leaving on a jet plane

so i do a lot of traveling. it's one of my favorite things to do. experience new cultures, new countries and ways of life, where the world moves at a snail's pace and is probably happier and healthier for it. well, since i do a lot of traveling both within the US and outside of it, i've made some observations. and the one i find most interesting by far is the airplane environment. so picture your last flight. plane takes off, there's some sleep, maybe a movie, slim to no chance of food but it does happen, a couple of minutes of turbulence and then you land. story over right? you grab your things and impatiently wait to deplane. well that all depends on where you are flying to. After multiple flights to Puerto Rico and a flight to Haiti (all filled with natives) i've first hand experienced energy charged flights which upon landing applause and cheers abound. so i've pondered the catalyst behind the applause.

a. cheers for the pilot, showing gratitude for a job well done
b. general gratitude for having arrived safely
c. a combo of the above

I can't think of any other reasons here. But I tell you this - if it's any of the above it tells me something about the differences in our cultures. I don't clap when I touch down in any US state, or country outside the states for that matter. Am i taking things for granted? Am i desensitized? Or do we all just exhibit our thankfulness in different ways? I say a quick prayer and give my love to everyone (just in case) before each take off and a thanks when i land. all inside, to myself. Maybe i lack the vibrancy of other cultures (and yes i am puerto rican but my native friends have pointed out i'm still a gringa, i do recognize the differences in our ways of being). not sure if there is one easy answer here. but i tell you this. i absolutely LOVE those plane rides that end in jovial celebration. i get a warm fuzzy feeling inside which feels so good!

time races by....

and often i wonder - where did it go? summer is over, another birthday has passed, as has another year on the job. time's race becomes life's marathon but the question remains the same. where did it go? it's as if we glide through life in an almost trance like state. under the control of external forces we seem to allow to take on this control over our lives. i want to say STOP, i won't be forced to take part in this rat race. but then that force shoves my face right back into the mess. i want to stop, breath, forget the responsibilities of modern living. stop, breath, open my eyes to the world and it's grandeur. forget the luxuries and so-called necessities of life, i want the basics - happiness, love, longevity. i want to enjoy good people all the time and allow them to enjoy me with out the stigmas, without office politics. i want to stop, breath.....oh no, lunch breaks over.

la isla del encanto

shades of blue meet at the horizon and calm ensues. the sun adds life to my surroundings as yellow hues rain down from above spotlighting everything in its path. the palm trees remind me i'm in another world. cool, salty breezes on hot sunny days envelope me, sending my mind adrift with colorful tropical thoughts.

i've traveled thousands of miles to get here, a visitor to the birthplace of my parents, my grandparents...but all of me knows that i am home. i envision the era before my time when this land was theirs, when they lived and breathed, worked and played here. their home and the home of countless others, yet i stand here, una extranjera, and i am home. the connection transcends time and distance, it transcends history; born of the power and pride derived from my roots. i breathe in the salty air and with it the spirit of my ancestry.