Travel journal: #4

Morning view from my country house (those are clouds) you can imagine how high it is.

Who Knew Parrots Could Fight?

                Christmas is over, but the party still goes on for a while here in my family since my uncle Fernando comes tomorrow for New Year’s. Yesterday I came back from my country house in La Ceja; I did a lot of mountain biking and other stuff. I’ll probably go down to Rio Claro the 29^th so I can zip line and go white river rafting but we’ll see, there’s still a lot of things to do.

                While I was at my country house, something tragically hilarious happened. You see, we have a lot of crazy animals including a very rude parrot. Now, when I say rude, I mean she knows all the possible insults that can be named in both, English and Spanish! I’m serious, I have never heard so many insults come out from anyone’s mouth, not even the people from Jersey Shore swear as much as Lorenza, the parrot, does!

Anyway, so while I was calmly riding my bike around with my friend Mateo, who is also my butler’s son, we heard a violent scream followed by a series of insults and cursing. We looked everywhere but we couldn’t see where it was coming from so we just kept riding. Later that day, while we were heading back Mateo came across a gruesome thing lying on the ground. Turns out it was Lorenza! Or, what was left of her at least. It was really sad because we had no idea of what happened to her but later that day when we were checking the video we recorded on Mateo’s helmet we saw what happened! We obviously had no idea the helm-cam had recorded it but it sure helped a lot with the grief. In the video, Lorenza was attacked by an eagle and she fought against it! It was awesome! Lorenza was actually landing some claws on the eagle while cursing and screaming! It was an awesome fight, and Lorenza did not die in vain because the eagle ended up dead too. They both killed each other so it was not a total loss, who knew parrots could fight?

I’m finally staying at my grandma’s place and we’re going to see a movie tonight and I do feel bad about Lorenza’s death, but what’s done is done, so we all have to move on with it.

Travel Journal: #3

Lego I built

Open ALL the Presents!

                It’s the day before Christmas and as everyone else is, I’m totally excited for tomorrow. I just can’t wait to spread the joy, eat traditional meals, share some hugs with my family, and last but definitely not least, open up ALL the presents! (9gagers will get that).

                Anyway back to the present, today was a very busy day. I went to get a vaccine and I also went to see my pediatrician. The vaccine didn’t hurt that much, but that’s not what my brother would tell you, he hates vaccines. I think you could actually hear him scream from outside the doctor’s office, and what’s worse is that it was the yellow fever vaccine, I mean; the needle is like an inch long! But I guess we all have our fears, it’s not like I’m the toughest either.

                At the pediatrician I came out to be the healthiest. I had no recommendations or any of that stuff, but I did get a lollipop for being healthy. I also got some acupuncture done at the pediatrician’s, I don’t know why though, I thought it was very weird.

                Speaking of weird, I just finished making this weird Lego thing. I just had some trouble sleeping last night so I kind of made this bigger scale model of a Lego figure. My mom says it looks like a Lego Elvis but I don’t, my mom uses contacts so her vision’s not as clear as mine. Either way, I wish everyone a happy Christmas and a merry New Year!

Travel Journal: #2

Last Day with my Neighbors

                It’s a beautiful day today, everything’s sunny and it’s very hot outside. Yesterday I ended up sleeping at my neighbor’s; we played Black Ops, threw water balloons out the window, and pointed lasers to the building in front at 3 AM. We had a blast actually, it was an awesome final day, but then I had to leave because my little cousin’s birthday was last night, so I had to get ready. Oriana, my cousin, was very excited to see us there; it had been a year since we last saw each other so one could say that my brothers I and were her biggest present. The party carried on very well, Oriana played with her friends and the grownups socialized, but when it was time for the cake everyone dropped to the floor with laughter.

                I’ve always thought that nowadays kids hear stuff everywhere, and they repeat it anytime without even knowing what it means, Oriana is one of those kids. As we finished singing happy birthday to her, Oriana suddenly screamed “mudda fuq!” at the top of her lungs! She probably did not know what it meant, but it was totally hilarious, even her mom couldn’t stop laughing hysterically. What was even better was that we got her on video so we laughed for about an hour, repeating the video over and over again.

                Anyway, I went to the dentist today and was told to floss for the 573847^th time, and I gave the excuse of “braces make everything so hard!” for the 573847^th time. I’ll be having lunch with my grandma today and then I’ll head back home with my mom to watch a movie. I can’t wait ‘till Christmas though, there may have been as light chance that I peeked through some presents, but only some not all of them. 

