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With a good tailwind, the captain made up some of our lost time and we landed at the airport in Puerto Rico shortly after 4:30 p.m. local time. It took a while for our luggage to reach the carousel, but by shortly after 5:00 we were in the arrivals area with our friends.
What a wonderful welcome we had! Maria, Francisco, and Margarita had a basket of fresh fruit for us, along with a small vase of roses and a “Welcome” balloon…we felt like real celebrities!
Francisco helped us load the luggage in the trunk of their car and then we headed out with Maria driving and all of us talking, attempting to get caught up on two year’s worth of conversation during the short trip to our hotel.
We were soon at the Holiday Inn Express in the Condado area of San Juan, where we unloaded the car, made arrangements for Maria to come pick us up on Wednesday, and then got checked in, anxiously anticipating not only the adventures ahead of us, but also rejoining our friends at their home in Malpica on Wednesday.
Tonight…hit the streets and explore our new neighborhood. We just walked up and down the streets, looking at all the different shops and hotels and enjoying the ocean breezes as we strolled along the beachfront.
Tuesday, March 4: Day 2
It’s exploration day! With our sights set on seeing all we could of Old San Juan, we had our breakfast at the hotel and then walked a couple of blocks to catch the bus that would take us there.
Knowing where we wanted to go, but not knowing what we were looking at (or for); we just did the “tourist gawk,” trying to get our bearings and looking for something that might be the old city. We also did a bit of silent back-seat driving, especially when our bus driver totally ignored a red light and plowed on through an intersection. I guess he was going on the theory that his was the largest vehicle at the intersection, so he had the right of way.
We made several stops along the way to pick up or let off passengers, so we weren’t paying much attention when we made a stop and the driver turned and said, “Last stop.” No one moved again, so he said it again, getting our attention and helping us realize that this was as far as we were going to go.
As we got off the bus, we commented to a group of high school students from Michigan who had boarded with us back by the hotel that we were just waiting for them to stand up so we’d know we were at out destination. They laughed and said they were watching us because they figured we knew what we were doing.
After getting our bearings, we began walking and looking. Our first destination was the walking trail that ran along the outside of the walls of the old city. The walls were built in the 1600’s to help defend the city against invading forces; they were originally 7 feet thick, but were later fortified to a thickness of as much as 18 feet…certainly strong enough to repel most cannon shots of the day (and provide a formidable vertical barrier to any invaders..
Interestingly enough, the old city was originally named Puerto Rico (for the port that leads into what is now San Juan Bay) and the island was named San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist). It was later that the names were reversed so the island was named Puerto Rico and the city was named San Juan.
By the late 1800’s, Spain’s far-flung empire was crumbling; most of the New World colonies revolted and gained their independence, with only Puerto Rico and Cuba remaining loyal to Spain.
When a revolution in Cuba sparked the Spanish-American War, a U.S. naval flotilla under Admiral William T. Sampson bombarded San Juan on May 12, 1898. No serious damage was done and there was no military action against the city. In July, 1898, U.S. Army General Nelson Miles landed American troops on Puerto Rico’s southern coasts. An Armistice with Spain was signed as the troops were advancing to the outskirts of San Juan. Spain’s 400-year rule of the island came to an end on October 18, 1898, when the defenses of the city were turned over to the U.S. Army.
Old San Juan, founded in 1521, stands on the western end of a rugged, rocky islet that is bordered on the north by the Atlantic Ocean and on the south and west by a vast bay.
The colonial city shows its best side from the harbor. Built on natural slopes, the crowded clusters of buildings take the form of a great amphitheater framed by a formidable ring of walls and castles. A combination of old houses and modern buildings imparts variety to the cityscape,
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and gives San Juan its colorful and picturesque character. It is a city with a proud and rich heritage, tempered by ancient calamities of war, pirate attacks, earthquakes, and hurricanes.
Our trip around the walls (don’t know how long it was, but it sure wilted us) gave us some great views of the bay and the ocean.
What we didn’t know was that the trail does not go all the way around. Just as we thought we were approaching another gate to the city, we saw a sign that let us know the trail ended there and we would have to turn around and go back…definitely not what we were wanting to know!
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Hiking back to one of the massive gates to the city we had already passed early in our walk, we went inside and found a snow-cone stand where we got a bit of refreshment. Barbara opted for a coconut snow-cone (pireagua), while I got a bottle of water.
