We hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays. Here in Puerto Rico we have been hanging out on the property and with friends.
Enjoying outdoors in our tropical garden on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve we stopped by the grocery store and saw Santa sweating outside in his fur suit and hat. I think the tropical version of Santa should be able to wear shorts.
Papo was working nearby so he stopped by for lunch and brought us a bunch of delicious Puerto Rican Christmas food and some just-picked oranges from his farm. What a great friend he has become. Then that evening we played music with the band at Shampoo’s place.
A beautiful Noche Buena
Christmas Day we went to the pig roast on the beach and spent time with awesome people, swam in the sea, and even played a little music barefoot in the sand. Another wonderful tropical Christmas here in Puerto Rico.
A fun big group of people at the pig roast
Bonfire Xmas magic
Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad! We are so thankful to live so richly in moments more than things.
Well we can now officially say we’ve had the true country Puerto Rican Christmas lechón experience! We had pig on the beach in Rincón last year, but this was quite a bit different.
Rotating Lechón
Papo invited us up to his finca for a Puerto Rican country Christmas party complete with lechón, pasteles, cockfighting, topos betting, horses and lots of beer drinking. It was an all-day event that started around 11am and would go on until it stopped. It was an interesting experience but we felt a little awkward since we stuck out like a sore thumb. We just sort of milled around because we don’t know how to play dice or bet on the roosters.
Guys betting dice (topos)
Roosters awaiting their turn to fight
When the lechón was ready to be chopped up, everyone came by to check it out.
As the special guests of Papo’s we got first tastes straight off the pig!
It was an interesting sort of dynamic because Papo hosted the party and the lechón and pitorro were free, but he sold beer from a sort of make-shift caged cantina.
A bit of a cocky customer!
People were getting pretty drunk and so Britton and I took a short hike about the property just to get a breather and away from all the drunk dudes.
Nothing like a hike in the jungle to recenter!
Country cockfighting
Later that evening I learned a little more about cockfighting as I talked with some of the guys cutting off the natural spurs and putting on plastic ones. One guy working with his teenage son putting on the spurs told me he learned the sport from his dad, and his dad from his before and back many, many generations.
Then the beer sold out. There was a sort of scramble for anything else to drink. Papo had asked us to bring two bottles of wine, and so we did. However, there was no wine opener. And so we had a “completo fracaso” as Papo called it trying to open these darn bottles. Apparently Papo had wanted some cheap screw top thing called Ponte something. It was pretty clear that wine is not a very popular thing to drink in the countryside of Puerto Rico.
Ever try to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew? Trust me, just don’t!
And so without beer to fuel the party it ended at the fairly early hour of around 8pm and we were able to drive home. We had anticipated staying the night up there just in case but it worked out just fine. It was quite the experience to be the only ones that spoke English and only knowing one or two people there. We felt very honored to have been included in the festivities.
Ice skating outside…in the tropics. When we first heard about this we thought it was a joke…but nope, the municipality of Mayaguez in warm and tropical Puerto Rico decided to create an ice skating rink right in the middle of the town plaza. You never know what you might find in Puerto Rico and this was one of those crazy things that we just had to check it out.
Set amidst palm trees and ferns: an ice skating rink
We met up with our good friends Missy and Ben and their great kiddos and headed to downtown Mayaguez. It was a little chaotic and hectic getting through all the paperwork waivers and getting all set up, but it worked out in the end. It was completely free including the ice skates and we could skate for a 20 minute session at a time. They will be doing this through Christmas I believe.
Britton and me and two of our favorite little people -getting our skates on
We had to wear pants which would be understandable in normal ice skating situations, but here, we were just sweating from the heat of the mid-day sun. The refrigeration units were working hard to keep all that ice frozen, but it was still a little watery and super slick.
The beast behind the whole operation
Britton skating on the slick wet side
The sunny parts that weren’t covered with the tents were even slicker!
What a beautiful place to ice skate!
Although not very practical it was super fun! I haven’t been ice skating in a very long time. There is actually a large indoor ice skating rink in Aguadilla, but we haven’t checked it out yet. It’s so funny…if you can think it, it can and probably has been done regardless of feasibility or budget crises!
After our skate session we walked around the plaza for a little while and admired all the Christmas decorations.
Mayaguez Plaza and Alcaldia
Checking out the alcaldia Christmas display
No pretense of separation of church and state here! Nativity scene right inside of Town Hall
Afterward we ran some errands around Mayaguez on the busy Sunday afternoon. It was starting to get late and so we decided we would go back and check out the lights in the plaza. Mayaguez has one of the better displays. There may not be any snow on the ground, but Puerto Rico knows how to light up with the Christmas spirit…including this patinaje sobre hielo. It was a gorgeous end to a winter wonderland day.
Halloween in Rincón kicks off the tourist season. This year Halloween fell on a Saturday and so it was even more festive. We went out to El Bohio, Calypso and Shipwreck and had a great time. Tamboo is also a great place to go on Halloween, but it is so packed that they actually shut down some of the roads in Puntas, and so we didn’t want to mess with that level of crowds.
It’s pretty cool to see all the excited people coming down to party and vacation in Rincón. Everyone is gearing up for “season.” The tourists are happy to be here and the locals are happy to have the extra influx of money. The only downside is that the roads get more clogged and some people party just a little too hard. There is a definite increase in energy this time of year. And it was fun to be a part of the kick-off on Halloween.
I went in a punny costume: an NSA Bug
Britton wore the perennial wig -It’s interesting how people treat him differently with hair!
One of my favorite costumes of the night. My friend Kari went as Carrie!
Dancing at Shipwreck’s
Fun with friends Theresa and the Kershes at Shipwreck’s
Halloween is definitely a “gringo” custom, and it is one that they do very well here for adults in Rincón. I love it!
