The beach: more than sun and fun.

I live in La Romana, Dominican Republic, which is a city located off the Caribbean coast, that means, of course, we are surrounded by beautiful beaches of the Caribbean Sea. It's a normal thing for people go to the beach on weekends, holidays and stuff. So it is for my family. We normally enjoy going out, that's what we do the most as a family. Just a few days ago we were around the Bayahibe-Dominicus area, which is just 20 minutes away from our place, and we spent 3 days at the beach house. Everything was perfect: salty breeze blowing, the smell of the just-caught lobsters, the sun shining bright (maybe a little too bright since I got severe sunburns) until the clouds went grey and it started raining, just like that. I know, raining in paradise, but yes, it happens. It wasn't raining only, but storming, thundering and lightening. I never saw water falling from the sky this much. The average person would think their vacation was just ruined, in the other hand, that was not what I was thinking. We dominicans are dark skinned, not brown, not black, but ''morenos'', so the sun and getting tanned issue is not that relevant for us (especially me) as for others, actually we use sunblock instead of tanning lotion, we don't need to get any darker (at least we want to brag about how fabulous our weekend was). The thing is, I was actually happy for the overcast and raining stuff. That meant just one thing: I can finally enjoy the beach with no worries, I can finally lay there without thinking about the sun burning my skin. The beach, for me, is one of the greatest places I can go to. I feel like I'm connected to another random world. Have you ever felt like you're right in the place you have to be? or like if the moment was meant to be? That's how I feel about going to the beach. I see the ocean, I think about how small our planet is, and so big at the same time. The water I'm seeing in front of me is the same as in India, Russia, Argentina, France, Singapore... There's something connecting us. 

Other of the greatest things I've experienced is the feeling of walking barefoot on the white and warm sandy beaches, while the cold wind is blowing, as the cold raindrops are falling. Cold is a great feeling, it's like if you were depending on something, seeking desperately for a warm touch. Heat, is like if you don't need anything more, because what you need is close to you. When you have both sensations then you realize how surreal the world is, how mystic can any moment be. I don't see the beach as just a place where you find girls showing their bikinis, hot boys playing beach volleyball, loud music and just lay on a beach ''chaise longue''. I see the beach as a place where I can think about how great and wonderful our planet is, how perfectly is everything made and how lucky I am for living in paradise.

Who is the most important intellectual alive today . Latinos Ideals.

When the idea of an ‘’intellectual’’ passes through my mind I don’t think of somebody that just has an outstanding mind or a brilliant form of intelligence. I think of an ‘’intellectual’’ as a person who actually uses his mind to create things which can help in the creation of the world as a better place.

Based on this concept, the most important intellectual alive today is Ernesto Nieto, the National Hispanic Institute founder and president.  Why? Because he has been a leader for the Latino youth, creating a second generation of leaders, teaching them the steps that we need to know in order to fully discover who we are, and how we can change the place where we live. 

Ernesto has taught us how to create new beliefs and concepts of who we are, and how to change those main-stream beliefs about who everybody is and what everybody is capable of doing or reaching.  He has taught us that with faith, imagination and strong will, we can make a difference in our communities, or even the whole world. I can integrate the ideas of studying international business and political science with my goals to change my Latino community, and use my identity and my education to make transformations in my country’s political system.

According to his book ‘’The Third Reality Reveled’’, there are more than 85,000 students worldwide. That number is not the whole world, but is better than no one, and that little number of people may change their respective communities and become leaders in some way.  For that reason and more I think this man is a small grain of sand in this big ocean world.