First Time Blogger

Location: Arrope, Rio Piedras

Having a blog isn’t an easy task, and even less for a girl that never used to write. Writing for yourself isn’t the same as writing for people to read. In a piece of paper you can write your emotions and still go back and read this words that once you felt. A blog post for me are thoughts that came to my mind and needed to be written down. One post that has a structure and a meaning for myself. While reading about something I might have a thousand thoughts and just don’t know on what to focus on. Along my journey in literature i’ve found that this blog helps me make an in depth analysis of what is really happening on both of the journeys I live. 

The internal journey is the one that has helped me though this blog as I write down on the entries and relate them to m own experiences. Full of experiences that I have within me, as the thoughts I might have as I open my laptop and start writing. Having a blog is a way of actually stopping to analyze the journey life has brought you. The readings I’ve talked about are ones that I can relate to my past or future or even learn from them in order to have that knowledge through my journey. I believe that knowledge is a must in our lives. We just can’t seem to go through our journey without analyzing or learning about things that can’t go as unseen. 

My blog or any blog gives the reader a perspective of how the writer thinks or acts. Without leaving behind the experiences one may have, the posts share a lot of information about the writer. The circumstances in his ir her life have a huge influence on his perspective. A post I would like to stand out is the one we wrote about perspective. Perspective is one of the things I had the opportunity to reflect about during this journey within my blog. Things can’t be ignored and the truth is that everything we due is influenced by something or someone that was present in our life. 

At first I thought that having a blog and needing to write was going to be a huge obstacle, but the Journal and Blog helped me grow. It was hard for me to write and think that people were going to read it. I didn’t felt comfortable with many things at the beginning, all things that I’ve moved forward with at least a little. I’ve come to really appreciate the art of writing although I might not be the best at it it’s been an obstacle overcome within my journey. It is not about stopping the journey because of freight, but about moving forward and enjoying it. 

Talking and Hearing About Your Own

One of the many proud Puerto Rican...

     Talking in public is a hard task for anyone, but it increases the tension as you are about to talk about your own culture. Sometimes we wish that our own things are the greatest and while studying more in depth we might find that they aren't. It is hard to express the negative aspects your own culture may have because of the love and attachment you may have to it. When presenting it gave me a lot of nerves and I thought to myself that maybe we could just make our culture a better one. After all, it is our culture and the love for it won't be taken away by anything in the world. 

     When talking about the misconceptions of Puerto Rico, I felt very uncomfortable because in many cases we have to state things we do not like. A moment when I felt uncomfortable was when talking about the negative aspect people may have about the Puerto Rican women. There were characteristics presented as "demanding", "loud" and "hard to handle". In a way these words caught my attention because they might be seen as bad behaviors; still we all concluded they were true. It is hard for us to admit these kind of details that we might wish weren't true. As any culture there are positive and negative aspects of a group's behavior.
     Being the one talking about your culture is one thing, but being taught about it gives another feeling. Hearing about how your culture might interact, creates an instant auto-evaluation about yourself. There are things we might not perceive unless they are told. We usually ignore what we might not like and there is the biggest issue and why we might not correct those things that give us a negative outside perspective. The criminality was a topic shared in presentations that gave me a sense of reality. I usually go out and do not realize that my island posses a lot of criminality.
     On the other hand, there were a lot of positive comments that made me feel very proud of my culture. There is nothing that can take away the Puerto Rican in me. No culture is perfect, as well as nothing at all is. It is up to us to make ourselves known by the negative or by the positive characteristics we may have. The initial feeling of disappointment ended as the group concluded that we are a great culture and have many positive things that we should stand out more than the negative things people might know us for. 

Reading and Writing Along the Journey

Entrance to Poza Las Mujeres
in Manatí, Puerto Rico.

