A Perfect Travel

A tourist cannot exist without a traveler and a traveler cannot exist without a tourist because it is a complementary issue. Usually a person starts being a tourist and then change into a traveler. Sometimes is a growth divided by stages. The truth is that the traveler gets its name because the tourists exist and they are not doing both internal and external journeys while traveling. Traveling has and will always be an important aspect of any given society. The explorers travel to experience new fronts in term of geographical regions, and the tourists, to look for new markets and also to exploit resources. Tourism as monetary activity is characterized by high levels of flexibility. The meaning of travel is to go from one place to another, as on a trip; journey. Tourists travel but they are not travelers. This interrelation expands in all the world and we can participate in it, from a place so vast like India to a little island like Puerto Rico.

I never had the chance to make a spiritual journey but after this reading Holy Cow I am considering it. I think it is fascinating how in countries in which one does not have control of once life faith is stronger than countries that do. It is fitting that a self-avowed atheist does this spiritual journey because she can look at religion with objectivity minus any preconceived notion that a person of faith usually shows. Experiences that make us became travelers.  I do not blame tourist for their thinking because I know that I’ve been a tourist too. But I hope that in the upcoming trips I may have, I will become a traveler, and I will have the privileged of being part and enjoy what really is important; and I think it is knowing and bonding with people different from ourselves without discriminating. That would be a perfect travel for me. 

Paris

I promised to my sister that someday, I will take her to Paris. Travel to Paris is the biggest dream of my little sister Coralys. She is 10 years old, but is very mature. She always impresses me and makes think a lot. Coralys is always searching information about Paris in the internet; she likes to view pictures of the Eiffel Tower. That is her favorite place in the world even when she hasn’t been there. Her dream becomes my dream. I want to go to Paris with my sister and (I’m not proud of it) be a tourist. 

I don’t know too much about Paris or France, in fact, I don’t want to know. I want to be surprised by the charms of that place. My sister knows more than me about Paris! Haha, she told me that she loves the Eiffel Tower history. When I can’t sleep she told me the history of the Tower like a bed time story. I enjoy a lot this moments with my sister, it makes us closer and gives me more desire to accomplish our goal. One of my gifts to her is making real this travel. 

Movies On Travel

The movie that I chose to my project "Movies on Travel" is "The Bucket List". It is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Rob Reiner, written by Justin Zackham, and starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die. Corporate billionaire Edward Cole and working class mechanic Carter Chambers have nothing in common except for their terminal illnesses. While sharing a hospital room together, they decide to leave it and do all the things they have ever wanted to do before they die according to their bucket list. In the process, both of them heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find joy in life.

Edward and Carter begin an around-the-world vacation. They go skydiving together, drive a Shelby Mustang, fly over the North Pole, eat dinner at Chevre d'Or in France, visit and praise the beauty and history of Taj Mahal, India, ride motorcycles on the Great Wall of China, attend a lion safari in Africa, visit the base of Mt Everest in Nepal (which was unfortunately shrouded in cloud), visit the Great Pyramid, looking out over the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure and visit Hong Kong. Certainly they have a lot of external journeys, or one journey with different stops. While having this external journeys they also discovers the main issues of their lives and realize that they are escaping from the conflicts they have with their families because they do not want to face them. Its take us to interpret their internal journeys.

I chose this movie because it has both external and internal journeys. While they are "traveling" they experience internal journeys. Certainly this movie has a beautiful message with a life lesson. I think it is the perfect movie to compare and link not only external and internal journeys but also tourists vs. travelers.

Working in Groups

Working in groups never been one of my favorites, but I have to say that my english group have been a really nice experience. We all get along and enjoy the assignments. We always help each other and since now, all our works have been with excellent grades! We synchronize very well. I have to thank them for teaching me not only to work with five people together, but also for giving me encourage talking in front of the entire classroom. When they were in front of the classroom with me and was my turn to talk, I always felt safe because I knew they were going to help me if I needed. 

Kimberly, Gabriel, Luis, Lemuel, and Laura, thank you for giving me a great semester with the priviledge of work and study with you. I hope you enjoy working in group with me. Thank you for teached me and correct me when I said something wrong, haha. Wish you all the best in your future classes and remember that I am not only a partner in a work group but I also can be your friend. 

My experience with the blog

Oh...the blog! The blog has been a really headache! Haha, I’m kidding, is only that I always forgot to post in the blog! Is has been a great journey, writing in the blog and being creative, I like it! I always find a picture or a link that I want to connect with my entries and it’s so amazing to share my thoughts with a lot of people! I wrote about all the journeys I have in this class and also the ones that I didn’t know until I learned what was traveling.

This is the second time that I had to do a blog for an english class. First one was in high school, specifically 12th grade. The blog assignment was part of the method of evaluation, so I know how to work with it, but I enjoy more making this blog than the first one.

Here I experienced the same thing that happens to me with the journal. At first my writings were small and with few words, but then the thoughts came easily and writing became more fluid. The blog is a wonderful way to share our knowledge with others, and also it makes us more open in the media, technology, as a discipline to explore and use in our class. 

My Journey Journal

The journey journal was a great experience. I liked it very much and also I learned a lot of myself and the world that surrounds me. Like I said in my oral report, at first, writing in the journal was so annoying. I did not know what to write about so I tell my day to the journal. If my day was normal, happy, interesting, boring, etc. As time passed I began to understand that the things I was writing were the journeys that I was having day by day. And I realized that the experiences I have, that were so common like moving from one classroom to another, were a journey. 

Certainly since I began in this class I have experienced a lot of changes, beginning with my english skills. I think the journal is great resource to learn about ourselves. This class teaches me to view everyday like a journey, to view each simple detail like a life experience. Every day is a challenge for me. I like to think that I wake up every day with a journey in my hands. Sometimes its makes my day easier, it’s working. Even when I have a bad day I try to focus in the belief that not all journeys are good, but all journeys teach us a life lesson. 

Writing in my journal was a relief. Its allow me to know more about myself. My interests, my thoughts, who I am, who I am not, who I want to be and who I don’t. My external journeys are nice but I enjoy internals journeys more, because those are the ones that I share with my journal.

Student Conference Panel Reflection

Last Wednesday was the Student Conference Panel: Tradition and Innovation of the English Department. Professor Pittmann chooses me to be the moderator of this activity. I was very excited but also nervous because i had to talk in english in front of englis professors and english literature students. I was making a big deal with this activity; I practiced in front of the mirror the day before the conference. Even I copy paste the mini biographies of my peers in a formal paper that I used in the conference.  I accepted to be the moderator because I thought it would be a great experience to develop my english skills and to face my fear with the language, and certainly, it was.


During the conference I was very concentrated, even the professor realized that. She gave me a bottle of water and I did not open it until the conference ended. Thats the level of my jitters. My peers did a great work reading their papers. The "tourists vs travelers" conflict were discussed from different perspectives. It was really interesting. My peer Luis Manuel who was sitting right next to me was really nervous. I asked to him why he was so nervous, because he speaks english very well! And his essay was excellent. He answered me: "that happens". And I understood that even when you are great in something, been nervous is the ingredient that never lacks. 

When the conference finished, professor Pittmann told me that I did a great job. I felt like I had faced my fear with courage, haha, a little bit of drama. But yes! It was really a great challenge for me. And I am proud of my decision of take this opportunity and accepted it. I am very grateful to professor Pittmann's for considered myself to this work.