El Lechon Asao

By Paola Lopez

As my sister-in-law said, “it sucks to be a pig in Puerto Rico.” This judgment is true and highly verified by Anthony Bourdain’s food pilgrimage to Puerto Rico. His travels through the island took him to “food” famous towns like Cayey the home of Lechonera, Isabella for mofongo, and Bayamon for chicharones. Bourdain’s travels define anti-conquest travel writing; he specifically travels to diverse and uncommonly visited palate enticing destinations to tempt those at home to explore new cuisine. Anti-conquest travel writing according to Pratt “European bourgeois subjects seek to secure their innocence in the same moment as they assert European hegemony.” No longer does the travel writer of the era look to the savages as someone to conquer, but the people take on a new persona as something to analyze, to digest—and Anthony Bourdain does certainly digest!


Bourdain’s extensive culinary background and his quick wit give him the edge in the travel writing/film business. His dry, Marlboro loving, and food fascination are what keep his television show intriguing along with the “gastronomic masterpieces.” Bourdain’s goal throughout the series is to meet, greet, and eat with the locals. His crass temper sometimes did not get him very far with impatient and understanding Puerto Ricans; one particular public car driver dropped him off earlier than anticipated calling him a pendejo or idiot—to be nice. However, his perseverance to get the authentic experience paid off when he admirably stated that Puerto Rico is the “crown jewel of the Caribbean.” Bourdain executively carried out his agenda to taste and see the varied forms of pork, the Puerto Rican fast food of pastelillos, sorullitos, plantains, and tostones. Any form of travel writing that is transposed to become more appealing to a wider audience is fantastic! As our visit with Norma Borges, El Nuevo Dia newspaper, reminded us to include graphics with detailed and visually cueing words. I would love to have a lax career savoring odd and delicious cuisine from around the world. It would be great to know how culturally connected the pork and the various other foods like the plantain and penepen are to the Puerto Rican culture. From our lectures and various discussions with the locals we were able to connect the use of foods is tied to how can one food item be used six different ways, and so the people survive off one particular food item yet do not develop an aversion to the food.

Mr. Bourdain and I

By Marisa Mohi, thinker of thoughts and dreamer of dreams

I don’t think I’m the only woman on this planet that has a crush on Anthony Bourdain. I find the idea of traveling to be simultaneously intriguing and sexy—you know, the sort of intellectual sexy that people associate with black-framed glasses and quoting Dylan Thomas poetry. Also, being on the Travel Channel has boosted his sex appeal in my eyes. I mean, I guess I’ve already mentioned the absurd love I feel for Adam Richman. I’m really just waiting for one of these handsome men to find me and offer me a big ol’ diamond ring. But until then, I suppose I’ll continue with my graduate coursework…hence the rest of this blog.

(I promise, the digressions will be a little less, well…digressionary from here on out.)

So, back to Mr. Bourdain. His show ,“No Reservations”, has become somewhat of a pop culture phenomenon. I can’t go anywhere without hearing somebody talk about the one episode where he drank homemade liquor in Greece, or the time that he was the lone white man in Saudi Arabia. Also, his book, Kitchen Confidential, is nicely situated in the “to-be-read” pile on my bookshelf. The thing about his show and his books that I found so monumentally appealing, is the “behind-the-scenes” look he gives you of the worlds he presents. It’s almost like he makes you one of the locals, or, as in the case of his book, a member of the kitchen staff.

To me, this is what traveling should be.

People who head out to Jamaica to sit at a lame-o upper middleclass, all expenses paid, adult daycare center aren’t really travelers. To me, these folks are still living in the colonial era. (I say this only because I have a degree in English, and well, the Postcolonial theory was always my favorite.) But traveling to an area that is completely different than your home country and then only staying in an area that has been made to mimic the overly American ideal of paradise, complete with five-star hotels and surgically enhanced trophy wives parading in leopard print bikinis isn’t really getting out of your country club comfort zone, now is it?

Bourdain (my homeboy as I call him, especially when I want people to think that I’m cool and cultured and hang out with world travelers even though I pretty much just chill back in Oklahoma) subscribes to a school of thought known as the anti-conquest method of travel writing. Now, not to get too pretentious for all you folks out there in the floating ether la la land that is the interwebs, but I’m gonna lay down some knowledge. Get ready. Academic notions ahead!

