So that's been the song of the week for me, every time I turn a corner I sigh and think "Kanye, you had it right man. Welcome to the good life." I've only been down here a week (only. geez.) and already there are so many adventures to share I barely know where to begin. I guess Puerto Rico is a pretty good place! We arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico last Monday, and does anyone know how hard it is driving a rental Suzuki through the curvy roads of El Yunque? It's a challenge my friend, and I'm going to warn everyone I'll be the best driver by the time I get home (let's not all laugh at once..). So we grabbed our rental car, ate dinner at a local place (mofongo=delish. it's mashed plantains with chicken-I also had some local? drink made of evaporated milk, 4 spoons of sugar, orange juice and a dash of cinnamon...interestingly tasty!), and then decided to get some shut eye for the next day.
So Tuesday we stopped by Ocean Park, a lovely little beach right down the road from us. We enjoyed our first bit of sunshine until a giant storm cloud (thanks to the tropical depression) drove us out...so then we decided to check out the national rain forest of Puerto Rico, El Yunque. Two things you should know about El Yunque: a) it's incredibly gorgeous and we took way too many pictures here, and b) it's a death threat to those driving with a certain someone who has never driven a Suzuki before. Those cars have no front corner viewing space, maybe I'm just spoiled in my car back home! Driving to El Yunque was an adventure in itself, we got lost a few times (we chose the adventure route on the Garmin) and some kids had to tell us about some dead ends in between their uncontrollable laughter...thank goodness they used hand signals because I didn't understand the Spanish as much as I was hoping I would...at least we gave a few locals a good laugh that day! On a positive note, I was able to read a good majority of written Spanish on the islands...I just didn't understand a word anyone told me. Anywhoo, after that we decided to check out a bioluminescent bay in the Fajardo area, HIGHLY recommended to anyone interested. That was one of the highlights of the trip; the tour guides took us through these canals via kayaks, which led us to this incredible bay...whenever you ran something through the water, everything around it would glow due to the dinoflagellets in the water...we learned about it in my plant bio class but it was even better in person. We would splash each other and it looked like tiny lightening bugs lighting up your shirt like a fairy or something. Awesome adventure, check out Kayaking Puerto Rico if anyone's interested. OH! fun tip to those of you who like a nice rum drink (COUGH COUGH)-if you buy any rums from Puerto Rico, part of the extra tax goes to help save the mangrove trees/bay area in Puerto Rico...aka, SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT, DRINK MORE RUM!
So the saga continues Wednesday morning, with US winning our group and free shots a la Casa de Don Q! Better way to start the morning? Can't think of one. So we hung around Old San Juan for most of the day, at one point experiencing one of Old San Juan's flash floods? I don't think they really call it that, but I'll upload pictures and you guys can see what I'm talking about...the road we were walking about was practically flooded..I was laughing when I stood in water ankle deep, until I found an area that was mid-thigh level. At one point I started dancing in the flooded water and a local snagged a picture of me...nice little switch around right? Usually I'm sneaking pictures of them...We checked out the old fort building but unfortunately got there too late for a tour, the outside was still impressively enormous. Later that evening we decided to be tourists and enjoyed a little "ladies drink free from 6-9pm" at Sr. Frogs-need I say more? Afterwards, we decided to head back down to Ocean Park for a little local festival..we were told it was a religious thing where everyone jumped backwards 17 times in the water to renew their spirits, but we think it was just an excuse to drink and dance in the water...no complaining here! I wish we could have stayed longer, it was so nice to see people living stress free-sure everyone had work the next day but for one night everyone forgot problems and just enjoyed the moment...at least that was my outsiders take!
So Tuesday we stopped by Ocean Park, a lovely little beach right down the road from us. We enjoyed our first bit of sunshine until a giant storm cloud (thanks to the tropical depression) drove us out...so then we decided to check out the national rain forest of Puerto Rico, El Yunque. Two things you should know about El Yunque: a) it's incredibly gorgeous and we took way too many pictures here, and b) it's a death threat to those driving with a certain someone who has never driven a Suzuki before. Those cars have no front corner viewing space, maybe I'm just spoiled in my car back home! Driving to El Yunque was an adventure in itself, we got lost a few times (we chose the adventure route on the Garmin) and some kids had to tell us about some dead ends in between their uncontrollable laughter...thank goodness they used hand signals because I didn't understand the Spanish as much as I was hoping I would...at least we gave a few locals a good laugh that day! On a positive note, I was able to read a good majority of written Spanish on the islands...I just didn't understand a word anyone told me. Anywhoo, after that we decided to check out a bioluminescent bay in the Fajardo area, HIGHLY recommended to anyone interested. That was one of the highlights of the trip; the tour guides took us through these canals via kayaks, which led us to this incredible bay...whenever you ran something through the water, everything around it would glow due to the dinoflagellets in the water...we learned about it in my plant bio class but it was even better in person. We would splash each other and it looked like tiny lightening bugs lighting up your shirt like a fairy or something. Awesome adventure, check out Kayaking Puerto Rico if anyone's interested. OH! fun tip to those of you who like a nice rum drink (COUGH COUGH)-if you buy any rums from Puerto Rico, part of the extra tax goes to help save the mangrove trees/bay area in Puerto Rico...aka, SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT, DRINK MORE RUM!
So the saga continues Wednesday morning, with US winning our group and free shots a la Casa de Don Q! Better way to start the morning? Can't think of one. So we hung around Old San Juan for most of the day, at one point experiencing one of Old San Juan's flash floods? I don't think they really call it that, but I'll upload pictures and you guys can see what I'm talking about...the road we were walking about was practically flooded..I was laughing when I stood in water ankle deep, until I found an area that was mid-thigh level. At one point I started dancing in the flooded water and a local snagged a picture of me...nice little switch around right? Usually I'm sneaking pictures of them...We checked out the old fort building but unfortunately got there too late for a tour, the outside was still impressively enormous. Later that evening we decided to be tourists and enjoyed a little "ladies drink free from 6-9pm" at Sr. Frogs-need I say more? Afterwards, we decided to head back down to Ocean Park for a little local festival..we were told it was a religious thing where everyone jumped backwards 17 times in the water to renew their spirits, but we think it was just an excuse to drink and dance in the water...no complaining here! I wish we could have stayed longer, it was so nice to see people living stress free-sure everyone had work the next day but for one night everyone forgot problems and just enjoyed the moment...at least that was my outsiders take!
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