Hello! yes I miss all of you and finally I have some time to catch my breath. The Puerto Rico trip was interesting indeed and right now I'm too lazy to put things into a cohesive paragraph so shall storytell in random snippets:
(1) at the airport I bought an apple and made the mistake of asking the saleslady if it was washed. she plucked the fruit with her unwashed hands, brought it to their janitorial closet and washed it in a dirty basin next to the mop. "There you go." Gee, thanks
(2) We approached this life size statue atop a pinacle and I asked, "Cristobal Colon? Who's that?" All the Latinos turned to me to reveal a where-have-you-been look of twighlight-zone amazement. "He's only the guy who discovered America." Ohhhhh, Chris! It's been a while, pare...
(3) I thought "no problemo" was a Spanish phrase. The taxi driver was much amused
(4) First of all instead of saying "How much [do you want]" I uttered "How much are you"; and second I used the wrong verb form so that in an effort to say this to the taxi driver I ended up addressing my Argentinian project manager instead. hay problemo
All in all though, Puerto Rico was a great experience of a beautiful country that couldnt help but remind me of Manila: The locals were laid back (to the dismay of certain American customers), the streets were very much intact but somewhat worn, the foliage was a darker green, and the weather was nearly tropical.
This place called Old San Juan was like a marriage between Intramuros and Greenbelt with its very quaint brand of sophistication. Everything there seemed to be awash in a kind of aged-newness.
Come to think of it, there was actually only one thing, ouside the use of Spanish, that, for me, distinctly set Puerto Rico apart from Manila: the presence of tisoy street vendors. Well I never...
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