The end or not?

 When I heard the name of the class "Journey in Literature" I thought that it was going to be another boring class. The class didn't start on the right foot to say so, we had other professor and then it was changed. The classrooms were changed and even some of my friends had to leave the class because of the itinerary  All of these made me think and doubt if I was in the right track. But it turns out that I was wrong.

   When the teacher arrived my first thought was: "Okay, she seems nice." But then she came with all of those  books and I said "There we go, everything can change!". As she started to describe the course then I fell in love with the class and everything. When she said that we had to write a journal I thought that it will help me to develop my writing skills. When she mentioned the movies we had to see I felt better because they weren't so old like other professors and I had seem some that were actually great. The books were what made me doubt because some were pretty fun but others not so much.

    When I saw my classmates I was actually pretty relax. Armando and Siule were friends of my sister that I had met previously and it was a relief when I saw them. When we were paired in different groups that was what made me really excited. I got to know wonderful people that were really great speaking and working together. When we did the oral presentations it helped me to lose my fear of speaking in front of everybody and simply say what I had to say without any problems.

   What was really unique and still is in my mind are the different journeys that the people explored or when trough.  When the professor expressed all of her experienced in the army and with her mom, my only comment was: "I want to know more!". When Beatriz told her experience on going through all of Europe I decided that I want to do that. When all of my classmates told all of their journeys it really helped me to open my mind and think of what I want to do with my life.

   The class has been a journey itself. I had met wonderful people and experienced some journeys just by simply hearing the others. It has helped me to grow as a person and it turns out to be one of the best classes I've taken during my college experience. It's really is a Journey in Literature becuase we learned while reading books and seeing movies.  I'm starting to regret that it's going to end so soon! But as the name of our group says : Bon Vogage! Arrivederchi! Adios! Goodbye!


 

Mirror mirror, is this me or only her?

  Imagine that you're waking up one morning and suddenly you see your reflection in the mirror. Instantly you see yourself reflected and try to arrange the mess that you had that night. As you continue to check yourself you notice that your "other" is doing what you do; she blinks, smiles and even laughs if you do. You wonder what if this "other" was with me in real life? Would it be cool or just awkward?  I have this problem because this "other" is my twin and I have to see my reflection everyday while I'm wandering around (don't worry is not as weird as you would think).




  While going through my childhood I was always confused with my twin sister and also the teachers didn't knew whom to penalize. Sometimes I would get in trouble without doing anything or simply by being in the wrong place at the right time. My sister is not so innocent as she seems, she would do the jokes and then I would've to pay for her. This was happening during all of my childhood until I was in high school (but that's another story).

   I had to deal and have patience because it's not easy being confused all of the time with another person. It's not easy try to get your friends and all of the people you know to difference you. But it had some pros, not all of the people can be born a twin and also an identical one. It was fun when we came together and did jokes to the family members without their knowledge.  Katerina and I have different moles in our faces and  that's what my family used to difference us. In a Christmas party we put makeup on and changed our moles so that I looked like her. What's really funny is that most of our family got fooled by this joke and even told us things that they wouldn't have otherwise. In high school we would change our t shirts so people would thing that I was her and so on.

   What this characteristic has showed me is that it doesn't matter if things seem bad, good things can always come out of it. This is an internal journey that will always be in my life because I can't change the fact that I'm a twin. I have had great experiences my being able to be like so few people can and have gotten in trouble and out of it thanks to this.  It's fun to be able to just change my day or the other because of having the same face as other person.

   Some mistakes that I want to clear. We do not have a special connection. We do not share the same thoughts. If she's hurt I don't feel it. I have no special powers and neither does she. We are simply two sisters that have the same blood and face. It's like you with your brother, only that we were born on the same day. Please if you see any twins walking around dont do this questions that I'm sure they're tired of answering the same one all over again. Thanks!

Chasing Liberty...

    Have you gone to places just wanting to get out of your routine? Just trying to fly away and discover places without any troubles or discrepancies. Well my friend you have come to the right place and time; imagine being the daughter of the most important man on earth.  This is the case of the movie Chasing Liberty  by Andy Cadiff in 2004.


