Dry Forest of Guanica, Puerto Rico

Dry Forrest of Guanica


The Sunday of march 14, I went with a couple of friends to explore the Dry Forrest of Guanica, it was an incredible adventure with much outdoors fun as any forest I have ever been. For a true outdoor's man it my not be as big as other parks, only ten thousands acres, but for a day of exploring and biking is more than enough, the idea is not how far people can walk or hike is about what Trekkers can see. In this United Nations Biosphere Reserve populated by more than 600 uncommon types of plants and animals, including 48 endangered species and 16 that are unique to Puerto Rico (http://www.gotopuertorico.com/guanica-puerto-rico.php).

My friends and I enjoyed an afternoons of hiking, caving (known as spelunking, when referring to amateurs without the proper knowledge, or training) and an afternoon by the beach, ending with a fine dinner at one of the many see food restaurant at la Parguera (http://www.lajaspr.com/engLaParguera.htm), in Lajas. My friends and I, were about to go into a boat and see the natural reserve and the bio-luminescent bay after dinner but the boat was gone by then and we did not have the energy to wait for the next one because of the days walk. We sure recommend and afternoon stroll by the peers after dinner to see the artist and visit the different shops in the area also try a local sangria named Coño.

If you try to get to Guanica by the main highway from San Juan; is about a two hour drive taking 52 south until getting to Ponce in the intersection with road 2 and then to road 116 and from road 116 to road 333 (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Guanica+Puerto+Rico&sll=37.926868,-95.712891&sspn=38.37478,92.724609&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Gu%C3%A1nica,+Puerto+Rico&ll=17.897728,-66.461792&spn=1.45839,2.897644&z=9).

Before I go I forgot to mention that we visited the abandoned light house in Guanica and explored the beautiful beach of Guanica, we took many pictures and some video that I will post later after editing. Now is time to say after next time and if you are coming to the island post a comment in my blog and I will try to help with your visit.

The Snake Pit

The Snake Pit

Thursday, January 21, 2010, it is 12:14 am. Today I find my self unable to sleep; it is one of those nights that something is looming in my thoughts and I have to get up and write it. I started looking for a pen and paper before all my ideas are gone and I could be left with and empty mind and no sleep.

I speak and write tow languages, Spanish being my first language and English being my second language, I usually express what I feel in Spanish my natural language but today I am force to write in English because I have the feeling that what ever I will put on this paper it will be better explained in English. It is difficult to explain why I am writing in English but I believe that I do not have the ability to write these words in Spanish due to the situation that most of my readings and studies about any topic are conducted in English.

The idea of people always looking for a better place to live, to work, to play, to relax or to do anything was fore most on my thoughts tonight; I was thinking on some of my friends that are always looking for ways to improve their lives but usually do not succeed, these friends of mine are always trying hard to do the next best thing and by their character they usually are not happy with what they accomplish and most of their complains are directed at their jobs or the people they work with, most of the time they blame other employees behaviors and charge these other employees as the main cause of their troubles. As one of my friends told me long ago back in 1998 when I was working with the US Army “sometimes I feel like I am in a snake pit and a boa constrictor is crushing me while a cobra and a black mamba are biting me, I feel their poison and the crushing pressure but I can do nothing to stop it”. Feeling like been in a snake pit when a person is around his or hers coworkers is a strong form of anxiety at work, it could turn any body into a possible mental case for psychiatric treatment I thought to my self.

Long time later when I had other jobs and went through different process of maturity I understood what my friend was trying to tell me; in different words he was trying to tell me that is hard being on a job when most coworkers do not get a long and the chemistry of the team goes Kaboon and explodes into discussions about other people’s behaviors‘. Through my experience in different jobs environment I had come to think that if there are two people working together each person has a fifty percent chance of causing a good impression on each other; might that impression be through aptitude, appearance, voice of communication tone or any other human interaction trait each person poses.

Now that fifty percent chance decrease according to the size of the group because we have no control on how different people my interpret our behavior. Example if there are three people working the chances decrease to 33 percent because each person can not control what the other two talk about when that third persona is not present; if there are four people working the chances of those people’s opinion being good about each individual is reduce 25 percent; for five people the chances decrease to twenty percent an so on according to the size of the group.
Now do not be alarm, there are ways to improve ones image to the group; the first one is character, if any body wants to be treated like a winner or be seen or perceive as a good worker it has to be by behaving like one; any body that needs recognition and acknowledgement needs to star behaving like a person capable of taking on any challenge and overcome those challenges when they arise, always thinking on the best for the group and not just for the individual.

The second strategy to improve people’s image around the work place is through communication by expressing their selves while respecting others and always paying attention to other peoples mood. Never think or assume that what other people say about them can not hurt them; always be aware what other people think about you even if you think that they have a good opinion about you, try not to be hostile and always keep it professional, in this way people will have less opportunities to say something that might be harmful to others and if what comes to mind when you hear something hostile is to be hostile back at that person, do not do it the best way to approach a hostile situation at work is with kindness, professionalism and good moral character.