Travel Journal: #1

Just the view from my appartment

It Wouldn't be Home without the Bump

             It’s the second day that I’ve woken up in Medellin with a bump on my head because I’ve outgrown my bunk bed so I basically have to drag myself out before sitting up, and I can’t sleep on the top because I move too much, but it wouldn’t be home without the bump. The cool thing about my bed is that I put a bunch of glow-in-the-dark stickers with the shape of stars and planets on the roof of the bottom bed, so when you turn off the light, it’s like you’re in space. Anyway, I’m finally done unpacking and fixing my old kid room.

 Around my neighborhood nothing has changed much, but the city itself is totally different from what I remember. The climate’s good, I can now wear jeans and a jacket without getting soaked in sweat. I’ve been hanging out with my neighbors as much as possible because they’ll be leaving soon for vacations so I guess after they go, I’m out of my parent’s house to spend some time with my grandmother since my brothers are staying there too, (I just don’t want to hang around too much around my dad, when he’s in vacation he picks on everyone). I’m probably going to sleep over at my neighbor’s house actually; I have nothing to do today apart from playing with my old toys.

                It’s funny actually, my mom caught me this morning playing with my Lego and stuff, I got a little nostalgic. I have these huge plastic boxes packed with Lego blocks, little figures, vehicles, and even structures! The cool part about having architect parents is that they help you make awesome Lego buildings, but I’m not as good as my parents so I ended up with this crummy “house”. I also started looking through old school projects my brothers and I made, some old photos, and I also found my old baby blanket! Of course it’s too small for me now, it only covers my feet.

                I’m going to make myself a sandwich for lunch and maybe go ride my bike with my neighbors if it stops raining, if not, I’ll just play some more Lego.


For more travel journals click here.

River Rafting, Prank, and a Bruise with the Shape of a Paddle

            A couple of years ago during summer vacation, my family and I were spending our break in Rio Claro, a hotel in a natural park with a lots of activities like zip lining, water rafting, river tubing and more. The place is very serene, and since my aunt is the owner of it, we could do whatever we wanted, as long as we weren’t audacious to the other guests at the hotel. One day, my aunt had the idea of going rafting in the river as a whole family, and almost everyone was not lackadaisical towards the idea, and we were even more enthusiastic towards the idea of a mutiny against my aunt, Ximena. The plan was to push her off the boat, (while we weren’t in any rapids of course).

            So we embarked on our journey through the beautiful emerald green river, and of course, eager to reach the “safe for mutiny” part of the river. All of us were very conscientious not to make any expressions that would give us away, but my cousin Oriana who is also Ximena’s daughter, was keeping the secret slovenly, she didn’t try too hard to keep it secret.  At one point my brother, Pipe, had to make her quiet by rebuking her, but he was very prudent about it.

            It was almost time to prank Ximena, and we were hiding the secret very well because she had no linking that we were planning on throwing her off the boat.  As soon as we pushed Ximena off the boat, Oriana rankled out of the blue! I guess it was because it was her own mother being pushed off the boat but Oriana did not notice Ximena’s smile as she was playfully pushed. It may have been an irascible moment for Oriana, but her expression was hilarious! It would be impossible to depict her face, it looked just like this. In addition, Oriana was so incredibly irritated with us, that she grabbed a paddle and started hitting us with it! Luckily, Pipe confiscated her “weapon” before she could know my teeth off.

            In the end Oriana ended up trying to steal from the profusion of paddles we had, and everyone had to stay clear of her way for the rest of the day, Ximena had fun, and the only “revenge” Oriana got was to pilfer from our dinner plates at night. I had a blast, even though I ended up with a bruise on my back, and guess what; it had the shape of a paddle.

For more wordly wise wednesdays click here.

Explosion by Mistake

            A couple of years ago, me and Mateo, the son of my country house butler, were very excited about New Year’s Eve because it’s a tradition in our family to launch fireworks at the end of every year. This time, we were going to have an año Viejo, a human size doll filled with saw dust, straw, and some fireworks. People all around sell them, and the dolls are also decorated and are made as impressions of famous people. Anyway, we could not hold our excitement because this year the año Viejo would be filled with extra fireworks so we were really looking forward for the night.

            The day went by quickly and we did our daily vacation schedules: eat, run around, make mud piles, ride bikes, climb trees, and take a bath before midnight (the first we’ve taken in three days).  We met at 11:45 PM in the warehouse, where the año Viejo was supposed to be stored, and indeed it was. The doll was decorated to look like a large sized Toad, you know from Mario Kart. Boy was I satisfied that Toad was going to be blown up, (the whole family hates that little jerk to its guts. We all play a lot of Mario Kart and Toad’s always getting on our nerves). Mateo and I left to grab something to eat, eager for the clock to mark 12 o’clock.

