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