PASEO Program Adventure—Day 37: Puerto Chicama/Puerto Malabrigo, Peru

Jul29

This morning (last Sunday), a few of the students and I traveled to Puerto Chicama, also called Puerto Malabrigo, which is two hours north of Trujillo. We arrived in the early afternoon, and spent the day exploring the area alongside the beach. After trying to swim in the water (which was pretty cold, to say the least), we rented four-wheelers for less than three dollars.

While I’ll admit that I was hesitant about going at first (because of homework, wanting extra sleep, and plenty of other excuses one could pull out of the book), I have to say that driving by the breathtaking beach and lagoons with great friends on a beautiful day with incredible weather was more than I could have asked for. It’s spontaneous adventures like this that last as memories for a lifetime.

While it’s definitely easier said than done, it’s important for us to remember that the only things guaranteed to us in life are death and taxes. Whether or not you pay your taxes is a different story, but everything in between is completely up to us. The decisions we make, the actions we take, and the dreams and adventures we choose to pursue are ours to make.

It’s easy to say “No” and stay within our comfort zone (which for many of us on a Sunday morning is under our covers), but it’s taking that first step outside the front door and saying “Yes” that leads to new adventures. More often than not, the ball is in our court, and the steps we decide to take are entirely up to us. So why not decide to live a little and enjoy the most of our time here?

PASEO Program Adventure- Day 12: Trujillo, Peru

Jun30

This whole lack of a cell phone thing really got me wondering why our society places such a large emphasis on electronics and non-verbal communication. Text messaging instead of phone calls, following people on social media sites instead of maintaining active communication, ignoring one another at the dinner table to “talk” to others via cell phones instead, and the infamous “let me take a picture of this so I can capture the moment.” When you don’t have a phone in front of you to partake in these actions, the only thing you really have is time to sit and think about all of it.

I’ll be the first to admit that it’s sad to think that so many pictures and videos are lost, but at the end of the day, that’s all they are—pictures and videos. The memories will always remain. (Yes, I’ve been told numerous times that I should have backed everything up on the cloud, but seeing as I’m not the most tech-savy person out there, the only thing I know about the cloud is that it’s what the weather forecaster speaks about whenever providing inaccurate weather forecasts). And in case you were wondering, no, my sense of humor hasn’t improved since losing my phone.

But really think about it. Everyone is trying to capture the moment we are currently living in, but are we really capturing the moment by snapping a picture? Of course you can look back years from now and enjoy the tangible object you have in your hand, but if we’re so focused on “capturing the moment,” we may lose out on actually living in and enjoying the moment. And that would be the biggest loss of all.

Maybe this is me trying to rationalize not having a cell phone at the moment and trying to look on the bright side, but I do hope that the day will come where we can stop relying on electronics to communicate with others while distancing ourselves from those around us, stop using emojis to describe how we’re feeling, and stop trying to preserve the moment we are currently in. When you take the time to think about it, each of the aforementioned actions only cause us to miss out on so many incredible memories that could be made all while doing so.

Yes, even though I’m sitting here writing about the challenges of communication in an era of technology, I still went out and purchased a Peruvian cell phone this evening in order to communicate with others. However, there is still something to be learned, seeing as so many of us are guilty on missing out on the current moment every time we try to “capture” the moment as best as we can. And as a side note, since the quality of the camera is subpar, I’ll leave you with a blank canvas to paint your own picture.

Simple Quote Sunday

Oct30

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” -Anthony J. D’Angelo

Day 4 At Canyons Village In Park City, Utah

Feb3

We had to make the most of our last day in Park City, Utah, so of course, we concluded the trip with more skiing. We took multiple ski lifts and chairlifts to get to different mountains that we had not yet seen, and each sight was more breathtaking than the previous. We skid down mountains with incredible views and beautiful houses (one of which is said to belong to Will Smith), but more importantly, I barely fell! (Seeing as I had fallen so much within the last few days, this was a big deal for me).

Before it was time to call it quits and prepare to return home, we ended up at the same double-blue mountain we skid down the day before. (Keep in mind, yesterday when I skid down this mountain, I had no idea it was more advanced, and spent almost half the way tumbling down). In order to get back to the base, we had to ski down the mountain again, and even though it was difficult for me (to say the least), I managed to do it without falling!

It was such as great feeling to have learned how to ski these past few days, and to have concluded my trip with a second chance down a mountain I would have never approached just days before. And with that, it was time to leave Utah and its beautiful snow for Florida and its continuous summer weather.

Day 1 At Canyons Village In Park City, Utah

Jan27

A few weeks ago, my brother, grandfather, and I traveled to the Canyons and Park City in Utah to ski for a few days with some of our cousins and uncles. When we arrived, the weather was nice and cold, and much different from Florida’s typical weather—so we were in for a bit of a shock, to say the least. Granted, I had also never seen so much snow in my life, so it was pretty exciting getting off the plane and looking around at so many mountains covered in snow.

We hopped into a car and made our way to Canyons Village, which is around 45 minutes away from the airport. On the way, we passed Salt Lake City as well as the Utah Olympic Park, which was built for the 2002 Utah Winter Olympics. As you can see in the bottom left photo, we were able to see one of the ski jumps that was used during the Olympics, and is still currently being used for practice. Upon arriving at the Village where we were staying, we unloaded our bags, and walked around outside—enjoying the incredible weather. Although we didn’t ski our first day here, we stopped by the local strip consisting of restaurants and small shops. And of course, we stopped for dinner along the way. After a long day of traveling, we were ready to turn in for the night, eagerly (and anxiously) awaiting the opportunity to ski the following morning!

