Amalia Quiñones

24 memories9 places

Showing 4 of 24 memories

~2018

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The reef I remembered

I went back snorkeling in Culebra at a place I remembered from when Carmen and I were young. I spent half the morning trying to decide if I was even in the same spot. I think I was. There was still plenty to see, but it wasn't the reef I remembered. There were places where I remembered coral being everywhere and now there wasn't. Memory is tricky, especially after forty years. Maybe some of what I'm comparing it to has gotten exaggerated in my head. But not all of it. I stayed in the water a long time anyway.

Culebra, Puerto Rico

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~1992

1 photoAdded Oct 4, 2026

Look down

I taught Clara to snorkel when she was about five. She hated the mask. She said it smelled bad and wouldn't breathe through the snorkel because she was convinced water was going to come through it. I suddenly remembered Papá teaching me. Without even thinking about it I told her exactly what he had told me: don't look ahead, just look down. She finally put her face in. A few seconds later she squeezed my hand and started pointing at a fish. I don't think I had thought about that day with Papá in years. Then there I was saying his words.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

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~1975

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The first time I saw Culebra underwater

The first time I went to Culebra with Carmen we hardly had any money. We brought a tent that I don't think belonged to either one of us and far too much canned food. I had been snorkeling since I was a kid, but I had never seen anything like the water there. We stayed out for hours. I remember huge stands of coral and so many fish that after a while you stopped pointing them out. There were parrotfish everywhere. I saw a ray and tried to yell to Carmen through my snorkel. That obviously didn't work. That night I was completely sunburned across my back and couldn't sleep comfortably in the tent. I remember thinking I wanted to come back every year. I didn't come every year, but I came back a lot.

Culebra, Puerto Rico

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~1960

1 photoAdded Oct 4, 2026

Papá teaching me to snorkel

I don't know exactly when this was. I must have been about nine. Papá taught me to snorkel at Escambrón. We had one of those rubber masks that covered your eyes and nose and smelled terrible. I was scared to put my face in the water because breathing through the tube felt completely wrong. He held my hand and told me not to look ahead, just look down. I remember the moment I finally did it. There were little fish right underneath us and suddenly I forgot I was scared. I wanted to stay in until my fingers got wrinkled. For years I thought the water had been incredibly deep. I went back much later and realized we were probably standing in four feet of water.

Escambrón, San Juan, Puerto Rico

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