¡Feliz Navidad! / Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

This year for Christmas, Maria and I decided to get away from it all and take a tropical vacation to the Isla Culebra, "Snake Island." Culebra is a small island 17 miles off the eastern coast of the Island of Puerto Rico and 12 miles west of St. Thomas, and is part of the Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico or Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (wiki/Culebra).

Isla Culebra

Puerto Rico and Culebra

We decided to go at the last minute although we had been researching the nearby islands for things to do. It took a few emails and phone calls but Maria finally found a nice little place on the Island for us to stay, Casa Ensenada. So at 6 am we left the house and headed for Fajardo, about an hour away, to meet the ferry. They say to get to the ferry terminal early because there is no guarantee you'll be able to get a ticket. We made it in plenty of time, got our tickets, and then waited until around 9 am for the boat to leave.

We arrived at Culebra around 10 am Christmas Eve, before our room was ready, but we were able to stash our luggage and head to the beach, the main reason Maria wanted to go. There are numerous beaches on the island, but the best is Flamenco Beach. This beach is ranked in the top beaches in the world for it's beauty and I'd have to say it certainly was a beautiful beach, and not too crowded either. It was actually quite comfortable for a holiday weekend. The beach is a couple miles from the port so to get there you can either walk, rent a bike, rent a golf cart, rent a car, or take the local guagua "bus" taxis. They're not really buses they're just passenger vans, but they like to refer to vans and station wagons in Puerto Rico as guaguas or guaguitas, little buses. It's 3 dollars per passenger but worth it when you are lugging a cooler full of food that your wife was so gracious to prepare.

Maria and I at Flamenco Beach

Maria likes to go to the beach to soak up the sun while I like to go for the water and swimming. I have limited sun-soaking ability. Flamenco beach is on the north side, Atlantic side, of the island, and on Christmas Eve the ocean waves were pretty choppy. That didn't stop me from enjoying the water, and although Maria did get in for a little bit, I couldn't get her to go very far because she had just read about undertow and was extremely scared of being sucked out to sea. Ignorance is bliss I guess, because I had lots of fun playing in the waves and couldn't have cared less.

Here's a video of the beach shot by Maria. I'm the pale guy if you couldn't tell.

Once we exhausted ourselves at the beach we hopped into a guagua and headed to Casa Ensenada. We had a nice little room located on Ensenada Honda, the protected harbor in the center of Culebra. They also had a two person kayak that we used Christmas morning to paddle out to the middle of the harbor to get a close up view at some of the many sailboats anchored in the harbor. We were able to wish a Merry Christmas to some Canadians, Australians, and Americans. The idea of sailing around the Caribbean and anchoring in exotic ports fascinates me.

Ensenada Honda

Besides the harbor, Culebra contains a nice little town called Dewey. Dewey is mostly made up of restaurants, bars, and gifts shops to cater to the tourists, but they also have a real community with churches, a school, municipal buildings, gas stations, and grocery stores. On Christmas Eve night we were having a drink when we heard what sounded like a lively party. We decided to check it out and we were surprised to find out that this party had a super special guest... Santa Claus! There were kids all over the place getting gifts and sitting on Santa's lap. They had music playing and a DJ and the kids looked like they were having a blast. I'm just not sure how Santa handles the heat in all of that red fur he wears.

The Bushwacker

We had a nice Christmas Eve dinner at Mamacita's with a few drinks, one of which is a local Culebra drink (or so we were told) called the "Bushwacker." Man does that thing pack a punch. I could only handle one before I had to go to bed.

After our Christmas morning kayak adventure, we packed our things, enjoyed sitting by the harbor for a bit, and then headed to the ferry terminal to get our tickets home. While waiting for the ferry, we stopped into a bar and discovered the traditional Puerto Rican Christmas drink, coquito. It's like egg-nog but much better.

Although Culebra is a small Island, there is so much more to do there that we didn't have a chance to see. There is a National Wildlife Reserve, a beach for turtle nesting, snorkeling, sailing, and the list goes on. We will definitely be back especially since the ferry from Fajardo to Culebra is only $2.25 a person and it's only an hour drive to Fajardo from San Juan.

Once we made it home, we cleaned ourselves up and decided to head to Old San Juan for Christmas Dinner. We scoured the net for restaurant ideas and found a couple that seemed promising. Once we made it through traffic and finally into Old San Juan, we somehow found a parking spot on the street, a small Christmas miracle. We walked a couple blocks to the restaurant only to find it closed. We searched for another, walked there, closed, another, closed. The only place we could find open, besides Wendy's and Burger King, was a little Italian place called, Il Bacaro di Venezia. We were not expecting much but were pleasantly surprised by their delicious food and just happy to be eating at the same time.

