Iris: The American Dream Series Book One

Paintings and Pictures

It was finally Field Trip Friday. Oma had agreed to chaperone my class with the handful of other parents who could make it. She packed us broodjes wrapped in wax paper, and bottles of orange soda for a treat (since Mom didn't normally give us soda for lunch). Broodjes were basically just sandwiches, but they were made on delicious crusty bread, spread with butter and anything else you like. My favorite sandwich was made of ham, mustard and gouda cheese, but the twins would only eat theirs with butter and tomatoes.

We crossed the parking lot together on the way to the bus, speaking Dutch.

"Are you excited to see the Golden Gate Bridge?" Oma asked, running her hand over the fishtail braid that hung down my back.

"Ja, Oma." I said yes, and I was excited to see it. I couldn't wait to take pictures of it.
"Iris!" Abby called, waving at us from the curb. "Sit with me!"
I hadn't thought about who I would sit with on the bus if Oma came, and now I was torn: did I

sit with Abby and Felipe, or did I sit next to my oma, who wouldn't know anyone else but me? Oma squeezed my hand and said, "Sit with your friends, love. I brought a book to keep me

company."
Before I could thank her, Abby raced over and grabbed my hand, pulling me onto the bus. She

led me all the way down the aisle, finally picking the seat right behind Felipe. The seat next to us was open, so Abby waved to Oma. "Come sit with us!" she called to Oma.

Oma moved down the aisle a little more slowly than usual, but she sat in the seat and gave me a big wink. "You girls are going to have a wonderful time." Oma pulled a paperback book out of her quilted purse. "Make sure you watch out the window as we drive so that you don't miss anything." She pointed at the freeway as we pulled out into traffic, opening her book and folding the spine back to keep the pages open.

I hate to admit it, but I almost forgot that Oma was there. She read so quietly, and Felipe and Abby and I were laughing and joking nonstop. After reading quietly for a while, Oma asked me in Dutch, "Je plezier?"

I answered back, "Ja". Abby had a confused look on her face, so I said, "That's Dutch for 'are you having fun' and I told her yes, I am."

The bus driver parked on a side street, and our class walked through the big gates into Chinatown, Oma trailing behind us.

"Are you going to take a picture of that gate, Iris?" Oma asked, stopping under the green overhang and looking at the Chinese characters that hung from the highest part of the gate.

I paused, watching the faces of the people coming down the hill. After all of my classmates had gone through the gates, I got down on one knee and pointed my camera up at Oma with the Chinese sign behind her. I shot a few frames of her expressive face, thinking how good it would look in black and white.

"Oma—we need to catch up!" I shouted, realizing that the class was far ahead of us. She took my hand and we walked up the hill to catch up with my classmates.