Snapshot Challenge Saturday

Jan16

Yesterday, we experienced an intense downpour and were informed about a potential tornado that might hit our county. After a short while of intense weather, the sky cleared up, and everything seemed to have gone back to normal. This evening, we had a beautiful sunset, and it was as though nothing had even happened. Although we may not know it at the time, there is always a beautiful light that shines brightly after moments of darkness.

Barcelona, Spain: Arc de Triomf

Dec21

Once we left La Sagrada Familia, my sister and I decided to stop at a local restaurant for traditional tapas. Tapas are small appetizers or snacks that serve the purpose of helping one get through the difficult time before or in between meals (or at least that’s what I view their purpose as).

As we sat down outside—only a few blocks away from La Sagrada Familia—we couldn’t help but enjoy the beautiful weather and take in the incredible sights around us. It also didn’t hurt that we had delicious snacks in front of us to feast on.

Throughout our time in Spain, I found that sitting down to enjoy tapas allows you to put your busy life on hold and take a few moments for yourself. You aren’t necessarily stuffing your face (unless you order multiple items like we did), but you’re stopping the needless worries around you and putting all of that on hold for just a short while. That is exactly what we did, and it helped us better appreciate the fact that you don’t have to be somewhere unique or special to take some time for yourself to unwind. (But then again, this realization was much better seeing as we were in Barcelona).

After our mid-day snack, we walked back to our hotel to get dressed for our evening activities, but on our way, we came across some more fascinating sights. Barcelona hosted the Universal Exhibition in 1888, and the Arc de Triomf (pictured below), was built as the main entryway to enter the fair.

Tapas By La Sagrada Familia In Barcelona, Spain

Arc De Triomf In Barcelona, Spain

Snapshot Challenge Saturday

Nov21

After our trip to Colombia, my sister and I traveled to Israel for a few days to visit family. However, before arriving at our final destination, we made a few stops along the way. I’ll post more about our travel adventures later on this week, but today’s Snapshot Challenge is a picture I took in Praça do Comércio, also known as the main square in Lisbon, Portugal. The area was beautiful, the weather was incredible, and we couldn’t have asked for a better sight to kick off our journey to Portugal, Spain, and Israel.

Day 3 In Antigua Guatemala

Aug31

Our third day in Antigua was definitely our most active day yet, as we set out to hike Pacaya Volcano, situated near Guatemala City. Before giving ourselves too much credit, we were told that the hike is very exhausting due to its elevation and high altitude so it was recommended that we horseback ride up the volcano and then hike down. When we arrived to the volcano, there were horses ready for anyone wanting to ride them, so we hopped on and began our trek up the volcano.

Since the volcano is still active, it is forbidden to hike past a certain area, just in case the volcano should erupt at any given moment. A few weeks before our arrival, the volcano had a small eruption, so some of the ground we stopped at was still hot. Thanks to our tour guide who provided us with marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate, we were able to make s’mores over the hot ground.

The views from the highest part of the volcano we were able to access, as well as throughout the trek down the mountain were beautiful, to say the least. We were grateful to have such great weather during our hike, but we were even more grateful once we had lunch and dinner after what was indeed an exhausting but worthwhile hike!

Days 6 and 7 In Costa Rica- Last Night and Day In San José

Apr1

This morning we left the Cloud Forest of Monteverde, and headed back towards San José to spend our last full day in Costa Rica. The scenery that we came across during the drive was breathtaking and we couldn’t have asked for better weather! We even managed to spot monkeys in the trees on the side of the road as well as some interesting looking birds too. We stopped at a local snack and smoothie shop, where we had the opportunity to sample some typical Costa Rican treats, but we were more interested in the smoothies since the fruit here is so fresh and delicious.

Pictured below is also a sign that says, “Pura Vida,” which is a saying you’ll hear a lot throughout the country! The exact translation in English is “pure life,” but the phrase is also used for purposes of saying, “Take it easy,” “Enjoy life,” “All good,” “Purity in life,” “Hello,” “Goodbye,” and even “This is life!” “Pura vida means that no matter what your current situation is, life for someone else can always be less fortunate than your own. So you need to consider that maybe…just maybe, your situation isn’t all that bad and that no matter how little or how much you have in life, we are all here together and life is short” which is why we should live it ‘pura vida style’ (http://www.bestcostaricantours.com).

We stopped for a quick meal in San José, but more noteworthy was our dinner at a local restaurant, which is all pictured below. The food surely didn’t disappoint, and neither did the view in the late afternoon! When we woke up the following morning, we had some free time to spend walking around the city before having to make our way over to the airport. Our first stop was at the Museos del Banco Central which has an enormous collection of over 1,600 Pre-Columbian golden artifacts, dating back to AD 500. It was definitely an interesting sight, but we didn’t stay in the museum too long because there was still more we wanted to see in the city.

We walked around the center of San José for a little while until we made our way over to the National Theater of Costa Rica. The theater was built in 1897 in an attempt to show off the economic improvements of the country, all thanks to the blooming success of coffee exportation. With Italian marble, glass and wood brought in from France, and spacious seating, who could complain?

The theater was a beautiful sight, but as our tour wrapped up, we made sure to grab one last meal before it was time for us to finally depart. And so our trip to Costa Rica had unfortunately concluded, but we had definitely hoped to return sometime in the future!