We were encouraged by a new friend to check out Casa Labadie which is also called Palacete Los Moreau. It is an old sugarcane plantation house that was built in 1905 by a French family but is now property of the city. Since it is just down the way in Moca (closer to Aguadilla side), we thought it would be a fun day trip.
Up close to the “little palace” as it is called
It was pretty impressive, but because there was no one running it (for some unknown reason) we weren’t able to ask any questions about it. We mostly just wandered around, took photos and enjoyed the architecture and landscaping, both of which were awesome! It was completely free of charge. There is also a large modern gazebo that we later found out is sometimes used by the municipality for festivals. This would make a great place for a peaceful picnic outing.
Inside was all wood with beautiful stain glass
Back side of the house
I want to write my name in bushes!
Old Ceiba Tree and the root/storage cellar in the distance
Wandering the grounds and playing in the trees was fun!
I don’t know what tree this is but it was perfect for climbing!
The only people there were some groundskeepers cleaning out the fountains by the small gazebo and a couple of other wanderers
A photoshoot fantasy! This palace would be a great spot for taking senior photos or wedding pictures
Old train that would transport the sugarcane
Huge Modern Gazebo used for events
And a jumping launch pad for me!
Puerto Rico is such a strange conglomeration of sights. Just down from this impeccably maintained French mansion are very humble concrete houses and a hole in the wall bar where we stopped for a beer after our day at the palace. Overall a fun little excursion!
At the entrance to the estate you’ll find this cute little bar
Wow, it always surprises me when I think of what to write about for the blog. I think, I don’t really have any good topics. Then I look through my pictures and I see that we have actually been out doing quite a few things. Here are a few of them:
Rincón International Film Festival We enjoyed a beautiful and elegant evening at Rincón Beach Resort for the final night of the Rincón International Film Festival also known as “Best Of Fest.” I like to watch all the short films that have been sifted through and chosen as the top picks. As for the resort, I have never been to this one and it was really nice. I have seen it advertised on Wheel of Fortune and it definitely has that sort of all-inclusive resort vibe. It even has a swim-up pool bar that is connected directly to the beach.
With friends at RIFF
Fun at Rincón Beach Resort
Limber de Teta I saw a sign for Limber de Teta and it made me laugh. What could boob limber possibly be? So we stopped and tried it out. It was a limber (like an icee) but sold in a little baggie the shape of a boob. Pretty clever!
Sucking on a parcha/piña boob
At the Limber de Teta stand just off the 115 going towards Aguada
Demolition Derby in Moca A friend of ours invited us to a demolition derby in Moca that was a fundraiser for his friend’s adolescent daughter who has a very aggressive form of cancer. I see a lot of fundraisers around here for various causes, but this was one of the biggest. We hadn’t been to a demo derby since the Greeley Stampede many years ago. Here it was definitely not regulation size or even in a stadium. People just sort of hung out everywhere, but it somehow worked.
One of the demolition cars
Quite a crowd in the middle of a cleared out field!
As we were watching the events unfold a the derby, a young girl walked by that caught my eye. What was in her hands? Snakes! I was intrigued and began asking her about them. She could tell that I wasn’t afraid of them and said, do you want to hold them? I tentatively said yes and she put the large python on my neck and the baby in my hands. You never know what you may find in the randomest of places!
Cassie the Snake Charmer. Starting to get a little tight around the neck!
Flower Power: Playing Music
We played our most recent show at Willie’s to the theme of Flower Power/Hippie Night and it was a lot of fun.
Playing out at Willie’s
Good times! Peace, Love and Happiness!
On the Property
We have been focusing on property landscaping a little more lately and cleanup. While we’re not completely done with the house, it is functional. So now we are making it and the surroundings pretty! The finca has grown a lot in the last 3 nearly 4 years and we are starting to see the literal fruits of our labors!
Nispero Japones aka Loquat first flowers!
Amongst the flowers of our gardens
Kola Nut flowers!
In the jungle of our yard…Hey! What’s that sound?!
We have been clearing out some pretty nasty spiky and poisonous plants lately! Check them out:
Huge harmless spider (on a 2×6 to give you scale)…a huntsman
We’ll cross that bridge when we get there
As I was clearing some bromeliads and underbrush from behind the cabin, I found this old liquor bottle. We have determined based on the markings that it is from between 1932-1964! That’s a long time to be sitting out in the middle of the jungle! This old treasure says: Federal Law Forbids Sale or Reuse of this Bottle. John Walker and Sons Ltd Kilmarnock Scotland 4/5 Quart.
Before it was Johnnie Walker, it was John Walker and Sons Ltd
The chickens and turkeys are all doing pretty good. We have to protect them a little more especially now that we are at the cabin and not as close to their coops. We collect quite a few eggs and enjoy their silly antics. Here’s some voodoo magic you can do with a chicken!
Out and about And then of course there is the randomness of being out and about around the island. You just never know what you might see.
Like a HUGE can of cans!