            This is what I wanted to get to, the tragedy that occurred. As the countdown from ten started, Tito started to walk towards Toad with the open flame that would detonate the fireworks. As Mateo playfully pushed me, I pushed him back, (there may have been a slight chance that I used a little too much strength to push him) and so Mateo fell back, pushing Tito towards the año Viejo. Instead of lighting the match, the whole thing caught on fire, and all of us had to run to cover! And so Toad blew up violently (not that it wasn’t anything to be sorry about) and I didn’t take the blame for pushing Mateo. I hope that this year, since I’m seeing him again, he’ll forgive me for my lack of courage, I’ll try to pursue him into forgiving me. I’ll tell him it has to be his resolution, but we’ll see.


For more confessions click here

The Life-changing Teacher

            It’s amazing really, how just one person can impact your entire life, and change your opinion about lots of stuff in just six months. When I first started this school year, I was mostly worried about my English class teacher, Mrs. Meadows. I’d heard lots about her, and I’d drawn my conclusions: great teacher, lots of work, it’s my funeral. I had the idea that even though Mrs. Meadows was indeed, a wonderful educator, it would be my funeral because she would require us to read tons of books, and the words “Juliana” and “avid  reader” only go together in a sentence when there’s an “isn’t” in between them.

            I really didn’t get much joy from reading books, it was just words put together and that had a certain flow, nothing magical really. Reading was the least thing that I would want to do, I’m a good reader, but I despise reading. So there I was, the girl who hates books sitting right in front of the teacher who loves them, great. Yet something happened that very first day I met Mrs. Meadows, she introduced to me a new way to look at books, like pieces of art instead of wasted paper. She taught me how to appreciate books, how to take my time and analyze it, she taught me basically how to read how you’re supposed to read.

            I still don’t know how it happened really. One day I was sitting in my chair, hating books and being all Holden towards them, and then the next thing I knew, I had read the whole Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer  in two weeks! I would’ve never discovered the magic of those books without Mrs. Meadows, and I never would’ve known how amazing books can be. Now, it’s not the whole book I hate when I read one, it’s just a certain aspect or a character. She taught me how to value books, and I owe her so much for that. Someone who doesn’t appreciate books is someone who is unfortunately under the darkness of ignorance. Mrs. Meadows reached in and pulled me out; she saved me from ending up oblivious to the great books that wait for me out there. It’s safe to say that Mrs. Meadows more than just middle school teacher, she’s a life teacher, and so much more. There are still lots I have to learn from such a wonderful teacher, and there’s so much I’ve learned, the only thing left to say is that I love her for teaching me such great lessons in life, and for being such an awesome teacher. Thank you Mrs. Meadows!

The Book that Must not be Banned

The Catcher in the Rye a popular coming of age novel written by J.D. Salinger was published in 1952 and it was said to be an “anti-everyone book” (Chasan 1). The book was banned because of its sex and profanity theme, and it also provoked outrage from parents and elders for many decades. The book is about an alienated teenager, Holden Caulfield, who doesn’t specify where he is located, but he’s clearly in a mental hospital narrating the his experience before he got to there, specifically, a few days before his Christmas break when Holden is sixteen years old. The Catcher in the Rye was originally written for adults but it has now become popular with adolescents for its themes and now Holden Caulfield has become a teenage icon for rebellion.

            In the story, Holden experiences what seems like a bizarre month for the reader, in only three days. At Pencey prep school, the school Holden’s been recently kicked out of, he has a fight with his roommate, Stradlater, and Holden decides to drop out early and wait a few days before he actually has to go home for Christmas break. Holden takes the train to New York but he doesn’t stay with his family, instead he checks in at the Edmont hotel to evade discussion with his parents about being kicked out. In those three days Holden gets drunk, goes out, gets beat, visits an old professor, goes ice skating, sneaks into his house to visit his sister, and goes through much more events that help him change in a way. I think those three days were enough for him to finally realize he needs to change, and the he actually can try to do something useful for once in his life.

            I think that The Catcher in the Rye is still a relevant book of our time because of the way it speaks to teenagers. The book itself is so unique; due to the fact that it covers only three days of Holden’s life and yet the reader learns so much about the protagonist and the other characters, most books cover a year or two. I think that it is its uniqueness and the fact that it’s from the point of view of a teenager – a person so full of confusion, decisions, angst, and rebellion – that speaks to the young reader. In a certain way, one can relate to the characters in this book, not based on their experiences, but based on their points of view, or their feelings. It’s safe to say that this book will always be relevant for any era since teenagers can appeal to the story and enjoy reading about Holden’s experience because it is a guide to them, it contains all those feelings one feels while going through adolescence.

            Many people think that the teachings of this book justify the banning of it; however, I don’t agree with this. I think that no book should be banned at all, whatever its message or teachings are. The book might not be interesting to adults because they no longer go through these emotions Holden goes through; therefore, the book has no profound meaning to them. Whereas a teenager has the feelings and worries Holden has, perhaps at a lower level, but still they do, and reading about someone as rebellious, lost, confused, and emotional as Holden might speak to them because it’s what they feel they are going through. I don’t agree with this book or any book actually, to be banned because it might not speak to adults, but it sure speaks to teenagers and they do have a real meaning for the book.