After our meal, we wandered the streets of Old San Juan which were full of locals enjoying the fair-like atmosphere. We saw a group of young people playing drums and singing, and I had my first taste of Mavi, a fermented drink made from the bark of the Mavi tree. I'd describe it like a ginger brew but without the spiciness and much sweeter. It smells terrible but tastes great.

We had a great Christmas in Puerto Rico but we really missed being with our friends and family and hope you all had a very merry Christmas. ¡Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año!

More exploring / Mas Exploracion

We've been trying to get more information on things to do in Puerto Rico. The guys in the lab have been very helpful and have given us lots of ideas for things to do on the island. So yesterday, we decided to check out El Yunque National Rain Forest. It is a nationally owned park located in the northwest part of the island. It was sort of similar to Letchworth State Park or The Blue Ridge Parkway in that there is a main two way road you drive through with overlooks but much smaller. We drove the entire park in about an hour out and back including stops to take some photos. From the first overlook, there was a nice view of the ocean:

Then we came across Coco Falls, right off the main road. Many tourists were taking photos there. It was sort of strange to hear American English!

Here is a panoramic view of the waterfall:

We continued our drive and came to the Yokahu Observation Tower. There were some amazing views from the top of the tower!

Before we got to the park, we stopped for a bite to eat. I found this delicious little cafe called Roots n Fruits Juice Bar. Ethan and I enjoyed a fresh ginger brew and I ate a delicious hummus wrap!

It was a very cute juice bar. The owner grew a lot of her own fruits and herbs to make the juices, smoothies, sandwiches and salads.

The husband of the owner of the juice bar mentioned a cool spot in El Yunque that had a nice secluded waterfall where you could go swimming. Since there were only a few overlooks in the entire park, we decided to check this spot out. It was really cool! The spot was just off a short but somewhat steep trail that led to a pretty waterfall. It looked like you could even camp there! 

There were many trails and some recreation areas where people can have a picnic or set up a camp. We'll have to explore those next time!

Everything falling into place

We finally got a car!!!

After another full day of searching, we came across this cute 2009 Toyota Yaris Hatchback with very little mileage! It was a bit out of our original budget, but we soon realized we would have to modify our budget to get something reliable and cost effective. Hopefully, we will keep it in decent shape and be able to sell it at a decent price when we leave the island.
To celebrate, we spent today at the beach, just relaxing! We drove by our future apartment again and snagged a picture to show you:

At the front gate, you see the cute little patio area with lots of tropical plants and then you take some stairs and you can see the fence at the top near where the front door is. We can't wait to move in!

And to sign off tonight, here is a fun video we took while driving from our current house on the hill in Cupey:

Se gana algo, se pierde algo / Win Some, Lose Some

What a whirlwind of a week it has been! After finally settling on the Volvo, we showed it our landlords, the Kuilans, and they recommended we have it checked out by their trusty mechanic just down the road. While Ethan took care of that, I was headed to a lab safety training session at Centro Medico, aka the medical center. We have driven several times from our house to the medical center, so I was not worried I would get lost. I even gave myself 45 minutes to get there! But somehow, I managed to miss the exit! I was so mad at myself. Fortunately, I was able to get turned around and back on the highway and was only a few minutes late arriving. Sometimes when you are forced to figure something out, you learn better, so I'm starting to feel more confident about driving around San Juan despite the heavy traffic and lack of signage on the highways. They do have signs for exits and speed limits and whatnot, but sometimes they are either blocked by giant trees or there is no sign before the exit to let you know it is coming up! And before you know it, you've missed the exit and you have to turn around… and there is almost NEVER an easy way to turn around!

Anyway, I made it to the training session, and although all of it was in Spanish, I managed to figure out what was going on. It was only general lab safety anyway, so it was nothing new for me. After the training session, I headed back home and heard some disappointing news. The mechanic told Ethan that the coolant and oil were mixing in the engine of the Volvo and would need a head gasket replacement. So Ethan called the dealer and told him there was a problem and he just said, no worries, just bring it back. We weren't sure if that meant he would just give us our check back or if we had to trade it for another car or what. I was so distraught because we had spent so much time looking for this car, AND I had just filled it up with PREMIUM gasoline!!! Grrr… but Ethan was right, better off spending $40 on the gas than $1500+ on a new head gasket and who knows what else might be wrong with it… :-/

