Puerto Rico – La Isla del Encanto (Island of Enchantment), May 2022

 Puerto Rico – La Isla del Encanto (Island of Enchantment), May 2022

Saturday 5.14.22

On a Sunday night in March, 2020, I sat on the edge of the bed, having just packed for a long-awaited trip to Puerto Rico.  I checked my texts and found one from a friend at work:  “If you haven’t gotten on a plane, don’t.  Puerto Rico is locked down and you might not be able to get back!”  The trip was cancelled and like much of the world, I worked at home for a long time after that.  After lockdowns, easing-up periods, surges, onerous testing rules and the lifting of same, it seemed the trip was finally going to come off this spring.  Somehow, despite a few small domestic glitches, we managed to get our flight on time.  The trip was to be a combination vacation and CLE seminar. 

At the San Juan airport, we picked up a rental car and shed our extra layers as it was 85 degrees.  Because I made the arrangements, we decided to save money by indicating only one driver, me.  That left LCR to handle the GPS and road signs, which was not always the best system.  Hearing a street name on the GPS and reading a sign in Spanish are very different things.  Throughout the trip there was a certain amount of: “Turn left next – no, right – why did you do that?” – leading to some interesting and creative marital interchanges, and some we had done many times before. 

Everything you have heard about Puerto Rican drivers is true – they drive erratically, seldom bother to signal, and sail across multiple lanes without warning.  Streets often look like alleys (more than once we heard ourselves say, “This can’t be right!”), and may have more than one name.  The names on street signs may not match those on the GPS.  Exits may be marked but the marking may not have been on a previous sign nor mentioned on the GPS.  Potholes are numerous and huge, once or twice stopping the little compact in its tracks.  We learned that it is legal to ignore red lights in Puerto Rico from midnight to 5 am, though we did not have the need to test this knowledge.  We crossed one intersection that had flashing red lights in one direction, but cross traffic had only flashing yellow.  I just sort of eased through that one while holding my breath. 

Our Airbnb was a very basic, simple one-bedroom apartment in a decidedly lower to middle-class, well-worn residential area.  Like much of Puerto Rico, it had buildings of pastel concrete with white trim, faded and pitted, with potholed streets and crumbling curbs and sidewalks.  Our designated parking space was half on, half off the street so the car sat at an angle.  The apartment was a top floor addition with steep stairs.  It sat on a patio that would have made a nice outdoor deck except for the orientation, which assured it was blisteringly hot any time past 10 am, and there was no shade umbrella.  The apartment itself was clean and airy, not plush but it had everything we needed – kitchen, bath, living area, one bedroom, with ceiling fans and AC in the bedroom.  Windows were screenless but closed with 5-inch louvered hurricane shutters which let in light and sounds, reminding us we were in a real neighborhood, not a hotel or hipster area – cars and trucks, children playing, dogs barking, chickens and roosters (24/7, not just in the morning), and once I could swear I heard a donkey, though I never saw it.  The description “close to everything” meant the airport too.  Planes were right overhead (fortunately not all night like they would be in Chicago; there were a few hours of relative quiet in the wee small hours).  While trying out the local channels, we found that the TV in the living room went out every time a plane flew over, then when it kicked back on, the program was backed up 5-10 minutes.  Though the neighborhood was not far from stores and other businesses, they were not in what we would call walking distance.  That was the only real issue about the Airbnb – you really need a car to stay at this apartment, which was not indicated in the listing. 

After a nap, we went looking for food, and found a beachfront hotel and restaurant.  It should be noted that parking in San Juan is no joke, yet everyone still drives – our guidebook said there are more cars per square mile in Puerto Rico than anywhere else on earth, including Los Angeles County!  The cars are nice and well-maintained, too; even in poorer neighborhoods we did not see wrecks driving around.  When we picked up the car, the clerk tried to upsell us an SUV, but in retrospect I don’t know where we would have put it on the narrow streets and tiny parking spaces.  There are few signs.  Parking is legal everywhere except where the curbs are painted yellow, but often the paint is so worn and faded that it is hard to tell.  Still somehow we did find parking. 

