un viaje puertorriqueño

{the small town of boqueron}

{boqueron beach}

{playa sucia}

{a trip to san juan}

{crash boat beach}

featured above: a much needed break from the rigors of graduate school.  we stayed at a small beachside resort in the southwest corner of the island, in a small town called boqueron.  while boqueron (translated as "anchovy" in spanish...?) is no tourist-attracting // cruise ship-porting san juan, the six of us quickly fell in love with the tiny little town.  we charmed our way to free drinks at will's restaurant, almost adopted a stray puppy from alex at galloway's, made a bad name for all american girls while paddle boarding with ignacio, and caught a free ride to the rental car place with manny.  we drank piña coladas and ate tostones all of the days, explored the crystal clear depths of las playas, karaoked to bon jovi with some locals, and were so sad to say goodbye to our tiny corner of the island that we had made our own when the 7 days were up.  

now back to the grind and some summer internship decision-making.  ciao!

"i think the truth is if you really care about the quality of somebody's life as much as you care about the quality of your own, you have it made." 

- edie windsor 

9/52

{in anticipation: midterms week vs. spring break}

a view from where i stand, every week, every month, this year. 

"go all the way with it.  do not back off.  for once, go all the goddamn way with what matters."

- ernest hemingway, the complete short stories 

lessons from my city.

things new york has taught me, part uno.

o1.  i'm now in a hurry to get EVERYWHERE.  not only because the trains are so conveniently spaced 12 minutes apart right when i need one, but because i now live in new york city.  i'm constantly weaving around people, even if there isn't really a purpose.  i feel as if i'm running that half marathon i ran sophomore year in college when i signed up for the time-group that included blind people in wheelchairs because i wasn't sure how fast i would be able to run.  slow is now too slow.

(the other day in hoboken, while i was walking after dinner with friends, i cut off a couple on the sidewalk so intensely that you would have thought i had somewhere to go.  i didn't.  "THIS ISN'T NEW YORK CITY, AMY," my friend jabbed.  the subsequent long walk in front of them was a bit awkward, to say the least.)

o2.  sometimes you have to sacrifice your body for a more spacious floor plan.  because i moved my full-sized bed into the little nook that would have been cute and cozy when i was eight years old, i can no longer open my closet door all the way.  in order to grab something from the back, i have to strategically squeeze the smallest part of my abdomen into the small space left between the door knob and the wall, and let's just say that this isn't the most comfortable position.

o3.  leave for everything ~20 minutes early.  baby fell on the subway tracks, chick held the subway doors open for too long, it's finally 50 degrees outside and the winter gods don't want you enjoying the warm weather.... basically anything and everything will delay the subway.  especially when you're on the 1 train, which is the dumbest train on the face of this earth, and is also the only train i ever take because i'm too lazy to walk to the D.

"i thought new york city was going to be the most exciting, magical, fraught-with-possibility place that you could ever live; in a place where if you really wanted something, you might be able to get it; a place where i'd be surrounded by people i was dying to be with.  and i turned out to be right." 

- nora ephron

found.

the oscars this year blew my mind.  another speech given at a black women in hollywood luncheon that i could watch over and over again.

"beauty was not a thing that i could acquire or consume.  it was a thing that i just had to be.  and what my mother meant when she said 'you can't eat beauty,' is that you can't rely on beauty to sustain you.  what actually sustains us - what is fundamentally beautiful - is compassion.  for yourself, and for those around you.  that kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul."
- lupita nyongo

8/52

{going into hibernation: snowcopalypse part 34}

a view from where i stand, every week, every month, this year. 

"being generous of spirit is a wonderful way to live." 

- pete seeger