The night of

Thursday, Jan 13,2010\

I haven’t had access to internet in 6 days because I’ve been busy sleeping in my car, in a hammock, and going to crazy odd places. I will go through my most memorable moments in the last few days. On the 9^th I rented a car but with traffic horrendous I didn’t arrive to the enterprise rent-a-car until 5 minutes after 5pm and they were closed. So, luckily the taxi driver, who was Dominican and really cool(he said he used to play with ubaldo Jimenez) drove me to the other enterprise in isla verde where I could transfer my reservation. As enterprise always is, the quoted me 103 dollars but because I’m under age it’s a fee of 10 dollars a day so the total ended up being around 170. All said and done with gas it will be about 32 dolla a day, which isn’t bad considering I would normally pay 20 for a hostel and transportation might be around 10 dollars a day anyways. I rented a red Hyundai, and as I was driving out of the lot, I immediately lost my bearings. Cars were wizzing by,  I became very nervous, and hoped I didn’t get in a car wreck(I neglected to buy insurance which is not advisable, especially in pr). But as soon as I found my way to the highway, I was off towards playa luquillo, supposedly one of the best beaches on the mainland of PR.

 On the way, I saw the baseball stadium named Roberto clement lit up and decided I would go to a baseball game, but I didn’t have any money to get there. I went to the ATM and it was closed so I had to drive around in my virgin Puerto rico driving skills and make a sorry attempt to find another ATM. Finally I did, and proceeded to the game. Tickets were 4 dollars, and the field was a combination of dirt and turf. Carolina the home team played Ponce(lost 6-1) and got their butts kicked hard. People were screaming and yelling, chanting songs, a guy was selling beer out of a trash can, and a player almost punched the empire. To say the least it was a little bit crazy. To add to the cultural flavor, there was a group of guys that had trumpets and drums and played between innings and after the game.

                I arrived in luquillo that night but a road sign took me to a peculiar place.  It definitely wasn’t luquillo although it was the same highway as luquillo but the road had a dead end at a secret beach. I didn’t see any large hotels or supermarkets here, just a small shantytown with kids and dogs playing in the street at night. So, I kept moving and finally found luquillo, where I stopped, walked around the town, and went to a locals bar to have an ice cold medalla light and listen to some African influenced caribe music. There was just a drummer and a singer, but the music was nice and the singer was very friendly to me.  After, I drove around to a neighborhood and passed out.

3rd time is a charm

Third day in PR sat Jan 8 2011.

Today I went on a nice adventure, took the bus to sagardo Corazon, then hopped on the tren urbano to rio piedras.  Now this is the nitty gritty of San juan. The market at rio piedras was dirt cheap, and I was tempted to buy some chortes for 4 dollars. There was also a food market with great prices and a part of the city that didn’t thrive on tourism. Less people spoke English and I felt like the only gringo. Yes! This is my territory. At the Universidad de rio piedras campus I saw the police and the protesters camped out outside the university gates, and decided not to get closer. 

After I went to condado beach and the concha casino and resort. I just kind of walked in and enjoyed the pool and lawn chairs, a situation fit for a king. There were lots of Americans, but hey I’m American, and it doesn’t matter when your in paradise. On the way back to the bus station  I ran into a nice lady named cindy that took action pics with me and a coconut we found on the beach. We had some great conversation and talked about traveling. It was pleasant to have a random person come up to me and say hi, because usually I’m the person to do that to others.  I stopped at the end of condado and decided to walk to el Viejo san juan, which lasted about 35 minutes. I saw a wedding, live music, the quinciñero trucks race by with their sirens and men on horseback, and a nice locals beach. 

this one´s for J

from the side of the fort looking towards the crucero

 Son las crack of dawn and still they dancesalsa. These Ricans really know how to party in san Juan, and I had a lot more fun tonight. I danced with some girls, drank a mojito, and saw some live musica. Reggae, salsa y rumba were the spice of the night, as I decided against the discoteca. I can find that anywhere in the US no thank you for now.  They told me that Boricua tiene the calor humano, or the human touch. It is true people are friendly , but you find friendly people anywhere on the globe, as well as the opposite. The seond night in San juan brought much more success, as I knew some people and could act with confidence who I was and where I was going. I flirted with the la nena at starbuicks  with beautiful curly brown hair and the door lady at the salsa club.  This night I did things right.  I just can’t believe that there are so many fine looking people here, and how well they can dance salsa. For now, I’m going to have to deal with my make shift breakdance line dance salsa.