After resting for a bit, we made our way toward Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, a massive fortification that anchors the city’s defenses at the mouth of San Juan Harbor. Construction on the fort began in 1539-1540, and El Morro evolved into its present form from that time through 1786.
In World War I, Puerto Rico was an outpost for detecting and controlling hostile activities directed against the Panama Canal. During World War II, the U.S. Army added coastal defense observation posts and hidden command and communications centers in both the El Morro and San Cristobal forts.
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Today, the forts are managed and protected by the U.S. National Park Service.
We did a little more sight-seeing after we left El Morro, walking up and down the steep and narrow cobblestone streets of the old city. Around 2:00 p.m. we located a restaurant (Raices)
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and had some original Puerto Rican food for lunch, and then found our way back down to the bus station to find the bus that would take us back to our hotel in the Condado District. Our driver for this afternoon’s run was a little slip of a girl, but she muscled that big bus around like a veteran, and we were soon back at the Holiday Inn.
We don’t know how far we walked today, but we do know were “plumb tuckered out.” We laid down to rest our eyes for a few minutes and woke up about 2 ½ hours later…just in time to go out and take in some of the evening sights around us.
Wednesday, March 5: Day 3
Our plan for the morning was to get up early and go across the street to swim at one of the beaches, but we stayed up too late last night and slept in too long this morning, so we decided we’d just go downstairs for breakfast and then come back to the room and take our time getting everything organized and packed.
We were downstairs and checked out of the hotel by shortly after 11:30; Maria arrived about 11:50 and we had everything in the car and were pulling out from the hotel by noon.
Maria first took us on a driving tour of Old San Juan, helping us get a better perspective on
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where we were yesterday. She’s an excellent driver and did a wonderful job of negotiating the narrow, hilly streets.
She also took us to the Governor’s House, the site of a huge demonstration a couple of days ago by thousands of Puerto Rican teachers who have been on strike. It was hard for us to imagine shy, quiet Margarita walking a picket line, but Maria assured us that it did happen. (Maria and Francisco even joined in the march to support the teachers.)
After a bit of sightseeing, we stopped for a quick lunch at McDonalds. Maria left us on the corner while she went to find a parking place and we spent our time people-watching. It is election time in Puerto Rico also, so representatives of the candidates for various offices were out in force. At one point we heard what sounded like the world’s largest boom box blaring out music and messages. When we looked down the street, we saw a pickup with the larges set of speakers I’ve ever seen mounted on the bed. As soon as the driver entered the intersection, a policeman went over to the pickup and motioned for him to turn down the volume. Thankfully, he did, and that was pretty much the end of that.
While we were still waiting, Barbara spied a stand with a bunch of purses and bags on it, so she went over and checked it out. She found a purse she liked and managed to get the price down from $40 to $30, but couldn’t make up her mind to take it until Maria came back and looked at it to make sure it was a good deal. Long story short…Barbara now has a really nice new purse to take home.
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After lunch we convinced Maria that we were capable of just walking back to the car with her, so we started out down one of the streets. Along the way we found a shop called The Butterfly People. On exhibit were all kinds of pictures of butterflies as well as collections of butterflies in acrylic display cases. We thought everything was just beautiful, but we were even more taken by the music that was playing in the background, so we asked who the artist was. The shopkeeper showed us a cover of a CD by Andrea Bocelli, a singer with a monster set of pipes. We decided then and there that we would have to buy one of his albums if we ever found one.
Continuing our journey down the hill to the parking lot, we came to the harbor and saw a couple of cruise ships that had pulled in to the docks. Those things are huge!
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I’ve never been that close to one (and frankly, don’t care to get any closer)…
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Barbara: That’s what Jim says now; but I’m thinking that the next time we come to Puerto Rico, we need to build in time for a cruise…Jim doesn’t see it that way yet, but…we’ll see.)
Jim: However, I thought they (the cruise ships) were worth taking a picture; after all, you don’t see them in New Mexico very often.
After we left Old San Juan, Maria took us to various areas around the metropolitan area to give us the feel of the place. We even went to a huge shopping mall (where we found a Bocelli CD) and did some window shopping and people watching before going back to the car and making the 1-
hour drive out to Rio Grande Municipality and Malpica where Maria, Margarita, and Francisco live.