 

The restaurant was the perfect place to see at the beginning of the trip – beautiful beach, people lounging, swimming, and kitesurfing, a restaurant with beach chairs and sort of poufy seats in the sand but also regular tables, dog-friendly and very informal.  It was also quite expensive.  We had drinks and shrimp kebabs with tropical fruits, not really dinner but enough for the time being, and then we walked along the beach soaking up the mellow atmosphere.  Despite the easy feeling, our server acknowledged she’d had a hard day dealing with “people who haven’t grown out of their drama!”  I guess people are the same everywhere, even in a tropical paradise.

 

Sunday 5.15.22

Of course we had to see some of the wonderful art in San Juan, so on Sunday we headed to the Museo de los Artes de Puerto Rico.  The museum has a large collection including many works from the art museum in Ponce, which is temporarily closed for repairs due to hurricane damage.  It was good to know this as we had planned to visit Ponce and see that museum.  The museum was organized in a different way than chronologically, with floors devoted to works grouped according to themes.  I did not like that method; it was too much like being told what to think and what a work of art means and stands for.  I also did not like the placards in this museum, because the text often seemed to be giving the opinion of the writer, not any helpful statement from the artists themselves, as to what was being said or symbolized.  I would have preferred a chronological approach with works by a particular artist displayed together and with less opinionated commentary. 

We walked and sat in the outdoor sculpture garden for a while, because the museum had a notable lack of benches.  The sculptures there were not that remarkable, but the tropical plants were wonderful, including giant leaf fig trees crisscrossed with vines in an almost woven pattern, and several stands of bamboo.  I had never seen bamboo growing except in a greenhouse.

 

As usual, we were struck by the prices.  Admission for two to the museum, adding the parking fee, still came to less than one hour’s worth of parking in Chicago. 

Feeling like some takeout fish, we found ourselves in the heart of a party area, with bars and snack shops crammed in so tightly it was difficult not to graze the customers standing outside at the bars.  I stayed with the illegally-parked car while LCR got the fish – grouper sliced thin, well-seasoned and fried, with sweet potato fries.

There was a lunar eclipse that night, but just as it began, cloud cover rolled in.  We stood outside on the rooftop for some time hoping it would clear up but it never did.  We heard they did get to see this “blood moon” at home in Chicago, though.

 

Monday 5.16.22

We had been to a food store the night before and though I could not find half and half, I did find a passable (though still sweet) creamer, so with the coffee maker in the apartment I was able to have passable coffee for the first time since Friday.  I wouldn’t say I need coffee, but I admit it was really pleasant. 

On the way to El Morro, the GPS took us down winding, narrow streets, including 3-point turns, to the Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery on the coast.  Unknowingly, we had passed through parts of La Perla, a low-income neighborhood that tourists are sometimes told to avoid due to heavy drug traffic.  We did not know at that time that most people access El Morro from the top of the bluff.  We found parking along the cemetery and walked there for a bit.  There were workers stationed at the entrance to the chapel, who would not allow us in as the chapel was under renovation.  The area had taken quite a hit during Hurricane Maria. 

 It seemed the only way up to El Morro, the fort itself, was through a short curving tunnel that was only one car wide but seemed to be taking traffic from both directions.  Cars used their horns to indicate they were using the tunnel.  It seemed quite dangerous to me but we could not see any other way to get to the fort without moving our car and heading back the way we came.  One does not lightly give up a free parking space in San Juan. 

We eventually found there were several parking ramps in the area but they were full.  So we quickly walked through the tunnel, hugging the wall, and somehow got through without being run over.  Oddly, checking later, we found not one word on the NPS website for El Morro mentioning parking.  I say odd because as I’ve mentioned, everybody drives in Puerto Rico. 

The fort is at the end of a large swath of grass which, we learned, had once held a parking lot, a golf course and shops.  You can still see different strains of grass showing that it was once a golf course with greens.  The sun was high overhead and punishing, and I really felt it, despite sunblock, a hat and keeping to shade whenever I could find it. 

