by Jimena De La Parra

Created on: April 15, 2009

Five years ago, while I was watching the television, my father showed me the most interesting program that I have ever seen ... since that moment I knew that someday I would be the protagonist. The TV show, talked about a trip called "Ruta Quetzal", and presented more than 300 teenagers traveling around the world, discovering all that this amazing world offers to us.

In this trip people of all over the nationalities could participate, the only requirement is to be 16 or 17 years old and speak Spanish. I had to wait 4 years because of the age, I was 12; but when the moment came, I did a literary work about the "Expo Zaragoza 2008: agua y desarrollo sostenible". I sent it to the Embassy of Mexico, where I live, because there they reviewed the works, and picked the winners.

The surprise came when a person of the Embassy called me, and told me that I was a winner; I would be part of Ruta Quetzal 2008. For about 6 months my family and I, were dedicated to all that an adventure trip needs; sleeping bag, boots and millions of things more. Finally, after an impatiently waiting, the trip began.

June nineteenth, is the date when my life changed; and Ruta Quetzal is where I changed the way I see the life... friends became brothers, the world went from being huge to be a place that I can tour with just a backpack in my shoulder, the drams became reality.

The trip last one and a half month. I did lots of things like view a hidden part of Panama, walk for more than 10 hours in the jungle, sail through the Panama Canal, live 3 days with a Panamanian native tribe called "Embera", travel all Spain along and I did all these with my best friends, the most wonderful people I could ever met.

Ruta Quetzal is not only the 45 journey days, it last the whole life and the reason is that there you change your life form; you stop thinking about empty things of life and realize what is really important: love, companionship, support, friendship and solidarity with other nations that have less than us.

I could tell every moment I lived there, but nothing compares with the real experience. To know how amazing Ruta Quetzal is, you have to live it. All that you have to know is that Ruta Quetzal is the best adventure you could ever lived, is where you learn that the world is for those who born to conquer it, and it doesn't mean to conquer with the wheels of a car, you have to do it with the soles of your shoe ...

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