So, to take our minds off the car situation, we went to see some houses and apartments with Toni. We checked out some nice homes in Guaynabo, a well-respected suburb of San Juan. Most of the homes were in gated communities with parks and tennis courts, and some of them even had a pool! We really liked it there, but the homes were just a bit over our budget. We decided to consider 2 bedrooms instead of only 3 bedrooms since there seemed to be more space than we thought for our bikes and tools. They showed us a smaller 2 bedroom apartment, but it was just too small, then Toni thought of this cute apartment that we might like in Condado. Condado is another nice area, mostly filled with fancy hotels and restaurants right next to the beach. I never thought Ethan would want to live there because it would be too noisy and crowded. But we went to see it anyway. It was a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment but the bedrooms were spacious and there was also extra space in the laundry room and part of the 2^nd bedroom had lots of extra space for an office area. I was excited to see it. How fun would it be to live just three blocks from the beach!?!? As soon as I saw it, I fell in love with it. The front entrance is shared by only one other tenant, and it is adorned with beautiful tropical plants and charming patio furniture, perfect for relaxing and enjoying the fresh air. We walked up a flight of stairs to the front door and went inside. It was so cute! The first thing I noticed was the beautiful blue tile on the kitchen counters… que bonita! We wandered through the dining area and the living room which were adjacent to the kitchen. Just beyond the living room was the master bedroom… with tons of space! That connected to the newly remodeled bathroom which then led into the spare room… which seemed enormous! On the other end of the spare room was a nice area perfect for two desks where we could situate our offices. Off to the side of that space was the laundry room which had plenty of room for our bikes and tools. That then led back into the kitchen. It was the perfect place. And I couldn't believe we were so close to the beach! We decided to take it as soon as the current tenants moved out - mid-January… just in time for our things to arrive! Plus, the current tenant was moving back to the states and wasn't planning on taking any of the furniture… so it could all stay with the apartment! This deal was getting better and better by the minute! Now we wouldn't have to spend all our money buying new furniture. I was so glad we found this place… I can’t wait for all our guests to see our new home! It's about 10 minutes west from the airport and 5 minutes east of Old San Juan, depending on traffic of course! Here is a picture on google maps of the location:

After the house hunting, we had to take the Volvo back. L I really wanted to keep it but knew it would be a big hassle for us in the long run. But we were so incredibly lucky that the dealer took it back, no questions asked, and gave us our check back. Whew! But now, we still have to find a car…

So far, we've been lucky with some things but unlucky with other things… Now, onward with the car hunting!

Enfermo de los Carros / Sick of the Cars

It's only been 10 days since Maria and I landed in San Juan, but we are exhausted. We intended to start our lives here by searching for a car so we could turn in the rental we picked up at the airport. But then two days after our arrival, Maria caught a cold. Yes, a cold, in Puerto Rico. Two days after that, I caught the same cold.

So, managing through these colds, we were able to visit Maria's lab and say hello to everyone, get some paperwork done, and observe the amazingly congested traffic in San Juan. Traffic here is bad, really bad. Our current home is 13.4 km (8.3 mi) from Maria's lab, yet it takes at least 30 minutes to get there if you are lucky. No one signals when they turn, no one looks were they are going, and everyone's car looks like it's been in a demolition derby. Neither of us enjoy being in traffic so, although we enjoy the avocado and tangerine trees and the view of San Juan from our home, we decided we need to find a closer place. Luckily, our landlord/realtor extraordinaire, Toni, is on the case, and we have 3 appointments tomorrow! But we still needed to get a car. Here is a video of the drive from our house on the hill to the main road which leads to the highway  4X speed (coming soon).

Cars here are much more expensive than in the states. First, they charge the dealers/importers an excise tax, then a state tax on top of that, and then a municipal tax on top of that. It's kind of a bum deal because the local transit system is unreliable and doesn't cover much of the metro area. The politicians know that everyone needs a car and so they tax them to the max. Did I ever mention how much I love government? Anyway, we visited a few dealerships and quickly became disillusioned as dealer after dealer attempted to sell us cars that were literally falling apart. We didn't want to spend a lot, but we thought we were being realistic. So, we turned to Classificados Online, the Craigslist of Puerto Rico, if you will. We searched and found many cars in our price range that seemed pretty quality. Unfortunately relatively few sellers ever got back to us, likely due to their ads being abandoned or just not wanting to deal with people in English. We did get to check out a few cars, but even then they had issues, rattling noises, bald tires, missing jacks, and lots of scratches and dents. If you ever find yourself looking for a car in Puerto Rico, you are going to need to look past the scratches and dents, but we were not willing to settle for garbage.

