Since my parents have been helping us so unselfishly for the last 6 months, we decided to take them on a nice vacation - a cruise to Mexico. Last time Len, Klaudia and I went we had a wonderful time and thought this would be a perfect gift for my parents.
We planned on going the beginning of January when Len and I usually have some time off from work. Our ship unfortunately caught on fire back in November, and our cruise got canceled. The next available was first week of February, and even though it was the first week of my semester (probably busiest time of the school year) and quite a busy time for Len at work too, we decided to take it as it was the last chance for my parents before their departure to Poland on March 1st.
We drove to South California the day before to avoid the LA traffic. We showed my parents our favorite places - Santa Monica, Laguna Beach, had dinner at the best sushi restaurant - Mosun's, went to the beach and unpatiently anticipated the next day cruise. A bird pooped on me when walking to the hotel, and I remember thinking it must be for good luck.
The next day, we dropped our car off at Len's friend's place in San Diego and went to start the trip of our lifetime. I was so excited that I kept thinking that nothing, absolutely nothing could ruin this day.
After waiting in line for a while moving slowly towards the check in desk with tons of luggage, two kids, two strollers, backpacks, nursing in the meantime, we finally got to talk to the attendant. He took our passports and asked who was the permanent resident. "I am" - I proudly said. He then asked the question of the day: "Can I see your green card?". With a smile on my face (it only proves how I had NO clue about what was coming), I responded: "No, I only have my passport, but I can show you my ID if you'd like."
A lot of things happened within the next 3.5 hours. To make the long story short, they didn't let me on the ship. We had 10 minutes to decide what to do - pull our luggage, go home and forget about the trip, or have me go home get the card and join them in Mexico at the first port stop two days later. We went with the second idea. At first I wanted to take Maya with me, so that I could nurse her, but our travel agent reminded us that without a passport she could not get on the plane. Another option was to get her formula across the street and let them all go; I would use my pump to keep the milk supply going. We went with it.
To justify our decision, I'd like to add that we only had a few minutes to make it. As soon as they all left, that decision didn't sound as good as a few minutes ago. What they and I went through within the next couple of days before I was able to join them in Puerto Vallarta is hard to describe in words. This was the first time I was away from my girls for so long, and I actually felt physical pain. Every time I closed my eyes I saw my munchkins. Every time I saw a kid, I had tears in my eyes.
Len and my parents had a hard time communicating. Len is getting pretty good in Polish, but he's not fluent yet. Klaudia was doing well, but poor Maya was not into her new milk. She refused to drink the formula and was so traumatized that didn't want to eat or drink anything. Len had to take her to the doctor twice. She got weak and dehydrated.
When we finally got reunited, we did our best to enjoy the rest of the trip. We went to 5 different cities in Mexico, we went on tours, snorkling, tried really good food and rested as much as we could. Maya nursed the first two hours non-stop and spent the rest of the trip catching up with her food supply. She got her energy back soon after she took a few sips of her mama's milk.
And yes, I did learn my lesson to take my green card everywhere I go. I thought that if my parents could go to Mexico only with their Polish passports, so could I. The idea of bringing my card had never occurred to me; otherwise, I would have taken it. And next time I will.
