Tourist For A Day At Arecibo Old Town

Today I was a tourist for a the whole day. I was ordered to disguise myself and act as a tourist for a whole day as a class project. The purpose of this was to study the way people treat me, judge me or think and even act around me just for being a tourist.

To accomplish this project I went to my hometown, Arecibo. I knew if I went to Old San Juan I might see someone I knew there and It would made me feel ridiculous. It would also made me not stand out because Old San Juan is always full of tourists from all parts of America and even Europe. In Arecibo I went to the Cayetano Coll y Toste house at Old town. I knew tourists there would probably be from other parts of the island and not from the states or other native language place. I wore an orange maxi dress with a straw hat and some green contact lenses. The day before I tried to get a bit tanned by taking a walk on the beach while the Sun was still up. My mom and my best friend who I went with said I nailed it.

I have to say I was impressed by how nice I was treated. At first I was trying hard not to laugh because I thought the hostess at the Cayetano Coll y Toste house was onto me. But I did a pretty good job. They asked where I came from and what brought me to Arecibo. Of course I lied. I said I was from Brazil and that I went to Arecibo because of the Radio Telescope and was just passing through. They recommended me certain places to visit including "Cueva Ventana". I tried so hard not to laugh, I have been to that place so many times and here I was getting recommendations. The worst thing that could happen, happened. I got asked if I knew any words in Spanish, I was like "I'm doomed I'm gonna have to fake my Spanish accent but I don't know how Brazilians Spanish sounds like". I said "hola" and we all started laughing. I said I was in a hurry so they even gave me a mini tour around the house for free. I was amazed how interesting it was to be there. I have never been there before even though I was born two blocks away from Cayetano's house. Being there for the first time disguised as a tourist felt random to me.

After that we just walked around, pretended to take some pictures and just talked and talked in English to see people's reaction. As a bilingual island you would think people are accustomed to English language. But people would give us stares or just kept looking at us, especially the public bus drivers. It seems they are not used to people saying everything in English. I do not judge them, being born and raised in Arecibo I know we barely receive tourists there and many of the elderly people do not speak English, some barely know how to write in Spanish.

My conclusion from the experience is that since we do not receive many tourists in Arecibo, when one comes to the town they're overly polite towards the tourist to leave a good impression. I believe overall tourists are treated with more kindness because they contribute to the economy of the island and we need them to keep coming. There will always be someone who treats them with hospitality because they feel proud of being puertorican and living in the island.

Perspective

Through Amateur Eyes is the introduction of a book called "On Looking" written by Alexandra Horowitz. Here she writes about how she rarely paid attention to her surroundings or discarded most of the things that went on the streets and blocks when she walked her dog. However, as she clearly stated "Together, we became investigators of the ordinary, considering the block--the street
and everything on it", she began to pay attention to her surrounding. Not only that, she began to appreciate details with all of her senses, just like a dog would. She describes how each person has a different perspective and how this perspective was influenced by the person's experience, background and professional environment. I believe we can all relate to this. We can set up a subject and never arrive to the same conclusion or agreement because we see things and perceive things and situations differently because of these backgrounds and experiences. This of course applies to certain topics. For example, I am sure any person on their right mind would consider robbing as wrong and illegal.

I am a fifth year physics student. My job as a physics student and researcher is to observe with details the way nature behaves and explain those behaviors with mathematical models and expressions. I remember when I was a freshman student. I used to enjoy fiction movies and see life and surroundings as most people do, not paying attention to every detail and just enjoying the moment and appreciating the overall concept of things. When I went to Old San Juan I would be amazed about how big cruise ships are and how they could float. I would stay frozen when airplanes flew over my head and wonder how a 160,000 pounds airplane could fly. After taking core courses I now understand with details how airplanes work, how they flight, how ships float and I can see all the fake in fiction movies. I can see the physics everywhere, in cars, buildings, orthopedics and hospital machinery. I have learned to watch carefully my surrounding and try and understand what goes on with them and how they work. My brain is now accustomed to remembering little things most would consider irrelevant. I can for example remember people's clothes easily. Once I see a face I will know I have seen it before when I see it for the second time. I will remember the song at the background of a certain moment or situation. When I mention this to people, even friends, they go "how can you possibly remember that?". I tell them I have trained my eyes and applied what I have learned in class and that doing that has sharpen my sense of vision to details.

Each person has gone through experiences that make them either more aware or less aware of their surrounding details. Age, gender, culture. state of health and country of origin affects perception of people. They walk and see what I can't see just like I see what they can't see. This shows how interesting having a wide variety of friends or colleagues can be, it can help to see the world from a whole new point of view and learn from them.

Puerto Rico and Malta English Conference: A Review

An Introduction

Last week I went to a conference that I found had a particularly interesting content. The conference was given by a young German researcher who studied the similarities of the English language between Malta, Puerto Rico, United States and United Kingdom. He came to the conclusion Puerto Rican and Malta English were more alike and US English and British English were more different. The conference topic was beyond interesting, taking into account the history background of each English origin and the little/great relationships between them.

