Tale of the "Salad Queen"

by Kabrien Gathers (United States of America)

A leap into the unknown Puerto Rico

I traveled for 3 months abroad with my job in the summer of 2018. I worked in the kitchen on a training ship for maritime students where I was dubbed the "Salad Queen" by my co-workers. After spending about 14 days on water we finally arrived to our first destination, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. On day one, we slowly pulled in to a port of the city. We sailed through clear blue waters while looking at the skyline of Old San Juan and it's many palm trees, beaches etc. I worked that day but when the night came and my shift ended, I was out and about. I met up with a group of students and we ended up doing shots in the local Señor Frogs. We then ventured to a strip lined with bars, night clubs and restaurants on both sides of the street. The locals were friendly as one of them even bought me a beer just because I was ordering the same one as him. While dancing in one of the clubs with a beautiful female I embarrassingly and humorously caught an erection. Nobody noticed but her gay male friend whom had let out an exaggerated gasp. The rest of the night I spent bar hopping by myself and didn't get back to my room on the ship until 4 in the morning. Day two was the day to try the local cuisine. During the afternoon, a co-worker treated me to lunch. That's when I tried mofongo and tostones for the first time and it was delicious. I cleaned my whole dish. Later that night, I went to dinner with some more co-workers at a high-end steakhouse. I don't remember the food as much but I do remember the check. Dinner had cost $50 a piece for the five of us and after ordering drinks the bill came out to $468.86! We had split the bill, well my co-workers paid the most. They treated me like their little brother because I was the youngest at 23. They only asked for $20 from me. I truly loved and appreciated them not for paying the bill but for showing me kindness. They knew it was my first time away from home so they tried to make me as comfortable as possible. Day 3, I wanted to spend by myself. I felt that I was somewhat familiar enough with the area to travel on my own and not get lost. I remember doing some sightseeing. I ended up visiting the Castillo San Cristóbal, a large fortress that was built to protect the city. I stayed there for a long time as the sun was setting. l gazed out in the ocean thinking about how far away I was from home. I took deep breaths, taking in foreign air with my eyes closed. I was at peace in my solitude. I even had a brief relationship with a lovely young woman later that night. I earned the wrath of my roommate on the ship that following morning because I kept him out of our room all night for obvious reasons. This was my first time traveling out of the United States and for such a long. I barely even traveled out of New York City. On this trip I experienced a culture, made money, formed life-long friendships, found love and had an independence that I never would've dreamed of. I kept a journal of my adventures overseas because I am an aspiring writer (I am an English major) and I wanted to write down my memories to re-read for myself and to others. I also took many pictures for Instagram and Snapchat. I'm ready for my next adventure. I'm ready to do more tourist activities and to write about them in greater detail for my potential readers. I recently resigned from that job so I don't know when I'll travel like that again. I do hope it's soon.