Good things to know about Puerto Rico!

Having been in Puerto Rico for almost 6 months now, I have been able to notice many of the things that are unique to Puerto Rico and make it rich and special. I want to share these things with everyone so that they can get a taste of some of this Caribbean culture.

- MANY guys here ages 4-30 have some variation of a mullet, mohawk or rattails. It's in style here.
- Basically everyone here is obsessed with crocs. those clog-like, plasticy, colorful shoes. They wear them no matter what the occassion, even while riding their horse.
- Seeing people ride their horses through the city streets is normal.
- Also seeing people ride homeade, motorized bicycles is normal.
- When people walk, they swing their arms REALLY hard back and forth.
- Pointing is done with the lips and not your finger.
-To say "what?" or "huh?" you just have to scrunch up your nose really fast.
- Everyone is Obsessed with green olives!
-You hiss loudly  at someone if you need to get their attention.
- The most popular flavor at my favorite icre cream parlor is corn. Yes, corn. Puerto Ricans love corn flavored ice cream, haha. (It actually tastes good when they sprinkle a bunch of cinnamon on top)

I'll think of more soon ;)

Isla Caja de Muerto

This last weekend we drove down to Ponce and caught a ferry and made our way to Isla Caja de Muerto. (Coffin Island...it sounds sketchy but it was fantastic). Southern Puerto Rico seems to be typically more deserty in climate so consequently Isla Caja de Muerto is a desert-like island but with beautiful beaches. I made lots of new friends, I played in the ocean, I got a sick sunburn, I loved it. 

Mango Memories

Today I ate one of the first mangos of the season. It was an experience I won’t forget.  The taste of my first Caribbean mango was indescribable. I had forgotten how true mangos taste. In the states they sell mangos, but those ones are picked long before they actually have the chance to ripen. They lack those magical flavors.  Today, the second my tongue touched that golden, mature mango, I was thrown back in time to my years in Africa. All my mango memories rushed into my mind. I could recall dozens of mangos experiences....

So many sweet mangos, so many sweet memories.

Mayaguez is the mango capital of Puerto Rico. Destiny? Definitely!
There is even a phrase here.."Mayaguez sabe a mango," meaning Mayaguez tastes like mangos.

I love mangos.

Finding a place to live.

So much has happened. To sum it all up, I found an apartment, registered myself for school, started classes, made lots friends and went on a ton of adventures.

Apartment hunting has not been my favorite part of moving to the Caribbean, yet I did have some interesting experiences. A guy, in his mid twenties, VERY macho/manly showed me his apartment. The whole place looked great, but as I walked into his room I almost fell over laughing when I saw the comforter on his bed. It was full-out, Power Rangers!!....What made it sort of even funnier was that he didn’t even seem to care at all. He didn’t make up a long story, give an excuse or anything. In my mind I was thinking, “come on man, at least make something up, have some shame!” haha. He must be one of those die-hard fans. Then I thought, “don’t worry buddy, I totally respect that, your secret is safe with me.” But later when he wasn't looking I quickly changed my mind and I used my ninja camera skills and took a quick picture and published it on the world wide web. Sorry Ricardo L



my room consists of my mattress, laptop, clothes and a
little calender of Brandon and Marilyn's family.

A little later, after much searching, I had finally decided on an apartment and was about to go sign the contract, but, all of the sudden, I heard about a different place that was even cheaper, so I decided to go check it out. I ended up really liking the place and my roommates seemed to be really cool so I made up my mind to live there. I came back the next day to move all my stuff in (just my two suitcases) and my housemate was leaving to work. He then told me, after only having known me for about an hour, that if I wanted he could drive me to his work and then I could take his car for the rest of the night, run errands, buy things, etc and then just pick him up when his shift was over.


the roof top. can you see our washer machine?



 I was extremely shocked. (I thought I was the only one that would lend my car out to everyone....including strangers?) He is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. I turned down his offer naturally, I was just grateful to have such good roommates and to be living in a place where most people are  astonishingly pleasant and kind. I love Puerto Rico.

Couch Surfing!

There is a website called couchsurfing.org. It’s ingenious. Please check it out. It is a social network, sort of like facebook, that exists to benefit those that are traveling. The idea is that you are suppose to lend your “couch” out for free to those that are passing through when you can, and in return when you are traveling others will lend theirs out to you. It can also be used for other things. You can join “groups,” find travel buddies, or just meet people in places to chat or get help, etc. There are couch surfers in almost every city in the world it seems. While I was Utah, just this last November, I had a couch surfer contact me and stay the night at my apartment and it was an awesome experience. Couch surfers seem to always be positive and full of life. Whether it be staying at someone's place or allowing them to stay at yours, you can tell you you should choose just by looking at their profile. If they have a well filled out profile with lots of positive reviews/references then you can be sure that they would be great hosts or guests.