The Speaker

Unfortunately a good topic is not everything that comprises an outstanding conference. Starting with the well-known and respected speaker, while he didn’t lack charisma and humor, he did not speak with a clear and loud voice. He did not articulate well his lips and he had an accent which was not troublesome for most people. However, he had the habit of lowering his voice by the end of the sentence which is where most of the important information is presented.

The Slides

The most annoying and eye tiresome part of the conference was the presentation slides. The information was presented was not public friendly. A lot of emphasis was given to technicalities and not to the research itself, making the conference more enjoyable when it was about to end. The slides were crowded with sentences and small letters. Trying to understand what was written in them while struggling with the room lights was painful to the eye. While some of the audience did not find this a problem, the people in the back, me included, did have trouble concentrating on the presentation. A few of the people sitting by my side got up early and left. Some were not even able to take notes. I was more concentrated on my surroundings than in the conference. I do not blame myself or any of the people who left. Concentrating nowadays is hard enough with a cellphone and a laptop on hand. You could imagine how a speaker not owning the stage and a bad presentation can worsen the situation. 

The consequences

It is important for speakers to be able to communicate their information and findings clearly with their audience. What is the point of a conference other than enlighten successfully and entertain an audience? Failing at accomplishing this not only affects the reputation of the speaker but students grade are also affected if their professors ordered them to write a paper about the findings the material presented at the conference. This blog is not meant to be disrespectful. I am merely expressing the conference had an interesting topic and yet the combination of a non-rehearsed presentation and bad designed slides can turn even the presentation of a Nobel Prize into a one-more-waste-of-time.  

Running Brave: A New Kind Of Journey

The Movie

Running Brave is a movie about a young Indian man named Billy Mills. Billy enjoys running for fun and competition. He started running when he was a kid back at the reservation. With time he became talented and a natural and was now running for the track team in Arkansas State University. Being out of the reservation he faces the challenges of the outside world including critics and discrimination. Even when the reserve was under deplorable conditions he was still happy there, been with his family and people of the same ethnicity made him feel safe on his comfort zone. This was a new journey for him. The journey of being a professional athlete and making it to the big leagues and the Olympics, fighting against the tough currents of discrimination, the greed of other people and the doubts within himself developed over time. Relying on the people he loved and going back to his home, Billy found strength within himself to overcome the fears and negative forces that were holding him back and won the gold medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

An External Journey

We do not have to be a runner or an athlete to go through the kind of journey Billy Mills went through. When we travel to other countries or even cities we get out of our comfort zone and we are at risk of experiencing or becoming exposed to similar social pressure and discrimination. Why? Because while some people enjoy change, new and different things, some others don't. This of course doesn't justify discrimination in any way, but it happens and it is very real and hurtful. This is what makes traveling a journey. It's not only about making the trip but to experience the different cultures and believes and even facing the problematic, if any, of people that don’t enjoy the change and culture of people external to their world. This may seem antisocial but we have to remember that when we travel we also carry the culture of our country and our habits, good ones and bad ones. It is important to overcome negative situations when you travel while enjoying the beautiful moments to avoid judging and creating stereotypes of other places.


An Internal Journey

Although strongly related, a journey doesn't have to involve traveling or moving to a different place. An internal journey is if anything, the most important kind of journey. Is the kind of experience that makes you grow as a person and as a society. It's what keeps you sane or insane. An internal journey is a journey where you confront your conscience and thoughts. Billy Mills had lost a few races and before he knew it he had trouble remembering the reason he was running for. His internal journey was finding that reason to continue running and keep pursuing his dreams to make it to the Olympics. Your internal journey is could be any conflict you have been dealing with for the past few days, weeks even years. It could be finding the strength to say no to the cupcake on the fridge or push play to the exercise DVDs. An internal journey could be how to become a better person everyday or how to win a person's heart. As a student, an internal journey could be about deciding which subject to study next when you have an exam about another the next day. It could also be deciding what you want to be as a professional or whether you will pursue graduate studies or not. Any little or important decision that troubles you or a conflict that you experience is an internal journey. A journey with yourself.

