In the Eye of the Tourist

     They say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Lo and behold, the beauty of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

     Today, I put on a pair of different eyes. For a few hours, I stopped observing my surroundings as a Puertorrican, and started seeing things from the point of view of a tourist. It was a strange experience, but it lead to some interesting conclusions. At first, I was hesitant to do this activity. I do not look like a white American or a white European, which are usually the types of tourists that one encounter in the Old San Juan. As a reaction to this, I tried my best to "look" the part with my outfit: I wore loose shorts, a tank top, sneakers, and a cap. I did the tour with a big backpack and with my camera in hand. Since I didn't physically look like a tourist, my instinct was to at least dress up as the stereotype of a tourist. 

     Looking back, perhaps it was a bit ridiculous. I quickly discovered that being a tourist is much more than just having one specific look. In fact, it can be argued that being a tourist has less to do with how you look, and more to do with how you act. 

     Perhaps I didn't have a tourist "look," but I certainly had tourist eyes, and that made a world of a difference. I was born and raised here in Puerto Rico, so I've always felt like I already know all there is to know regarding the Old San Juan. I knew about El Morro, and I knew about San Cristóbal. I knew about the legend of La garita del diablo and about the history of the Spanish army in Puerto Rico. 

        But from the perspective of someone who is here visiting, it's not just about knowing; it's about observing. There are many, many historical facts that I learned in school. This is information that I know, because it was taught to me with a book (or, occasionally, a field trip). Tourism is about independent observation. If I had to put it in terms of analogies, I would say this: if growing up in Puerto Rico was like going to school, then seeing Puerto Rico from the point of view of a tourist was more like homeschooling. Yes, it's true that there was the option to watch an educational movie or take a professional, guided tour. But there's a certain beauty and satisfaction in personal discoveries; in walking alone, at one's own pace, and learning in one's own time. 

    I did this tourism activity by myself. It was strange at first, because I was used to doing these sorts of expeditions in big groups. But the more time I spent alone, the better the experience got. El Castillo San Cristóbal has many floors and rooms, and everywhere I looked I found plaques that explained the history of the fort. I noticed that these plaques were not organized in any particular order. You could walk around and observe the building in any way that you chose. 

    I noticed the fort's architecture. I noticed the three flags, one of which I previously had no idea what it meant. I noticed tourist, real tourists, walking around and taking pictures. This was another important realization for me: taking pictures. Nowadays, photography has become and informal, casual, fun hobby, because everyone can take pictures with their phone. But once you are a tourist, you being to truly appreciate the environment that surrounds you. On one hand, you can't help but want to take photos of everything. But on the other hand, you also understand that quality is more important than quantity. You develop this urge to take truly good pictures that capture the essence of your trip.

     I do not think "Tourist Sabrina" was treated any differently than "Regular Sabrina". When I asked for a brochure, I did my best to pronounce "Brochure?" and lose my accent. The man in the counter said "Yeah," instead of "Sí, claro" and handed me one... Which I assume means that he believed I was speaking in English. When I was in line to buy a ticket, however, something else happened. I noticed that the guy at the desk was speaking in English to the Americans in front of me. As soon as I walked over, however, he greeted me kindly in Spanish. I hadn't said anything to him yet; I had simply walked over in silence. He also mentioned that an educational video was going to start playing in a few minutes, and that right now the Spanish version would be playing. 

     I did not mind the assumption that Spanish was my first language, but it did confirm my suspicions that, no matter how hard I try, I will never really look like a tourist. But that's OK. If there's one thing that I learned from this experience is that it's not about having a tourist outfit, but rather having a tourist's outlook. It's about being willing to walk by oneself and explore things one by one. It's about learning new things, and taking good pictures. It's about noticing the little details that we usually ignore because of our hectic lives. Most importantly, it's extremely important not to assume that, just because we were born here, that we've already seen all there is to see. Yes, we all took educational field trips when we were in middle school. Yes, we all learned about Puerto Rico's history in high school. But we have this mentality that, just because we were born and raised here, that we don't need to act like "ridiculous" tourists. But being a tourist isn't ridiculous (OK, maybe sometimes it is). But it's also more than that. Being a tourist in entertaining; it's fun. But most of all, being a tourist means being an "observator" of the world around us.