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@gertu13 more from that month

Memories of a yesterday. Memories always come suddenly to my mind. Any situation where I read or watch a story or see a movie will make my memory travel through time and recall the events of long ago with great clarity. When I was young in my body, I remember having a group of friends that was great, there were dating couples or just friends as was I of all people, and we had a great time. I remember one time we went in three cars to a place that at that time was a very touristic national park. Long story short, now the park no longer exists as an attraction. See, there was a flooding of a river and it overflowed furiously during a very rainy period, and the flooding of the river made such a devastation that it changed the whole physical structure of the park. Walls were destroyed and the river's water current brought many rocks and moved them around.  The initial beauty of the park, which is still natural, changed from what was once a spectacle for tourists to a place without the charm it once had, totally destroyed.

Back to the point, the place was easily accessible to tourists and locals who wanted to enjoy the scenery, the waters and nature as such, but the group was made up of so many young people full of curiosity that we decided to leave our vehicles parked and continue our way up the mountain. But we would do it going up the steepest part, full of plants, of immense rocks. Places that no one had ever been because the trees made a kind of impassable spider's web, those who went ahead cut the thickest branches, then others held the thickest branches so that the rest of us could pass ahead, they would stay last and then switch places up front like the guides they were. As we climbed up the mountain we would see the water cascading down. It was sensational to see those images, it gave the impression that we were walking through an Amazon jungle. We made it all the way to the top of the mountain. There was a water pool with all the characteristics of a natural pool, it was beautiful, we bathed there and spent a few hours there until we had to go back down, we could only do it through the same place and going down was more difficult than going up. The rocks were smooth, river rocks. Polished by the natural elements, sharp in some parts due to the constant falls of water from the waterfall. We took pictures but something happened that the darkness of the place full of plants didn’t allow the photos to show the true beauty of the place. I never went back to that place, I had to return to my studies. They continued with their beautiful group outings and I distanced myself. My long periods of classes didn’t allow me to keep these adventurous groups with me. I remember that another time it was a festive occasion, in my country carnivals were famous. In the afternoons there were the parades of *comparsas*, of the most exotic costume groups, the sound bands of Caribbean music, it was another world. We would leave in the morning and return the next day.

After the comparsas, which usually left at 3 pm, they would end around 5 pm. We stayed to dance in the groups that were formed, there were the different bands of Caribbean sounds and we were dancing to the music, I remember on one occasion I danced so much with several male couples in my group and at one point people would surround us and encourage us to continue. But I didn't like them doing that, I was more about being with people I knew than seeing strangers approaching. In the end I would withdraw to let others continue dancing. It so happened that the next day even though I had stepped away from the group of strangers the day before, the ones who tried to make a circle, someone recognized me today. I was in my impeccably white uniform. My knee-length white dress with elbow-length sleeves, my milk-white tights. My very white strappy heels and my badges that identified me as a senior nurse. A patient's relative as I was administering her medications by the invasive route, she gave me a long look, I lowered my gaze and then she said… "Excuse me, you were the one dancing with the *Steel Band* last night on the Paseo Colon?" I told her a lie and swallowed a lump that formed in my throath, I told her no and I quickly left the place. I was so embarrassed that someone had recognized me, I don't know why but in those days, dancing at carnivals was for everybody and everybody but I felt sorry, it was not my habit, but the music that I always liked intoxicated me and I lost myself from the world until I saw the people around me. I'm not good at being in a place with a lot of people I don't know, although over time, over the years I have overcome my fears. …And these are episodes from my life as a young woman, that I remember vividly as if it were today. Thanks to all my reader friends and to all my dear sponsors for being a continuous support.

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