When we arrived at the house, we were absolutely knocked out by the beauty and simplicity of the place. They are still in the process of doing some remodeling, but the house is so light and airy that it just shouts “Welcome!” to visitors. It is also a photographer’s dream, as evidenced by the 75 or so pictures that Barbara took during the evening.
The house is located on a hillside out in a more or less rural area. From the landing outside, we can see the Atlantic Ocean t
o the north and a couple of mountain peaks in the rain forest (El Yunque) to the east.
Next door is quite a menagerie of fowls…chickens, a rooster, geese, ducks, and Guinea hens…unique, if not always quiet and peaceful. However, they certainly add to the charm of the neighborhood. And, for Barbara it opened up the box of childhood memori
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es of staying at her grandmother's home in Houston years ago.
As soon as we got there, Margarita started supper. I hovered around the cooking area asking all kinds of questions about what she was doing and which spices she was using. It was at this moment that Barbara and I knew that when the time came, we would leave Puerto Rico with a new batch of recipes. (And, we weren't wrong!)
Meanwhile, Barbara was busy taking pictures of everyone and everything!
Barbara: From the porch, which goes around 3 sides of their home, the view is breathtaking and just begs for the camera to do its thing! I just found that my camera and I were going to get lots of action in this gorgeous place as it is definitely a photographer's (even an amateur) paradise!
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Jim: Dinner was beyond delicious (cubed steaks cooked with onions and tomato sauce, beans and rice with homemade spices, and rice) and we had a wonderful time just
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visiting and getting caught up on the last two years.
Maria and Margarita were a little under the weather and Francisco has school tomorrow, so everyone but me went to bed; I stayed up to watch the end of a movie and then went to bed and read awhile before finally falling asleep around 1:30 a.m.
Thursday, March 6: Day 4
Unfortunately, Maria was quite ill this morning and Margarita had to take her to the doctor after they took Franscisco to school. With them gone and Francisco in school, we had the house to ourselves for most of the day and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
What a wonderful day of rest for us…alternately reading, watching TV, checking email, sitting outside and enjoying the beautiful vistas, and taking naps. The house is so nice and airy and the outside views are so beautiful that our only difficulty was deciding where we wanted to spend our time! Margarita called worried about us, but we assured her that this was the perfect beginning to our Malpica experience though we were sorry they were spending their time at the doctor.
Francisco didn’t have his afternoon classes today, so Maria and Margarita picked him up and they all came back to the house shortly after 2:00. Maria needed to go back to the clinic, so we left Margarita at the house to rest and Barbara, Francisco, and I went with her for another adventure.
Along the way Maria showed us all around Rio Grande, including the house where they used to live. Then, after stopping at the clinic for a few minutes, we took off on another exploring adventure.
This afternoon we took Highway 3 (the major highway running east
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from San Juan and more or less following the coastline around the east coast, down to Salinas on the southern side of the island. Our route took us through Luquillo and Fajardo and down to the Ceiba Forest. At many points along the way we could see the Atlantic Ocean on our left and the peaks of the mountains in El Yunque National Forest on our right; a truly magnificent contrast of views!
We turned around at the Ceiba State Forest and headed back,
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stopping at Fajardo to see some of the sights. We passed the El Conquistador Hotel and Resort (no $29.95 rooms there) and drove down to the harbor and marina where we got out and walked along the edge of the water. We managed to find some nice seashells and got some great pictures of the area before going back to the car to continue our journey back to Malpica.
When we got back to the house, we found that Margarita had prepared another delicious meal for us. After eating, Francisco said he wanted to play Monopoly, so while Maria washed the dishes, the rest of us sat down to make our fortune in real estate.
We found out something else about Margarita tonight. Our shy, quiet, and mild-mannered friend is a vicious, cut-throat game player! She wiped out Francisco in nothing flat and then proceeded to take everything I had. Barbara hung in there for a long ti
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me and finally turned her “holdings” over to Francisco for him to manage. Still, Margarita was relentless in her pursuit of the board and it wasn’t long before Barbara was bankrupt also. We swear that Margarita would have been laughing at us if she didn’t feel so bad; instead, she just managed a little “Mona Lisa” smile, all the way to the bank.
(
Barbara: This photo is of Jim having to give all his $$$ and property to Margarita! Francisco has taken over for me as I document this moment! You can tell Margarita is loving every minute of it!)
The hour was late when we finally finished and Francisco has school tomorrow morning, so we called it a night and retired to our rooms to rest up for new adventures tomorrow.
