“But, where is the view?” 

Home written stream of consciousness 2/18/2013 

A Room with a View was a great film. It was definitely a journey even though the main characters traveled only half of the movie. This is because it was more of an internal journey, a journey of the emotions and the actions that eventually led to George and Lucy’s marriage. This movie makes it very clear that one does not need to travel in order to go on a journey; a person can always depend on their imagination. Nonetheless, a journey in mind is as much a journey as a trip that anyone takes.

 It is clear from the beginning of the film that Lucy seems interested in George, but it appears that she is somewhat constrained or limited because of the mindset in the epoch that she was living. This makes it evident that social ideology can be very powerful, and it can even influence how people think and what people feel, because Lucy sort of doesn't like the idea of marrying George at the beginning. So basically, the movie is a journey of how Lucy changes her mindset from not wanting to be with George, to marrying George at the end.

It was funny to see how the movie started in the same way that it ended. At the beginning, Lucy was with Charlotte in the hotel room in Florence, discussing over why the room they had gotten did not have a view. At the end, Lucy and George are pictured sitting on the window frame looking out to a view of Florence, in the same place that the first scene of the movie took place. In my opinion, Italy was like the game changer in Lucy’s mind, because maybe she felt more freedom in Italy than what she felt in her small town in England.

Another noticeable scene in the movie was towards the beginning, when Lucy goes to the church and she meets George’s father, there is a tour group taking a tour. This was a funny scene, because all of them were following what the tour guide was saying very closely, and they sort of moved as a one unit, composed of a lot of tourists. If one were to juxtapose travelling vs. tourism in the movie, the traveler side of the story would be Lucy and her odyssey, and the tourist side would be all the people that were in Rome. A movie worth watching!        

"How to lose control of one fourth of the world population.”  

2/17/2013 Home Written stream of consciousness

This second chapter in Kinkaid’s novel applies to many people. Almost every part of the world has been either a colonizer or colonized. Mrs. Kincaid’s reaction is only natural. One would expect a person that lived through that era to feel mad or discontent with the colonizing country. I guess many people that live in Puerto Rico could identify with this situation, as the island has been a colony for hundreds of years. It would be curious to have a Puerto Rican person that is in favor of the islands independence read this and react to it, although many people share Kincaid’s thoughts. The only difference between Antigua and Puerto Rico, besides the obvious ones like size, population and native language, is that the country that once colonized it, gave it its independence.

This has its pros and cons: In the pros, well the country got its independence. In the cons, the country lost its source of sustenance. For example, Kincaid mentions the library that had been damaged in an earthquake. One has to ask the question: “would this library still be closed if they were still under the reign of the United Kingdom?” I think that a lot of the people in Puerto Rican society have gotten accustomed to being economically sustained by the United States, which is why many people don’t want to change the status quo. 

Personally, I favor statehood for the island, but this island is so full of deficit and of lazy people that, that might not even be a possibility. I do know though that if the island manages to get its independence, we are not going to be self- sustainable economically right away. The island would certainly go through some very hard years until it can finally reach the minimum amount of financial stability, partly because we are lacking in infrastructure, and we are lacking in industry and agriculture. It would take years before we could properly handle ourselves. I just get mad thinking about the status crisis that we have, Are we ever going to fix it?       

"Ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise” 

2/17/2013 Home Written stream of consciousness

WOW! This first chapter from Kincaid’s novel gives a whole other meaning to the world travel. Mostly, the point that she is trying to establish is so shocking because it’s so undeniably true in most cases. I mean, when I travel I try to be as inconspicuous as possible, I try to blend in with the locals just because the type of person that has been coined with the term “tourist” is not what I like to associate myself with. Anyway, this chapter of the novel is like viewing travel from the opposite side, we look at a trip through the eyes of the native. When one travels, and in my opinion this applies even more to developing countries, a person never thinks about the tiny details as Kincaid mentions: “You must not wonder what exactly happened to the contents of your lavatory when you flushed it.”

It’s very inconsiderate to just go to a place and enjoy all the island has to give and just leave, when the other half of the island, the one that you didn’t see, is crashing and burning. I mean, you’re paying for it, of course, but sometimes people just ignore the panorama of the situation; barely anyone sees the big picture. I’m not intending to be highfalutin, I’m not implying that when I travel I don’t do these things, but I just want to agree with Jamaica Kincaid, because it’s so true. People go through hardships and some don’t have the frivolities or the luxuries that we consider normal technology, acquirable by nearly everyone. 