An Unexpected Journey

To many who have read The Lord of the Rings knows I took the title from the book one chapter one. Yet that's exactly what this is...or was. An unexpected journey. My very first travel out of Puerto Rico and to anywhere more than 50 miles was a surprise by my dad in the year 2000. I was home with my sister playing Barbies and dad came from work one summer night he said "wrap up your things girls, we're going to Disney". I cried from excitement. Not only was I going to Disney in Florida but it was going to be for a whole month! How awesome was that? I rememer the day we had to leave my mom dressed me up with a Hello Kitty shirt and skirt. I also had a pony tail with a beautiful pink bow on it. You know a moment it's unforgettable when you remember small details like clothes you or loved ones were wearing or things you said or didn't said. Anyways, that day I had many firsts. My first day out of my town Arecibo, the first time I got on an airplane which up to this day I keep thinking it made a big influence on me wanting to study physics. Yes, an 8 year old was that amazed of an airplane. They still amaze me everytime and they will always amaze me. When we got to Orlando Florida I got into a train for the first time also! Anyways, the following day we went to Animal Kingdom Part at World Disney. I have to say, the magic of going to Disney is so strong that you get chills everytime, no matter how old or how many times you have gone, when you pass through the welcoming entrance. I do not remeber much from this park, while I enjoyed myself it was not my favorite. Can you guess why? Dinosaurs. I love dinosaurs now that, you could say I am very aware they are not real. The thing is my parents made me get into rides I found scary and up to some degree I think traumatized me because there are still some of them that up to these days I'm still afraid of.

The next day we went to Magic Kingdom. Oh my god the Cinderella Castle! Can you imagine the reaction of an 8 year old who grew up on watching those movies to the point I made my mom roll her eyes to infinity when I told her to put it on the VHS. That's right. No Blu-Rays back then. To stay on subject I have to say that was my favorite park. The rides were perfect for adults and kids...even the cowardly ones like me. Like in almost every park there are thrill rides that are meant to make you scream even just a little. I went to a ride called Space Mountain. It was still there when I went back in 2009, but it was closed. I remember making a drama to not get on this ride but my parents made me go in anyways. I screamed my heart out. No more tears could be drawn from my eyes and I was pale as a paper by the time I got out. As if the Dinosaurs from the day before weren't enough I had the scare of my life (back then) that day. That was the one ride that made me afraid of roller coasters up to these days. The things parents can do. You know how at the end of those rides they take pictures of you and your loved ones together screaming? Well I wasn't on any because I would be so scared I shoved my head in between my legs. Besides that, I really loved Magic Kingdom. Everything was magical about it. The characters, the athmosphere, the smell of candy and toys and huge turkey legs. Anything a kid could ask for.

The third day on the trip was to Studios MGM, now known as Hollywood Studios. It  wasn't my favorite park. The rides are mostly simulators which you got to love them, but they will give you a headache after sometime. Either by 3D glasses or by smashing your head constantly against the car ride. The other days we went to Epcot Center which I found a bit boring back with the exception of the fireworks closing show at the end of the day. Up to this day it has been the most beautiful, mind blowing fireworks show I have ever seen. I went again in 2009 for the 4th of July and I have to say that even though for a lot of people Disney is overrated, they have to at least once in their lives go to Epcot park and spend the 4th of July there. It's worth every penny. Epcot was the last Disney park we went to on this trip. We went to Wet N' Wild which is a water park in Orlando International Drive. After I went to Wet N' Wild I couldn't go to the Las Cascadas de Aguadilla in Puerto Rico. I found it boring because there were so many rides in the park back in Orlando that it made it harder to appreciate what we had back at home. Another thing I did for the first time was to see in person a crocodile. There are lots in Florida, it's like there was one in every puddle there was on the street. Pretty scary. However we went to a park called Gatorland. Don't know if it still exist, but that's where I saw the first crocodile in person and tasted gator meat which I remember was exquisite. The last park we went to in Orlando was Universal Studios. It was fun but again, it was like Hollywood Studios back in Disney, so I did not find it that big of a deal like I do now. Now I just love it with the Harry Potter theme that opened last year. In fact, I went on October with my two best friends Michael and Kenny but that it's another journey to write about later.


In the last two weeks of the trip we went to NASA
 Kennedy Space Center. Another major influence

in my life that pushed me to pursue a STEM career. The space center was more of a museum and up to this day I remember as clear as a day the huge rocket from the 1950s lying across the hangar. The propulsion system alone was two stories high. A kid never forgets something so impressive. At last on the final week of the trip we went to Cape Canaveral where we took a cruise ship and went to the Bahamas. I have to say the Bahamas is a beautiful island in the tourist area where all the five stars hotels are. I recall asking my mom repeatedly why were all the trees burned, she kept saying because of wild fires but I did not get it back then. I get it now because I witnessed one a few years ago when I went to Mayaguez. More than the Bahamas, I would say I enjoyed the cruise ship itself. They had an international buffet where they would dedicate each night to a particular country. They also had a sports bar for kids with music and everything which is where I had my first piña colada! I also learned how to swim in the cruise ship pool. The whole pool was 5ft deep, how cruel is that? So I had to learn in order to enjoy it before we got back. And I did. I even made some friends from the states and I kept bumping on them everywhere in cruise ship. Sometimes I wonder what became of them. But that was it, the trip came to an end when we got back to Cape Canaveral and drove back to the Orlando Airport. I was sad we had to leave. Little did I know that was only the beginning of the many journeys that awaited me.