Cocaleca

I wish I could capture in a picture/hug/cupcake the experience of enjoying music for the first time in weeks.

There isn't much quite like it unfortunately.  Nothing like those good ole' sounds.

I am currently researching for epidemiology while enjoying the Cuban music station on Pandora. Oh, so heavenly.

~Esa Cita

Rush

If I look at my clock right now, I can see that today is now EASTER!!!

However, my family has always observed the rule stating that waiting until midnight for festivities to begin or end  is "cheating" or "not how we do it" and that one should not live life in that manner.  The counting-down attitude of trying to get the most bang for your buck just never appealed to us when it came to matters like this. 

Total love demands total love,  not rules, trade and quarters like a soda machine relationship.

So therefore, I will not celebrate until I wake up in the morning to celebrate Mass.


For a few more hours, I will wait in silence. I will use the moments I still have to practice waiting, as impatient as I am.  Perfect opportunity to grow.

In the past few years I have learned the beauty of silence, and I have seen that increasingly I've been able to handle it.  Silence no longer is lonely, but everyday grants me more and more assurance that I'm never alone.  This silence carries over to the daily dealings with noise that often keep us from having a clear and rational thought process.

Today in my seemingly never ending race against time, I found myself running to God with my rushing. "Restless until I rest in you" totally crossed my mind while I was crossing state borders, buying last minute things, scribbling last minute research, and filling up my Saturday with mindless activities that I wish I could blow off for another weekend.  Any weekend but this.  But such is the life of a student whose final grade opportunities are here, now, to be posted forever.

How does one stay sane in these times? Oh finals.

Off to have some silence, prayer time, and sleep.

~Esa Cita

51-100, Here We Go!

#55.

I have yet to complete my Challenge. Well, with 54 minutes left until Sunday, I will take a few minutes to complete my list before Easter.


Things I am Thankful for:
51. Good conversation with my cousin tonight.
52. Family time.
53. God's reminder today to live unselfishly.
54. Josie's Yogurt Shop
55. A moment on the top of a certain Cathedral.  This was one of my favorite moments in one of my favorite cities.  God was truly romancing me right there. My boo's more than a sweetie ;)
56. Good Friday.
57. Easter
58. Photography
59. Photos
60. Swing-sets
61. Good conversation with my brother
61. Hang-out time with my brother the other day.
62. My quiet thinking time in Panera this afternoon
63. My writing time in Panera the other afternoon
64. My Panera rewards card with free pastries.
65. Poetry
66. Pretty scarves
67. Pretty missionaries
68. Supportive, loving, smart, and sincere missionaries
69. St. Thomas Aquinas
70. St. Josemaria Escriva
71. Nail polish
72. My high school ring
73. My last 5 months of high school
74. My recent trip to Boston College
75. My recent trip to Miami and abroad
76. Literacy
77. Kindles
78. Father Peter
79. Dave
80. Other peoples' talents
81. This past lent and it's sacrifices
82. International friendships
83. The books that I am reading
84. Free Will
85. Networking
86. Connections
87. Opposable thumbs
88. Sharing my trip in Georgetown with Julia-Anne :)
89. Sunlight
90. Dark rooms
91. Silence
92. My brother's street cred story
93. The substitute professor in my statistics class
94. The community my family is a part of
95. Lessons learned from injuries
96. Stories gained from injuries
97. CCM pens that never run out of ink
98. Yoani Sanchez
99. Manela Diez
100. My Salvation

~Esa Cita

Death Dies Because of Love

It is finished. The Final Covenant is sealed with Precious Blood.

From the Cross, in the final moments when Mercy, Love and Compassion Itself is on the threshold of completing the greatest act the universe will ever know, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity experiences his greatest thirst. And, at last, "It is finished" (Jn 19:30).

His greatest thirst is for me; He gives me living water, His Body and Blood, and because of that I receive Eternal Salvation.  This is the greatest love story I'll ever know.

The "sacred Triduum is the 'mystery of love without limit,' ´having loved his own who were in the world . . . loved them to the end´" (Jn 13:1). -JPII

A criminal's death to complete a covenant; this covenant is beyond human capacity, it is a radical thirst of love that I only wish I were capable to give.

"The Eucharist is an eloquent sign of this total, free and gratuitous love, and offers each person the joy of the presence of the One who enables us too to love ´to the end´ in imitation of him. The love that Jesus proposes to his disciples is demanding"—Pope John Paul II

A few more words about Good Friday:

The Cross challenges us, it troubles our consciences, it reveals in the light of reality our failings and sin. It demands change and repentance; it demands a new life of unity with Christ and his people. It demands love. Yet the Cross, too, brings us to a new beginning; one where, in sublime wonder, we see that God offers us salvation through his Son that we may forever live with the Holy Trinity. In view of our Lord´s selfless act on the Cross, we might boldly claim that our own death has been put to death by Love.

What a love. What a Good Friday.

Psalm 62

Giggles

That psalm was on my heart tonight.

I feel like that reminder is so important for me, so important no matter what day of the century it is.

Restless until peace is found, running until the race has been done, searching until the race is over. Ahh.

No more words, only thoughts from me.

Therefore, my post is short and my thoughts long.

El Fin.


~Esa Cita

Friends

Fun Movie!

Sometimes, I can be a pretty lame friend.

I have 6 emails that are over a few weeks old which need some replying.  These are to a few very special people in my life whom I think about and pray for all the time with much love in my heart.

Yet, somehow, the laziness of my brain just won't let me write them.  Lame excuses like schoolwork, classes, blahblahblahimlame, and commitments are reasons flying around in my head right now as I think about how and why I have not lately followed through with what I should be doing.

But, the phrase "pray, listen, act, REPEAT" is circling my head like as if I'm trying to internalize or something.  It's time to act, so that I can repeat.

