Puerto Rico 2

I took off work that Thursday and Friday. My flight was to leave Orlando Thursday at 11:00. I spent the morning going to church and packing my bags. I packed clothes, hygiene products, a camera, and a Spanish-English dictionary. I got to the airport and waited to board the flight. I was beginning to see how this trip was going to be- I was going to suddenly become a minority. It seemed that everyone except me was Hispanic. After a while, it started to bother me. I think that I was becoming culturally uncomfortable for the first time.

I got on the plane and I prepped myself for the 2.5 hour flight from Orlando to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a US Territory measuring 100 miles across and 50 miles down. It is the eastern most island of the four larger Caribbean islands: Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti/Dominican Republic, and PR; PR is directly south of the eastern part of Maine. Despite being in the Eastern Time Zone, it still got dark 2 hours earlier than Florida.

The flight was good. Usually there are about 3 airline stewardesses, but on this flight I counted nine; I think that they were all in training. We did get a small lunch for the flight- a sandwich, chips, cookies, and drink. I had been talking to the guy next to me and he was still hungry after the one sandwich and asked for another one in Spanish. I figured that I would ask for another one as well; "una mas, favor?" She smiled, because I'm a white guy trying to speak Spanish, my accent probably sucks, I probably didn't say it right, and the fact that I was asking for another one. I did get another sandwich, though!

I always seem to get stiffed with the aisle or middle seat. This time I had an aisle seat. I wanted a window seat to take pictures. Looking out the window, the ocean and sky seemed to blend together in one blue mass. At one point, I was able to see waves in the ocean. As we got close to the island, I could see some land. I could feel the excitement building! We didn't have to wait on our approach, but came directly into the airport. As soon as the wheels hit, the whole plane burst out in cheers and clapping! a tradition that they do every time the natives land in the island. "Look! No one knows how long this parade is gonna last! They are a very festive people." -Elaine, from Seinfeld, commenting on Puerto Ricans

I knew that I was in for a trip as soon as I entered into the San Juan airport. I've wanted to go to a Spanish speaking country for a while now- and here was a compromise, a US Territory totally influenced by Hispanics. I walked through the airport still noticing that I was one of the only white people there. I went through the doors to go outside and there was a mob of people on either side of the walkway waiting outside for people to get off their planes. Off to the left, I heard people screaming joyfully while peaking through the windows. People toward the back of the mob were hopping up and down trying to see the people exiting the airport. I had never seen so many at the exit of an airport and so many people excited to see their friends and family. It was quite a site.

My friend picked me up; it was good to see him. I hadn't seen him in over a year. Off we were, to go to the west side of the island for his wedding practice- San Juan is on the eastern part of the island. It took us about 2 hours to get there, during which we caught up with everything. I began to notice a lot of things just from that drive. The island is very diverse in terrain- it's somewhat flat in some areas with dry vegetation  like Arizona and in the center of the island are large mountains, lush with trees like the Smokies. The drivers in PR are just as bad as NY. Traffic was backed up from rush hour and a guy tried to be clever by driving over a construction median to pass traffic. It actually made me mad to see him do that- "Why can't he wait like the rest of us???" A while down the road, that same guy was pulled over by the cops, who wear large cowboy-like hats and drive silver mustangs. I had to take a picture :) Also, I noticed that during rush hour, "emergency lane " translates to "lane to use whenever you want to pass traffic!"

We got to the wedding practice late which translates to "on time" in Latin time. I tried to speak some Spanish with the people but quickly found out that I could barely understand them and don't know enough to keep a conversation. They went through the wedding and they made me be in place of the priest. After the wedding practice, we went to the fiancée's house for a party. It was 7:30 and starting to get dark. Their house is about 1 mile from the Caribbean Sea, so I got to see an awesome sunset.

That night, we had pinchos con pollo y filete (kabobs with chicken and steak). Their hospitality was amazing. They made every effort to ensure that my plate was full of food in one hand and a drink in the other. After talking with some of the people there, most of those that live in PR are able to speak English, we started playing Dominoes. Dominoes are real popular on the island. I've never played except to stand them next to each other then knock them down. It was fun and I started winning after 15 minutes of playing. They started laughing and making fun of their friends who were good at the game and were getting beat by a newbie. After that, it was time for bed. We were going to get up early the next morning to tour the island.

...to be continued...

What would you do?

You get a phone call and are informed that your housemate is in jail in another state 4 hours away. Reason: He claims that he was pulled over at night for not having his seatbelt on. The police then finds out that his driving license is suspended from not paying a parking citation, which was given to him for parking in a handicap spot in the past. He claims to not have known about the license being suspended.

That's the situation.