    

   Anna Foster is the daughter the president of the United States of America. This means no ordinary  life, no parties, no hanging out without having someone following her all around. When she gets tired one night of this and can't take it no more, she does what any other teenage girl would've done...escape. When going on a concert in Prague she paints her hair and changes clothes with her friend, causing the agents to be confused. When they realize she's gone its to late because she's already with an stranger that's guiding her. The movie gets more interesting when its revealed that the stranger Ben Calder it's actually an agent that works for her father.  The president then creates a plot:  he's going to let Anna enjoy her liberty with Ben because this way he can monitor her without she realizing it. And thus our story begin!


 

  They start to fall madly in love while visiting all of Europe.  Their adventure is  by train, motorcycle,  gondolas and even bungee jumping! Ben and Anna start to let go of their personalities to try and enjoy each other and the cultures they see. Their external journeys is what makes them change and start to comprehend that things in life can be fun and easygoing. Anna starts to be more adventurous and daring while Ben is less worried, focusing more in what life can offer.  At the end of the movie both have gone trough some internal journeys that changed them forever.

   This movie instantly became one of my favorites when I saw it. I felt so identified with Anna because many times I hide in my shell and it's so difficult for me to get out. But as I started to analyze I noticed that if one gets out then more people can know you and then you slowly start to confide in others. Also she didn't care what other thought at the end and that was my motivation to do the things that I love without being afraid of the outcome. The movie inspired me to let go of my fears and try new things because we only have one life and the opportunities maybe come only once.

   If you haven't seen the movie, what are you waiting for? It's a really well done movie that's going to move you and even inspire you. I recommend it and also say that if you haven't gotten your adventure yet, then get out and start to explore!

The conference, success or what?

     When the teacher said that some students will be picked to present in front of the classroom our papers I thought: "Please don't be me, please don't be me". It wasn't because I was afraid, on the contrary because I was so overwhelmed that I believed I will do it bad. But I'm glad she didn't chose me because the ones who did it, made a perfect job.

    As she started to call out the names of the students that had to present I wasn't surprised. Those who were chosen always spoke on class and had the habit of speaking clearly. When I was reunited with some of them to read out loud their papers I started to feel that they were perfect for the role. They had a clear way of speaking and even their words came to me. 

   When I arrived at the auditorium I felt as if I was in the wrong place. There was nobody outside and inside the auditory there was only three tables one beside another with the students reading. I thought  that in the place I was to be, there was going to be a stage present. Also there was food outside which made me believe that it was definitely a party. As I was about to leave, some of my classmates arrived and then I looked through the door and saw the professor.

   Some of the students started to read outside to practice and I started to get more nervous than they were. When they started to read out loud their papers I felt as if I was in other part. They spoke really well in English and made clear all of their points, none of them had any flaws.  All of them were dressed so elegantly that I felt out of place. They behaved so calmly and professional that I felt proud of them. What made me most impacted was the fact that although the auditory was full with people from other classes they could perform without any problems.

    The activity was a really great success  The students impressed the others and I have to say that I have never attended anything like it before. If I was in their positions I think that I would've done badly without any doubt. I felt really glad to be present and hear their words.

The art of blogging...

    As the generations grow, so does the technology and the methods they use. My grandmother was used to the radio and now we have internet. My mother used the desktop computer and now we have  laptops. My mother used the radio and now we have I pods and. In the future generations I imagine that I'll say to my grand kids, what is that artifact? But nevertheless, we use the technology as a way to improve our communication and one of these includes the blog.

    When the teacher announced that we had to develop a blog I thought: "Okay, another one". For my high school class I had to develop another one and it was really fun but weird in some way. I had to write more that 30 posts and it was difficult for me at first but then I got the hang of it. As I started to create my blog for the Journey in Literature class I noticed that it was actually more easy.

   First of all there weren't much specifications and it was more easy to navigate through the settings and display. What made me love most this art was that I could put any background that I wanted without having to worry about any decoration at all. When the teacher said in class: "Some of you have done a great job, one or two included pictures and others even put an application of YouTube".  I knew she had seen my blog and it made me happy because mine had all of the descriptions she referred to. This helped to get me more free in what I wrote.

