Communicating Culture: TOURISM & MEDIA in PUERTO RICO

Travel On, Traveler.

By: Kylie Robbins

Puerto Rico wasn’t my first trip and it will definitely not be my last, but it will be one that will never be forgotten. I experienced things that I had never gotten to before, and met so many amazing people. This trip opened my eyes to how to be a better traveler and look beyond the major tourist destinations on future adventures. I want to venture off the beaten paths and find things that most tourists would overlook. Papo, our tour guide in Puerto Rico, helped us open our minds to so many new things and I admired his knowledge.

I have traveled to so many places so far, and I don’t plan on ever stopping. Traveling is the best way to get a chance to fully embrace a new culture and get out of your comfort zone. I love experiencing new things, eating new foods and seeing new places. One place that I really enjoyed while exploring Puerto Rico was the El Yunque Rainforest because of the beautiful waterfalls and scenery. Puerto Rico doesn’t just have a rainforest, but it also has biobays, as well. Kayaking through that water to see the biobay entertainment was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and, it is something I would have never known existed, before this trip. That is the thing about traveling that I love most. Finding new things that I would’ve never thought about if I hadn’t decided to travel somewhere I had never gone before.

I am beyond excited to continue traveling in the future, and I will never forget the helpful tips that I learned while on my trip in Puerto Rico.

A beautiful waterfall found in the El Yunque Rainforest.

Photo by: Ajia Meux

We found a rope swing in the El Yunque Rainforest and decided to have some fun on it after a nice hike.

Photo by: Kylie Robbins

Enjoying a nice kayak through the biobay.

Photo by: Kylie Robbins

Bioluminescent Bay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxryBmlTmhc

Contact Information:

Email: Kkymr869@gmail.com

Phone:(405)535-2467

Facebook: @KylieRobbins

Instagram: @Krobbbs

Twitter: @krobbs

A Piece of Home

By Lara Olfers

Visiting Fort Worth from a tourist perspective was interesting for me because I have lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area my entire life. I even interned in Fort Worth this past summer. I enjoyed showing my classmates the building I worked in from our train seats when we pulled into the station. There are many parts of Fort Worth, and of Texas, that I take for granted because of growing up here. I noticed many of these things when we visited Fort Worth as tourists. One of these is the strong Texas pride that was displayed all over the town. When I drive home, I am always so happy to see the Texas flag on the "Welcome to Texas" sign on the side of the highway and I feel pride in knowing that so many others feel the same happiness that I do. There are Texas flags everywhere. They're painted on walls, on t-shirts, and flying high in front of every building. I also noticed the importance of traditional Texas foods, like Bar-B-Que and Tex-Mex, which was strongly represented in Fort Worth. I was appalled when I came to OU and discovered that Tex-Mex restaurants called queso, "cheese sauce" and would just slap a bowl of cheese on the table. Our class trip really opened my eyes to the beauty and uniqueness of Texas and especially to Fort Worth. Fort Worth captures the obnoxious country style, the Bar-B-Que and Tex-Mex restaurants, and Texas pride and puts it all in one place for tourists and locals to enjoy.

Links:

http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/

http://stockyardsrodeo.com/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g55857-Fort_Worth_Texas.html

Contact Information:

Email: lara@ou.edu

Phone: 972-310-3353

Twitter: @lara_olfers

Facebook: @LaraOlfers

Instagram: @ lara_olfers

Destination: Yumville, Puerto Rico

By: Kylie Robbins

Okay, I will admit, Yumville isn’t an actual city or town in Puerto Rico, BUT I will say that the whole island should be renamed to that. While traveling through Puerto Rico, I visited multiple cities that had everything from big, fancy restaurants to tiny food trucks on the side of the road, and NONE of them disappointed. On one of my first days on the island I was introduced to a native Puerto Rican dish, the mofongo, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants an authentic taste of the place.

Throughout the rest of the trip, we worked on not only experiencing the Puerto Rican culture through our adventures, but also through our bellies. Our amazing tour guide, Papo, found many places for us to eat that most tourists might overlook. One afternoon, we stopped at a little place near Ponce. I am not joking when I say they handed me a drink and a huge plate with half a chicken, rice, beans and plantains on it for only $9.00. I think that was when I really fell in love with the Puerto Rican cuisine.

I had a fun time trying new things and venturing out to plates that I knew I would probably never encounter back in the states. One dish in particular had a big impact on me, and that was pollo guisado estilo puertorriqueno, because a group of us were given the opportunity to actually cook the dish for the rest of the group, one night for dinner. It was so much fun getting to help people experience Puerto Rico through my cooking, and I will never forget that night.

Food can be such a great way to help someone get a better insight on the culture of a place, and the Puerto Rican cuisine definitely did its job for me.