Beautiful duck, I think a Muscovy in a lagoon
Hanging out with Surfrider and a high school science club doing water quality testing
Cool new mural on a derelict building
And nature reclaiming this one
This sign made me laugh…No! You can’t park here, not even for one second
One of our favorite little food stands, Sana, moved across the street by the Post Office
And at the Pulguero in San Sebastian I spotted these huge fruits. They call them Socato
Hanging out at one of our favorite bars, Olajas in Aguada
Life is so fun and random if you let it take you down the strange twists and turns the river has in store for you. The fame and fortune just doesn’t stop around here (haha)! I really enjoy all things art and “Hollywood” from music to modeling to acting to directing to making videos, whatever! So when I heard that a film was looking for people, I immediately sent in my info and a couple of photos. A month later I still hadn’t heard anything.
As extras in a Puerto Rican Sci-Fi movie!
Then on a Sunday I was sent a message asking if I was available to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. I said yes, but please send the info (where, when, etc) as soon as possible. I didn’t get any info until Monday night at about 7pm and found out that it was in Carolina (San Juan area) and I would need to be there at 6am (less than 11 hours from then) and bring a specific wardrobe. I felt like I was on my own mission impossible movie.
I nearly cancelled because I told my contact that I didn’t think I could make the trip back and forth 2 days in a row driving from Rincón 3 hours away. She mentioned that I would get paid $100/day and I said that I would be driving with Britton. She then offered Britton to come along also as an extra as long as they liked his pictures in order to help cover the costs of us staying in a hotel in San Juan. Though Britton didn’t have the specific wardrobe, we thought we would give it a shot. It was also very hard to have to wake up at 2am and drive somewhere we’d never been.
Dining area. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are provided to all involved including extras
When we finally arrived and found our way to the office-building/warehouse turned studio, we were ushered into the dining area where we filled out our paperwork including our Puerto Rican drivers’ licenses that were required to work. Then we headed to wardrobe where it turned out it didn’t really matter what clothes we brought because they ended up switching us out of them multiple times.
At the Wardrobetrailer
My costume for the film: a “gatekeeper” between alternative realities
Britton’s first costume was as prisoner, then they changed their mind and made him maintenance man gatekeeper
The majority of the day was spent waiting with the rest of the extras in a room they called “holding.” It was pretty cool getting to know all the different characters. There was one woman from Italy who was also an opera singer. There was a guy who did promotions dressed as Captain Morgan. There was a guy who had written and directed his own films. There were college students and retired people. And nearly all spoke primarily in Spanish which was a challenge for Britton especially when he and I were separated. He had to use his favorite phrase when asked if he knew Spanish: Estoy aprendiendo (I’m learning). And he certainly keeps learning with immersion experiences like these.
Extras in “holding”
The director definitely has some pull when it comes to extras as he could put us in roles that were more or less in the front of the frame. Britton mostly was in the background moving ladders and fixing flux capacitors. I was an office worker and wandered around the incident command center and down hallways with my prop tablet. Some extras actually got seats in the command center or talked (silently in the background) with the “jefe.” We had to do multiple cuts of the same thing. There were lots of calls to return to “primera posición,” “corre cámara” and “¡silencio!”
Just off the command center preparing to walk on set
Me and the director, Bruno Irizarry, who has been involved in movies such as The Rum Diary and 200 Cartas
When the first day finished up around 7pm, we asked some of the crew where we could find a hotel nearby. We didn’t want to spend much and we didn’t want to drive to Isla Verde or Condado since we weren’t making much and we had to be up and back at the studio by 5:30am the next morning. We were so tired after only getting about 3 hours of sleep the night before and working for 12 hours that we just wanted something upon which to lay our weary heads.
They suggested a place just down the road. And we found it easily. It had big red kissy lips on the sign and was down a long private drive lined with palm trees. But when we tried to check in at about 8pm we were told it was only for 8 hours at a time and that there was only very basic amenities. We thought that was a little odd, but went and ate dinner and returned around 9:30pm. It was very cheap at $30 for 8 hours which included tax, but when we entered and closed the garage door behind us, we felt like we stepped into a different movie: Grand Theft Auto perhaps?
Our room came complete with sex swing and instructions on the wall as well as a stripper pole
There was a sex swing, a stripper pole, purple and pink lights, a mirror above the bed, about 5 channels of porn and a kitchen squirt gun in the bathroom that I presume acts as a bidet. There was a lot of noise all throughout the night with people coming and going and listening to loud music, but the room at least was clean and I was so tired I slept through most of it. I think we were in fact the only couple not using this motel for what it was intended! These sex motels are apparently a very common thing here in Puerto Rico, and something that doesn’t exist in Colorado (at least not that I know of?)!
Waiting…
None-the-less we got through the night for cheap and headed back to the studio for another looong day of mostly waiting around for them to call us. There is only so much you can do while waiting, especially if you don’t have a smart phone. So I doodled and did yoga and we wandered around a little bit until we would get in trouble and herded back to holding.
Still waiting…
Another part of the building was used for another sci-fi movie
Having fun and making eyes with new friend, Estefanie
Overall it was a great experience and we made some wonderful new friends! I would definitely be an extra in a movie again, but maybe a little closer to the west coast. Keep your ears perked for a new science fiction movie called “23 Horas” and you just might spot us in the background.
We took a day to go out with our guests to one of our favorite spots: Gozalandia in San Sebastian. It is the quintessential tropical waterfall getaway. I always feel that it couldn’t have been designed any better had it been in a movie set. It’s just magical!