      

   The blog is done so that people can expressed their ideas and thoughts without problems. This was what I did. After the first couple of blogs I decided that this was my way of expressing my thought without any restrictions and I did. My first posts are really formal but the others are really carefree and really show all of my thoughts. This has the most personal and fun side of me. The blog helped me to really know the difference between a traveler and a tourist because of the different topics I've written in it.  It was a very useful tool that more professors should use because it helped me to focus more on the class and develop my written skills. When people that I didn't knew told me that they loved my blog I felt really blessed and that's why I decided to create my own blog to free my mind.

   For those that still don't have a blog I have to say that it's a really great tool to just free your mind and meet people. You could affect the life of someone or simply get to know them and surprise yourself in what you could learn. Start now that afterwards you're going to regret not doing it before.

Perspective of Puerto Rico (Traveler vs. Tourist)

Comment:

My uncle lives in Puerto Rico (going there during the summer) and it seems like a great place. I have seen pictures and it looks fantastic!

Posted by Abby on February 14, 2014 | 03:06 PM

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/destination-hunter/north-america/caribbean-atlantic/puerto-rico/puerto-rico-history-heritage.html#ixzz2Luwom0nV

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Many tourists when coming to Puerto Rico believe that it’s a tropical island with a lot of beaches and mostly sea. Some believe that we’re Indians that look like the ones in the Amazons. The Americans think that we’re kind of Mexicans because of their problems with immigration and our Hispanic culture. Our grandparents even believe that we live like in the old times with horses as our way of transportation.  All of this is relative; depending on which side of the world we are and what we have heard.

For example, in the comment above the person says: “I have seen pictures and it looks fantastic!”  By seeing photos one can’t say if a place is awesome or not because if a photographer wants to attract tourist he/she will take the most beautiful pictures of the most horrendous places.  Also many of the tourists that come to Puerto Rico try to get away from their problems and ordinary life’s and that’s why they only worry about their vacations without taking care of the people that live here. Some of them don’t even get the full experience because they only stay in San Juan (a place that was built many years ago) and don’t go to see the essence of PR in places like Rio Piedras where the poverty is at its peak.

I've had experiences where the tourists see me and believe that I'm somehow one of them. This is because in the summertime I loved to go to San Juan and went on trips in the "trolley" and I would say the basic things I knew about Puerto Rico. Their immediate questions were: "Is it safe? You can speak both languages? You really did your homework! (laughter afterwards)."  My answer was: "Puerto Rico is like any other place; we're rich and poor. I can speak both languages because I've lived here a lot of years and we're obligated to learn both of them. I haven't done my homework; I'm a traveler that lives here and if you guys were interested  you would know all of this information by simply searching on the internet. I hope you have a pleasant journey! (And I'll leave afterwards)." What offended me the most wasn't the questions but their lack  of interest for the place they were going to spend a week or more in.

Now a tourist would have been the exact opposite and he/she could have maybe an interesting conversation with me about my country. I've had quite a few of those and I have to say that sometimes I didn't even had answers. This is the kind of traveler that enriches himself or herself with the culture and has something interesting to tell afterwards. Now only to see a place but to live it to the full potential.

  So when you're going to a place remember to experience everything without any doubt in your mind that it's going to be really different. Try to get out of your comfort zone without doing things that could harm you.  Try to see the world as if today was your last!

How the tourist see Puerto Rico: (Beautiful, isn't it?)

Sarah Macdonald: Traveler or Tourist?

The book Holy Cow was written by Sarah Macdonald in 2004. It relates her story and her adventures throughout India and the different journeys in religion she faced over there. It’s about new things she found within herself, her love life and even some internal journeys.

I strongly believed that Macdonald was a traveler in all of her aspects until I started to read more and more and realized otherwise. She has a little bit of both mixed in her personality because she can be traveling but then have characteristics of a tourist. That’s why I finally decided she was neither a tourist nor a traveler but a mix of both.

In chapter 11 she says: “…but Passover comes but once a year and I figure I may never be invited to such an event again. Being able to take up such opportunities is one of the great privileges of not working-I love not having plans. In Sydney at our wedding people kept asking me “what do you do all day in India?” I felt almost embarrassed saying, “traveling”, as it’s not something valued much in my homeland. But I’m growing increasingly happy with my choice to go with the flow in life. It’s liberating and exciting.”  Page 190.

