From Cataño to the World: Lesser Antilles at Sea Part 1

Hello guys! Welcome back to my traveling blog.

Me in Barbados local market.

Today, I will be talking about my first experience in a cruise and the islands I visited while 7 days at the Caribbean sea for 7 days. Traveling on a cruise was one of my dreams since I was a child. I always told my dad I wanted to go on a cruise on "Free Willy's" tail when I turned 10. It didn't happen at 10, but it happen when I was 16! My father gave us the option (to me and my sister) in choosing between going on a cruise or to Disney World and guess where we decided it? The Cruise! Or like I called it: City at Sea! We decided on the cruise because I have always wanted to be on one. The cruise trip happened on July 2009. These days were the craziest and most amazing days of my entire 16 years old life. This trip was the end of my four-year hiatus of traveling, but yet beginning of my wanderlust addiction. On this blog, I will be talking about three of the six islands I visited and next week, I will talk about the other three islands and the rest of my experience that I had during that amazing week.

During this trip we visited 6 islands. We departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico at 9pm on a Sunday. On departure day, we arrive super early to the cruise because we didn't want to mis it or make a line for being late. We arrived at noon and settled down on our rooms. The cruise was huge and amazing! I memorized the whole cruise in only two house by walking every corner of the cruise except, staff rooms and the casino. Two hours before departing, the cruise personnel showed us the safety procedures we should follow in the event of an emergency (pay attention to this, you never know when they might come handy, ref. Italy). This was kind of weird because the "safety guy" was overly excited, kind of strange for someone talking about safety. After the emergency drill, my family and I went for dinner and it was AMAZING! Our waiter was from Honduras and we bonded with him and almost kept him from doing his job. He was super nice! Besides the amazing food, which by the way is 24/7, they had amazing shows, free gym, free sauna, and free steam room. Did I mention FREE! Many things are free in the cruise. They even have a little mall inside, but that one is not free for sure.

Me in St. Thomas

When we departure, we walked tot he deck to see the view of "The Old San Juan" while the boat navigated away from the port and it was stunning to see "El Morro" slowly disappearing. It made me think about the colonization period and what Spaniards left behind here or the rest of America, after returning to Spain. Thinking that this was the exact same view they had as they were leaving. It got me really nostalgic, I was leaving my home, temporarily, but hype because I was about to experience theist adventure in my life, at sea, with my family.

Our first stop was Saint Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands) on a Monday morning. We woke up late and after some breakfast, we ran out of the cruise to see the island. We arrived at the Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas capital) and walked around the historic sites in the area and grab some lunch and just enjoyed the view of the capital. We had about 8 hours (9am-5pm) to see the island and go back to the cruise. The cruise offers you excursions and activities to do as well but some of them, if not all of them, have a free to pay so instead we decided to walked around the island and enjoy the bay and the beautiful blue sea. One cool thing that we did was buying a replica of a colonial locked. We strolled around the market and the local stores and it felt like we were on the Old San Juan but everything was in English and smaller than Puerto Rico. My father wasn't the most adventurous guy so after we were out for a couple hours in the harbor we went back because he didn't want to loose sight of the cruise.

http://www.carnival.com/cruise-to-classic/caribbean-cruises/st-thomas-cruises.aspx

View of Roseau, Dominica

On our second day (on Tuesday) we stop in Dominica ( Do not confuse it with Dominican Republic). This time we woke up early and left the cruise to sightseeing around the island. The first thing we did was to go to the bank to exchange US currency to the currency in Dominica (which is the Eastern Carribbean Dollar, look it up) and after we walked around the capital of Dominica, Roseau, and ran into Juan (El Cubano). At first my father was really concern about Juan approaching us because it offered us to give us a tour around the island for a really cheap price. He than later give in because Juan spoke Spanish and three other families from the cruise were going to take the tour too so we got into the van and began our adventure in Dominica.

Juan "El Cubano" and Myself back in the port after seeing the island.