            Reading The Catcher in the Rye was a very interesting experience for me; the uniqueness of the book is what captivated me. This book is written in a way that you won’t end up hating the whole book, just certain aspects of it, and then maybe in the end, your view might change and you end up loving the whole novel. It sort of helped me because I realized that I could do worse, meaning, Holden goes through a lot more stuff that’s not as good as what I go through in my life. Yet that is also due to Holden’s attitude towards everything, but it still taught me that you need to follow your pace in life, at some point you’re going to have to grow up and stop being as childish as you were before. I loved the book and every single aspect of it, but when I first started reading it, there was something about Holden that irritated me; I didn’t like Holden at all. And when I finished the book, I knew Holden a lot more; I understood how he felt because it’s what every adolescent goes through. Even though this book is from a different time, the meaning of it is still the same; I don’t think it should be banned because this book is an icon for teenagers, it speaks to them and believe it or not, it helps them. It might be profane from an adult’s point of view but a teenager’s years of adolescence might just be the angst, confusion, and rebellion Holden goes through in this book.

The Year of Magical Thinking

The Year of Magical Thinking a memoir written by Joan Didion, a middle-aged woman from California was a unique, well written book, as well as a pleasure to read. Joan’s memoir was adapted into a play in the form of a monologue, but it is still in the form of any normal book. In the beginning pages of her memoir, Joan’s husband, John, dies, this event can alone be devastating, but John dies right before her eyes, only adding on to the tragedy. The rest of the book is about her coping with the inevitable loss of her husband. As she re-lives the year after John dies, she analyses her experience, and the focus on some particular emotional and physical aspects of her experience changes. Didion also finds herself believing that if she does certain things that are right, like doing John’s funeral and showing strength towards the situation, John will eventually come back.

            In addition to John’s loss, Didion also has to deal with her daughter, Quintana, who comes out of a coma after her father dies. Didion re-lives moments from Quintana’s childhood in which she remembers her daughter being closer to John than to her. Throughout the story she tries to avoid remembering those moments, she tries to avoid getting sucked into the “vertex” as she calls it, but again and again she succumbs to re-living those memories.

            The experience of grief and sorrow is a theme in Joan Didion’s book, even though there is not much raw emotion in the process of her coping with this situation. In one of her memories, she remembers a doctor talking about John’s health and how it could not last long. After analyzing a few key points of that specific memory, John may have known in advance about his health problems, and she could’ve made his remaining time more meaningful. Her past conversations with John also take new meaning as she relates them with the experience she is now going through. I find her way of coping with the grief this type of situation brings very interesting because it’s not like any other person would’ve done it. Normally, people get depressed for months, and won’t accept any help from anyone, but Joan Didion doesn’t show almost any raw emotion, and she doesn’t give up on life. She is able to get through the moments of grief with magical thinking, something people don’t use normally for situations like these.

            Deeper into the story, Didion reaches new levels of grief due to Quintana’s health problems, which later on result in her death. Didion explains that she didn’t want the year after they died to go. At first I thought of it as if she didn’t want to accept the fact that they were gone, but she kept herself in a year of magical thinking. In anthropology, magical thinking is when a person thinks that when hoping for something enough or doing the right actions, an unavoidable event can be averted; thus the title of the book, The Year of Magical Thinking is the year after John and Quintana die and Joan carries on thinking that “if” she follows the right procedure, she can bring them back. “For once in your life just let it go” (60). This is something John told Didion back in the days when Quintana was a child. I found myself repeating this over and over in my head because Joan actually never lets anything go. It’s one of the lines that stuck to my head because they meant much more in this story. Throughout the book Joan complains that she isn’t the one who must let go, but after analyzing for one year, she finally does let go of her year of magical thinking and continues with her life.

            I found this book very interesting. The theme, the author’s experience, her way of dealing with the experience, and the book itself is a life-changing occurrence. After reading from Joan’s point of view, loss of a loved person is very devastating, and it’s extremely hard to deal with it and still keep calm and sane. I never really thought about how my grandmother feels about her husband’s death, but after reading this memoir, I feel admiration towards her. Joan Didion totally changed my view about dealing with these situations. I loved the whole book actually, all the lines were excellent, but I really liked the one I talked about before, when John tells her that she never lets go of things in her life. I could make a connection with John and the line, as I read on, I felt like I was John telling her this. Anyway, it was such an experience itself to read the book. It’s very amazing how 62 pages can have such an impact in your life. Although it’s not an easy book, because it requires profound analyzing, I recommend this book to anyone who likes the memoir genre.