Friday, March 6: Day 5
Happy 2nd Birthday to granddaughter Abby Dondis in Richardson, Texas!!!
Margarita was still recuperating from her bronchitis this morning and Francisco had school today, so, after a great breakfast, Maria, Barbara, and I got in the car and went off in search of new adventures. Well, we weren’t really in search of them since Maria had already mapped out our trip for the day, but it was going to be nearly all new territory for us.
We still haven’t figured out all the roads here, but we knew were headed generally westward; we were surprised though, to find ourselves riding through San Juan after about 45 minutes. It turns out that Maria was taking us toward the west end of the island and then a little south to Parque las Cavernas del Rio Camuy (Rio Camuy Cave Park).
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For millions of years the underground waters of the Camuy River have been responsible for creating a massive cave system. Discovered in 1958, it is the third largest underground river in the world. Opened on December 16, 1986, this underground treasure, located in an area of 300 acres, is visited by over 150,000 persons annually.
The main attractions of the park include Tres Pueblos Sinkhole, a huge depression located where the municipalities of Camuy, Haltillo, and Lares meet. The sinkhole is 400 feet deep and about 650 feet wide (large enough to hold the two largest superbowl stadiums). At the bottom, the Camuy River can be seen flowing into the caves. (Photo on left)
While there are three main caves, only the Clara Cave, the main attraction, is open for public viewing. The cave is spacious and spectacular and has access for the public through comfortable and safe walkways, bridges, and ramps.
While we were able to board the tram that takes visitors around the p
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ark and to the Clara Cave, we were unable to enter the cave today. Our guide, Nelly, explained that a short time back one of the visitors to the cave was killed when a tour group exited at the mouth of the cave. Just as the lady came out into the open, a 30-pound rock fell from the area above the opening, striking her in the head and killing her. Since that time, the cave has been closed until the areas above the mouth of the cave can be secured. A new precaution for all visitors now is that everyone must wear a hardhat (provided by the park during their stay).
Nelly also told us that one of the caves, with an opening about 3/4ths of the way up the limestone ridge from the river bed, was completely covered with water during Hurricane George several years ago. The water level in the sinkhole rose 280 feet above the riverbed. It took three days before the water subsided through the cave system, and three weeks until the river below the cave system to the ocean could be used again.
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While we were waiting for the tram to pick us up at the last of the viewing stations, Nelly pointed out an old Willys Jeep that had been rigged with a chain drive and paddle wheel. She said that each year in March there is a grand celebration during which contestants build their own “boats” out of any material they can find and race them down the river to the ocean and back again. The winner is the first person back to a designated point. The jeep is a contraption that did stay the course; but, we didn’t find out whether it was one of the winners.
After enjoying a lunch of regional delicacies at the park cafeteria, we got back in the car and backtracked to San Juan to go out to a local attraction that Maria wanted us to see.
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Along the way, she wheeled into the parking lot at a church in Dorado to show us what is considered to be the largest statue of Christ inside a church. We entered
through the chapel where several parishioners were praying or meditating and crossed over to the Santuario Cristo De La Reconciliacion, where we looked up behind the altar to see an immense statue hanging from the wall.
From the church we traveled toward a point on the Dorado coastline where we got out and walked about a mile to see El Ojo del Buey, a huge rock that has been weathered out by wind and water over the years, and that looks for all the world like the skeletal head of a bull; hence, the name, Eye of the Bull. We tried to take a picture of the water (which was extremely rough today) crashing over the rock, but couldn’t get the camera shutter and the waves to cooperate.
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By now we were running short on time; Maria need to get back to Malpica to pick Francisco up and take him to church for youth activities. Unfortunately, we were meeting up with Friday afternoon traffic on both sides of and all the way through San Juan, so we were a little late getting back to the house. Still, Maria took some short cuts and got us back just fifteen minutes late, so Francisco wasn’t too late.
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We were just resting up from a wonderful meal of shrimp and fried plantains when some friends of Maria and Margarita, Dimas and Mary, came by for a visit. Barbara, Margarita, and Mary retired to the dining room to talk and look at all the pictures we have taken during this trip while Maria, Dimas, and I sat in the living room. It turns out that Dimas and I were both in the military at the same time, so we had some common experiences to share.