On of the things I loved about the islands was the black sand ( Dominica is a volcanic island) and the hot spring in the forest. During our tour with Juan, we visited an amazing waterfall not he top of a mountain. While walking to the fall, Juan showed us some natural hot springs around the island. In one of the scenic view of the island, Juan showed us how the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. The same effect is possible to see from the west and east coats of Puerto Rico. It so amazing seeing how the world works and see how the Atlantic Ocean is darker than the Caribbean Sea (ocean is deeper than the sea) and how the waves collides with each other. I took pictures but they don't make justice to it. Moments like this are the ones that I take in to myself and admire how amazing nature can be. On our way back from the mountains, a van that literally was flying almost killed my family and I. Cars in Dominica drive in the opposite side of the streets, like in all English colonies. I also realized that the island of Dominica was not as developed as Puerto Rico, and tourism is the only thing that keeps this island alive. Dominica was one of my favorite islands in the entire trip. I really enjoyed exploring the island and meeting Juan. During the evening, we got ready for Captain Night, and my father birthday! He didn't want people to know but, because I am spontaneous, I went to the waiter and told him that it was my father's birthday and they brought a piece of cake singing Happy Birthday to him. Later during dinner, we met the Captain and he wished my father a great birthday. It was a great day overall.

My father on his birthday.

http://www.carnival.com/cruise-to-classic/southern-caribbean-cruise/dominica-cruises.aspx

On our third day we arrive to Barbados. I was excited of being visiting because...Rihannah is from Barbados!!! On that day, my father decided that we were spending the entire day at the beach. Fine with me! We met with the same group from Dominica and went to the beach. When we arrived at the beach, we found out they had sea turtles at the beach for $20 we could get could get on a boat with a clear floor and get near the turtles, snorkel with them and feed them. This was an unbelievable experience! The turtles were huge and it's amazing to see how they swim so majestically into the deep blue and calmly get near you to eat. My parents were freaking out because they didn't get in but they also, were far away form the shore. My sister and I were enjoying swimming with the sea turtle. After 30 minutes of swimming and feeding the turtles we headed back to the shore and enjoyed ourselves the rest of our day at Barbados.

Snorkeling with the turtles 

 Coming back to the harbor in Bridgetown (the capital of Barbados) the driver showed us where Rihanna was raised and the house she is stay when she visit the island. When we arrived to Bridgetown, we walked around the local market to buy souvenirs but first, we need to exchange US dollars to Barbarians Dollars, the local currency. After dinner, we saw one of the cruise offered: an impersonation of an artist and stand up comedy. Okay, the quality was not that bad but it could have been better. Half way through the trip, only thing that it was getting boring was the food. I ate so much the first few days that I was over it half way through the trip. Good thing I discovered the sauna and steam room and it was a nice place to go and relax and talk to other passengers about their experience in each island.

Coming back from snorkeling and feeding the turtles 

http://www.carnival.com/cruise-to-classic/southern-caribbean-cruise/barbados-cruise.aspx

***************************************************************************************************************************

Next week, I will be talking about the rest of the islands (St. Lucia, Antigua, and St. Kitts) I visited while in the Carnival cruise, as well as, when is the best time to travel to the Lesser Antilles. I will be also posting a video with all the pictures of the cruise so you guys can picture everything that I am talking about.

If you want more information about carnival cruise and their trips you can visit the link below.

http://www.carnival.com

From Cataño to the World: Honduras

Hello and welcome back to my traveling blog.

Half of the group at the airport in Tegucigalpa. Can you find me?

Today, I will take you to my real adventure outside the island of Puerto Rico, one that I actually remember. I had the great opportunity to visit Honduras for two weeks during the summer of 2005. It was a mission trip that my church did to Honduras and it was the second year they did it. I decided to go because of two reasons; first, I wanted to go out and see Honduras and see Honduras and get their currency and second, because my sister, Valerie, The year prior and I was upset I didn't go because I was too young to go by myself. I know I am such a little brother. My church decided to go to Honduras because they were affiliated with another church in Puerto Rico and we were going to help them in spreading the love of God as well our sweat and tears to help them in anything that we could.