     The girl that never wrote on a paper has changed over the semester. As the instructions about writing a journal and a blog started, it felt that that would be the hardest obstacle for myself during the course. At first I didn't enjoyed it because it felt strange, but not because I didn't liked it. Now I've found writing to be an escape to let things go. Sometimes people tend to argue without noticing that there is no point in fighting over that thought. In writing you find a connection to yourself that will make you realize things nobody else can make you acknowledge.
     The part of writing a journal has made me have a bigger inner connection. I find an escape in just letting my hand flow over the piece of paper and writing whatever pops in my mind. I've learned that the things I write about during this time with my journal are things that bother me and I don't know a way to take them out. As I finished my journal I overlooked and found that I've actually dealt with a vast majority of the circumstances I expressed. It wasn't until the end that I could realize what was really going on and taking care of the real circumstances in my life that demanded attention.
     On the other hand, blog posting has helped me develop a more in depth thinking. It has made me elaborate on the ideas read about and include them on my real journey. Sometimes we read and do not realize that the text in front of our eyes could be very useful in our daily routine. People write with a purpose and others can relate or learn from those writings. I didn't liked reading a lot, but it's something I've also learned that makes you see things in a different way.

La Perla Marina
in Carolina, Puerto Rico

     It is not writing for writing, nor reading for reading. Every letter, every word has a purpose for the one that dedicates the time to do it or enjoy it. The writer has an objective as he or she writes, while the reader has an opportunity to dive in that journey of words. Life is unpredictable and puts every human being to diverse tests, it's up to each of us to learn a way to deal with those obstacles. The journey starts as you set foot in the world and experience the first the internal journey wondering what is happening around you. I find that writing and reading contribute to that internal adventure that isn't affected by any other person or change of scenario, it is about you and your inner self. Because of all of this I've found the peace in writing and the joy in reading, both contributing to this journey I call LIFE.

Antigua's Beauty and Background

     The writing by Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place, narrates a huge problem faced around the world. The small places or small islands suffer because of all the tourists that come only to escape their reality. It is frustrating for habitants to suffer because of this people that do not worry about the true life or circumstance they might be in. Specially the others or foreigners soon as they set foot seek for a way to take advantage of this small places. It is due to the circumstances in the past that their envy and disgust grows towards this outsiders.
     The main feeling this natives might feel is jealousy. This feeling grows as they see how people come and go, enjoying what is it a lockup for them. It is not that they do not like their setting, in this text the island of Antigua, but that they can't prosper because of this people. The Americans tend to exploit small places and do not let them thrive their poverty. The financial power the big continent might employ gives them an instant superiority. That superiority won't make the envy fade away, but increase by the selfishness of taking what this island might have.

You came. You
took things that were not yours, and you did not
even, for appearances' sake, ask first. You could have
said, "May I have this, please?" and even though it
would have been clear to everybody that a yes or no
from us would have been of no consequence you
might have looked so much better.  - A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid

     Tourists become what it is refer to "the ugly tourist" the minute they act different and enjoy the view. I believe that as I has the opportunity tu visit the island of Antigua, I was seen as this ugly tourist without noticing. It is in us to go and feed our eye with the beautiful places we are able to visit. In the video attached, it is seen the beautifulness of the island. It is curious that, we come from an island and still I see that our treatment towards tourist is very different from other perspectives we've read about in class. Global knowledge could solve this problem and give every individual a sense of reality about the places visiting. Personally, I believe that the next time I'm a tourist I will explore more in depth about the place I'll visit.

Decisions When in Love

Life consists of making decisions that will affect yourself either on a short or long term. The main obstacle I find when making a decision is what your heart will express or make you feel, not necessarily guiding you through the right path. The heart is weak, kind and blind to the situations; it is only guided by the feelings one may have. On the other hand, there is the mind that has the ability to differ the right from wrong. The issue of the judgement when experiencing such a profound feeling as love will be present for a lifetime, and it’s needed for each of us to learn a way to cope with the mind and heart. 

