Calor Humano

There is magic in traveling. One becomes the artist of a place with a blank canvas. Each new scent, color, food, culture, language creates the most amazing painting of human spirit. This is why I love to travel. I find that the diversity in others such an attraction and a complete joy in my own humanness.My cousin and I went zip lining today in the Yunque. This is Puerto Rico’s national forest. The guides were incredibly kind and knowledgable about the plants and environment. One of them asked us if we come here in the holidays. I haven’t been to Puerto Rico during Christmas since I lived here as a little girl. Then he said something that I found magical, “Coming to Puerto Rico in the holidays was about looking for el calor humano.” This literally translates into “human heat.”Those two words are adjectives for the people in this island. They are all about the “human heat.” You meet anyone here and immediately feel like family. They know how to enjoy life to the fullest. Weekends are about eating, getting together, going to the beach and embracing that human heat with another.In the states we find that work takes priority over our lives. The weekends are about resting to then do it all over again. And, yes, the roads here have major challenges, houses aren’t maintain, the place is picturesque with vibrant colors that put Crayola Crayons to shame. However, the easiness, gentleness, coquet gestures, and warmth is evident all over the place. It is magical.Human heat is all we strive to have in our personal lives. Calor humano is the reason families gather every day for a month and a half during holidays. I had forgotten how it was to live on this island. People help each other. They stop what they are doing to include themselves into your space and time. Generosity is a constant thread in this place. It doesn't matter where you are everyone is connected in such a way that you feel heat.Returning here has been like re-entering the womb of my existence. There is warmth, comfort, a feeling of belonging, and most of all calor humano.