I woke up the next day still excited as ever. I decided I didn’t want to stay any longer in a hotel but rather begin another new adventure in “couchsurfing.” I had contacted some people earlier about couch surfing at their place in Mayaguez but the only one that really responded was Beth and Mar. They lived more up in the mountain so I rented a car and they invited me to couch surf at their place until I could find my own apartment.The drive up to their house was breathtaking, It was like driving through the Amazon. There was jungle everywhere so thick that you literally can't even take a single step into it. 

this is my first attempt at video editing and

 my resources were VERY limited. so don't judge

their back deck.

When I got there they were so welcoming and generous, I still can't thank them enough. The location of their house was incredible. It was up in the mountain, sort of in the middle of a tropical forest and I could see the ocean from the guestroom window. I could have stood on their back deck for hours  just staring out into jungle. It was very loud with various animal sounds, the most prominent coming from the Coqui frog. The Coqui frog is very famous here. It is tiny but makes an extremely loud, high-pitched sound that resembles the word "coqui." Every night I was there I would fall asleep listening to the beautiful, carribean animal melody that never quit and never got old.
I had such a great time and it was a fun adventure staying there. Beth, Mar and I ended up going to the beach, going out to eat, playing sports, watching movies and much more. they also gave me tours around campus and around Mayaguez and they helped me make a lot of new friends. I didn't expect to make friends with so many people the first week I was there. Thank you so much again Beth and Mar.
So what I am trying to get at is that all of you should just do something crazy...even try couch surfing one day ;)

 

One fun adventure I had was catching mice with Mar. Their house had quite a few so we decided one night that we were going to get rid of them all. We caught quite a lot. For Mar it was like Christmas. She checked the traps every 2 seconds and everytime she hear one trigger she would hurry over  with excitement to gander giddly at the dead mouse. In this picture you can see that the poor fellow died with the cheese still in his mouth.

Beth, Jessica and I at Playa Sucia. Don't miss  the lighthouse in the background...really cool place

This is Mofongo. Our friend Angel made it for us. It's the absolute best. It is very "Africany."

The view of Mayaguez from the mountains.

Day 1 in PR: just wingin' it.

I arrived in San Juan yesterday (01-12-11). It was overly exciting. I bumped into a lady at the baggage claim and immediately she started going off to me in Spanish about how she couldn't remember what her luggage looked like. I felt so good that she thought I was a local or something. It really boosted my confidence. Proud and giddy, I tried to figure out what to do next. I was directed to a lady that would supposedly help me find means of transport. She was insanely nice. She called around and found a van that was leaving to Mayagüez at that very moment. She asked them to come pick me up at the airport even though for some reason they were not allowed to take people from the airport. She arranged it all and sent me on my way, and pleaded that I didn't tell anyone because she would probably get fired for the rules she broke. I love those kinds of people. She helped me so much and then the Listerine van heading to Mayagüez pulled up and I got in. I was the only gringo in there. When the driver spoke to me I could barely understand a thing he said, it only slightly resembled Spanish. All the confidence I had gained before at the airport screeched and died. His accent was absolutely bizarre (I will make a list of the all the language differences later for you all. It’s all very interesting if you ask me).

The whole trip I just stared out the window. Everything was so green, lush, alive and jungley. I think the only thing keeping it all from overtaking the highway was the heavy, constant traffic. Half way there, without any notice, we stopped at a little restaurant to eat. I didn’t know what was going on at all but I just followed everyone else and ate with them.

Soon we arrived in…(drum roll)…Mayagüez . I was too excited to care about the fact that I had no plan at all. I just couldn’t believe I had made it. I was there! Then a taxi pulled up next to me and I told him that I was basically lost and that I had only been in the country for a couple of hours and asked him to take me to the cheapest hotel. He dropped me off at Hotel Colonial. I waddled up the stairs with all my luggage and entered into my room. The window in my room had metal shades on the outside which were all closed up and a big sheet of plastic in front of it so that no one could tamper with them. The first thing I did was stand on top of my bed, unscrew the protective, plastic window cover and force the awkward blinds open. Then I just stood there and pressed my face against the horizontal shades and peered through the slits. Many of the buildings looked architecturally colonial but their vibrant colors were fading, rusting over and filth creeped up all over them. Very much reminded me of Africa. I could hear a loud mixture of cars, people yelling, loud music, horns, pastors vigorously preaching, horse hooves, birds, frogs and more. Past the city I could see lots of bright green hills. A dense jungle encircled the backside of the city. I couldn’t stop staring at it all.

