Mom Weekend!!

Columbus Day weekend Mom and Connie (family friend) came to visit. It was a great opportunity to show off some off some of our favorite places and explore new ones. They finally made it to Guayama with half of my printed directions and the lack of street signs in PR (for some reason Connie thought it was wierd that we don't know our address). We welcomed them with some pina coladas then went out for a drive and dinner.

Then on Friday they came to school to see my classroom and meet my coworkers and students. My students were really excited to meet them and everyone was surprised about how young mom is. They went to relax at the beach while I was teaching. That night we headed to Ponce for a concert. It was the traditional African music. The women have really powerful voices and if only I could learn to move my body to the sound of the congas. It was a great taste of culture.

The next day we headed to the rainforest despite the dark looming clouds. We decided to go because we were going to a rainforest anyhow. We hiked through the rainforest with some showers (all the more adventurous). We stopped to get even more wet in the waterfall, which was flowing more powerfully than the first time I had been. We figured that we were already soaked from the rain that a picture opt in the waterfall wouldn't hurt. How exhilerating! Then after leaving the rainforest we went up to the Bioluminescent Bay in Fajardo for a kayaking trip to see the plankton light up in the water beneath the night sky. We kayaked through mangroves with just the moonlight peaking through the branches to guide us through the calm waters. We arrived to a lagoon where our guide taught us all about the plankton that live in the waters that light up when activated by movement. We jumped in and our bodies where followed by trails of light. I can't even explain how it felt to be swimming in the oean under the moonlight and having your movements trailed by light. The feeling was euphric, completely unexplainable.

The next day we headed to a beach for some relaxation, to only be followed by a 3 hour car ride(that sould have been half that) due to construction and political parades. When we got home we forgot about the ride with pizza, drinks, and games. It was fun!

On Monday we went to old San Juan. We ate and had margaritas at a great Mexican restuarant (oh how I miss Mexican food, Puerto Rican food is definetly the down fall of the island). We walked around Old San Juan. Of course before they left we visited Condom World because they're like the Golden Arches, you see them on every steet corner.

All in all it was a fabulous weekend, full of laughs and adventures. I hope they enjoyed their getaway as much as I enjoyed the visit.

Music, Island, and RUM!

Since the last entry I went to Salinas (a neighboring town) Patron Saint Festival. It was like the Taste of CL but instead of a Jimmy Buffet or Beatle cover band there was a reggaton group. It was like MTV invaded the family festival.

Then another night we went to a Reggae musical festival in Luquillo. At the fest there were local reggae bands and traditional Puerto Rican Plena. The men played the congas and the women danced in the traditional long white dresses. The rhythms were contaigous and the dancing was fascinating.

Then we need a little getaway so we left the island to go to another island, Gilligan's Island. We took a short boat ride over to the small little island to swim, snorkel, and relax. The water was clear blue and calm.

This past weekend we went to San Juan to visit the Bacardi factory. We took the ferry from Old San Juan to the other side of the bay. Then we followed the calls of "bacardi, bacardi" to what I think was a taxi service. In the factory we learned the history of Bacardi rum, and more importantly enjoyed the free samples. We decided to stay the night and check out the Puerto Rican nightlife. The streets of the quiant, spanish colonial town turn into an all night party scene as the nightclubs open their doors. So we put on our dancing (and drinking) shoes and joined the fun! Luckily, all we had to wake up to the next day was a nap on Condado Beach.