Choosing what path to follow brings us the first obstacle. What to choose? My own minds’ experiences or my hearts’ kindness? It is a constant problem that will never abandon any of us. The mind will always be guided by the experiences that have build your being towards today. The exposure to life makes each of us have certain unique judgements that our heart might not agree with. In this world, people experience harsh environments that change their lives. 

The heart, what keeps us living and at the same time makes us experience feelings. The tangibility to situations is something that comes along with our kindness. It is in the heart where we feel a pain of guilt, the sweetness of love, bitterness of hate. Calling upon the feeling of love, it is the one that guides us to make our biggest mistakes. I believe love is the most powerful feeling one might experience, and also the one that brings us the worst situations to be in. It’s within this enamor where the mind knows what to do, but your heart filled with passion will dictate otherwise. 

Often, love it’s described as the most complicated feeling in the world; this situation is due to the blindfold we put in ourselves and how we block every mental thought that goes against our feelings. That “puppy love” is the one filled with ignorance people sense when being captured by this sentiment. This is the kind of love I refer to. The love that makes us do things we might feel sorry for later in our lives. At this point we only believe that happiness is by the side of our companion along this journey. Life is to determine if it was just an ludicrous journey or the one that determined our happiness. 

Thriving More than Helping

     In Puerto Rico, as stated in Cooper's Chapter 8: Helping, has been a major problem trying to inculcate other customs or languages. The island natives tend to unite against any other unknown circumstance that might make them feel uncertain. The chapter deeply discusses the problem faced when teaching English, the students just united and helped each other. More than being a cultural characteristic, helping the classmates was about sticking together against the unknown language. The English dialect was tough for the students and it was just a strategy found to pass the classes.

Puerto Rican community united full of pride.

     Frustration from being stuck in a place and being told that progress was limited, made Puerto Ricans want to flourish with bigger desire. It was discussed majorly the frustration the professor had, when trying to teach the language and Puerto Ricans just did what they thought was right. Helping each other wasn't wrong, but when learning it is something done out of lack of knowledge. They needed patience and hope. The school teachers were also just trying to succeed and Cooper exposes this problem back from the previous chapter. The education is something learned by one being and not collectively, because each person needs to educate in order to prosper as a whole community. 
     Maybe the way Puerto Ricans acted close-minded was something that led Americans to believe we were incapable of learning. They didn't realize that they were being stubborn and needed to understand our fragile position. The United Stated was a territory with power that could take away anything from us, and the island just needed understanding. The people that believed in us were the ones that kept teaching English. Those people that had hope in our welfare and not about what they could exploit from us. 
     The island now stands in a place were a vast majority of the population is well educated in comparison to that time were Cooper was teaching. The elementary technique of helping classmates was because of the will teachers had to see students bloom. No teacher had the intention to affect negatively the education in Puerto Rico. That is something were we could see again the fact that Puerto Ricans united against the unknown. Teachers, as students were merely natives from the island wanting to thrive. As a Puerto Rican, I see that beyond helping it was a way to strengthen the culture against the unknown. 
  

The Desire to Educate

     As Cooper communicates in his chapter “Teaching English”, English professors along the years have experienced a lot of issues. We, as Puerto Ricans, are very proud of our culture and language. Sometimes we might be a little rude or closed-minded due to historical experiences with foreign countries trying to take advantage of us. Island natives should continue evolving and start thinking that gaining foreign knowledge won’t take away who we are as Puerto Ricans. Being versatile in cultures and language is just a great advantage to a citizen.

It caught my attention when the author states that the professors were doing a great job, but merely as professors. The desire to educate the students was present, but the lack of education the instructors had was affecting their performance. Also we need to take in consideration the period were all of this took place. It was starting the foreign language education by obligation of the government in Puerto Rico. I do not believe this was a mistake because a vast majority of us are right now bilingual and have a lot of advantages in comparison to others. 