The third way to improve people’s image at work is by publicity but it cost to much effort and most people will not perceive you as real or part of the team, publicity is a good strategy better use for people that usually do not deal with you on an everyday basis.

I have come to believe that the best way to improve the opinion of others about me is by being the best person I can be and always keeping it natural, flexible and real people love when they get to know the real person behind my smile.

Ouch, now I am done and I have to pass all these to the computer and post if in my blog and is already 1:11 am an no sleep, double, ouch, ouch. Final comment before I go, the last part where I use the first person “I have come to believe that the best way to improve the opinion of others about me” was done on purpose to motivate the reader to think of them selves and if they have been in a similar position to try and become the best they can be.

Poor Man's Economy

Poor Man’s Economy

A few nights ago I was drinking and eating at home with some friends and I was sitting at my apartments gallery with Don Rafael an 83 years old, from the Dominican Republic who live in Puerto Rico; we were talking about how bad the economy is and how little the jobs are paying. The conversation we were having about savings was that today people only make enough money to live and is hard to save any money.

Don Rafael after hearing about the situation started talking about his days in the Dominican Republic and he say “Tito, if you think is hard to save money now imaging myself at the Dominican Republic years ago, I worked for 40 years and never could I save anything it was not until 1994 that I came to Puerto Rico and started saving some money, I started working at a Cuban restaurant in Isla Verde, Carolina, Puerto Rico, and started sending some money to my family in the Dominican Republic.”

I was surprise and asked “40 years with out saving or anything, but why?”

Don Rafael looked at the sealing as someone would when they are thinking and after a few moments continue” is not that I did not wanted to save is that I could not, I only made enough to live by, but when I came here I started working and saving money; I remember that I could buy my food for the week with only twenty dollars.”

I reacted surprise “twenty dollars only, for a week of food?” in a louder tone of voice I went “ What were you eating, just meat and potatoes?”

Rafael with the ease that only years can give a human being said to me “I did not buy anything expensive and I could always eat at the restaurant so I started saving and sending some money home, and after six years I was buying property at the Dominican Republic.”

I was kind of speechless after that and Rafael seeing my loss for words went on “Tito the most important thing for a man to do is never to give up, you have to keep fighting for what you want.”

After a few minutes of conversation I realize that this 83 year’s old man started saving for a house after fifty years of living in poverty, that he did not made any money back in his home country, but he never gave up and continue fighting for his dream. He came to Puerto Rico by himself where his financial situation was a little better and worked hard to obtain a house for his family. I learned a lot from Don Rafael that night, he was telling me how hard “is to get by in life but as a person you can never give up”. Life is hard for most people and there is not a manual that can tell people what to do, as a man we have to follow the way lay for us, but we can not for get about the people around us, they are also in their respective journeys’ and we are all along for the walk of life.

My life has not been easy but is also not the hardest, I have had plenty of opportunities that I have squandered, and I has taken myself more than 30 years to learn the beautiful things life has to offer and I believe that I have much more to learn and enjoy, I have learned to stop and think, analyze the situation and enjoy the moment because any thing that I do it will eventually have repercussions in my life and I have to keep fighting for success, my life and the well being of my family depends on what I do.