After Dimas and Mary left we decided it was game night again, but this time we voted to play dominos. I immediately sat across from Margarita and declared that if we were going to play partners, I wanted to be her partner. So, Barbara and Francisco paired off and prepared to do battle with us, but the dots went our way to such an extent that Barbara and Francisco conceded the game to us before we reached our 500 points.
When all was said and done, we decided that we had said and done enough for the day, so we all retreated to our rooms and called it a night.
Saturday, March 8: Day 6
Wow…What a day Margarita and Maria planned for us!
Since it was Saturday and Francisco didn’t have to get up early for school, we all just took our time getting around. After breakfast we all loaded up in the car and headed east to Luquillo Beach, one of the major beach parks in the area. We were expecting “just” a beach along the ocean, but found instead a major park area complete with natural landscaping, well-established picnicking areas, and the smoothest sand beaches we have ever seen.
The views from the beach and the water were what one might find on pictu
re postcards for major resort areas, and the water was the most gorgeous shades of blue and green that anyone could hope for.
We were surprised that there were so few people there, but Margarita and Maria explained that many people work on Saturdays, so they don’t come out to the beaches until Saturday evening or Sunday. They assured us that there would be a much larger crowd tomorrow if we tried to come out here.
We passed about three hours just playing in the water (mostly me doing that) and walking along the beach.
On her walk, Barbara came across a small canopy that had been set up and decorated for wedding pictures. In visiting with the people there, she found that the man was the photographer and his wife was a wedding planner. Since the bride and groom hadn’t arrived, they let Barbara pose under the canopy for her informal “wedding photographs.”
After more walking and exploring we went back to the area where we started and I did a little more swimming before showering and changing back into clothes suitable for our next adventure which was stopping at a roadside stand where Maria and Margarita bought each of us coconut water. This delicious drink comes from a baby coconut; the vendors chop off some of the shell, make a small hole at the top, give you a straw and you slurp away! What a wonderful treat after the time on the beach.
The next leg of the journey for the day took us from the beach at Luquillo back west toward Rio Grande where we turned south and began the climb to El Portal, the gateway to El Yunque National Forest, a tropical rain forest that is part of the U.S. Forest Service.
El Yunque, also known as the Caribbean National Forest, is the only tropical forest in the United States national Forest System. Its rugged land climbs from 1,000 to 3,500 feet above sea level and receives up to 200 inches of rain each year. The runoff from the forests feeds several major rivers in the island. The rivers carry the water back to the Atlantic Ocean where it evaporates, turns into rain clouds in the upper atmosphere, and returns to the mountain and its forests as new rainfall.
There are four major forest types in El Yunque. The Tabonuco forest is found on foot hills and slopes below 2,000 feet elevation and is associated with sub-tropical wet and sub-tropical rain forest life zones.
The Palo Colorado forest is found at 2,000 feet in valleys and gentle slopes. This type borders the Tabonuco forest and features overlapping vegetation transitions.
The Sierra Palm Forest is found mainly on steep slopes and stream beds above 2,500 feet. It covers about 4,800 acres or roughly 17 per cent of the forest.
The Cloud Forest occurs on higher peaks and ridges above 2,500 feet that are subject to extreme exposure. The vegetation is exposed to high winds, cool temperatures, and high humidity; it covers about 1,000 acres or 4 per cent of the total forest.
El Yunque features a number of hiking trails and observation points, all designed to give the visitor beautiful sweeping vistas as well as intimate views of the various forest life systems and zones.
We didn’t have time today to get much more than just a taste of El Yunque, but it gave us dreams of future trips and extended adventures. We did stop for several minutes at Coco Falls, a waterfall with a sheer drop of 85 feet down a granite wall, through large boulders, and down a mountain stream.
It was with reluctance that we left this beautiful rain forest, but we had other activities and adventures planned for the day…so much to see and so little time!
We all went back to the house for a bit to rest and then we joined Margarita, Maria, and Francisco for the evening Mass at their church, San Francisco de Asisi. They had spent a great deal of time trying to find a Baptist or Methodist church for us to attend, but couldn’t find one nearby that offered services in English. We told them that we only wanted to attend services with them and that a Catholic service would be just fine.
When we got into the church, Margarita introduced us to the parish priest and then we were seated (back row of course; that was our Baptist concession). Although we couldn’t understand most of what was spoken, we could get the general idea of the scriptures by linking what Spanish words we do know to the context. What we really enjoyed was the singing. We didn’t know the songs, but we could pronounce most of the words and just followed along, singing as if we knew what we were singing about. It was all joyfully sung and made us feel very good just to be involved.
