seaside

SPRING BREAK IS HERE! You have no idea how much I needed this vacation. I feel like I cheated beacause none of my professors are coming tomorrow, and other people still have class. I felt like I was about to explode. Taking 18 credits this semester is really taking a toll on me, and I know it's only going to get harder as the years pass. But I'm not going to talk about that today.

I went to the beach today - a much needed rendevouz with the sun. I went with two of my friends, but if I had gone by myself I still would have had a good time. Most of the people my age go to the beach to get wasted but I love to go to just be calm. The sea has always had some power over me, it's a very soothing presence. It's strange - no one in my family enjoys going to the beach. My father is terrified of the ocean. Whenever I dive in though, I love it. I'm not a big athlete, so I've never surfed or been a terrific swimmer, but I have discovered that it is a simple pleasure just to float in the water for a while, bob up and down with the current. I feel free. It's like I'm taking time off from my journeys to unwind.

The beach I went to has got to be one of the most beautiful in the metropolitan area - a little private beach near Condado. It was quite empty, as it's Tuesday and I went around midday but there were enough people that I felt safe. We spread a huge blanked and started toasting under the sun. After a while I felt too hot, so while my friends kept on sunbaking I dove headfirst into the water.

It's funny how I used to hate the tourist that came to the beaches in Puerto Rico because I found them to be mostly rude; but after this class my eyes have been opened and I realized I have been a tourist too. We are all humans, we all have the right to enjoy what the Earth is offering us.

Whenever I go to the beach, my line of thought transforms from the everyday race to a diffrent way to see the world - I go slower, I think about everything I've done and how I've acted, and everything that I want to do. I always had this funny thought whenever my skin met the water- this water, the water that I am touching now, circa 2013 is and has been the water that's been around since the beginning of the Earth. This water has touched other water that other people have touched all throughout humanity's existence. Who knows if it's the same water that I swam in when I was just a kid. Who really knows? It's curious to think about that.