#3 on 11.06.2021"Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world" Gustave Flaubert
oanalungu.substack.com
Whenever I feel prideful, I go back to the feeling I had 2 years ago when I visited San Juan, Puerto Rico. I was bewildered. I had a mix of feelings like I was in Mexico City, but why did it feel like Berlin? I loved the large boulevards and equally the Old San Juan, La Fortaleza, and Castillo San Felipe del Morro, the street art of Santurce, the coffee shops, the museums, the food, all embraced by the Spanish language. And I did not even mention that I visited the place where Despacito was filmed! Imagine that...
Anyways, I always considered Puerto Rico a Finisterre, something very, very far away from everything. I walked down the memory lane, and I pinned the feeling... I was about 12 years old, in a small town in Romania, doing my homework when I heard on the radio Vaya con Dios singing Puerto Rico. My attention shifted from the homework to the lyrics.
Not sure when, but between feeling sorry for Angelita that Manolo was about to leave her for a better life in the USA, and feeling sorry for myself that I had to do my homework (probably it was mathematics), I got this feeling that Puerto Rico must be not only the end of Love but also the end of the Earth.
Who would have thought that someday I would get there?! Not me, for sure! But, unintentionally, I probably planted a seed that day! I was lucky because I planted a good seed. I don't really like unintentional thoughts as we also need to be mindful about them, besides our words and actions.
And just like that, my end of the Earth became the rest of the world. Everything seemed, again, very far from where I was, and I felt so small, just like the schoolgirl from the past. Travel, indeed, makes you see what tiny little creatures we actually are.
Now, tell me, what is your end of the world?
Yours truly,
O
I included below some pictures that we took back then. I am sure they are not capturing all the beauty of San Juan, but you will get an idea.
#3 on 11.06.2021"Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world" Gustave Flaubert
#3 on 11.06.2021"Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world" Gustave Flaubert
#3 on 11.06.2021"Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world" Gustave Flaubert
Whenever I feel prideful, I go back to the feeling I had 2 years ago when I visited San Juan, Puerto Rico. I was bewildered. I had a mix of feelings like I was in Mexico City, but why did it feel like Berlin? I loved the large boulevards and equally the Old San Juan, La Fortaleza, and Castillo San Felipe del Morro, the street art of Santurce, the coffee shops, the museums, the food, all embraced by the Spanish language. And I did not even mention that I visited the place where Despacito was filmed! Imagine that...
Anyways, I always considered Puerto Rico a Finisterre, something very, very far away from everything. I walked down the memory lane, and I pinned the feeling... I was about 12 years old, in a small town in Romania, doing my homework when I heard on the radio Vaya con Dios singing Puerto Rico. My attention shifted from the homework to the lyrics.
Not sure when, but between feeling sorry for Angelita that Manolo was about to leave her for a better life in the USA, and feeling sorry for myself that I had to do my homework (probably it was mathematics), I got this feeling that Puerto Rico must be not only the end of Love but also the end of the Earth.
Who would have thought that someday I would get there?! Not me, for sure! But, unintentionally, I probably planted a seed that day! I was lucky because I planted a good seed. I don't really like unintentional thoughts as we also need to be mindful about them, besides our words and actions.
And just like that, my end of the Earth became the rest of the world. Everything seemed, again, very far from where I was, and I felt so small, just like the schoolgirl from the past. Travel, indeed, makes you see what tiny little creatures we actually are.
Now, tell me, what is your end of the world?
Yours truly,
O
I included below some pictures that we took back then. I am sure they are not capturing all the beauty of San Juan, but you will get an idea.