The fort is huge and several hundred years old.  It was a relief to be inside the walls because there was some shade there.  At the top there is a lookout which was used in the early days, during the Spanish-American war and also during WWI.  Structures were added each time.  We found a National Park ranger, Jose Munoz, a retired teacher, who was extremely knowledgeable about Puerto Rican and US history, Ponce de Leon and his grandson, the first governor of Puerto Rico, and the sawtoothed Burgundy cross we saw on a flag, which goes back to the Burgundian heritage of the Spanish kings who originally took possession of the island, and was the Spanish military flag for a long time.  The Florida and Alabama state flags still incorporate this emblem. 

Since we knew the attorneys at the legal conference scheduled for later this week are proponents of Puerto Rican independence, we asked Munoz what, in his opinion, the people of Puerto Rico think – would they prefer independence or US statehood?  He said he believes 65-70% of Puerto Ricans would prefer statehood.  He went on to detail how U.S. and Puerto Rican history have been intertwined from the very beginning of both countries.  Our discussion could have gone on longer, as he was a fountain of knowledge and enthusiastic about sharing, but was cut short because the museum was closing.

Tuesday 5.17.22

All museums were closed on Monday and many on Tuesday as well, so we drove to Ponce, at the bottom of the island.  We knew the art museum was closed but just wanted to see the town.  We passed through a variety of terrain, hills, then mountains, then groves of fruit trees toward the south, and a large wind farm.  The rest stops were closed.  There were towns along the way that did not appear to have any highway exits.  We found a police station and they allowed us use of their bathroom; as the officer said when we asked about rest stops, “No, you are on the highway!”  We walked to a building next door and saw more bathrooms and vending machines … looked just like a rest stop to me.  I’m not sure what she thought we meant when we asked about a rest stop, maybe something fancier?  A hotel?  I’m pretty sure it wasn’t my Spanish that was at fault. 

 

Ponce seems a quiet town and most businesses were closed.  We walked around the Plaza de las Delicias, with fountains and sculpture and a cathedral which is under repair.  The fountain is called Fuente de los Leones and has four lion sculptures at the corners.  There are more of the fantastic woven-look fig trees all around the Plaza. 

Parque de Bombas, the first firefighting company in Puerto Rico, was open.  It is not used anymore but is much photographed because it is a flashy red and black building, with antique engines, memorabilia and stories of past firefighting efforts inside.

As we were leaving, we saw three or four feral dogs lounging near our car.  We were wary but just approached the car slowly and they leisurely got up and moved away.  They appeared thin but not starving.  I wonder if people feed them. 

We went looking for a Subway, which is our favorite chain restaurant in the US.  We wanted to see if it was different from what we’re used to.  The only difference we could find is that they don’t use salt and pepper to season, only oregano.  Driving home, we were conscious of how much more rural the countryside is, with the highways quite dark at night.

Through the rental company, we had a feature whereby highway tolls would be assessed and put on our bill.  However, the tollway computer systems were down the entire time we were on the island.  They would not take cash either.  Guidebooks and travel websites give a lot of instructions about the tolls, but we have discovered that tolls are so much cheaper anywhere compared to the Chicago area or, say, Ohio, that they really aren’t worth being concerned about.  In the end there was only one $1.50 toll charge on our rental bill. 

We got a cable to fix the bedroom TV so we had streaming services, without the interference of airport traffic.  I know, it seems goofy to watch TV in a foreign country, but sometimes at the end of a day of sightseeing we were too tired to do anything else.  We amused ourselves speculating on what kind of people had the preferences we saw on the Netflix accounts.  Nothing like what we would have watched!  And for some reason, a lot of kids’ movies.

Wednesday 5.18.22

El Junque National Forest

This is the only tropical rainforest in U.S. territory.  It’s a bit more than an hour’s drive from San Juan, directly to the east.  At the visitors’ center, we saw an exhibit of green parrots that looked to us like the parrots that are living on the South side of Chicago.  In talking with the NPS personnel, we determined that they are not exactly the same birds, but very similar.  There is a short paved hiking trail from the visitors’ center that shows the variety of other birds and plants in the park

Parts of the park were closed, apparently due to road damage from a storm.  At one place the road appeared to be closed but it was hard to tell – there was a barrier but enough room for one car to go through - so we asked at a nearby food stand and they confirmed that if we could get through, it was ok despite the warning signs.  We drove through the park and I walked up into an observation tower, Yokahu Tower, from which you can see four distinct types of terrain in the park.  The tower is 75 feet tall with 98 steps, at around 1,500 feet elevation, built in 1963.  It was the kind of place where you are on your own except for an employee, probably a student, manning the front entrance, who likely doesn’t earn much but gets tips. 