Right now the English education is a great one in both, public and private schools; all of this has happened thanks to the determination of people like Cooper, that didn’t give up on us. Nowadays there are less people who believe we are not capable of learning new things. Our culture has grown in various ways and we see how earlier generation have bigger aspirations. More and more citizens wish to not just expand their knowledge in English, but other languages. I believe and hope that in the future, my children and grandchildren will share my perspective about knowledge being our own development within society and not a direct relationship to the political status. 

The discussion is based on University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez, exactly where this picture is from. The name of the building is in English, the language who the own professors didn't had the skill to teach. It was just a change that took place and there is proof of it. 

     

A Room with a View, 20th Century Romantic Movie

     A Room with a View (1985) is a film adaptation to E.M. Forster's novel from 1908. The movie is classified as a 20th century romantic movie as others, such as Titanic (1997). Titanic, being my favorite movie makes me make an immediate comparison in both late 20th century films. It is amazing how in both it's shown the power love had, and as we know still has. I believe that this set of movies was a step towards breaking the power society had over your personal love life. 

     The movies such as A Room with a View are the ones that show the real true love. Nowadays there are scarce the movies that show the love portrayed in this ones. There has been bad evolution of the romantic movies that made you believe that “love conquers all.” Are they gone? I know that the modern movies express a little closeness to reality, but I’m sure that some romantic fantasy won’t harm any romantic enthusiast like me. As there are a lot of movies that take the audience to believe the power a drug may have over a human being is positive, the “fantasy” behind the movies as A Room with a View and Titanic will still captivate the spectators.

“George had turned at the sound of her arrival. For a moment he contemplated her, as one who had fallen out of heaven. He saw radiant joy in her face, he saw the flowers beat against her dress in blue waves. The bushes above them closed. He stepped quickly forward and kissed her (6.39).”
-Quote from the book, A Room with a View

     As we saw in the movie, the book also describes detailed how their love is present. It is in this quote where we see how George acts as his heart dictates it and not by what society wants. There are moments like this that I miss in movies, moments when you feel the actors’ connection and makes you think if you’ve found that true love. Not the movies were love relies more on the circumstances that on the power of love. Every time I take some time to watch a movie like this, I’m reminded of what true love might be like.

        

Influence Of Your Vernacular Over Foreign Languages

Language is a cultural characteristic that binds and individual to their territory. Among the years there have been a big influence on English around the world. Depending islands usually show the biggest foreign language impact. During the conference held at the General Studies theatre it was examined the influence United State’s English has over Puerto Rico, as England’s has over Malta. Due to the geographic location of both islands and the variation in language of the bigger territories we should have thought that the English spoken in the islands would have had a great variation. Surprisingly, with deeper investigation it was discovered that the native languages give a certain characteristic to the English spoken in Puerto Rico and Malta.

Although the influences of English in Malta and Puerto Rico come from territories that show a notable difference, their native language bond their English accent.  Malta has Maltese language as their vernacular, while Puerto Rico has Spanish. Both local languages share a Latin background. The key on the similarities that Malta and Puerto Rico might share in their foreign English might be attributed to their Latin native dialect. During the conference it was explained such similarities between the English’s’ spoken; this led me to think into the fact that it doesn’t matter the extraterritorial influence each culture might have, the native aspects will show a greater control.

In conclusion, the similarity in languages shows how the cultures adapt the foreign languages while their vernacular is kept within their culture. Language, like traditions are altered, but never changed. The territory where a culture stands is a reminder of who they are and who they were. In Puerto Rico English has arose notoriously, but being in the island reminds me over and over again that Spanish and our native words are part of me. Being bilingual is an opportunity that can’t go to waste, but just remember that your vernacular will always rule over any other language spoken.

From Puerto Rico to Malta 

My Culture, My Island...