I think that if you truly want to be a traveler, and be a part and immerse yourself in multiple cultures, you authentically have to experience what the people of that culture go through, not be ignorant about things, just because it’s convenient. More on this later… Those words in my title from Gray are so true sometimes, although wrong in some cases, but for the most part, true. 

"Expect the Unexpected": 
2/03/2013 Home Written stream of consciousness

There are some things that are overrated in this life. I truly believed that the first weeding I ever attended was going to be amazing and at least a bit fun for a few hours. But contrary to everything that weddings were sold out to be it was pretty boring. I mean, I’m not trying to say that I’ve spent countless hours contemplating over what my first time in a wedding was going to be like, but movies and TV shows and a fair amount of books that I have read, depict them as something out-of-this World. Of course, this is like believing that everything on the internet is true, it’s extremely naïve on my part, but I would have expected it to be a bit fun.

In reality this is what took place that day. First thing that happened was the actual wedding ceremony, which as I expected, was pretty boring. But that is always the worst part, as I expected it to be, it’s just a ceremony afterall. After this, the reception (previously known as “the promise land”) was the next event that was in plans for the day.

When we arrived, there was a ton of people mingling in a room, and since this was a second cousin's wedding, I barely knew anyone. I knew I had seen at least ten people before this event, but I didn’t remember them, and seeing as they didn’t talk to me, they probably didn’t remember me either. It felt sort of pointless standing in a room with no one to talk to, but luckily my sister had the same sentiment, so we spent the rest of the day together. 

Later on, when we started to sit at our assigned table with our parents and some cousins, I started to talk to some of them. We had some things in common which served as good conversation topic. It was the usual teenage chit-chat, video games, TV, movies which are apt for an ample conversation. They were at least enough to last us through the dinner.

After dinner (which was very well cooked), the dancing started. The band was really good, but I really didn’t have enough courage to ask anyone to dance. I didn’t know any of the girls; I hadn’t seen my cousins in years, so I took the obvious choice, my mother. We danced for a while, but she said she got tired of my two left feet. So my brother and I ended the night in the hotel room, where we hooked up a PS3 to the TV and we played for the rest of the night. Unfortunate, this was the highlight of my day. Point being, expectations are not to be taken too seriously, sometimes they don't play out.            

"Helping" is not necessarily a bad thing: 
2/11/2013 home written stream of consciousness

Late last night, I read the chapter on “Helping” in Jim Cooper’s book on his personal experiences at the UPR at Mayaguez. I really did find some of this text funny, even though in my opinion it was not written with a humorous connotation, some of the things Cooper mentioned drew a giggle or two. What Cooper establishes in the text is that some of the students that took class in the English program helped each other with assignments and even tests, because they simply had the urge to help their friends. The students kindly didn’t want their friends or relatives to fail, so they provided a little bit of help. The way in which Cooper writes this chapter is not offensive, it just emphasizes how innocent or maybe how naïve some of the students were at the moment. They genuinely didn’t understand the classroom rules, and no matter how many times the professor tried to explain, the students still didn’t understand. The thing is, the students didn’t really see what they were doing as cheating; they were simply helping their classmates to do better in the assessments.      

In my opinion this isn’t such a bad thing to do. Of course, nowadays things have changed a bit, technology and mass media make it a bit easier to learn things, at least language wise. Also, plagiarism rules and academic dishonesty are a BIG deal. I personally can’t cheat on an exam, never have and most likely never will, due to the simple fact that I don’t want to risk all the effort and expenses that my parents have put into my education for one simple test. I would rather fail with dignity than copy on an exam, get caught, get expelled, and never get a chance to reach my goals. Even if my parents hadn’t put in the effort and the money, honesty is still a crucial value for me. However, at the specific time that the story was taking place there was a much greater deficiency in the English language on the island. This was a good way for students that actually knew English to practice, while at the same time spreading their knowledge to their peers.  

When one reflects on the current situation there really isn’t much of a difference in the education system. The government seems to be indifferent in terms of education, because some public high schools have a horrible ESL program. There are a few exceptions though, I personally took the College Board in a public school, and a lot of the students that went there not only knew English, but a lot of them were really nice and welcoming, very different than past experiences that I’ve had when going to public schools. The system definitely needs a radical change, education wise, but that’s not going to happen until there is a collective radical change in Puerto Rican society.  

