"Yo soy Boricua, pa' que tu lo sepas" (I am Puerto Rican, just so you know)

Cabo Rojo Lighthouse

Puerto Rico is HOME. I have had the opportunity of visiting a lot of countries, yet I can honestly say, “there is no place like home”. Puerto Rico, “Isla del Encanto” (Island of Enchantment), a 100 x 35 Caribbean Island full of natural wonders, amazing food and great people. I remember my elementary school years where it was taught to us that we originally were a mix of three races: Taínos, Spaniards and Africans, now greatly influenced by the North American culture. For such a small Island we have a lot to share with other countries. Our Island is the home of famous and talented people like singers Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin, athletes like J.J. Barea and Carlos Arroyo, illustrious people like Eugenio Maria de Hostos and Julia de Burgos, six Miss Universe and great contributions to the scientific world as well as other multidisciplinary areas.

"Mofongo" with seafood

If there is something I will always defend until the ends of times is that Puerto Rican food is the best of the best. A little “sofrito” and some “adobo” will provide you with a perfectly seasoned meal, not to bland, not to spicy. Usually our traditional meals are associated with holidays, but the truth is we eat them a lot more often than you would think. Christmas time is probably when we go all out with our traditional food. Rice and beans with “pernil”, “lechón a la vara” (pork), “pasteles”, “jamón con piña” (ham and pineapple) and every type of salad you can imagine. “Coquito” is the beverage that goes with this feast, a coconut milk and rum mix. You don’t have to wait until Christmas to eat all this; there are plenty of restaurants that serve this traditional Christmas food all year round as well as other delicacies like “Mofongo” and “tostones” (plantain made), “bacalaitos” and “alcapurrias”.

"Jamón con piña" (Ham and pineapple)

We take our holidays very seriously and they usually serve to reunite all the family, which includes parents, grandparents, uncles, cousins, the cousins of cousins and the “adopted cousins”, in other words, our celebrations are big parties and usually get louder as the night goes on. You could say our traditional music is salsa, “bomba and plena” and in the modern times reggaeton. The first and last are usually the ones played at parties.

Last but not least our natural wonders. El Yunque National Rainforest is home to a great biodiversity of flora and fauna not found anywhere else in the world. Our beaches are world-renowned and one of them, Playa Flamenco in Vieques is one of the top three beaches in the world. As for the five or so bioluminescent lagoons of the world, Puerto Rico has three of them.

If you are ever in Puerto Rico, I invite you to get immersed in our country. Visit our beaches and our historical landmarks like El Morro, taste our food and chat with the locals, we are all very friendly. Visiting Puerto Rico is an amazing experience and one you will not regret. I am proud to say: “Boricua, pa’ que tu lo sepas”.

West coast, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
Playa Azul 

Dreams: A Way to Our Subconscious

Carl Jung

In his book Memories, Dreams and Reflections, Carl Jung lets us know what it is like to experience life as a traveler. During his journey through Africa, Europe, America and Asia he was not a mere tourist, he intended to reflect and get to know a culture so different from his that he considered it inferior. Although he consciously resisted to the idea at first, he admitted that unconsciously, the assimilation process had already started. So intense was this battle between the conscious and the unconscious, that the conflict manifested itself to Carl on

a dream, a dream he deemed a warning and as a form to “bring the unconscious to conscious form”.

Too often, our emotions and experiences of our surroundings manifest themselves through dreams just as it happened to Jung. His interpretation to the dream served him as an aid in the conquest of his internal conflict. Usually dreams represent something we deeply desire, our deepest fears or maybe even something we want to forget. There are people and books that help us find the meaning of our dreams, these interpretations usually serve as foreshadowing of a future event or maybe as a way to know our inner conflicts.

I have had a couple of dreams that I will never forget. Although the exact details may be a little blurry, the overall of them are hard to forget. Most of them are bizarre and the happenings don’t entirely make sense, but I believe these are the factors that make them unforgettable. Two of them I very clearly remember. One of them was a nightmare; the other was a dream. The frightening emotions I experienced during the nightmare are enough to make me remember it; I was paralyzed and couldn’t wake up. The other dream happened when I was a child, a few months after my father died. I used to keep a diary back then, so I wrote about it. He went to pick me up after school and we went to take a ride on a boat. Clearly these were the emotions I was feeling back then.

Dreams

As we see it is easy to understand Jung and his traveling dreams. They were the emotions that were tied with his experiences as a traveler. Whether they happened exactly as he wrote them, we may never know. Memories decay over time and if there is nothing to trigger their recall they are bound to disappear.

Lauren Rivera: A History

My name is Lauren. My journey began 21 years ago in San Juan, Puerto Rico where I was born and raised. So far the road traveled has been as great, full of good and bad experiences that have shaped me to be who I am today. Although my childhood was full of love and great memories, it also gave me one of the biggest tests I have experienced so far. When I was 7 years old, my father passed away. Being so young it was hard to understand why did it happened and I missed him terribly. As I grew up, the pain of his loss lessen, but I often wonder how different my journey would be if he were still with us. Nevertheless, I know that he still lives in my heart and in the wonderful memories I have of him. Throughout those hardships, but also through every joyful experience, my family has been my rock and my support system as life moves on. I know that I have worked hard to make him and my family proud.

As a child I decided that I wanted to become a doctor. It all started with pretend games where I took care of my toys with my toy stethoscope and when I used to draw squares labeled as hospital. As I grew up, my decision did not falter and in school I discovered my love for Science. Thus, my studies became an important aspect of my life, I graduated high school top of my class and I was admitted as Biology major at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Right now I am in my 4^th year, but I still have another year left before I graduate. I still want to become a doctor and I hope that once I achieve this goal I am known as the kind doctor who loves to help her patients. I believe this is the perfect profession to merge my love for science and my compassion to others. I wish to make a positive difference, whether small or big, in someone else’s life. In the mean time, I work as an undergraduate research assistant at the Institute of Neurobiology of San Juan and I do volunteer job at San Jorge Children’s Hospital, as well as participating of various student organizations in college.

Of course, not everything is all about work and studying. In my free time I enjoy reading a book in the beach or watching a movie. I also love to go out with friends and family. Traveling is something I wish I could do a lot more often than I do. I love to learn and experience new and different cultures from my own. I am lucky enough to have had the opportunity of visiting the United States, a few Caribbean Islands and a great part of Western Europe. I still have a few places left in my bucket list, that I hope to visit sometime in my life.