It definitely shows how she loves to be a traveler and that feeling excites her.  This is something that I noticed because she constantly expressed characteristics and didn’t care about trying out for new experiences while she traveled. It’s expressed when in this chapter she goes to a ritual named Seder that means order and that things must go in order. During the festival they begin with prayers and also they chant, one of the funny aspects of this part is that she criticizes that the “wine” was just grape fruit for those traveling with a backpack (herself). During this ritual she was trying to see how the Jews were different than the Israeli and compare both of the religions.  I strongly thought that if I was there I would have done the same. 

As I continued to read the chapter I realized that all of her experiences were just the ones of a traveler. When she was getting on a plane and it was having turbulence, she was having difficulties and didn’t know if she should pray, be a Buddhist and meditate or be a Jew. So she was having a lot of difficulties with Christianity, Buddhist or the Jew religion. This is what surprised me because she went and had the experience of a traveler by trying all the religions but after all she claimed her roots by not knowing if she should pray  to Christ. Exactly what a traveler does, he or she will try a new experience but then he/she will decide to stick to it or not.  

Other comments that made me think she was a traveler were some like these:

“ I’ve always wanted to check out a Jewish feast” page 189

“ ..I’ve even claimed Mount Sinai in Egypt were God came to Moses and told him he must free his people from slavery. Egypt didn’t let me go without putting the plague on me and clinical depression on my friend, but when it wouldn’t let the Jews go, God came to the rescue.” Page 189

Sarah also says “Shanti is Indian for ‘peace’. I find India anything but shanty-in fact I find it loud, intrusive, brash, impatient and confronting.” P 186

            When I asked things about the people about India they normally say “they are dirty and don’t shower much” or simply “I don’t like it”. When I read the comment that she said I thought, “there it goes”, she has a bit of tourist in herself. By saying that she doesn’t find India at all peaceful I believe that she is like all of the other tourists, or in my case friends that think like this. I would’ve thought that she would be the exception and found India more beautiful and unique in its own way after she went there but she said this and is a tourist without doubt because tourists just want the good experience and doesn’t want to see the bad parts about the country they’re visiting.

“Irit and I define Wonderland differently. To her and her friends, India is a theme park of cheap thrills and easy drugs away from a country constantly at war with itself. India has cost me dearly in terms of health and hair and I’m still a confused Alice-child constantly confronted by creatures beyond my comprehension.”  P 186

After talking to a friend of her and comparing both of her nationalities she said this comment. Irit is an Israeli that just got out of her country after serving in the military and she went to India to find an escape. She told Macdonald “I think India is like Wonderland to me”. But Macdonald thinks otherwise and that’s why she comments that way. With this comment I came to the conclusion that she was a tourist again. How can someone that wants to be a traveler say things like this? She explains that it cost her things in her health and hair is just a tourist that wants to explore the good things and left out the bad things that have happened to her in her life; she just want to explore the country and forget about all of her bad experiences.

I think I’m a bit like Sarah after all. Sometimes I just want to be a traveler and other times a tourist. This happened when I visited the United States and Canada last semester. I explored it with the mentality of both.

            When my family members wanted me to go to a new place I would ask: “Is it clean? How is it? What will we do there?”  And depending on their answers I decided if I wanted to go or not. Others I just simply went to the places that the entire tourist went to, for example the Niagara Falls in Canada. This made me be the classical tourist all of the residents criticize.

But to my credit sometimes I didn’t even ask and I just lead them there. When we were in Florida I ask to go to a mall and just lost myself in the crowds. The Americans looked at me as if I were a teenager. I tasted the different shakes, compared the prices to Puerto Rico and even went to the bathrooms over there. I could compare both cultures my simply visiting a place that was so different from the ones I’m used to. What I have to say is that I was a traveler here because I was willing to explore the culture without any judgment in me.

When I compare Sarah and me I can say that we both are a little bit of a mix. We can explore new things and be open-minded about it but then have characteristics of a tourist within ourselves. It’s funny how someone completely different from me can share a little thing with me. After all being a little bit of both is what’s more important, “in the variety is the spice of life”.