Puerto Rico 3: Wisconsin. Sort of.

I feel like a terrible blogger. Been thinking a lot about the one post I managed to upload so far, and I think it came off more like crazyinsaneangrybitterwriter.

Not quite what I was going for. No.

I just meant that I don’t like it when people treat writing like it’s super easy, like anyone can do it. Crap, I’ve been at this “writing books” thing for years now, and I don’t even know if I can do it.

It’s kind of like on Scrubs (LOVE that show. NU love, right?), where Zach (What’s his name in the show? I’m talking about the main character) is always having his inner monologue. It’s not always nice, and it’s not always smart. In fact, it’s rarely coherent. That’s what that blog post was. My inner monologue, one that’s been pent up for a long time.

But enough of this. Onwards!

Many things have happened since the last post I wrote. I have a whole week to write about, so if you want, feel free to skip to the pictures. I like them more anyways.

On Sunday we went to the beach with Janet’s cousin and her family. They’re all really nice, and we had a lot of alcohol and snacks.

Jorge, Janet’s son, made what NU students call “jungle juice” out of water, tang, and a whole handle of vodka. Shake it up in the gallon of water, serve on ice with a shot of rum. Magic. I don’t know what he thinks of me (language barrier and all), but he instantly won me over with that concoction.



The beach itself was marvelous, even though it was more crowded than Michigan Avenue on Black Friday. A line of rocks blocked the current, so it was mostly calm. There was nothing, however, that could block the sun. I got burned. Bad.

What’s that, you say?

Yes, I used sunblock. I forgot to reapply after going in the water, so my sweat proof, water proof, long lasting sunblock clocked out after a half hour of beach time. Super fail.

It was miraculous, however painful it was, that the sun even shone at all. It’s been raining the whole few weeks I’ve been here, only letting up about three times: Once for Old San Juan, once for the light house, and once for the beach.

After the beach, there was no escaping the rain, so we drove down to Lares, a town closer to the center of the island. It’s up in the mountains, and quite frankly, it’s beautiful.



Yeah. We hung out there, and it didn’t rain. When I say we “hung out” I definitely mean that we got ice cream, looked around for twenty minutes, and left.



Because Ice cream is definitely worth the drive, and I say that without sarcasm. This particular ice cream shop is renowned for its quality as well as its variety.

Hem hem.

Variety.

I’m not kidding about that word at all. They had the normal flavors, like chocolate and vanilla. They even had the island flavors, like quenepa, parcha (passionfruit), and coconut. Then they had… well… weird flavors. Like garlic flavor, and bacalau (a fish dish… no joke). They also had corn, carrot, and rice flavored. Check it:



I didn’t go for the path less taken. I stuck with passionfruit and coconut, because it seems logical to make something sweet out of… something sweet. But something sweet out of something savory? Not too sure about that.



After we abandoned the town, we drove around for a while and got wonderfully lost. It was a pretty fun adventure.



LOOK! A MOO!



Basically, Lares is famous for its ice cream, and its cows. Highest dairy production of Puerto Rico, or something like that. In other words, it's like the Wisconsin of the island. Hehe. I know my fellow Wisconsinites will appreciate that one.

Alright, I’m going to end this post here because there will be a lot of pictures, but get pumped because PONCE is next, and it’s basically made of awesome.

Listening to: Incubus. Seriously, ANYTHING by Incubus.
Eating: Quenepas. So. Many. Quenepas. Oh, and cremitas de coco.