 

We saw a couple taking photos by a waterfall and they asked LCR to take a picture of them with their camera.  We took one too, of the young woman with a flower in her hair.  At that point we talked with a few people who said the park closed very early and it would be a good idea to leave and not risk being locked in.  Since we were not up to strenuous hiking anyway due to the upper ‘90s temperatures, it seemed a good time to move on.  We went back to the roadside food stand and ate beans and rice and plantains, then left the park proper.  Along one of the roads leaving the area there was a side turnoff that led past a shallow point in a river where people were wading and swimming, whole families with chairs, coolers, rubber rafts, shouting kids having a good time. 

Back in San Juan, we were cruising a neighborhood near our apartment, looking for a food store.  All we could find were what I’d call convenience stores, but we did see a novelty – a charcoal-colored sow and several piglets walking right down the middle of the street, unconcerned, as if they owned the place.  They were moving surprisingly fast so I was not able to get a photo.  I’ve heard that feral pigs, dogs and cats are a problem in Puerto Rico, but from the reaction of bystanders this was not all that common.  We did eventually find a store in a more upscale area – just as in Chicago, inner-city neighborhoods are sometimes food deserts.

Thursday 5.19.22

Today we saw the Museo de las Americas, a collection of paintings, sculpture, and multi-media works celebrating the various cultures represented in Puerto Rico.  Like many buildings in San Juan, the museum has an inner courtyard and the exhibits are in various rooms off the internal balcony.  The building was originally an Army barracks.  Working at the desk was a young man named Alonso, who was an art student with an encyclopedic knowledge of the collection and African-American art in general.  We had to cut short an interesting conversation with him, in order to see the museum itself.  One painter was present at his own exhibit.  He was relaxing on a bench in the hallway like any other visitor.  LCR did a double-take before realizing who it was.  The painter seemed shy and clearly did not want to interact, but it was fun seeing the actual artist.

 

We found we were quite tired from the past few days, and after the Museo we went back to the apartment fairly early to rest and eat.

Friday 5.20.22

This was the first day of the Thedford Garber Law CLE conference, which was one of the reasons for the timing of this trip.  The activist-oriented presentations were well-done and informative, the people congenial, knowledgeable, and also fun to be with.  The morning was taken up with legal education and the afternoon with a walking tour of Old San Juan, with an emphasis on places and people of various resistance movements in Puerto Rico.  We learned that the Puerto Rican flag with the paler color blue symbolized the resistance and independence movements.  We also discussed our conversation with the park ranger, Jose Munoz, with our legal colleagues, and they stated their reasons for believing independence would be a good route for Puerto Rico, while acknowledging it is a minority viewpoint.  The crowded, narrow, hilly streets and blue cobblestones (due to cobalt in the rock, giving that part of San Juan the nickname “Ciudad de Azul”) made for challenging walking.  Later in the afternoon we headed back to “our” apartment, as the group was headed for El Morro.

Saturday 5.21.22

The second day of the CLE was also informative and fun, marred only slightly by some presentations that had to be done via zoom as the presenters were not able to talk with us in person.  The afternoon was open so we went to one more museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art.  Some exhibits were under construction and a multi-media installation, in the form of a science fiction tale with an elaborate backstory, was not to my taste, but it was an attractive building, with a suspended ceiling over the open courtyard and parking literally on the front lawn.  An internet article I had read said the parking was only for dignitaries but the museum personnel assured me that was not the case, that anyone could park there.  The article had also stated that the museum staff personnel follow you around suspiciously; this turned out to be true. 

