Notes of a Desolate Libra

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.

Harmony of December - Love

Harmony of December - Self

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.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="216" caption="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!

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="320" caption="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.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Sky Above; Ocean Below."]

I am not a super superstitious person. I admit, there are certain things that I am more uptight about and prefer to follow. There is a saying in Chinese: rather believe it to be true than not 寧願信其有,不可信其無. That's the general thinking regarding things that may bring bad luck.

Well, my luck with flying has been hilarious. There's ALWAYS a certain incident before I fly. It's happened so often that I have come to expect it. For example, my most recent flights:

1) JP/TW trip (10/2008): right before I left for the airport, the strap to my bookbag broke (MAJOR bad juju). My mom stared blank-faced and then rushed to say: "well wasn't it good that it happened before the trip?" Mind you, at the time I was going insane because of all the bad stuff that had happened so far in 2008 and I was already envisioning my plane engulfed by flames and plummeting into the Pacific... now this...

2) Puerto Rico trip (12/2008): my travel partner Lan, right before we were to board, got very sick and spent a lot of time in the bathroom. We didn't run onto the plane until after their final call. Then while she was on the plane, she locked herself in the bathroom and we almost got "escorted" off the plane because we were causing the plane to be grounded and the crew was skeptical as to whether or not we were (physically) fit to fly. Needless to say, I was endlessly grateful when Lan was able to make it out of the bathroom somewhat recovered and the plane finally took off. The crew was so afraid we'd come down with something that they were super nice to us the entire trip.

3) Hong Kong trip (5/2009): this time I got sick right before the flight and I thought I was developing a fever. Now, normally this wouldn't be a huge issue, but remember this was at the height of the swine flu fever and if I exhibited any symptom at all (esp. a fever) I probably would had ended up quarantined. Fortunately, by the time I got on the plane I was feeling fine again (took some fever meds) and the rest of the flight proved uneventful.

4) San Francisco flight (6/2009): I, being the insanely distracted person I was, forgot that my ride to the airport (provided by my dear friend Jeremy) was supposed to show up at 4 and thought it was supposed to be 3... and of course, by 3:30 when he didn't show up (and of course by my luck he had fatefully forgotten his cell phone on this day, my entire family started panicking. Somehow though, I thought it was extremely funny, because I knew this - SOMETHING - was going to happen. And it did.

Now... it's not like I enjoy these little incidents. Actually every time there was potential that something bad could've happen... but I guess it didn't... and looking back, they *are* kind of funny.

Another thing about traveling alone though, I started chatting with the elderly gentleman who sat  next to me on my flight to SF (he had a mask on the whole flight so we didn't actually talk until the end of the flight). Mr. Liu had guessed I was Chinese from the Tarot book I was reading and I ended up giving him my business card and asked him to let me know if he ever needed help with any translations. Fun, eh? :)