(July 22, 2011)
Way back in the beginning of June, not long after Miriam and I had returned from Egypt, we were picnicking with our friends Miriam and Laura (that’s right—I know TWO Miriams. Be jealous.), and I mentioned that I wanted to keep writing my travel blog, which meant I had to keep traveling.
“Come with us to Puerto Rico and go camping on the beach!” was Laura’s immediate reply.
Now, let me tell you, nothing appeals more to a cheap traveler like myself than the idea of camping on a beautiful beach on an island in the (kind of) Caribbean. My interest was thoroughly piqued.
It turns out that Miriam and Laura were planning a trip to Laura’s homeland with a couple friends at the end of July to celebrate Laura’s sixth 25th birthday…do the math…and they graciously extended the invitation to Miriam and me.
I quickly set forth to finagle my finances in order to make this trip feasible, but my travel buddy, Miriam, would not be so lucky. Sadness.
But…onward and upward! Miriam (the other one) and Laura set forth working out our what/when/where/how schedule and helping me find inexpensive digs for the six days I would be there. We finally worked out a schedule and places to stay, and I booked my flight! Yippee!!
On July 22nd Miriam, Laura, and I boarded a flight to San Juan. The flight itself was uneventful. I got to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I in Spanish, which was fun for about two minutes, until I changed it to English. The best part of the flight was our descent, as we were flying in right at sunset. The way the rays of light hit the cloud formations was beyond words. There were so many colors! I was really wishing my camera wasn’t buried in the bottom of my carry on…
After we landed, we grabbed our luggage from the luggage carousel (mine was one of the first pieces off the plane—that never happens), took the shuttle to the car rental place, and met up with M&L’s friends Rick and Sara, who had flown in on an earlier flight. Laura drove us around downtown San Juan, pointing out some of her favorite restaurants, before dropping off Rick and Sara at their hotel. We then headed over to Laura’s parents’ house to get settled in for the night.
Laura’s mother had prepared a delicious meal for us, but we had a little scare when Laura’s grandmother had a glass of wine after taking some medication. It caused what we all thought were stroke symptoms, sending everyone into a panic, including Laura, who, in her haste, got caught between a chair and the window ledge and who gained a beauty of a bruise on her rear end as a result.
I found out that all buildings and the walls therein in Puerto Rico are made of concrete (to withstand the hurricane winds and high humidity), and as a result, central air conditioning is very uncommon. That also meant that there were limited air conditioners in the house, and since it was extremely humid and the guest bedroom did not have AC, it meant SLEEP-OVER WITH MIRIAM AND LAURA! Yay! We pulled the extra mattress into Laura’s room and prepared for our sleep-over.
As the rest of the house was preparing for bed, I slipped downstairs to listen to the soothing sounds of the coquís (ko-KEES), the official mascot of Puerto Rico, the tiny frogs with really big voices. I had instantly fallen in love with them upon arrival in Puerto Rico. I’m guessing they are about the size of the baby frogs we saw in upstate NY (check out the picture in the “What’s More Dangerous?” blog), but their volume makes you think they are five times that size! Once night falls (or really over-cast days) they start singing, calling out their own name...co-QUÍ!! They are loud little suckers! Laura said they are also a symbol of love...awwww.
As I sign off after this first night in Puerto Rico, I leave you with the soothing sounds of the coquís.
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