Rebecca Francesca Reuter Puerto
writer, traveler, marine biologist
You probably haven't heard about the destruction that Hurricane Matthew had on Cuba's Eastern province of Guantanamo (called Oriente in pre-Castro Cuba). Despite the renewed relations between Cuba and the U.S. - only Haiti exists as a Caribbean nation worthy of reporting. Maybe because there are already media embedded in Haiti - knowing that at... Continue Reading →
The pause happened before my 45th birthday last year. Thoughts started badgering me: What am I doing with my life? Is this where I want to be? What have I accomplished? Is this all there is for me? I'm almost dead! My older friends laughed and called me "youngster" and "silly." But I know this... Continue Reading →
Why am I getting married in Scotland? I fell in love with an American man whose heritage takes him back to Scotland on both sides of his family. Three generations ago, in the mid-1800s, his mom's grandfather immigrated from the Orkney Islands to Canada. His dad's Scottish heritage is a bit murky. All we know... Continue Reading →
On December 17th, 2014, I was on a cruise ship, sailing to within four miles of the coast of Cuba. I was on a cruise with my mother, my husband and best friend from high school. We just left the Bahamas and were on our way to Ocho Rios Jamaica. I knew the ship would... Continue Reading →
Remembering those who fought in wars involuntarily and paid the ultimate price.
Why does the death of my grandfather, a man I never met and my father hardly knew, fascinate me?
War is no light matter, we are all touched by it. I have been touched by it. My family a casualty of it.
War is a part of my history.
To bring war out of the history books, out of the television, the newspapers, out of one’s imagination, out of my imagination, I felt a need to retrace the final days of my grandfather’s life.
When my older brother mentioned he was going to France to find Opa’s grave, I had to go along. I wanted to make my history, my reality. I wanted to see and feel the place where the battles of Normandy freed a continent on the souls of so many men. I wanted to own the small fraction of that piece of history that was my heritage.
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I sat at the table watching my grandmother uncover the large pot sitting on the stove. As steam billowed from under the cover, the fragrance of oregano, garlic, onion, tomato, chicken and a hint of white wine, tickled my nose and made my stomach growl. I eagerly awaited my plate of arroz con pollo piled... Continue Reading →
Sitting on the bus in my decaffeinated and hungry state - bleary eyed, a mild headache, and a low grumble in my stomach – I tried to absorb the scenery. We rolled through a rural landscape of fields of grass bordered with wooden fencing and second growth forest, a jumble of tropical plants in slightly... Continue Reading →
My height is an aspect about my physical appearance that I just can't hide. I really can't hide. Not in a crowd, not in the subway, or the supermarket, nope I stick out. The only place I have traveled where I felt short was in the Netherlands. Everyone there, women included, were tall! Even the... Continue Reading →
Most of us weren't there, but all of our lives were touched. How are you remembering D-Day? A moment of silence, pondering the existence of war, wondering if there really is a need. They die, We live, We die, They live, We die, We live, We mourn, We celebrate, We watch an IMAX documentary We... Continue Reading →
What does the shutdown of the U.S. government mean to you? I'm directly impacted. My day job is gone, yes temporarily, but I sort of like serving my country and ensuring sustainable U.S. seafood - jobs, food, money, communities, environment all impacted by the harvesting of fish. OK, and I really like getting a paycheck.... Continue Reading →
Rebecca Francesca Reuter Puerto 