Top 10............

TOP 10 Things I LOVE about the Bay Area (Sunnyvale- San Francisco area)

#1 Pupusas, El Salvadorians pride and joy that make my tummy OH so happy!


#2 The Beach. Must I say more?
#3 The Redwood Forest. The mountains, trees and blue sky can take you to a whole other world. The fresh feeling of being outside with nature makes living life happy!
#4 Tree Hugging. Very popular activity, however these tress are bit large, might need a couple of people to get around this one.
#5 The San Francisco Bridge. Bright orange, breath taking and one of the best landmarks of world.
#6 The Sunsets. Although Arizona has the best sunsets, the bay area has deep orange sunsets with the best weather to go with it.
#7 The Street ART. The streets of San Francisco are tagged up with meaningful and inspirational art. It makes the city vibrant with color and gives your walk a site to see.
#8 The public transportation. No need of a car in the city, the train system can get you there for a cheap price and with no traffic.
#9 Red Mango, The best frozen yogurt, ever! Yummy, delicious and totally ate some every night I was there.
#10 The People! My friends are so amazing and make this place magic. Thank you to Nichole, Marcela and Andy for keeping me alive and going.
-Enjoying life wishing I was still in the Bay Area!

A perfect get a way...........

A couple of weeks ago I spent five days in the Bay Area, my second home. It was time to get away from work, family, friends and life over all. I planned my escape to start on a Thursday, a perfect get a way.

I was bringing my bestie Andrea and meeting up with my other half, Nichole. It would be an adventure although I spent last summer living in the Bay Area, it still would be new. After knowing Andrea for seven years and claiming her as my BFF, we discovered we had never traveled with each other. What better way to test our friendship but then bringing her along with me.

Might I say she did a terrific job, you know one of those smelly stickers you get when you do "good job" in third grade. Yup, Andrea kept me sane, maybe that is why we are such good friends.

Enjoy some photos of us on our trip,
More updates from my escape to come....................

Perfect Weekend Trip: Gand Canyon

Day Three: (Final Day)

The Grand Canyon, I had never been. Yes, I have lived here all my 22 years of life and have not been. You will be surprise there are many like me, and have lived here even longer then me.
My inspiration came from Amiee, (Parks and Recreation StAR) she put her summer goals on her blog at the beginning of the summer, one of her goals were to hike the Grand Canyon. I am not that daring to hike the canyon, I am okay with just visiting the canyon.

There is no real way to describe the canyon. It is beautiful and breath taking. The first time seeing it, you pause in wonders, take a deep breath and ask yourself if this imagine your seeing is real. It is a jewel, unique, shining and precious, no other thing can compare.
As I started to take pictures of the wonder, I noticed my pictures just don't express what your eye is really seeing. I did my best taking some great shots, I hope you enjoy. I know it looks fake but trust me, it's real and on a side note, one day I will hike it. (Hopefully I make it, I heard to many horror stories of people dying every year in the canyon.)

Enjoying life, wondering how something so amazing came about~

Perfect Weekend Trip: Flagstaff

Day two of trip:

Flagstaff is full of green grass, tress and flowers. The smell of pine mixed with clear fresh air. The colorful flowers and bright blue skies, makes me feel like I am in a forest of paradise. The weather is cool, and the people here are so sweet and genuine. I love flagstaff and the feeling I get when I visit. We spent the night in Flagstaff with my brother and had a great time relaxing before our next stop, The Grand Canyon.

Before I get a head of myself let me rewind. Flagstaff is a very interesting college town, it is nothing like Tempe. It is full of culture and history. The buildings are traditional with dark wood and red bricks. It is filled with great local places to eat and shops. The atmosphere is cozy and comfortable, like if everyone knows each other. I really enjoy the small town feel.

My favorite memory of Flagstaff was sitting in the back of truck viewing the billions of stars above us in pitch darkness, with the shining fireworks lighting up our cold faces.

Enjoying life in the green~

I'm full of surprises

To kick off my summer, I planed a last minute camping trip!

