Over Thanksgiving break, my family decided that we wanted to get away from the cold and take a trip to the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico for 6 days. Our trip was filled with a lot of great food, people, experiences and for me a new awareness. On the very first morning, we set off on a UTV adventure throughout El Yunque, Puerto Rico's famous rainforest. The rainforest itself was beautiful, but the views it provided were detestably even more stunning. From the foothills of El Yunque we could nearly see the entire island. Although this aspect of the adventure was stunning, my favorite experience from the tour was a stop we made at one of the many rivers that runs through el Yunque. Here we swam, scavenged and had conversations with the people who were already there. I instantly began to search the shore for unique rocks. While searching for rocks, one of the other people, who I later found out was a descendant of one of the native marine tribes of the island, began to show me a few of the rocks that he had found. After having a small conversation with him, I learned his name was Jorge. He showed me some of the rocks he had collected and then out of nowhere he dipped the rock in the river and started rubbing it on a nearby rock. As he rubbed the damp rock against another much larger stone, the powder from the small rock turned into a blackish paint-like paste substance. He dipped his finger into the paint and after asking if I was okay with it, painted my undereyes with the substance. After, Jorge began to tell me the meaning behind the paste and also how important it was for his ancestors. He even gave me a few of his face paint rocks to bring home. I still have the rocks and I plan on revisiting the island but this time to learn more about the culture of the island. Although the island is beautiful, one thing I learned about myself is that I don’t like to just have an experience of the view and that I’m not just the average tourist. On my next visit to Puerto Rico I definitely want to immerse myself in the very plentiful culture and history the island carry’s. That is my genuine enjoyment of travel.
Here is a photo I took under a waterfall I hiked to in El Yunque