Inky Marina!

I'm so sorry that I haven't been keeping up with my blog! I've been really busy with studying and doing a little traveling.

In January, I went on vacation with my friend Brooke and our parents. Due to our moms' work schedules, we flew down separately- but we were so excited to reunite in San Juan, Puerto Rico! Our first adventure was to Vega Alta, the Puerto Rican hometown of Lin Manuel Miranda's family.  Brooke's grandma had done a lot of research on fun places to visit and we were really excited to check out Vega Alta's Placita Güisín.



Brooke and I were happy to find a Puerto Rican flag for us to pose with.  Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States.  Puerto Ricans are citizens of the United States, even though they do not have the same representation that those living in the 50 states do.  We learned a bit about the Puerto Rican statehood movement while we were there. In 2017, Puerto Rico held a referendum on whether or not they wanted to become a state; 97% of voters voted yes! I believe in self-determination; that means that people should be able to chose their own method of government. I hope that Puerto Rico is granted statehood!



Placita Güisín celebrates Lin Manuel Miranda and his family's contributions to the world. Miranda is famous for writing musicals. He wrote In the Heights and Hamilton! Brooke and I were lucky to see Hamilton in London last year, so we felt like experts. In this photo, you can see the awesome, colorful mosaic that is the centerpiece of Placita Güisín. It was so cool!



The plaza had a bunch of cute little food shops, like this bakery. Yum! I was interested in learning more about Puerto Rican food.  I ended up really loving to eat Puerto Rican chicken and arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas). I also learned to love mayochup- a mix of ketchup and mayo! Yum!!



Several of Lin Manuel Miranda's awards are on display at Placita Güisín- like one of his Tony Awards! This is Brooke posing with the statuette. I wish I remembered which of his Tony awards this was, but I do not. Oops.



Another project of Miranda's that I love is Moana! It's my favorite Disney movie, I think.

If you have the chance to visit Puerto Rico, check out Vega Alta and Placita Güisín! Have you ever visited the hometown of a famous person?