked out of the cruise ship's window, I started to notice that we were nearing a new port city, the third one on the Western Caribbean vacation. My parents told me that this city was Belize City, which was well-known for its tropical rainforest and its plethora of Mayan temples. Excitement started to build up inside me as I imagined the beautiful animals that I would observe in the diverse tropical rainforest. From all of my childhood books, I knew that snakes, tropical birds, frogs, and even tigers lived in rainforests. I started to realize that this experience would be so much better than my weekend trip to the zoo because I would be able to watch animals in their natural habitat.

As my family and I were eating breakfast on the top deck of the cruise ship, I heard the captain start to speak over the intercom:

"Welcome to Belize City! Unlike the other ports, this port on the mainland is too small. We will be anchoring soon, and smaller boats will be provided to travel to the mainland, " the captain announced.

I began to question why workers couldn't build a larger dock at Belize City, since it was the capital of Belize. However, I soon forgot about the problems with the dock as I became immersed in my delicious breakfast burrito.

After breakfast, we headed to the lower decks to join the interminable line to disembark the cruise ship. I overheard an old couple warning my dad that Belize City was not the safe, beautiful and luxurious place that it was portrayed to be. I didn't believe the couple because the pictures that I had seen in travel guides couldn't be wrong. Obviously, my parents didn't fully trust the couple either as my family still embarked onto the smaller boat to reach the mainland.

When my family and I reached the cruise port terminal on the mainland, I was immediately hit by the abundance of crowded, upscale shops. I saw shops for rubies, diamonds, books, arts and crafts, clothing and alcohol. My older brother, my dad, and I were uninterested in the shops, but once in a while, my mom would go into one and look around for 5 to 10 minutes. Then, she would realize that the products in the store were excessively overpriced. The boys in my family, including me, were more interested in leaving the terminal as fast as possible and visiting the rainforest.

My family decided that we should try to walk around the city before calling a cab to go to the rainforest. However, stepping out of the cruise terminal and into the city was a revolutionary experience. Instead of seeing colorful and well-built Caribbean-style buildings like in the other ports, I witnessed ravaged houses that people still lived in. Meanwhile, a lack of an effective sewage system led to mud puddles along and on the few paved roads. The majority of the roads were dirt roads that frequently became mud when rain hit Belize. Pungent trash also piled up throughout the city. The putrid smell of the garbage filled the air and prevented me from inhaling any fresh air. I noticed that while I was wearing a Nike t-shirt, shorts, and basketball shoes , the native people from Belize couldn't even afford a t-shirt. Clearly, this was a representation of an ordinary citizen's lifestyle in Belize, which helped me realize how lucky I was to be afforded so many luxuries that I took for granted.

After realizing the poverty around us, my family and I hurried back to the cruise terminal because we felt it wasn't safe to be walking around by ourselves. When my dad began to call for a cab, I pleaded to get back onto the cruise and skip the rainforest:

"Please, please, let's skip the rainforest, I just want to get back on the cruise already! Belize City is a dangerous place, especially when we are by ourselves!" I begged.

I was frightened at the poverty around me and was constantly worried that we would get robbed. Luckily, my family understood my angst and agreed that we could go back on the cruise early.

Inside my mind, I pictured what would happen if the cab driver drove away and never gave us a ride back. I got an uneasy and uncomfortable feeling when being surrounded by people of such a low social class. At home, I had never been surrounded by so many poverty-stricken people, whom I felt bad for and was scared of at the same time. Even though this poverty-stricken lifestyle had become part of the culture for the natives of Belize, having not experienced it, I found it difficult to assimilate.

When the men had finally connected the smaller boat to the cruise ship, I was the first person to walk into the ship. I ran into our cabin and went straight to bed, making sure that I was safe and would be able to return home.