Rocking that *International* Paradise

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I stepped off the plane into icy Wisconsin weather for the first time.  “You are going to be so cold , it’s going to feel so strange to you!”  But my first breath of winter air was not that shocking.  In fact, as I took my first gulp in the parking lot of the Minneapolis airport, all I thought was, “Tastes like home .”  Rather than experiencing reverse culture shock, I simply feel like I’ve stepped out of the time-warp fantasy world of Puerto Rico and back into real life.  Everything here seems real now.  It is all (more or less) exactly as I have left it.  The smell of a wood fire woke me this morning, and the sun glinting off a light snowfall out my bedroom windows looked just as it should.  My bedroom at my parents’ house is the same—a time capsule of my life from 8 th grade through my college graduation.  And now, suddenly, it has become shockingly real and clear; Christmas is in one week .  When on earth did THAT happen?  Time to shop, ba

Sometimes as I think back on the year so far, it still strikes me as just weird that I am actually a teacher.  In the day-to-day, it’s just life.  I plan lessons, grade papers, look back and let students know what they can do to raise their grades, and sometimes hand out detention slips.  But looking at the big picture, I’m shaken sometimes.  I’m a real, live teacher.  It’s not just me that’s affected by that.  Even after this year, I will always be my students’ 8 th grade (or 7 th grade) English teacher.  I think we all have those teachers who we remember—not as being our favorite teachers in the world, but simply as being good teachers.  People we learned from, who led classes we didn’t dread going to, who taught at least one or two lessons that stuck in our heads over the years.  For me, there are several.  6 th grade Social Studies, 7 th grade English, my 5 th grade teacher (who coincidentally ran into me when I was in my early 20s and working at an appliance/electronics st

I’ve been failing in the blogging world these past few weeks.  Why?  I can’t really say.  It’s not that I haven’t been doing interesting things (or having interesting things happen to me).  It’s not that I’ve been too stressed or busy to write.  I just…haven’t felt like it.  So, I apologize.  And here’s a re-cap of my last 2 weeks. My parents and sister came to visit over Thanksgiving!  We did and saw a LOT together (enough for 4-5 blog posts!  Why didn’t I write about that?).  We hit up the beach, stayed in an awesome mountainside B&B, kayaked in the bioluminescent bay in Fajardo, hiked in the rainforest of El Yunque (and got rained on, of course), and spent some time sightseeing in Old San Juan.  Sisters, together again!   No beach day with my sister would be complete without a sand castle... and her posing next to it. Ready for rain in El Yunque! La Mina Falls.  We opted not to swim that day... After my full 9 days off of school, I headed back to my student

I have a bucket list.  It’s pretty long, and the first half of it (at least) is specific places I want to go before I die.  Next on the list come the adventure tasks I want to complete.  Things such as skydiving, caving, and riding a camel are included.  At the end of the list are “life goals”—things like coaching a team, making the perfect white sauce for pasta, and finishing writing a novel.  One of those “adventure tasks” on my list is riding a horse.  For a person whose parents  both grew up on farms and riding horses, riding a horse seemed like something I should have done by now.  The last day of my mini-vacation in Rincon with Rachel and Kelsey, I got to check it off of the bucket list.  The three of us booked a 2 hour trail ride along the beaches of Rincon with the company Pintos R Us.  It was just the three of us on the ride, along with 2 guides—which was great.  I was given the most gentle horse of the bunch and a very quick lesson on how to steer (thankfully, Primrose k

Every year at Thanksgiving, I realize just how much I have to be thankful for.  Sometimes, it seems my blessings just keep growing each and every year.  This year is no different.  I feel like I (knock on wood) almost lead a charmed life, in which nothing truly bad has happened in a long time. My parents and sister came to visit over Thanksgiving break, and some of the other teachers had visitors too, meaning we had 11 people at my house sharing in a Thanksgiving feast!  4 or 5 other friends stopped by later, making it a wonderful night of friendship.  Not to boast, but for being overseas, our Thanksgiving meal was legit.  Rachel cooked a 20lb turkey to perfection and brought mashed potatoes and gravy.  My mom made her stuffing, which alone made it feel like we were back at home.  Danielle brought green bean casserole.  Kelsey and Rachel made homemade rolls.  Jenni and her friend Liz made an amazing gumbo.  Kelsey brought cranberry sauce.  My sister and I put together fruit salad,