So if you really know me, you know I never do last minute and I never camp! So as you can imagine this was a trip.

Armando: Thursday evening Armando said we should go camping....??

Candi: being daring said sure, lets invite Andrea and her husband, so I called them up & asked

Andrea: Sure, we were wanting to go camping, let me make sure its okay with Anthony

Candi: sweet.......waiting.....

Andrea: Alright lets go, come over and we can plan it out

Candi: Turned to Armando and said okay lets go tomorrow

Armando: very surprised said okay.....he then thought about it......wait...... you don't camp

Candi: I know....so are you ready to deal with me

Armando: ...........................ah..............sure.................oh crap

Candi: Ha ha ha!!! (Evil laugh)

Okay, it wasn't as bad as it sounds. Armando was good with me, mainly because I was pretty good. I put up the tent in the dark!!! Whoop Whoop, helped cook, and slept on the floor. (Our air mattress deflated)

However, there was some complaining....on the hike, not because I am a chicken, because Armando forgot to mention we were going for like a two mile hike and I was wearing river shoes! Plus we got lost and I almost fell off a cliff, I grab on to a tree and was hanging for my life. ~True Story

Enjoy the pictures...I do want to mention, I jumped off this waterfall, (something I never do, I was full of all surprises)

Andrea, Anthony, Candi, Armando, after our camping experience

Me, in my camping gear

Andrea and I posing in front of the waterfall I jumped off

Armando, practicing his paintball aim

Andrea and Mckenize..just being

~Enjoying my life during summer

Peru: traveling the word

No, I didn't go to Peru. However, I wish I could. My brother Josue just got home this Sunday from visiting Peru with his Spanish class. Yup, his Spanish class, see he goes to Mountain View. If your from Mesa that should explain why his ordinary Spanish class went to Peru.

I know, all of my Westwood friends think I sold out but I didn't. I promise my blood still runs orange and blue. For my brother......MtV..... well they have a better soccer team and obviously a better Spanish class.

I really liked his photos, so I thought I would share...out of pure jealousy

Enjoy life, I'm wishing I was in Peru.

The Conclusion

The revealing of another culture first hand was amazing. It truly is something that all students should try to experience. Especially if you are Tourism major because it not only is a trip across the world, but it really gives you the understanding and knowledge of how hospitality and management in other countries are run. I have recently added a Convention Sales and Meeting Planning certificate to my study. I have only taking one tourism class but I have already began to feel the aura of how the Tourism major is structured. Dr. Teye (my professor from TDM 205) spoke of traveling constantly and usually international traveling. I felt a little out of place in class, mainly because so many students had already been out of the country and could give real life experiences to the class material. One of my fellow StAR members, Amarone is a tourism major and has had a chance to do a good amount of traveling. I am pretty sure it has benefited his tourism knowledge.

Not only do Tourism major benefit from international traveling but also any student can. Along the way students can experiences and debate the social controls and problem solving within a society having different politics and history. You get the chance to look into the guts of an unfamiliar culture and gain a true and rounded education. Overall, students get a chance to feel, see, taste and hear the other side of the world. I never noticed how narrow minded I was, I really do have more of an open mind of the world and people in it.

My Germany trip was filled with rich culture, that I defiantly enjoyed indulging in. The people were extremely kind and friendly. I cant wait to return to Europe.

-Enjoy the rest of the photos, it feels good to be home.

Germany Cont.

Another city a new day in Germany.

Today we are in Kölon Germany. It is a larger city than Trier but not as big as Berlin, where we will be tomorrow. Kolon cathedral is one of the world's largest churches, being the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. The cathedral is known for housing the three wise men relics.

When you first lock your eyes on it, you feel mesmerized. Each time I pass by the church I almost felt it was fake. We American's just aren't used to something that old and beautiful.
What really got me, was the fact that this building survived fourteen hits by aerial bombs during World War II. It did not collapse, but stood tall in an otherwise flattened city.
I really enjoyed the people in Kolon and the history. I cant wait to learn even more about the history or Germany.

(Below is a photo I found off the Internet after the bombings in WWII)