So we took a small break from cars and focused on finding Bed, Bath & Beyond to pick up some needed home supplies. Long story short, Google maps is only marginally helpful in Puerto Rico, do not trust it with your life. We had to take a break in our search for lunch at a nice little restaurant serving up local and Cuban favorites. While enjoying some some wonderful tostones (fried plantains), I bit right through one and into my fork. I heard a loud crunch and yeah, I chipped my tooth. Maria says it isn't bad, but I still don't like it. So, adding injury to illness, I was ready to give up but Maria, coming off of her cold, made sure I got back on track. After we found BB&B and got what we needed and made it home, we were able to get some much needed rest.

We were seriously considering just renting cars the rest of our time here, but made the decision to head to Caguas - a small town south of San Juan and only 10 minutes on the backroads from our house on the hill - and visit some more used car dealerships.

It was a hot day and I didn't want to get out of the car but many of the dealers just put a piece of paper in the window with the price written in small type. So naturally, Maria made me get out of the car and walk down the rows to see the prices. We managed to find a reasonably priced Suzuki Grand Vitara at the first place we stopped but we wanted to keep looking and told them we would come back. We drove all the way down into Caguas, a city seemingly made up of Car dealers and restaurants, and began our search on the other side of the road. About halfway back from our starting point, we found a Ford dealer that also sold used cars. There we meet our friendly salesman Ronaldo or "Ronnie." He was pleasant and seemed very honest after Maria asked about a Jeep Liberty and he told her that she didn't want it because that model has too many problems. Maybe he was keeping it for himself, but I tended to believe him because I would never drive a Jeep Liberty. We sweated our way around the lot (did I mention it was HOT?) and finally settled on a 2005 Volvo V50. It looked nice, but I don't know anything about Volvo's and neither does Maria. We took it for a spin and heard something funny... nothing! We were pleasantly surprised because every other car we looked at at that price were really just garbage. After the test drive, my first question to Ronnie was, "What's wrong with it?" He laughed at me and pointed again to the rear quarter panel where he earlier had explained an accident had occurred. So I had Maria test all the lights and just as I thought the turn signal and brake light on that side weren't working... then I saw the disconnected cable, plugged it in and voila!, the lights came on. So now I was seriously looking hard for what was wrong with this car. I checked the engine (not that I know that much) and the whole compartment was clean, I tried to pull the wheels off the car but they didn't go anywhere, the treads looked decent, the windows were fine. The only thing I could see was that the wipers needed to be replaced, and, of course, there were dents and dings and some sun damage to the paint but, from our experience, that was to be expected. I looked at Maria and we had only one move left, to make an offer. So we did. Ronnie asked his manager and to our surprise they took the offer. Now I got really skeptical but I didn't know what to do other than to buy it because it was the first time someone actually tried to sell us a reasonable car. So we bought it. And now we own our first Volvo!

Tomorrow I'm taking the car to our landlords' trusted garage to give it a once over. Here's to hoping we didn't get taken.

Bienvenidos a San Juan

Our voyage to San Juan was uneventful. Unlike many trips Ethan and I have made together in the past, everything went as planned. We were lucky and had no problems with our flights or luggage, and our new landlords were kind enough to pick us up at the airport to show us to our new home. The ride to our new house was quite entertaining … very long, narrow, and winding roads. I’ve been on these types of crazy roads before in Colombia, Spain, and Italy, but glad that I wasn’t the one driving! Once we got to the house, we unloaded all our baggage and started to get settled in. Since we were a bit tired from the flight, we just wanted to grab a quick bite at Bebo’s Café, a local chain restaurant that specializes in Puerto Rican food or better known as comida Criolla. 

I had arroz con pollo y platanos (chicken with rice and plantains) and Ethan had ossobucco (in the back of the photo). This was our first chance to start practicing nuestra Español. It’s actually pretty amazing what you can understand about what a person is saying to you with only a few words. I would only catch the last couple of words and would get the jist of what the waitress was saying. Nevertheless… we still have lots of practicing to do! Over the next few days, we ventured out into San Juan. We just wanted to explore the area, figure out how far it would be from the house we rented to the place where I will be working, and to find some good grocery stores. Unfortunately, there is NOTHING that comes even close to Wegman’s… but there is a lively market (El Mercado in Santurce) from what we have heard and read. We tried going on Sunday, but that is the only day that it was actually closed! :-/ Next time we go, I will be sure to post photos and tell you all about it!

View from our front porch... the city and the ocean in the distance...