Puerto Rico – a Spiritual Journey
After my friend Alejandro inquired about why all of my other trips have their own little (however short) blog entry except for my trip to PR, I have decided to backtrack and write a small entry about Puerto Rico.
One of the reasons I did not do a post on Puerto Rico was because I compiled two visual-poetry collections (the other was that I didn’t have a regular blog at the time), which is a bunch of photos paired up with a few lines of poetry that I wrote.
This is really my first attempt at taking semi “artistic” pictures (i.e. paying more attention to angle, colors, general composition). Puerto Rico was a a spiritual journey for me. It was also the second time ever that I had spent Christmas away from New York after I moved there (the first time was Vermont with my dear Marri and her family for a taste of an “All-American” Christmas). I was facing some tough existentialistic self questioning and something in the back of my head kept on nagging me about getting away from NYC. So when my friend Lan called and lamented that she didn’t know how to spend Christmas, I recalled that my friend Alex had extended an invitation for me to go to Puerto Rico and took him up on it. I packed my bags and went down to Puerto Rico with Lan, all within about 10 days.
Some thoughts about the parts that we visited:
1) El Yunque: This was probably my favorite spot. It’s the tropical rain forest on Puerto Rico and I’m a sucker for these types of places. We spent half a day here, which was no nearly enough. There are different hiking trails, some lead you up to top of mountains, which have gorgeous views of the coastline. As it is a tropical rain forest, there was a lot of fog, but those moments when the sky opens up and a ray of sunlight hits the valley below… wow… Just be careful since the paths are wet and slippery.
Run for it!
2) BioBay: This is a MUST see, mainly because Puerto Rico is one of the few sites in the world where you can see these microorganisms light up the dark waters and whisper the secrets of the depths of the lakes and streams to you. You occasionally see schools of fish and unidentified creatures swim by… and I even did some silly WT moves in the water. I’m sure the creatures didn’t like that very much! The tour guide told us that 20 years ago you didn’t have to stir up the water to see it light up. You only had to sit and wait for the wind, which, when it comes, weaves silver threads in the waters and then the entire surface of the lake becomes a shimmering silver blanket. Just imagining it is amazing. But in another 20 years, we probably won’t even have the pleasure of seeing these microorganisms light up even when we stir up the water (mainly due to pollution).
3) BEACHES!!!!! Well I’m really not a big fan of beaches but these are all kinds of beaches and they are mostly relatively clean!
4) Ponce: We really regretted not having gone to this wonderful historical area. Mainly it was because our friend (who is a native) who had the car didn’t like this area so we didn’t end up going. After talking to some people after we got back from the trip, I’d say it’s a definite “must go”!
5) Old San Juan: This was a charming European-flaired place that we had a lot of fun walking around in. By the end of our trip we were regulars at the Plaza de Colón (yea we always end up waiting for people there)! There are tons of little alleyways with (I’m sure) delicious restaurants that we never got to try out!
Lots and lots of fried food...
Tips or fun bits:
1) If you are getting out of the Old San Juan, leave EARLY. Otherwise you will get stuck in traffic for sure.
2) Be sure to bring an umbrella wherever you go. The weather is the most unpredictable element in Puerto Rico. We got rained on almost as soon as we landed.
3) Forget about your usual diet. When you’re in Puerto Rico, try to eat like a local. The most amazing food is home cooked (if you know anyone there), but otherwise, if someone hands you a HUGE piece of deep fried fish… don’t clinch your eyebrows. Just eat it. It tastes really good! You must try the famed mofongo. I had one with conch and it was delicious! Oh, and get ready for a LOT of plantains. >_<
4) Alex told me that once I land, there’s something that the passengers do that’s unique to Puerto Rico. They clap. Yep, usually we only clap if the trip proved extra rough but the pilot handled the situation with grace. But with Puerto Rico, they clap regardless because they know it’s time to PARTY.
5) Most US cell phone companies that I know of consider PR as part of the regions that they cover on their regular plan. So unless you’re in some remote area you don’t have to pay any cell phone fees!
6) For those of you who fear that you’d miss out if you go around Christmas time. True, you don’t get the freezing cold and heavy snow, but you get plenty of decoration and festivities going on.
7) DO NOT walk around too late at night. If you have to, stay in the streets where there are a lot of people. Yes, this is a warning.
Otherwise, we had a great time. Alex took us to his house and treated us to his mom’s cooking (which is ALWAYS the best cooking). He also told me that around dinner time you see very few people around because people like to eat at home! Whoa!
The most important thing that I got out of this was an opening of the mind and spirits. When you are looking at the beautiful sky and ocean, you just wonder what you’re doing spending days cooped up in the concrete forest. My soul was rotting. This was what I needed to get myself out of ME and start to experience the world, so it was truly a spiritual journey.
Sky Above; Ocean Below.