We (as well as Margarita and Maria) were surprised when, at the end of the service, the priest called us forward to say a prayer for us. He even spoke the prayer in English, which was difficult for him, and thanked God for our presence and asked His blessing upon us during our stay in Puerto Rico and our return home. He told us that because we were all brothers in Christ, that we always had a family in their little church. As the congregation applauded us, we felt that we truly were blessed to have such a caring family in a place so far from our home.
When we returned to the house, Margarita told us to change from our good clothes into jeans and wear something warm, that they had a special surprise for us. We couldn’t figure out what it might be, especially since it was getting pretty late to be going out, but we did as she said. As we headed to the car, she said that because she has been sick and it would be cool out, that she would stay home, but the rest of us should go have a good time.
What we didn’t know was that the ladies had conspired with Jose, one of Margarita’s teacher friends, to arrange for a night ride on an excursion boat from the harbor at Fajardo to one of three luminescent lagoons in the area. Jose’s former brother-in-law, Captain Suarez, makes three nightly runs from the harbor through a long mangrove channel into the lagoon to show off one of Puerto Rico’s many beautiful attractions.
Once aboard the boat, the Baby Bay, we crossed the harbor and joined strings of kayakers who were also making their way in the dark to a large lagoon where we could see luminescent fish and microorganisms scurrying away under the water as we approached them. Captain Suarez explained that a dye in some of the surrounding trees causes the water to glow a luminescent green whenever it is stirred up. When we looked forward or to the side of the boat, we could see the shapes of fish swimming away from us. When we looked toward the stern, we could see a luminescent green wake behind us. (Notice, too, that the bottom right photo of the swimmers show that they were luminescent once they came in contact with the water.)
Captain Suarez stopped the boat in the middle of the lagoon and let several of the tour members climb out of the back of the boat so they could take a short swim. As they swam and splashed, we could see the luminescence stirring up around them…quite an amazing sight.
Captain Suarez obviously knew the channel and lagoon quite well. He took us to a small mangrove island over on one side of the lake, lit up some trees with his flashlight, and pointed out several large white birds that were roosting there. As we rode through the channel to and from the lagoon, he would suddenly stop, shine the flashlight up in the trees, and point out huge iguanas that were lying down on the branches, some looking as if they were sound asleep, others as if they might pounce into the boat at any time.
After two hours of learning about birds, iguanas, navigating by the stars, and luminescent lagoons and their inhabitants (not to mention how to navigate around strings of novice kayakers in the narrow channel), we made our way back to the harbor where we thanked Captain Suarez for a great adventure.
It was a little after 11:00 p.m. when we got off the boat, and since we hadn’t eaten since much earlier in the day, we located one of the many food kiosks that abound in the beach area and enjoyed a meal of barbecued chicken on a stick and tasty Puerto Rican bread before getting in the car and driving back to the house in Malpica. It was 12:30 a.m. when we finally arrived at home, exhausted and thrilled from a long day of adventures.
Sunday, March 9: Day 7
Today was primary election day in Puerto Rico, so after waking up and getting ready for the day, we joined Margarita and Maria as they drove to their polling site to cast their ballots. When we got to the site, Maria found that she would have to go to a school closer to their house in Malpica to vote because of her address change. Margarita, however, voted at the other school because her address was in that area before she moved to the United States, and she hadn’t changed her official address yet.
The scene at the school was much like at any polling place we’ve been; neighbors, friends, and relatives met and visited while standing in line to sign in, have their voting cards verified, get their ballots, and cast their votes. Election Day in Puerto Rico is essentially a legal holiday – businesses are closed and the sale of alcohol is forbidden,
While Margarita went to the room where her party was voting, we just wandered around trying to get a good look at the school. Maria found us and said that she had made arrangements with one of the party leaders for us to come into the room and take pictures, something that we didn’t expect at all. We followed Margarita into the room and Barbara took a couple of pictures of the scene before we left. However, as we were leaving the room, the man in charge called us back. I figured we were in some kind of trouble, but he only said that Margarita wanted us there to take a picture of her in the voting booth.
Following our experience at that school, we drove back to the neighborhood where we had been the night before. In fact, the school where Maria voted was just across the street from where we had attended church, so while Maria went into the school to vote, we took some pictures of the church (we didn’t have the camera with us last night) and listened to the singing.