 

crucero leaving q lindo

church in san juan

bar next to the newyorican cheap beers

the newyorican live bands! AAmazing

Tomorrow hopefully I can rent a car cheap, get picked up and head to luquillo beach. I plan on staying either on the beach or in el yunque in my hamaca.

boricua round 2

Second day in PR san juan, friday

Today I woke up way too late and will probably be sleeping late thanks to starbucks being the only internet café in town and a double shot of espresso that they call something like catrocito. I can hear the thumping of reggaeton from my hostel, which I moved to the San juan guest house, little bit shadier, a little bit more latin. The man’s name is castro and his cleaning lady has been working here for 40 years.

I did a great deal today considering the traffic and the hastle of moving to another place for the night. I met some great people that gave me lots of advice on PR, but most notably I met a girl from Ecuador. She reminded me of a simpler, more timid people that seem more inner driven. I recognized her accent and her aura, and without consciously knowing it, I my behaviors modeled that of when I was in the mountains of Ecuador.  I recognized that a lot of souvenirs were from otavalo, the large factory in northern Ecuador that makes anything from bags to bracelets. I even bought a bracelet that was the same exact as I had bought in Ecuador.

 When I walked in she was trying to dial a number and I snuck up behind her and punched a number in her phone flirtily. I don’t think I would have done that to a borincua, because I might have been slapped. The Puerto Ricans seem to have a more powerful force around them, and seem to not take “no crap from nobody”, but these are just initial stereotypes.

So what I did today is I slapped on a bus ride to nowhere, actually a place called isla verde, which I found out is a really touristy beach east of san juan. The water was perfect, the women were nice, and my Spanish bocadillo was satisfying, but I was missing a beer that was so cold it was slushy, something I had last night with some fried papas rellenos in the plaza near the Puerto. Cruising in the bus we drove past some more authentic places, marked by graffiti and a shady side street with stray cats.

I’m looking up right now in my hostel and the fan looks like its going to fall apart and chop me in half.

Anyway, when I got back to SJ,  I took the tourist trolly around the city for sunset and enjoyed pasting on my hawaiin shirt and large camera, sometimes you have to let go and purposely label yourself a tourist when you realize no matter what you do they know your not from around here. But at least when I try I can fool the extranjeros. I’m excited to be going to the rio piedras campus tomorrow and take the tren urbano to see a different side of SJ. Maybe even a publico, I don’t know. For now, my party sense is tingling and I have to leave this 11:00 room and get outside before I torture myself for not going out. The bongos are calling me. Is it ok for a man to go out alone, right??? Why not..

Just got back… 2:20 AM not too late. With salsa, bachata, and the all to familiar reggaeton still pulsing my ears I come back to the hostel thinking of all the beautiful women. Not bad for a night alone, but I did make one stupid fatal mistake.  I approached the hottest girls I could find and when ready I came up to them and said, “hola chicas” that’s it. In my creepy decree, I failed to say anything after that to save myself or at least make them laugh. I left the awkward situation marinate so I had to leave back to the bar and get a couple more drinks. This is not me, why was it so easy to look like a newborn fawn in front of drop dead gorgeous Latinas? I’d like to have that one back as ole George puts it, but I still brush it off chuckling silently to myself pondering how funny humanity is at it’s core. Just like in the discovery channel the mate, though discretely in the homo sapien nature, displays his array of feathers and superior genes at the first encounter to get the female. I failed, but I learned. I will probably never see those chicks again, and I realized I deserved rejection for the manner in which I behaved myself. I don’t want to be the guy that looks like a sleazebag and never knows when enough is enough, but I don’t want to be the wimp that sits in the corner of the bar like a creep and doesn’t muster up the courage to talk to any women. It’s only Friday night so I have another in this wonderful latin city of san juan. Are there going to be this many good looking women in Mayaguez?.I’ve seen worse, Spanish girls wouldn’t even acknowledge my presence until I weaseled my way into one of their “groups” so I consider myself lucky here in Boricua.