 

In the evening, the Thedford Garber Law group had a cocktail party.  We were very late because it seemed everyone in San Juan was going out that evening and traffic was very slow.  Afterwards, many were going to an afterparty, but we found it was to be held at a place with drinks but no food.  We needed dinner so we went off on our own, only to find there was no place in the area that served dinner after 10 pm.  Elsewhere in the city it was the same situation so we just went back “home” and ate there. 

 

On our street we nearly ran over a large iguana that was taking his time crossing the street.  LCR got out of the car and waved his cane and the reptile moved on.  We learned later that most Puerto Ricans would have just run him down, as iguanas are an invasive species and ruin gardens and crops. 

Sunday 5.22.22

For our last day on the island, we wanted to see more of the countryside, so we headed for Loiza.  Again the traffic was terrible.  The roads along the beach were almost at a standstill in places.  There were vendors selling souvenirs and coconut water but we felt we could not stop, as the tight parking areas had cars crammed into every inch right up to the shops’ fronts.  It might have been fun to look in some of the roadside shops but we kept going. 

Loiza is a small town, historically Black since the post-slavery days.  It has been on the short end of repairs from the hurricane in 2017.  There is still considerable damage evident, but also some new buildings, including a square with a community center (closed on Sunday) with a mosaic sculpture, La Leyenda, in the courtyard.  In contrast to the beachfront road, the town seemed sleepy, maybe because it was Sunday.  GPS led us to a local restaurant, La Loicena, a tiny, apparently family-run place.  There was no AC, just a huge, noisy circular fan.  The menu looked very old and appeared to be irrelevant.  The servers simply told us what was available.  We had camarones con salsa criolla (shrimp with Creole sauce) served with tostones (which are plantain patties, fried crispy).  The prices seemed high, but on the other hand it is a small town and especially on Sundays business is likely slow.  The food was delicious and the people were friendly.  There was a beautiful mural on the wall of the dining room.  We met a family from D.C. who were visiting Puerto Rico for the first time. 

 

 

In the evening we just about made it back in time for the boat tour with the Thedford Garber group.  We took a bus to the dock from a hotel.  There were about 30 people on the tour, mostly from our group but not all.  The tour guide pointed out various buildings and industrial complexes, then we went to the mouth of the bay, where we could see El Morro from the other direction as well as the city walls and gate, which protected the harbor for hundreds of years.  Drinks and snacks were served and guests were invited to drive the boat.  LCR was eventually drafted to take a turn at the wheel.  There was a beautiful sunset peeking from the clouds, music on demand played through the captain’s phone, and it was a good time in general. 

 

 

Back at the apartment, we ate as much as possible of the food we’d brought to avoid waste, and packed up to go in the morning.

 

Monday 5.23.22

Happy Anniversary!  36 years today. 

On the first leg of the trip back we had a pilot with quite a sense of humor.  He indicated that there were tiny lights on the life vests “which will make it easier for sharks to find you in the event we land in the water.”  Also he said the flight attendants would check the safety belts “because they do not trust you at all.”  A little scattered laughter indicated not many passengers were actually listening, but I thought he was funny.

The second leg left from Tampa.  At a long layover we had a good fish dinner at a place with a large fish tank filled with beautiful tropical fish, worthy of any aquarium, including some spectacular silver striped fish.  You hear horror stories about bad, expensive airport food; this dinner was not cheap, but it was good, fresh and well-prepared and hit the spot. 

On the last flight, from Columbus to Chicago, I got a window seat which I covet.  I’m not very comfortable when flying but I do like to see the towns and fields below if I can and I never understand why people close those windows during flights, unless it is very bright and they are actually sleeping.  I feasted my eyes, glued to the window the entire flight, which made it go quickly.  At the airport, we met our party after a bit of a wait, but it was good to be home again!

 

Signage:

Sign for a community college:  ¡Matriculate ya!  (Register already!)

Sign on bar in party district:  Avoid hangovers – stay drunk!

Weed dispensary:  Green Mile

 

Gas prices:  Gas is sold by the liter in Puerto Rico and ranged from $1.17-$1.28 a liter ($4.43-$4.85 per gallon).  Chicago prices were running about $4.50 per gallon.  The distances we were driving were not nearly as far as they would be in the States, though, so our gas expenditure was not high.

 

/Lu