4 posts tagged “travel”

The other day, when I went to visit my parents, my mother handed me a letter from my university (I still use their P.O. Box.) It was about a trip to China for MBA students, were you could earn elective credits in advanced international business. Twenty four hours later I had decided this was a great opportunity that I couldn't miss out on and by the end of the week I had signed up and bought the plane ticket. Now all I have left to do is apply for a visa to enter the country. I went to an office that does all the visa work for me only to find that I have to have an itinerary of everything I'm going to do including a copy of my plane and hotel reservations in my name. All I am missing is the hotel reservation because my university took care of that stuff so tomorrow I have to head down to the office to see if they have some sort of copy they can give me so that I may finally finish the application process, and then sit and wait till someone in the Chinese embassy decides If I can go or not... So hopefully China, here I come! If not then I hope all the plane tickets and what I payed in school is refundable...

Sometimes I feel like continued education is such a waste of life. After all that is the only thing I have done... study... for 19 out of my 25 years of life. I study so that I may find a job with a nice salary at the end of the tunnel that may allow me to live out my true passion... travel. I find myself fortunate enough to say that even though I have lived a mere quarter century I have already commenced to live out my dreams of international experience. I have seen the view of Paris atop the Eiffel Tower, taken class in the Complutense University of Madrid in Spain (one of the oldest universities in the world,) enjoyed a kiss in the Piazza San Marco in Venice, drank a beer in a pub in London, heard the rushing waters of the Niagara Falls, taken a picture holding up the leaning tower of Pisa, eaten chocolate in Switzerland, seen the roof of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City, had a night out in New York City, felt the hot sun of Miami, experienced the clear waters of the British and American Virgin Islands... in short I have walked the streets of Barcelona, Valencia, Toledo, Madrid, London, Paris, Venice, Rome, Florence, Perugia, Liechtenstein, Vienna, Zurich, Ontario, Boston, New York, and Miami. There is so much left to see, taste, touch, smell and hear! Its a big world for a girl from a small tropical island in the middle of the Caribbean Ocean...

Well Im back from my trip, it was short but sweet. It gave me time to get my mind off things and just enjoy life. I had been to the city as a child but now I truly got the big picture. May I add that I hate American Airlines... They lost my luggage so the first day I had to buy the essentials and clothes for the night on the town. A friend of mine from high school who lives in the city took us to the village at night for drinks. He's a graphic designer for Mark Ecko for Ecko unltd. Obviously in the city to gain experience in his craft but I couldn't help to notice that he didn't seem very happy. "I miss the island, its too cold up here and Im turning white, I need some sun" He seemed happy to have some puertorrican company. Now I know some people will say, "why? there's like a million Puertorricans in NY" To which I will (very politically incorrect) respond no there aren't, there are like a million Nuyoricans up there. Believe me its not the same at all. We have different cultures, raised in very different realities. Now I'm not trashing them or anything, I'm just stating that we behave and express ourselves differently. On the island people cringe when they see the Puerto Rican day parade, our flag being tossed about as a "fashion statement" knowing that to people that don't even know where the island is, well this will be their point of reference... Now just because I don't wear my flag on a t-shirt that is two sizes too small doesn't mean I'm not proud of my heritage. People on the island are friendly, contrary to popular belief most speak english as well as spanish, we have a high rate of people who continue their education after high school, and very low illiteracy rate. We have good fashion sense as well :P Luis Vuitton, Gucci and Channel all have stores here for a reason (Our mall is the biggest in the Caribbean and you won't find any flag shirts there) 

Many things have happened in the past two weeks, and it's not that I'm the type of person that runs away when things get tough, but with my 25th birthday coming up I have decided that the best present for myself is to get away. I live to travel, I find that in getting lost in a new city I often find myself and there's nothing like coming home with a new perspective. So next weekend I'm heading off to New York City with a close friend who is also in a rut these days. I had been there once before but when I was a kid and New York just seems more like a grown up kind of city. So I'm very excited to once again get on a plane and see the island from god knows how many miles up in the sky... I'll let you all know how it went ;)