We had told the ladies yesterday that we needed to find a few specialty items to take home with us, so after they finished voting, Maria drove us almost all the way back to San Juan to a large shopping mall where we found some things that we thought the grandkids would like. We didn’t expect them to go to that much trouble for us, but we certainly did appreciate them for all they did.
After our shopping trip was completed we returned to the house in Malpica and began the process of gathering and organizing all of our stuff and trying to get everything packed for our flight back to Houston tomorrow.
While we were doing our packing, Margarita and Maria fixed another great meal. After supper we helped get the dishes cleaned and then settled in for another game of Monopoly. It didn’t take long for me to find that my new strategies didn’t work; I was the first one out of the game, followed not long after by Francisco.
Barbara and Margarita stayed locked in a furious battle for control of the board, but Maria, with her shrewd maneuvers and an inscrutable smile, soon owned enough of the board to bankrupt Barbara and claim yet another victory…smiling all the way.
At some point during the evening we had a visit from Jose (Margarita’s fellow teacher who had arranged for our boat trip last night). He and Margarita had been among the three teachers from their school who had joined the teacher strike earlier in the month.
Tomorrow would be their first day back to school and Jose was bringing Margarita a t-shirt that read (simple translation), “I can hold my forehead high…what I did was for you and for me.”
They would wear the shirts tomorrow when they returned to work, not knowing for sure what kind of reception they would receive from the other teachers.
And so, with the evening behind us and Margarita and Francisco preparing for a new school day, we all decided to call it a night, but not without extracting a promise from Maria and Margarita to wake us up early in the morning so we could say our goodbyes before they left.
Monday, March 10: Day 8
We didn’t even need to have the ladies wake us up this morning…I guess our body clocks were set to get up early so we could say farewell to Margarita and Francisco before they left for school. This was one of the most difficult goodbyes we’ve ever had after a visit…this family has literally made their home our home, and we were completely overwhelmed by our feelings of gratitude for what they have come to mean to us.
While Maria took Margarita and Francisco to their respective schools, we got cleaned up and dressed and then started hiding little notes all around the house for them to find in the coming days…just a “Little” something to remind them of how much fun we had during our visit.
By 10:00 a.m. Maria had returned, we had a light breakfast, the car was packed, and we were ready to leave and go to the airport in San Juan. At the airport, we asked Maria to just drop us off at the Continental terminal so we could get checked in and she could return to Malpica.
After more tearful goodbyes, we waved to Maria as she left and we turned to start the process, first having our luggage checked and scanned by USDA agents and then getting our boarding passes and checking the luggage through to Houston.
We spent the rest of our time doing some sightseeing around the terminal. Along the way we found an internet café, so we stopped there to check our email, write a few notes, and have a little lunch.
Before long, it was time to go to the boarding area and take our place among the folks who were all waiting to return to Houston on today’s flight. By 3:45 the plane was loaded and pulling away from the gate, preparing for a generally uneventful 5-hour flight to Houston.
We called Gary and Joyce when we landed at George Bush International Airport in Houston and they came out to pick us up and take us back to their house for a few days. It was nearly 10:00 p.m. when we got to the house, so after a long day for all of us, we decided we’d all go to bed and start our visit fresh tomorrow morning with lots of stories and pictures to share.
"A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles." – Tim Cahill
Back in Houston after 7 wonderful days in Puerto Rico,
Jim & Barbara
It took Owen a little while to warm up to us, but in no time we were included in his play with his bowling and fishing sets. Then he decided he’d ask Jim and me if we wanted to go to the park with him. The park is just a short stroll from his Grammie’s and Grandpa’s house. So…we 5 adults followed as he led us to the playground. We must have looked like the Pied Piper’s parade!
Since Randi is now on spring break, we offered to take her home with us for a while; but, shock of all shocks, she really wasn’t interested in leaving her friends for that long. Plus, she’s going to have a job interview at the gym to work there during the summer. It’s kind of sad that when she was of the age to come visit us, we were busy working…but…that is a part of life, I suppose.
Saturday, March 15
Once again it was time for another meal, which just happened to be Jim’s spaghetti…Carol had called while we were in Houston for the ingredients he needed, since Randi had said that she wanted some of Gramps’ spaghetti and meat sauce.
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