We departure to Honduras on July 11, 2005 and it was the longest flight of my life. We only had one stop, Panama City, and from there to Honduras. It was an 8-hour flight and I was really hyped about it. When we arrived to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, it was really sure!!! For the first time in my life, I had a cultural shock. First, we had to get off the plane by going down the stairs, follow by walking the runway to reach the airport building, where our luggage was waiting for us. This experience was a bit unusual given that I had never had to walk on the runway to get inside the airport. One of the first things our group leader said to us was: "DO NOT GIVE MONEY TO ANYBODY NO MATTER WHAT". At the moment I didn't understood why our group leader would say things like: "WE ARE CHRISTIAN PEOPLE AND WE ARE HERE TO HELP, RIGHT?... and say things like that!!" Well, to my surprise outside of the door of the airport over 50 children were waiting on every tourist to come out to beg for money and sell us things. In that moment it hit me...I realize I was not Puerto Rico any longer, and that I was experience for the first time what real poverty looks like. I just couldn't understand why, the kids instead of their of their parents were begging for money!! Non of us gave money to the children but, we witness a tourist giving money to one of the kid and next thing you know, all the children ran desperately like tornados around the tourist, who ended up with ripped pockets and no money. It was just surreal for a 12-year old kid to understand why at such a young age, children have to provide for their family instead of the other way around. This was an eye-opening situation for me. In that moment I understood that I my life was going to change forever in a good way

Waiting in the villa to get something to eat. Can you find me?

During those two weeks, I remember visiting three different cities in Honduras: Tegucigalpa, Yoro (a city in the mid-north side of the country) and an pedro de Sula (one of the biggest cities in Honduras located in the north near to Guatemala). We also stayed in other smaller town and villages (this was a long time ago) and I don't remember all of their names.

On our first days in Tegucigalpa, I remember they brought us to church to community service, as well as, to meet our chef while in the trip, which in the trip which by the way was amazing!!! I remember how I approached her... I needed to let her know things I didn't like to ear to my surprise, she replies: "Well you will have to eat whatever I cook, otherwise you will starve until next day breakfast. Those were the most hurtful words someone could have ever say to me. But I did ate everything she cooked, and because of her I stooped being picky with food-well  more than now! I'm still picky, but open to try anything. A few days into helping build a church, we learned that there was another group that was coming to Tegucigalpa and that we needed to wait for the bus at least three hours so the bus was late and we had to walk from the church to another village and we walked about 5 hours in a dirt street in the middle of the jungle. It was a strange experience but cool at the same time! We had things to do because the weather was nice and the view of the mountains and fields were amazingly beautiful. 

At a church making balloons for the children. Can you find me?

On all of our church visits, we were responsible for entertaining the children and teenagers at the church. Because I am a professional clown (I am serious!) and recently graduated from Clown School in 2005, I took charge of making balloons and face painting since nobody else knew how to do it. I had such a blast doing this, even though I wasn't dress like a clown. Those hours I spent making balloons and painting faces made my day. To see a child with a big smile and such joy over a ballon in the shape of a sword, hat, turtle, dog, or giraffe, made me realize that I needed to appreciate more what I had back home and not be ungrateful because I didn't get the latest thing. In my case it was a Nintendo DS.

During the trip I met my friend José. Like me, he was volunteering with the church and in a way, he was also our tour guy. He is one of the persons I met during I met during this trip that until this day, I still wonder what happened to him. He used to talked to me about how he tried to get to the United States multiple times and how he would got caught in the borders of Guatemala, Mexico and the United States while he was on a train that crossed the borders (except the U.S border). He explained to us how hard the move on and get a job in Gringolandia (United States), if you do not possess money or somebody to didn't understood a lot about immigration, but growing up realized the situation in Honduras and the struggle that my friend José was going through. I left Honduras saying good bye to my friend José wishing him the best and hoping I would be able to se him again with a  lot of candy and toilet paper, the two things he loved because he wasn't able to have it that easy. We left Honduras and two or three year later we found out that our friend José tried again to get into United States illegally through that train and made it. They told us he was in Miami but we never got a confirmation. I hope he is doing well and I wish him the best.