Would you put money in the pot to help bail him out of jail?

Debate

Join us for another controversial debate.

Bathroom Blunders 3

I think that I saw the brother of the guy two weeks ago who used the Kindergarten style. I walked in, and there he was, at the sink with his pants around his ankles. I don't know why his pants were down at the sink. The only thing I can think of is that he was tucking in his shirt and didn't want to wrinkle his shirt? There was no one else in the bathroom so he must have been enjoying the privacy. He quickly pulled his pants up when I walked in.
 
I've also noticed that some males enjoy spitting into the urinal. I don't understand why anyone would want to . Maybe these guys have a blatter-like organ in their mouths and when nature calls, they have to spit as well. Any thoughts?

When #2 called this morning, I went into the bathroom. I found two of the four stalls occupied. Naturally, I chose the farthest one against the wall. The bathroom was otherwise empty, less the odor. The other two guys quickly finished and left the bathroom- a clever strategic move that I didn't realize at the time. A few moments later in the quiet of the stall, it was then that I discovered their cunningness; they put me into the worst senario possible: a lone stall user with triple the odor. I tried to quickly finish before anyone could catch me alone in the bathroom, but I was too slow. As I was drying my hands, another person walked into the bathroom. There was only one thing that he was thinking- BUSTED! Despite their respectable shrewdness, I'm still mad at those other two anonymous guys for sticking me with the blame for their odor.

Puerto Rico 1

Over a year ago during the spring of 2003 on my first co-op, I met a fellow co-op who is from the University of Mayaguez in Puerto Rico. During that time, we became good friends. Before we departed ways after the spring semester, he invited me, and another coworker and his fiancée, to his wedding that would be the weekend of July 4th 2004 in Puerto Rico. I thought that it was a nice offer and was definitely interested in visiting a Hispanic area. So I accepted the invitation. All of the planning was still in the air and I'm not even sure if he expected me to follow through with the plans of going.

A year passed with minimal contact between him and me. I still wanted to go to Puerto Rico. So, I gave him a call and asked suggestions for good airlines. He suggested American Airlines or Transmerridian. I chose Transmerridian and in February of 2004 I bought my ticket from Orlando to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was up to me to coordinate with the other guy that was going to determine hotels, rental cars, and destinations to visit. I tried giving him a few calls and e-mails but no housing or rental car plans seemed to be solidifying. I was somewhat concerned on what would happen when we arrived in PR.

Two weeks before the trip, I still didn't have plans for hotels or transportation or where we would be going. Now I was becoming increasingly concerned. It was then that I got a message from my friend in Puerto Rico telling me that my coworker was now unable to go because of family medical problems. He told me in the voice message that if I had already made plans with the other guy that was going and was now unable to go that he would understand. When he left me this message, I guess that he didn't know that 1) I had already bought my plane ticket and 2) I had made no plans whatsoever. I gave him a call back and he sounded somewhat disappointed that the other guy and his fiancée were unable to go and was waiting to hear what my thoughts were. I told him, "David, I've already bought my ticket. I'm coming to Puerto Rico whether you want me to or not!"

He was happy to hear that and asked what plans I had made with my coworker. I told him that I didn't have any plans and that I had no idea what I was going to do. He laughed for a while and then said "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of everything. We'll just have a good time!" I couldn't believe how this all worked out. If I would have made hotel reservations and rental car reservations with my coworker, I would have been spending money in the first place, but now that he and his fiancée were unable to go, I'd be spending even more because it would just be me paying instead of the three of us splitting the cost. Now David says that he's going to provide all the transportation, housing, and food. It was a huge relief to know that everything will be taken care of going to this foreign place. I was definitely stoked about the trip!

...to be continued...

I hate human frailty

Sorry to hear the ACL news about Morris. I remember him complaining about his knee not aligning properly. I guess that it was injured then and he finished it for good recently?

About 2 years ago, while playing soccer, I planted my left foot and turned my body. Well, my knee didn't like that very much so it twisted and lifted out of the socket a bit, stretching all those good tendons in there. I have had to be careful of it by wearing tennis shoes so I can't plant my feet or wear a brace.

About two weeks ago while playing soccer, I was about to land on my left foot when a guy kicked my foot out from underneath me and I landed on it crooked. It cracked multiple times when I landed; it sounded like popping your knuckles. Since then, I have had limited side-to-side ankle movement. I don't know if I broke anything.

Yesterday, while playing soccer again, my left foot (go figure) got stomped on and now my middle toe is injured.

I'm thinking that to keep from my entire left leg from being injured that I need to stop playing soccer, that or just hop on my right leg the whole time. SAC Frisbee guys will know what I'm talking about.