Humans of FHC: Erica Santos

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“[My family and I] were touring everything [in Rome]. We went to the Roman Colosseum and while we were there, there were millions of tour guides. Our tour guide said, “Hey, follow me. I brought this umbrella, and I’ll raise it up. If we move on, you can look for my umbrella.a�� I had recently gotten this old iPhone 3 so that I could take pictures, and I wanted to be upfront and take pictures of the Colosseum. So I went up to the front, and I separated from the group but they were a couple feet away. It was so crowded that I could hardly breathe so I was pushing through people, and I managed to get to the front. I was taking lots and lots of pictures. By the time I was done, I turned around, and the group had moved on. I didn’t recognize anyone who was near me. Then I was like, “Oh wait, the umbrella,a�� and I looked up but there were seven other umbrellas in the air. I didn’t know what pattern our tour guide had. I was running around in that same area because I didn’t know if I should stay there because there wasn’t an attendant I could go to, and I had no way to call them because my [phone] could take pictures and that was it. So I was circling the area, and then I found my mom’s bag- this big, black bag with white polka dots on it- and I’m like, “I’m saved!a�� I ran towards her. [Recently], she said that [she and my dad] were watching us the entire time. The entire time I thought I was lost, hopelessly lost, my mom was just watching me [from afar].”

(Junior)