The Shoe Sales Man

The Shoe Salesman

The tale I am about to tell you, is a true story of a man with a vision, an entrepreneurial dream of fortune, glory, and the yearning to succeed. It is the chronicle of a man, who exhausted himself in search of employment, just to hear from everyone: “You are over qualified”. Refusing to accept failure and taking a hint from employers that would not hire him, he was force to wake up and smell the coffee; employers in this tiny island were not looking for leaders they were looking for mules.
I first met Ernesto Herrera while studying towards my master degree in Technology Management at the University of Phoenix in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. As I recall, Ernesto was working towards his master in Global Management and we were both allocate in the same finance course group which was a requirement for everybody doing a master in business administration. At the University of Phoenix, students are required to study in groups to develop team work and leadership skills. At the end of each class, all groups have to present a power point presentation of a business investigation according to the professor and class requirements. While in our finance class, Ernesto worked hard at understanding the bits and pieces of material because to him and too many of us in the same class, finance was not our strong subject, every time the professor explained something for us, he was speaking a different language from a far away country, it was like trying to decipher ancient scripts; for us the non finance guru the class was a test that took all our efforts to pass. After we finished the finance class we both went our separate directions to our respective concentration programs and we never had another course together.
While conducting investigations for my courses I would see Ernesto almost every day at the student resource center surfing the internet for who knows what, sometimes I would pass by him and say “Hi”, other times I would pass by and establish a conversation with him. During our conversations at the student resource center I discovered that Ernesto was involved in learning a martial art from the Philippines that required swords, knifes and sticks, also he was planning a trip to the Philippines to get accredited in that martial art before concluding his master. Ernesto told me that he was raise by a Philippine family and that he was much in loved with the Philippine culture. Now I have to make a comment: up to this point Ernesto was a mystery to me, he had so many different little stories to tell and it was fun listening to most of his tales, he was a walking question mark full of life and wisdom. Ernesto a Latino guy born of Porto Rican parents, who could not speak Spanish and was raise by Philippines, told me that he became an orphan at a very young age and turned into and urchin before he met his Philippine family. When he became part of that family, his life changed for the better and that same guy who was raise by an oriental family, years latter decided to change his life again an took to Puerto Rico. Trying his luck in a place were he did not know anybody and did not speak the language (Spanish) very well, Ernesto a man in his middle forties studying towards his master was struggling to get by on this hostile environment.
It was during our final day as a student of the University of Phoenix that my class mates and I went to a restaurant bar to celebrate our last day of class; while at this bar I met Ernesto who was back from his trip to the Philippines. He told me of his journey to the Philippines to get a certification in some martial art and how, while working on that certification he met some people who talked to him about shoes and after that moment an idea was born, an idea born of that desire to win. He brought back that entrepreneur spirit that people need to start their own business, and from then on, Mr. Herrera worked hard on putting his idea to paper. He wanted to be the sole distributor of high class Philippines made shoes in Puerto Rico; Ernesto the shoe salesman was committed to his project and started moving heaven and earth to find out information that would support his venture. He established a company named H. Herrera a long with his teammates from his master degree in global management. Mr. Herrera went on a second trip to the Philippines in which he brought ten pair of shoes accompanied of a small catalog of top quality shoes to show people. After this second trip Ernesto was committed to succeed and started working on the business plan to present to different banks for a new business loan. Ernesto was getting good information and making great progress but still he had to many obstacles to deal with, one of then been the need of a car to move around San Juan, so I decided to give him a little help with his investigation and transportation, and at the same time I was learning how to open my own business. We visited many government offices looking for information and finding out about permits and licenses needed for the transportation of Ernesto’s products to establish a supply chain from the Philippines to Puerto Rico. The only thing I was getting from all this was knowledge on how to open a business and a good story, so I decided to keep helping him as much as I could with out hurting my self because I was also going through the same stuff of being over qualified for most positions and not having the necessary qualifications for others. We visited many places and talked to a lot of people Mr. Herrera and I; we discovered the hard way how bad the government offices are run, nobody knew which offices Ernesto and I needed to go to ask for a ship broker’s license and we walked the long road towards government bureaucratic. It was a slow and tiresome process to find information about the ship broker’s license but Ernesto in his earnest to start his own business never gave up and kept going against all obstacles that came his way.
It is necessary to mention that Ernesto believed in his idea as a message from a higher power, he was not a religious person but he was a very spiritual man. He presented his ideas with such passion that people would stand there listening to him for long periods of time. As we visited more government offices to find out information, I never pictured myself as becoming part of his work group, or company. We were just two people walking to places and learning new things, it was a simple economic barter were he was in a position to do things faster as I provided him with transportation and I was getting to write what we were doing. The entire process to us was like a class room with no walls and no teachers to guide us; as we stumbled together in the road to his success I kept writing his story. We traveled to places, we waited at long lines, we participated in seminars and we exchanged ideas for the benefit of his project; it was like putting together a puzzle of a thousand pieces. The more we learned the more doubts and questions arise but Ernesto would not leave anything to chance and he was planning for any eventuality, he was covering all the bases of this game.
Mr. Herrera was a man with an idea; he knew that the shoe market in the Philippines has not been touched by any small shoe distributor in the island and that it was a decreasing industry in the Philippines ever since China joined the shoe production market. Ernesto mentioned that the industry once a healthy 70,000 strong producers came down to a 20,000 and decreasing shoe makers; their factories and their industry were sinking fast but the government was trying to save the dying industry. Two other things that were fuelling Ernesto were: first the pour coin exchange that benefited him as a buyer of a 52 Philippines pesos to one US dollar which was much lower than other shoe producing countries like Brazil, Italy, or China. The second opportunity that fuelled Ernesto was the undeveloped economic route of exchange between the Philippines and Puerto Rico which represented an unexploited new market. What is more, Ernesto pictured himself as doing the Philippines a favor by helping their decreasing industry and developing new markets, in a way he was fulfilling a moral obligation as a global citizen an entrepreneur to a culture that has done so much for him.

Cayey Hooters

Picture of Cayey Hooters in Salinas, Puerto Rico, they are naturally big creations of nature, as beautifull as my home town.

First Photo

Monumento al Jibaro Puertorriqueño in Salinas, Puerto Rico. I just wanted to introduce my self with a picture from my hometown of Salinas.