One of the things that impacted my life during my time at Honduras was that the regardless of the current situation at the time, people were so nice, happy, optimistic, and extremely humble. I had the opportunity to go and visit the house of one of the members of the congregation and it really opened my eyes. The house had only 3 bedrooms, one shower, no toilet, the kitchen was in the back of the house and it had a huge pan and it was build on top a bonfire surrounded by mud, and a living room that only fit 3 people sitting at the same time. The walls were made out of mud, the floor was made of dirt and their bathroom was 20 feet away from the house which was 4 panels of wood and the roof made out of zinc with a hole in the middle, which was really uncomfortable. Believe me it was! I have used it. Another thing that impacted me was how their broom was made of. The broom was made of a stick with wood and three branches. After coming back to Puerto Rico I was not the same kid that have left. I appreciated everything I had, even the broom because I didn't had to climb trees and swept the dirt. And as a kid I didn't had to go to work to provide to my family.


Random things that happen to me in Honduras:

• We did most of the road trip during the night. We always move around on a yellow school bus, and we all had our own seat. One night on our way back to San Pedro de Sula, as soon as we hit the road, I felt asleep on my seat, which was on the right side of the bus. It was a rainy day making the road muddy. Later that night, I woke up with the scream of everyone shouting my name, but I couldn't understand why. When I finally woke up, my face was smashing the window because the bus was almost falling down a cliff. Everyone was trying to make weight all the weight that almost made the bus go down hill. As you can see, nothing happen, otherwise, another person will be telling you the story. I move faster than Speedy Gonzalez, moving to the left side of the bus allowing the bus to move out the cliff and continuing our way to San Pedro de Sula. Very scary, but adventurous experience.
• We were really close to visit a Native American tribe in Honduras but I couldn't go because I was 12 and they didn't had space in the truck. Funny story; after they made it to the tribe, the messenger of the Native American didn't allow anyone to come close to the tribe outside the path. So, I didn't missed anything but I was really hype about knowing how close I was to a real tribe, just like a typical kid. 
• KFC chicken from Honduras taste way different than the KFC from Puerto Rico. 
• When you order a soda to go, they don't give you a cup instead you get a mini plastic bag with a straw. 
• On our way back to Puerto Rico, My mother, sister and I gave our passport to the TSA guy and he took forever to look over our passport. When he talked to my mother he said he only had two passport and that he was missing mine. My mom got into an argument with the TSA guy, she ended up grabbing my passport from where he was hiding it. I almost got didn't left Panama. 
• When I arrive to Puerto Rico,  I went straight to the ER because I was dehydrated from the trop. I drank tap water in Honduras the last day there and I almost die because of how many times I went to the bathroom in a 8-hour flight back to Puerto Rico. 

Things to know about Honduras before departing : 

• There is no vaccine required to Honduras, but recommended to have hepatitis, tetanus, and typhoid vaccine before departing to Honduras.  
• There is no visa required to visit Honduras with a U.S. passport. You have 90 days to enter and leave the country as a tourist.
• The north cost of Honduras has most humid period between September to February while the rainy seasons are between October to December. In the center of Honduras the drought season is during November to to April (this is the best tine to visit) and the rainy season is during May to October. 
• AS SOON YOU GET TO HONDURAS GO AND EAT SOME BALEADAS!!!! IT'S A MUST!! 

*****If you are interested in knowing how hard and horrifying was for my friend José to emigrate from Honduras to the United States by train. I recommend reading the book of  Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario is a really eye opening book. Is not my friend life story but it's close to every experience my friend went through every time he tried to leave Honduras. 

wikimedia.org

**********************************************************************************************************************

I hope you all enjoyed todays post. Let me know what you think and don't forget to like and share! Coming up next the LESSER ANTILLES 2009! I will talk to you about the great adventure I had when I went on a cruise for 7 days. See ya, God Bless you all! Merry Christmas!