Discovering where you are from and creating a connection to your ancestors in those lands is so important. I traveled to Puerto Rico last week to explore the island where my father was born and get to know the culture. I explored San Lorenzo where my father was born, went to the river where he would spend his youth swimming and experienced that for myself. Lying on the warm rocks and listening to the trickle of small water falls brought a deeper connection to the land and to my father.

I traveled with my wife, my two sisters, and their kids and their mother. I wish we had done this when my father was alive, but standing in the square in San Lorenzo in front of the church with my sisters was a connection I had been missing.

One of the most significant things I learned was that when my father came to New York they added the name Gonzalez as his last name – and used his real last name as his middle name. So my true last name is Munoz.

I’m still processing a lot of the trip as I just got home yesterday but a few quick things I learned from my time there:

1. Hot water is a privilege – I learned to accept cold ones
2. Driving in Puerto Rico is chaos…a lot like driving in Philadelphia. What they consider highways are often small roads.
3. GPS doesn’t always work and even if it does watch the map more than listen to the directions
4. Don’t be surprised if someone randomly stops on the highway – they probably missed their exit like most of us.
5. While I knew this it was nice to witness it – Puerto Rican’s truly come in all shades from pale to dark.
6. The evenings are loud! The coqui (little frogs) are quite vocal when the sun goes down.
7. If you want to learn about body positivity go to Puerto Rico.
8. It’s almost impossible to not eat fried food because damn some of it is good.