Me gustaria volver a la calle para medalla que vale solamente un pavo , pero yo tengo que dormir para que no gaste demasiado chavo ni me acueste muy tarde. Mis planes son grandes mañana y quiero hacer mucho antes de que me vaya de san juan, asi que descanso yo en paz, dándome cuenta que las nenas todavía están bailando.  Por lo menos yo se donde conseguir unas latas baratas y bien frias y estudiantes  universitarios locos.

Solo deme una hamaca, una puertorriqueña, una playa, y una medallita y la vida esta completa.

Boricua baby rd 1

First day in San Juan 01-6-11

spanish cobblestone

entrada escudo

flying kites and loving

sunset with the bacardi factory in the background

cementario

the fuente

la muralla lit up

plaza colon

atardecer san cristobal

atardecer desde el castillo

view from fortaleza guest house

fortaleza hall

dormitorio

This place is absolutely gorgeous. After a long flight through the night from Denver to San Juan with little or no quality sleep, I finally arrive at la isla del encanto at about 2:30 PM.  As always when I arrive at my final destination, I don’t quite know where I’m going but I act like I do. After picking up my bags I head straight to the tourist office, where I figured I could use some information. So, with a map and a clear direction, I wait for other people that are headed the same direction as I, el Viejo San Juan,  taking a taxi in the most economical way possible.  As always, I have an initial learning experience. After the taxi driver drops off my taxi mates Bob and his wife from North Carolina, I tell the conductor to take me a couple blocks to my hostel, the Fortaleza guest house. I should have walked and pretended I was with them, because the driver charged me as a separate passenger and I had to negotiate him down from $20 to $15. I got jipped in Cartagena, Colombia less than 6 months ago for taking an unmarked taxi and not knowing the going rate. Always ask the locals, and always ask first!

As a budget traveler it is a little hard in San Juan, but possible.  I ate dinner street food, some patata rellena and the platano with carne(don’t remember the exact name) for $3.50 and enjoyed a frothy cold surprise of medalla beer for another $3.25 on the street. I figure in the future my meals will either consist of street food or cooking at the hostels to keep things reasonable. Though PR is an American territory and you see the influence rampant here in a confusing juxtaposition of narrow Spanish streets and huge American SUV’s that results in traffic nightmares, I can still sense the inner latin drive alive and thriving in the local people. I assume when I get out of SJ, the latin flare will surface itself even more.

For the sunset I walked around the Viejo san juan and trekked around the castillos el morro y san cristobal, and after seeing my fair share of stunning women already and a surreal sunset backdropped by the Spanish fort, palm trees, the Bacardi castle off in the distance, Puerto Ricans flying kites and old men playing dominoes, I end my day without realizing the lack of sleep I’ve had over the last 24 hours. I am ecstatic to be here, and this is just my cup of tea. San Juan is just like a Cartagena but there are less hagglers, it is cleaner, and distinctly confusing.  It’s going to be a wild ride. When some girls yelled out “welcum to Puerto Rico bebe” in thick accents from their sedan blasting reggaeton I knew. And when I was asked to take a picture during sunset of a group of students my age who were surprised at how well I spoke Spanish I knew.  And when the professor in line at the street food vendor told me she taught at the Inter(where I’m going to study)and I should come by and visit her if I have any questions I felt the calorcito de su gente, y el futuro mío que se abrirá muchas puertas. What I have seen now and the notion and feelings I already feel for this enchanted place will only grow stronger.

cristobal macro

el faro

I wanted to see the clash of American and latin, and here it is wrapped up in a densely packed 110 by 30 mile package that seems like it has too many things to see in too little time. School starts in less than 2 weeks, on the 18, and I wish I had 2 months to explore this island before I had to study. But, as things are, I will just have to take a taste of everything, from the clubs and old city life, to the cosmopolitan, the street food, the waves, the surf, the mountains and caves, and the little backroads that define places so well. Welcome to the real Puerto Rico, the bueno, the malo, y lo feo on a humid sticky tropical platter of plantains and rice, all sauced up and ready to dance.

Tomorrow, I think I’ll go to the beach, find and internet café to check the status of my application, find a way to get to other parts of the city including rio piedras, and take a bus público.

la calle navidadeña