On the morning of November 14, 2015, the group of Freelancers from the English class, Journey in Literature, and I, went as part of an adventure, hiking to "El Arbol Solitario" or The Lonely Tree, located at Salinas, Puerto Rico. We had been planning this hike for a month now. I wanted to share some cool spots with the group and with this being a traveling class we decided to make it happen.
The Lonely Tree is a recently discovered spot of local tourism that has lately been explored and enjoyed by many locals and outsiders from all over the island and different parts of the world. Thanks to social media, mainly Instagram, more and more people decide to do this hike as part of their bucket list. I can see it becoming a must-do at Puerto Rico. It is located between the municipalities of Cayey and Salinas just after the Jíbaro monument. An off the route trail that goes up a mountain to where a flag, a tree, a swing, and a majestic view are. From there you could see the whole valley to the south coast of Arroyo to the wind mills of Santa Isabel. It's not the the tallest mountain here, but it does offer an amazing view and it does inspire calmness and relaxation. You get to separate from the fast and tiring things of the city. And for all those adventures and nature loving individuals this will highly be on their favorite spots from the island list.
Days before the actual hike we decided to do the trail on sunrise. That meant to wake up around 4 o'clock in the morning to catch dawn. The spot is at least 45 minutes away from the metropolitan area and the hike to the top of the mountain about 30 - 40 minutes - depending on the stamina of the person or group. Which can be intense at the beginning or if you are not an active exercise person, but it can be done. Sure, a little bit exhausting, but possible. So it is important to bring water. Once we reached the top everybody was astonished by the beautiful view. There even was a rainbow receiving us at the very end of our trail. Honestly, It was a very unique milestone and we got to enjoy it together as a group. We were all taking pictures like crazy at the beginning, but once we settled we just let the moment fill our memory part of the brain with how amazing everything looked. To just enjoy the cold breeze, the sound of wind, and the view while sitting on the rock at the top.
It brings me great pleasure in showing and seeing peoples faces when they get to see the stunning places Puerto Rico has to offer. I always try to bring friends along my adventures and share memories together.
For an English assignment, all the students of the course where supposed to play the role of a tourist for a day. I went to the city of Old San Juan in order to experience first hand what's like to be on the shoes of a non local. That way, see how people treated me positively and/or negatively. By having looks of a North American I easily blend in with the tourists around the area. It was also cruise day, so they where everywhere. It was around 11:00am. A friend of mine tagged me along on this fun and interesting experiment.
First, we walked around the area for a while with camera on hand and some backpacks. We where looking for a map of the city, so we entered this gift shop where all of the tourist restaurants where and we asked for one. This was our first experience of the day. The cashier, a woman in the mid forty's, was suddenly surprised that we came into the shop asking for a map. She didn't know how to act or say at the beginning, but then she remembered she had an old touristy map of the fort San Felipe del Morro just below her purse. She gave that one to us. My friend decided to open it immediately. We exchanged some uncomfortable glances when we started speaking english. The woman didn't know how to respond to us and in a broken not so perfect english she told us to keep the map. But no sentence was used. Just a "kept it" and some hand gestures. We could obviously see how uncomfortable she was with our presence there.
Some time passed before our next experience. We were walking around the city with stops along the way for pictures and confirming locations with the map. After minutes of intense walking on the streets we asked two police officers where "Señor Paleta" was. A new establishment where they sell artisans popsicles. One of the guards didn't know where it was. The other one knew, but he was scared of speaking in english or giving us directions in that language. They took our map and kept talking between them in Spanish. Of course, we knew what they were saying but we kept the act going. They were seriously struggling with trying to give us directions in English. We could see they were trying to help us. So we acted we understood everything they told us. They police officer that was pointing us in a direction was speaking in both languages. He was really bad at it though. But he was trying to help us. We said our thank you and off we went to where we told us.
On the streets, we came across this store where they sold lots of souvenirs that changed colors with the sun. It was pretty cool. The girl who worked there spoke perfect English and she eagerly showed us around the store. We didn't wanted to buy anything - a lot of the things were kind of expensive - but we tried and looked everything they had. We happily said goodbye to the lovely woman and we kept on our way.
Finally, by mistake, we found "Señor Paleta". As locals we also didn't know where it was. It was our first time there. Before we entered we decided to end the experiment, but once we entered the establishment the employee greeted us in English. So, we went with the flow. We ordered the most popular popsicles they had. The strawberry mojito - which was delicious by the way - and a coconut one for my friend. When we finished eating our popsicles we wanted more. To this day we still want more. I really loved how they tasted. That is a must now overtime when visiting Old San Juan. Oh, it's located at Teutons street, just near the Fortaleza.
The experience went pretty well. Around the city, locals looked at us differently rather than when we are dressed normally. The energy we felt was completely different around the streets. We could obviously feel the stares and the looks passing by locals gave us. But we didn't care. We where on the zone, and we wanted to get to know how tourist felt. As the person conducting the assignment, I was shocked about how weird the energy was. I have never felt that way before in San Juan. I am normally comfortable there, but with a slight change of language big differences were experienced.
Puerto Ricans are a stunning mix of individuals living in a small island at the caribbean located right next to Cuba and Dominican Republic. Where they are known to be as one of the happiest people in the world, research made by live science.com on 2014. An archipelago, that includes the main island of Puerto Rico with the capital being San Juan, and smaller islands like Culebra, Vieques, Isla de Mona, and some others. It's climate is full on tropical, so no matter the day or month in the year its always going to feel like summer. Also, the diversity in scenery is immense, you can go from beautiful mountains and stunning beaches to large rainforests and amazing caves to dry natural reserves, and its just a small Island with 100 miles long and 35 miles wide, approximately.
Doors: Old San Juan - Dana Jo Photography
These joyful and friendly people are not just a mix of Spanish, Tainos, and Africans, but a combination of nationalities from all over the world. It does not matter if you where born on another country and then brought here to live or viceversa, come from Puerto Ricans parents, or you are from a completely different culture and have been living here for a long time, the idea of being from here still remains the same. You are categorized as a Puerto Rican, because it makes who you are. And we - I include myself as a result of being Puerto Rican - are so acceptant of everyone into our culture. We always find a way of connecting to those who are in a way Puerto Ricans. Just as the multiple different doors that can be found all over the city of Old San Juan, we are the same way. Different in colors, in sizes, shapes, types, and styles.
For the Puerto Ricans, food, style, and music is very important. We love our "sazón" (an exciting and unique type of specie that adds flavor to our food) so much that it is included in every meal of the day and it may be a sin if its forgotten. Our food needs to be full with taste and deliciousness for us to enjoy to the maximum. It's kind of a way of living here. Sometimes it's hard to try change our food habits because of the love we have for our combination of ingredients.
As well as food, style is something we care a lot about. We like to give great first impressions. In other words, we like to look good. That when meeting new people or hanging out with relatives. We are about family and friends, and we defend each other 'till the end. We love to share and spend lots of time with the people we hold dear. And for music, it's a part of us. Parties and live music events are held almost every week all over the island. Puerto Ricans are the party type of people. Everything is a celebration for us. In addition, I believe this little place has more holidays than any other country, and we keep adding more. We just love to live life.
No wonder, why Puerto Ricans are so happy. Its a very active and alive culture. Sometimes, by being who we are, we can be classified as loud by the non residents and/or other cultures. But it's who we are. We like to feel alive in every kind of aspect. So full of color, of adventure, and purpose.
