AMAZING CHALLENGE

   Many years ago, I visited Cancun, in Mexico. Cancun is a paradisiacal place with charming beaches, and its coast is bathed by the splendid Caribbean Sea. The main industry in Cancun is tourism; therefore, the city offers several accommodations and facilities for tourists.

   When I was in Cancun, I rented a tour service by yacht to visit some islands around Cancun. The trip was so funny. While the yacht was sailing on the sea, the crew provided entertainment for passengers with some performances and contests.

   After some minutes, we arrived in Isla Mujeres (Women Island). The yacht landed in front of a restaurant that was located on a beach. The restaurant had a natural pool built into the shore of the beach. This pool was special because it wasn’t built for people. Two huge sharks of almost two meters in length were in the pool.

   While we were watching the sharks from a little quay, the pool attendant dove into the pool and came to the surface holding in his arms a shark. That was amazing! Nevertheless, the most amazing thing came when he invited us to do the same.

   Only two people accepted the challenge: a young American citizen and I. My heart was pumping to the max. I was fascinated. I swam under the water, and grabbing the shark with my arms, I emerged to the surface with it. The shark didn’t put up any resistance. After three or four minutes, the shark shook its body and it went to the deep end of the pool.

   I have never again have done anything as risky as that in my life.

A TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE

   When I was a teenager I had a terrifying experience on a beach. My family and I lived in Tumbes, in the north of Peru, and every weekend we used to go to a beach called "La Cruz" (The Cross). In summer the temperature reaches around 45 °C.

   We had enjoyed a fabulous time on the beach before this incident. My brother, my friends and I were so happy building sand casttles, playing "war of sand balls," surfing, and hunting a little animal called "muymuy" (they were the residents of our sand casttles.)

   The sea in this beach is moderated and it has medium-sized waves. In spite of it, you can swim in the water when you get some meters from the shore. That day, I was eager to go swimming behind the waves and I attempted to do it. When finally I got it, I was so excited. I had swum around one kilometer into the sea.

   While I was enjoying my great feat something happened. Suddenly, a huge medusa put her tentacles on my back and neck. It was terrible for me. I screamed with pain and swan as soon as possible toward the shore. I felt a strong burning in my body and I cried. My parents took me to the sickbay and a doctor put a cream on my back and neck.

MY CHILDHOOD

   When I was a child my mother bought clothes for me and my brother. We always wore the same style and design of clothes, but each with different colors.

   I was a very restless boy. I remember when I drove my little pedal car and descended a stairs towards the river of my city; my uncle ran quickly behind me and he avoided that I came down in the river. 

   I loved to play "Combat." My friends, my brother and I had our guns, Tommy guns with sound, our helmets, and grenades. We played running through all the house and the garden.

THE GARDEN

   In my country I lived in an apartment, and I didn't have a garden, but in front of it there was a park with a big garden. I could see it from the window of my bedroom. In that garden there were many tall trees and beautiful flowers. During the summer and spring the garden was watered through irrigation channels, and in the fall and winter with the rain. I was accustomed to running on the sidewalk that surrounded the garden and doing some exercises on the grass, but I often complained about finding some dog excrements in the garden because the people didn't clean it when walking their dogs in spite of the warning signs.

  
   Now I'm living in a house in New Westminster where we have a big garden with several plants. In the summer and the spring we have watered the garden with a long hose, and in the fall and winter it is watered by the rain. In our garden we have some plants, trees and vegetables. Some time ago we cut an old tree with a power saw and dug a huge hole to remove the root, while two buddies lifted the root others pulled it with a cord.

   In summer time we celebrate the birthdays in the garden, and I have already used the garden. I put a table and some chairs on the grass, and had a BBQ for my friends. I'm used to seeing squirrels in the garden, and fortunately the ravens don't visit the garden because I don't like them.

   During the night the garden is dark, and on one occasion a thief was hiding in it while the police looked for him. I was in the kitchen when I heard voices and a dog barking outside the house. I left and saw one policeman with a police dog and the other with the thief handcuffed. The thief had a bleeding leg because he had been bitten by the dog.

  

CANDIES

   I remember when I was a child and enjoyed eating candies. Near my house there was a candy store. The owner was a Chinese woman called Maria. She knew all the children in the neighborhood and she knew their preferences. When my father gave me my tips I always visited Maria.

   Next to Maria's store was the Montecarlo cinema and some Sundays my friends and I went to watch a movie. Before we enter the cinema, we bought our candies in Maria's store. Sometimes she gave us credit. Maria was an old woman and very loving, and on our birthdays she gave us candies in an ornamental little box.

   My favorite candies were the gummi bears, fruit candies, square pegs, chocolates candies, truffles, milk toffes, lollipops of different flavors and chocolate bars. I didn't like the liquor and peppermint candies. When I went to some fairs with my parents I prefered the cotton candy and the apple candy.

MY FIRST SUMMER IN VANCOUVER, CANADA

   On June 2007, I left the first days of the fall in Lima, Peru, but when I arrived in Vancouver I found a beautiful summer.

   My first summer in Vancouver was the begining of a new life style for me out my country. I live in New Westminster and the first step was to know the neighborhood. I found out that near my house there's a beautiful big park with picnic areas, gardens, playground areas and a theater. Also, around my house there are some churchs, a commercial centre, the New Westminster Skytrain station, a museum, the New Westminster City hall, the New Westminster library, some colleges and other public services.
  
   The second step was to look for a job. Owing to a contact I found my first job in the construction industry. It was a very hard job for me, because I have never worked in this field. After one month I began a new job. Today I work in a big warehouse of a commercial company that sells furniture, domestic appliances, mattresses, TVs, etc. I found this job when I went to a job fair in Surrey city. I know this job because I have had experience in my country.

   But, not all was work in my summer. On the weekends I took time visiting some places, going to some events and doing some activities. For example, I went to the Vancouver Jazz Festival and the Latin Festival. In both events I enjoyed listening to very good music. My friend Pedro played the electric guitar in the Latin Festival. Also, I went to Chinatown Festival and I enjoyed watching theather performance on the street, a cycling skills demostrations, a break dance competition and I visited the China park.

   On other weekends I went to know the Dique in Richmond. I travelled all the Dique on bicycle. Also, I went to visit Lonsdale Quay in the anniversary of North Vancouver District, knew downtown, watched the fireworks, had some picnics in the park near my house and enjoyed some BBQ with my friends.

MY FIRST MUSIC PERFORMANCE IN ENGLISH

    My church organized an event called "U360 Talent Night." That night, I took part with my song: "It's all that I need." This experience was so exciting for me.

   A few minutes before my performance, I had that to correct part of my lyric. I wanted to show it on the screen. When my friend Matt was typing the song in the computer, he showed me a little mistake. Upps... I was nervous. Fortunately, the change didn't affect the melody of the song.

   A lot of people participated on the stage with different performances. Women and men; adults, teenagers, and children; everybody so good. I enjoyed every one. I hope that they have enjoyed myself, too!!

   You can watch my video in YouTube. Check: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxnvC5X4v48