Day as a Tourist

Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend a day as a tourist in a beautiful town in the North of Puerto Rico. Here is my experience (is narrated as a diary)...

Right now I am at Mar Chiquita beach in Manatí.

It feels really nice. The wind is really good. I was expecting to see less people though; there are a lot of people. There are a few young boys and girls in groups. Many people is drinking and it's only noon. Everyone seems healthy and in shape which is a really good sign. A few men wandering around selling water, beers and food. They keep going, walking the whole beach over and over again. I don't know how they don't get tired in this hot sun. Thank God it is not raining. It would be a shame to come to Puerto Rico to enjoy the beaches and to be raining.

Now I am at Costa Azul, which is a very good restaurant here in Manatí. The food is absolutely delicious. I ate mofongo with churrasco that is one of my favorite plates.

I feel like I am traveling in a cruise. The area is very clean and everyone seems really nice. There are people walking their dogs, jogging, riding bikes, and there are a few tourists in the area. Near there are a lot of apartments that people often use for vacations. Two of them are Brisas de Mar Chiquita and Chalets de la Playa. This is a very good area. Good restaurants, tourists, beautiful beaches, many condominiums. It seems like the perfect place for vacations.

Now I am looking to the sky and sadly is cloudy. Thank God that I already left the beach. At least the traffic was not that bad and the roads are not bad either. Puerto Rico seems a really modern place unlike many of the beliefs some people have...

This experience of being a tourist in my own country makes me reflect a lot. As a Puerto Rican living in here, it is hard to picture everything from the eyes of a tourist. After doing this and having the opportunity to see the island with different eyes I was able to write and state the things I liked. I realized that I was actually admiring all the things that before I maybe took for granted. Living here makes you walk through the streets, have fun in the beaches, drive through the island without really admiring many things like the exotic beauty of our island. I appreciate having been able to admire my island and connect to it as well.