I’ve lived in Puerto Rico all my life and dealt with diverse Puerto Rican perspectives. Many families see Puerto Rico as a place that their children should run away from, but many others believe in staying united. Puerto Ricans show confidence about their culture anywhere they might settle in. We have strong traditions that nobody could change, but the ones that leave the island might adapt those traditions.  The worldwide perception due to my experience of Puerto Ricans is one that enhances our joy and intensity. Since I’ve only traveled to the United States, I could talk about how Americans show how much they enjoy our festivities and applauses as the airplane arrives.

It is important to know that Americans have a different culture and we have ours. There are things that attach each culture to their own territory. As in everything, there are exceptions to my observation of how Puerto Rico is seen by others; there are Americans that feel disgust and simply can’t stand us, the “Ugly Americans”. I believe that the perception varies from place to place. Sometimes the perception of Puerto Rico is altered by how we act or interact when we are outside our territory. Many Puerto Rican’s have an intense character that might be misunderstood by other cultures.

In general, Puerto Rico is seen as a beautiful island. The island’s women and athletes have shone worldwide, giving us a cultural standing. Not all Puerto Ricans share the same thinking or knowledge to interact with other cultures, such as the American. Due to political misunderstandings and issues, our culture may show antipathy towards the United States. Such behavior is one that it’s being modified as natives educate themselves. At this point is when the aspect of respect towards other cultures comes in. All cultures should be respected, and Puerto Ricans need to learn and understand this.

El Yunque National Forest - Rio Grande, PR

Living in Puerto Rico is like literally living in paradise. I love my island and feel free to visit any place around the world. The weather and internal tourism is exceptional, making me never want to leave. The opportunities I might have outside the island will always be taken in consideration. Making my knowledge grow outside the island is something I plan on doing, but being Puerto Rican will never change.  Everybody dreams on living somewhere else, I am no different. In the future, I would love to live for a while in New York. I’ve visited New York and love it there, but I know I would want to come back to Puerto Rico. My whole family lives here, and I would love to see my children grow up as I did. The connection to family is a trait Puerto Ricans have, maybe that’s just another characteristic that makes me even more proud of my culture. Every place around the world has its pros and cons, but my culture attaches me to my beautiful island of Puerto Rico.

Who You Are

Our identity is obtained mainly by our place of birth. It is our country what unifies everything that makes up a culture. Being part of a culture consists of explaining your beliefs and way of being. Culturally we are all divided in various groups that give us uniqueness. Within a culture are various aspects that serve as a barrier in cases where people are enclosed to only understand their ethnicity. Peter Roberts explains his view of a human’s identity in this writing were we can try to picture ourselves.

Throughout the first paragraph he explains the concept of language as a barrier between cultures. I agree with this point of view since living in an island and not having English as our first language has shown discrimination in many occasions. Being mainly Spanish speakers bonds us, but at the same time segregates us from those non-Spanish speakers. Being able to speak two languages is something not many share, but it’s a privilege since communication is the key in life. Knowing about other cultures do not change our identity, but only builds our understanding to others.

It is explained that the unknown appears to be abnormal. What’s different isn’t supposed to be judged, but understood and respected. The importance of a vast linguistic knowledge gives every human being the capability to understand the cultures around the world. It is very interesting to see how other communities act differently. The identity is given from your hometown and can’t be changed; it doesn’t matter where I go, I’ll always have my beliefs and customs as a true Puerto Rican. 

The othering made by other groups is an act of disrespect and lack of knowledge. As the essay states, only the direct contact with foreign cultures will build in you the understanding and knowledge needed to recognize that group’s own identity. All human beings are equal, but each has a set of characteristics given by their culture that makes him/her unique. Identity in general is built in an individual majorly by the culture of a certain group, but the experiences are what mainly make each of us a different person. The Caribbean has a vast diversity since different groups colonized in this area. Some islands are from France, others from Spain, but our identity as a whole is given due to our physical appearance. The geographical location is what makes the Caribbean a whole, while aspects as language make each island a unique entity.