Tonight, I am taking it open myself to email the people I've been needing to email for a while now.  I love them so much, so that's what I'm going to do.

I absolutely love getting emails and letters from people.  I feel that updates and random thoughts from their heads give me an "in" on their lives, hearts, and souls.  Pretty creepy sounding I admit, but I'm just that much of a fan of understanding others.

So tonight, on this Holy Monday, I will continue to work on my long-distance relationships with friends.  Until I see them in person by miracle or until I see them in heaven one day, this email will be the connection in which we share to grow in each other.

God Bless emails.

~Esa Cita

I don't like beards.

April 16, 2011

Dear Diary:

Today, I celebrate 50 years of failure.  I will cook picadillo for dinner and read José Martí out loud. And pray.  I will pray like no other.  I will pray for my family, my friends, my homes, my lands, and my peoples.  Most of all, I will pray for the future, the present, and the past.  I love praying to God, who transcends time and is the true hope that I can honestly turn to.

I don't like the beard, I'm not a fan.


~Esa Cita

Pick up pace, win the race

Reunited in the US!

It's the week before Palm Sunday!

I've taken the Lenten experience this year to be one like a 5K race.  Once you get to the 2/3 mark, you start to pick up the pace.  You know it's going to end, and you wanna end hard.

Nobody can tell the pain that you are in, because you are so full of joy with the thought that your sufferings will soon be matched by the glory.

I can only hope to be a champion, a winner, a saint.

Just like Lent, the semester is beginning to show signs of a time coming to a close.  Finals are only four weeks away, the final sprint is coming soon.  It is in this time that the critical challenges will arrive, and I will be faced with the impending doom and work.  I can already see it in my upcoming exams, presentations, and special assignments.  Oh, how time flies when you're having fun.

Tomorrow I present in my Interventions for Populations At-Risk course on how I plan on saving the world.  As a Global Affairs student, I live for these kind of things.  As a college student, I wish that there was more time and sleep in my day.  Thankfully I was given an 8-hour train ride from Boston to Washington, so I had a bit of time to formulate things.  Now the question is in the presentation.

Well, it's time to get more focused.  At-Risk populations call out to me.
Good-night dear blog!

~Esa Cita

My Brest Friend

Twin Day

Today, on this fabulous Wednesday, Ana and I decided to wear the same F.I.U. homecoming shirt and our "Friends in Christ" necklaces...just because we're cool like that.

The only difference is that I don't go to F.I.U. and she has never even been close to Washington, DC.  And also the fact that I was wearing a jacket while she wore flip flops to class.

I just love this friendship.

Sometimes, it's really awesome to know that despite distance, despite differences, and despite completely different lives, we're bonded together by the silly t-shirts we make each other, necklaces, inside jokes about the Gospel of Matthew, and the secrets that no one can ever know about ourselves.

Distance doesn't always phase things, although it definitely changes it.

Well, time to packkk...good-night!

~Esa Cita

I Think I'll Go To Boston

An awesome bible verse

So friends, I'm going to Boston next Friday!

To say that I'm excited is an understatement.  I have been reminding my mother almost every other half hour that her daughter is going to Boston.

Not that Boston is that particular city that makes me weak at the knees or anything, but I'm excited to be going on a trip.  Trips, retreats, travels, and conferences have become a dear friend.  My past few weeks back at home have made me antsy to leave.

Next weekend, I'll be at a conference with Raices.  Friday afternoon I will be listening to a panel talk that's going to excite me like no other: The Cuban Catholic Church in the 21st Century. AHH. Cardinal O'Malley is going to be there.  The guy is so amazing, my family loves him.

Tomorrow, I'm gonna run a 5K.  I haven't been feeling the greatest these past few days and I definitely haven't run 3.1 miles in over a month.  This should be pretty funny.  I kinda don't want to know what my time will be.  However, it's for a good cause, and I'll get my running in.  Yahhoo.

Well, I've been procrastinating...I told myself to get a bit of writing done tonight, so perhaps I'll do some before I go to bed.  Good-night!

~Esa Cita

Lent Challenge

I was recently challenged by Sarah to participate in this Lenten Challenge: to post 100 things that I am thankful for.  Here's 50!

I am Thankful for::
1. God
2. My Family
3. My Friends
4. My Homeschooled Education
5. My Angelus Academy Education
6. My Archbishop Carroll HS Education
7. My Althoff Catholic HS Education
8. My George Mason University Education
9. Gymnastics
10. Running
11. The existence of Love
12. The existence of my FOCUS discipler, Ruthie
13. The existence of my FOCUS candidates, Andrea and Lindsay
14. The existence of my FOCUS family
15. My comfy shoes and shirt I'm currently wearing; oh, and my new jeans
16. My friendship bracelet
17. My house
18. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
19. My Cuban heritage
20. My brothers' cruel and sarcastic sense of humor
21. The existence of music
22. Really awesome men in my community
23. Becoming a sister of my sorority
24. My new laptop
25. My project I'm currently working on
26. My grades
27. The existence of Coca-Cola
28. The existence of Cuban coffee
29. Breakfast food
30. My adorable siblings
31. The existence of Rachelle de la Cruz
32. The existence of St. Therese, St. Josemaria Escriva, Matthew Kelly, and C.S. Lewis
33. My economics professor
34. My Bible Study
35. Sassy jokes
36. The invention of the telephone; more specifically, the cell phone
37. My teddy bear I received when I was born
38. The beach
39. My height
40. The existence of Matthew Gunns
41. The joys of arts and crafts
42. Other people's talents
43. Access to clean water
44. My sunflowers that I am currently growing
45. My innocent childhood
46. The existence of books
47. My father's lessons on physical fitness and how to defend myself
48. My Godfather
49. My Godmother
50. My Godson