Anti-conquest travel writing is the sort of travel writing that doesn’t separate the visitor from the visited. That is, the traveler immerses himself/herself in the culture he is visiting. In doing this, the traveler isn’t able to take the perspective of the outsider and pass judgements on the culture he/she is visiting. He/she isn’t assimilating his/her surroundings into his/her frame of reference. In this way, the traveler functionally presents the culture as it stands, without conquering it with his/her own cultural ideals.

Maybe this is why Mr. Bourdain is totally my homeboy. I love the way that wherever he goes, he jumps into the culture headfirst and does what the locals do. I’ve never seen him refuse food on the basis that it may be a little sketchy. I’ve never seen him refuse alcohol even though, by western scientific standards, it may be rocket fuel. I’ve never seen him refuse to join the party because he doesn’t speak the language. This is the essence of anti-conquest travel. This is what traveling should be.

We can’t look down our noses at people and claim that their quality of life is deplorable, all from the comfort of our ivory balconies of our seaside resort. Without getting too preachy, it’s these kinds of resorts that under develop islands like Jamaica. If you’ve never seen the documentary, Life and Debt, you should check it out. If it doesn’t make you hate big resorts that function as the governor’s mansion on the colonial plantation, then you probably need to reevaluate your values and morals.

I guess, in the end, we are only one world. I feel just as connected to strangers as I do to my family. Though I love my family, I know that the strangers I see as I travel could become a part of my family some day. There are no real strangers in this world, only potential friends. That is why when we travel, we can’t look at those we encounter as “the others"--this isn’t an episode of Lost. This is the human race. We aren’t here to conquer it.

So, as I make my way through Puerto Rico, I try to keep these thoughts in mind. I'm already the farthest I've ever been away from my home and family. The comfort zone is left far behind. There is nothing left to do but enjoy the time I have in the place I am with the people I'm with the way that the people who live there do.

Unity In Puerto Rico

Unity In Puerto Rico

Zaina Al Ghabra

January 10, 2010

Traveling today has changed drastically when you compare it to the agendas of those who traveled before us. Back then travel was dedicated to advancing certain agendas. Those traveling to far away places were a minority who were assigned to certain tasks. Luckily today, more people associate traveling with leisure and as a way to learn about our world and all its complexities. Anti-conquest is a word coined by Mary Pratt, which refers to the innocence of travel rather than traveling for conquering and dominating other people and cultures. Many of us find ourselves traveling to far away places simply to fulfill a curious obligation within ourselves; thus reiterating the notion of anti-conquest.

Anthony Bourdain is a well-known author and chef who travels documenting his experiences and broadcasting them on the Travel Channel for the world to see; a luxury that was not readily available in the past. His series integrate Pratt’s notion of anti-conquest, as he travels to different parts of Puerto Rico and offers his own account based on what he has seen and experienced. More so, he offers pointers to those who plan on following his footsteps into unknown lands. Bourdain also emphasizes the importance of familiarizing oneself with the local population, gaining a “real experience, rather than being immersed in tourist destinations with other tourists.

When it comes to the amount of things I have witnessed and been a part of on this lovely Island, I can definitely say I was offered a well-rounded experience. Bourdain stresses on tasting a Piña Colada when in Puerto Rico, and I can walk away assured I was lucky to find and indulge in the freshest Piña Colada on the Island. More so, Bourdain emphasizes a little restaurant in Old San Juan called “Raices,” of which myself, Dr. Subervi and Dr. Carstarphen, along with a few other classmates had the wonderful opportunity of eating at. Not only did we eat there, but we indulged in the all famous Mofongo. Mofongo is a Puerto Rican delicacy composed of mashed triple fried plantains topped with your choice of meat, chicken, shrimp or vegetables. Bourdain also made sure visitors know the relevance and love people in Puerto Rico have for rice and beans.

Lastly, visiting Vieques, The Three Kings Festival, El Yunque Rainforest and the Bioluminescent Bay just last night, truly offered a tourist experience like no other. I feel as though I can walk away from this trip with a personal account of the Islands rich beauty, history, food, culture and people; Anthony Bourdain would be pleased. Of course none of this would have been possible without our amazing tour guides who gave us their all, our professors who are the backbone of the trip, and of course my fellow students who filled our journey with laughter and fun.