"A journey in a day":
1/21/2013 in class stream of consciousness (finished at home with an extra 20 mins)

Yesterday I did something that I usually don't do, I actually thought about what I did during the day. As per usual, I woke up at 4:45 a.m. hit the snooze button and went back to sleep for the next five minutes. Unfortunately, five minutes later I was on my way to the shower to take my bath and leave for my 7:00 a.m. class. I constantly keep thinking of how I seriously have to think about my schedule choices a lot more, these morning classes are really exhausting. 

Once I finished taking my shower I got my clothes from my closet, got dressed, brushed my teeth, put on cologne and finally said goodbye to my parents. When I said goodbye to my mom she said the same thing she says every morning: "call me when you get there, be safe, I love you." Seriously, if I wake up one day, and I don't here those words before I leave, something's wrong. Funny how a few words can be so meaningful and turn into a part of your daily routine. Once I said my goodbyes, I got in my car and left. At this point it was still 6:00 a.m. but I live far away from the UPR and this is the time I have to leave to make it to my class on-time. Of course, when I was leaving the driveway, I couldn't help but noticing that I put on the music in my car almost automatically, I barely though about it, I just DID it. That's muscle memory, I (as almost all humans do) have made it a natural action to put on my music  as soon as I get in my car.

The trip to the UPR was long and full of traffic, and nothing noticeable or worth mentioning happened on the way. So once I got there, I spent a good five minutes finding a parking space (7:00 a.m.) and I headed off to my first class, Psychology. During the class I sat in the same spot and did the same thing, listen and try not fall asleep. After this class I had a two hour break. This is where the eventful stuff happens, during my breaks. I walked to the Natural sciences library and sat in front with the usual "click". We usually just play cards or do homework. Although, this specific day, we decided to just study for the upcoming chem test, this carried on for maybe an hour and fifteen minutes, until I left to my next class, chemistry (10:30 a.m.). This was a good class, mostly because I love chemistry, and I like learning new things. But again, notes, attention and problem solving. Once I left chem it was 12:00 P.M. at this time, I headed to the student center with a few of my pals to eat lunch. It isn't good to eat at the student center at mid day, the lines are extremely long. We spent 45 minutes just getting lunch. By the time we were done eating, it was time for my last class of the day, biology. Which was basically the properties of a water molecule and the discussion of functional groups. After this class ended, It was 4:00 P.M., so I left and got home at about 5:30. I spent a few hours studying and doing H.W. maybe an hour having dinner and I ended up going to bed at 10:30 P.M. Just to start the cycle again in 7 hours or so. I guess my weekly routine, with the exception of weekends, is pretty much based on the same activities on a daily basis, I find it sort of monotonous when I think of it, but really, I rarely analyze my daily activities, so it must be pretty normal by now.        

"I Think I’ll stick with the Dolphins": 

20/1/2013 home written stream of consciousness 

There was this one trip to Mexico which was rather adventurous. I got to swim with dolphins, climb ancient pyramids (funny story, I'll leave that for later), and even got the chance to go cave diving. Now, I have been a certified open water scuba diver since I was ten years old, so by then I had already been on a few dives; I was twelve. However, I had never been so scared, vulnerable or prone to death while scuba diving. 

Honestly, when my dad told us that we were going cave diving that morning, I was really excited, because this isn't an opportunity that comes up often. So later that day we went to take a course on cave  diving where we learned all the guidelines, rules and safety procedures on what to do while underwater. This whole lesson just made me even more excited, but it wasn't until we were about to go underwater when the nerves kicked in. My whole idea of what this would be suddenly took a drastic change and I no longer wanted to do it, nonetheless, I ended up doing it. But here's what made me nervous, it wasn't the 1,000 pound sharks or an eel the size of my arm, the worries lied in the holes that you had to squeeze through in order to proceed with the dive. Those holes were really tight! So really the fear factor roots from being in a foreign environment, where you can’t breathe, and you can lose your breathing apparatus in a heartbeat. There are practically hundreds of things that could go wrong. 

But the fact of the matter is, we pushed through and made it to the end of the dive. This adventure ended on a humorous note: while we were putting our gear away, my dad asked me "What did you think of cave diving?" and I answered "I think I’ll stick with the dolphins."