The sun was setting fast and I wanted to watch it happen there at the beach so I hurried and left, heading straight for the ocean. As I walked through downtown Mayagüez , I was shocked to find all the stores closed and no people wandering outside. It was only 6:30 but the town had, all of the sudden, become a ghost town. I kept scuttling closer and closer to the beach, slightly uncomfortable at the absence of humans. After some tricky twists and turns I found the right path leading to the water. I arrived just as the sun was setting and the view was breathtaking. I was the only one on the beach for as long as I could see. I stood there in a state of appreciation and hope. I had so much to be grateful for and so excited for the future.

It was getting late and I started to remember that I still didn’t know anyone or have a clue about anything really. I had been secretly praying that I would meet someone that would be able to tell me all the “Ins and Outs” of Mayagüez . Then I started on my small journey back to Hotel Colonial and I, without realizing it, took a different route and stumbled upon a beautiful plaza, called plaza de Colón (I think). This plaza was in honor of Christopher Columbus, the first person to discover Mayagüez , and there was a large statue of him right in the middle with fountains encircling him. There were tons of Christmas lights covering everything in the vicinity, a truly spectacular sight. I just sat there on a bench, ate a small, deep fried hot dog thing, listened to the music and just stared at it all. I was sitting there for about 10 minutes, still in awe, when I saw two young men dressed in white shirts, with ties and black name tags. One was very skinny with bright-pink, perma-burnt skin and red hair and the other one with complete Puerto Rican features. I just stared at them and grinned. I knew who they were. I hopped over to where they were and introduced myself. I talked with the missionary from Utah for about an hour while his El Salvadorian companion conversed with strangers throughout the plaza. He filled me in on lots of the Puerto Rican culture, traditions, geography, politics and interesting things about the language. I was all too grateful for everything that had happened.

I meandered back to where I was staying, sprawled myself on my bed like an exhausted athlete ,but still oozing with excitement, and couldn’t even fathom what the next day would have in store.

view from the hotel "window"

the beach at Mayaguez

the plaza

Farewell! & Jan11 Anniversary

je m'en vais! 

me voy!

estou saindo!

I'm Leaving!

Farewell!

Today is the day, January 11th. It is just so appropriate that I leave on this very day. For one, 11 has always been my lucky number and two, it was exactly 5 years ago on January 11th  when I began my first journey. I said goodbye to my family and was on my way to Africa. Now, on this same day, I am onto my second big journey to live in Puerto Rico. I will be in Puerto Rico in several hours. Then the excitement will begin. I will be there until June. After that....who knows.

For the past month I have been staying with my Mom in the house I grew up in. It's quite the love hate relationship. I love nothing more than being on my own, being independent and making my own legacy away from home, but when I return I remember and relish in all the little things that I have forgotten and I remember my roots and why I am the way I am. I especially love my Mom. She makes me so happy and makes me laugh. I have realized that everything about me good and bad I have probably learned from my Mom. We share a craziness that only we (and family members) understand. (Except I have decided that I will never try to feed our cat pancakes, eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches or whatever our other leftover food may be, even though it can be surprisingly. I mean, I still have yet to see them eat any of it.)

So I guess what I am trying to say is that even though I truly love venturing far away and being away for long periods of time, I cherish everyone in my family and everything about them more than they know.

my mom fed him leftover grilled cheese. he didn't eat it. those bites in them are from me, not the cat.

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

My new year's resolution is to make an intriguing blog about my adventures outside the U.S. Here it goes...


I read a quote once that said, "the only thing that likes change is a wet baby." But I think that they should add, "and Taylor Lott." I love change. I like it when new things happen and I have to adapt, I like spontaneity. The best is when you randomly decide to go live in a different country without a clue where to stay or what to do and your golden, master plan is to just wing it!


This next semester is my last semester before I graduate and  I am doing a national student exchange to the University of Puerto Rico in  Mayagüez, Puerto Rico (pronounced my-uh-gwess). I leave January 11th.

A lot of people ask me why I chose Puerto Rico. Well, I had been planning on doing a semester in Monterrey, Mexico for the past year but then when I went to the study abroad office to sign up they told me that they were closing down the Mexico program temporarily because it was unsafe. I was frustrated and wasn't buying the whole "unsafe" stuff. They then told me that I had other options and other countries I could go to, including Puerto Rico. When they said that, it just seemed right, it felt right, it clicked....I don't know, who wouldn't want to spend their last six months of college in the carribean? haha ;) There were about 5 universities to choose from in Puerto Rico and I just randomly, sorta, picked the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez. So that's where I will be in a week and where I will be living for the next 6 months.


The thought of it all is just staggering
I finally feel like I am starting my life.