“Here, take these directions.  They were just fixed not even a week ago, so they’re right.” Well if that’s the case, that’s perfect then.  We’ll follow that map to get to the waterfalls listed under “Off the Beaten Path” in the Rincon section of my guidebook.  Recently updated directions…what more could we ask for?! We were optimistic as we set off to find the waterfalls.  The directions started easily; we took Hwy 115 to 111, and made the turn.  We found the intersection with Hwy 446 (gas station on the left, police station on the right), and turned.  But then the directions got hazy.  Pass the Avon factory (check).  Drive 8 miles.  Turn after the first bridge.  Sounds simple enough.   Except then this happened… Rachel: “Oh, there’s the first bridge…so we turn here.” Me: “That can’t be it.  We haven’t gone nearly 8 miles yet.  We’ve barely gone ONE mile.” So we continued.  The path wound around the mountains, up and down on steep and narrow roads.  About 4 miles along, we came

For some weird reason, Crashboat Beach in Aguadilla gives off a strange vibe to me. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when Kelsey, Rachel, and I went there last Saturday.  The pictures online looked beautiful; some reviews online said it was crowded, a party beach, unclean, and overall not great; some reviews said it was wonderful. We found the beach with absolutely no problem.  There are actually clear signs marking the turns from PR2, which we were travelling on!  Good signage…how refreshing. But here’s the reason for my “weird vibe.”  (All of the following combined):    -The beach is BEAUTIFUL—just what I think of when I think of “Puerto Rican beach.”  Lush green mountains border the beach, making you feel like you’re on the edge of a jungle.  Brightly colored fishing boats line the shore of the powdery sand, adding some “Puerto Rican flair” to the scene.  The water on Saturday was a clear, turquoise blue, and so clear we could see not only our feet, but the patterns the eddyi

I can’t believe this is real life.  This is poetry in motion . At one point as I sat on the beach on the west coast of Puerto Rico this weekend, I couldn’t help but be taken by the beauty of the sun hitting the water, the waves crashing onto shore, the fishing boat in the distance.  Poetry in motion.   I returned to Guayama last night refreshed and rejuvenated after three amazing days with Rachel and Kelsey on our vacation in Rincon.  The vacation was just exactly what I needed.  The three of us laughed (a LOT), relaxed, saw the sights, went at our own pace, made decisions spontaneously, and put aside our worries and stressors for three days.  Our Thanksgiving break trip started on Saturday morning, when we got up early and headed off towards the west side for a day at Crashboat Beach in Aguadilla (see Crashboat post for more on that).  Around 5pm, we packed up from the beach and began what should have been a half hour drive to Rincon and our hotel for the weekend. Something we

I’m glad we didn’t go to Playa Sucia one of my first weekends here.  It’s the same principal used when you go to Six Flags; you don’t ride the biggest and best roller coaster first, or all the rest will seem pale in comparison.  If I had gone to the best beach one of my first weekends here, places like Luquillo and Isabela would have seemed inadequate. There are many reasons that Playa Sucia is pretty awesome: 1.        Soft, white sand 2.        Water the color of turquoise 3.        Calm waves great for swimming 4.        THE CLIFFS I haven’t done a lot (any) hiking since I’ve been here, and the exploradora in me was feeling a little left out I think…until today, that is. Playa Sucia is a nearly round beach ringed by cliffs, with a lighthouse standing guard off to the right.  There are rocky paths up towards the lighthouse, and if one follows them, at the top of the hill, you see the magnificent, breathtaking cliffs.  There are no guard rails to keep people from walking right

Saturday morning, Rachel, Danielle, and I got up and left Guayama before 9am (practically on schedule!!) and headed across the island to Camuy and the Rio Camuy Caves. The day was overcast, but not rainy—a perfect day, we commented, to spend inside a cave.   The 2 hour drive was uneventful and pleasant.   We didn’t even get lost. As we neared the caves, we passed more and more stands offering pinchos, hamburgers, barbeque, pina coladas and coco frio, or other Puerto Rican treats.   Our stomachs growled.   As we passed a large pincho stand with smoke spiraling to the sky from the grill, we all commented about how good it looked.   “Should I stop?” I asked.   “I dunno…guess you could…” came a noncommittal reply.   I pulled over into the gas station parking lot right beyond the stand.   This decision was a great one.   We discovered that they were selling not just any pinchos, but Super Pinchos.   They were, quite possibly, the best pinchos I have had so far in PR.   They were HUGE, a