The other day we had an ambulance come down the drive to our house. We are basically at the end of a calle sin salida (dead end road) with only one other house slightly lower and so only very rarely do we have anyone drive past. Even more so, there is a pretty major little hill just as you reach our property. Not even the ice cream truck dares to take this incline for fear of not getting back up. Well, the ambulance wasn’t quite as smart. Thankfully, they weren’t actually on an emergency call and just happened to be lost. (Often people take private ambulance rides for doctors appointments and things; it’s a different type of service than what we northerners normally think.) Still it was pretty hilarious and a good reminder not to count on the ambulance for speedy service! Check out this video.
They eventually made it up! But it took about 10 minutes
We also have had fun going out. We stopped by the Art Walk this week and watched a little unicycling performance. You never know what you might see!
Unicycles at the Art Walk
Another show we went to recently was a reggae concert at Playa Beach bar (weird name for a bar, I know). This is the bar of Villa Antonio and it’s right on the beach. A great venue for a show. We saw P-Dub and friends again. One of our favorite perennial bands and our friend Mark plays with them so it’s even cooler.
The month of September was sort of a waiting month. In order to put on the siding (we found chanfles instead of T-111) we needed the windows. But the windows were supposed to take about 4 weeks to finish. So in the meantime, we had started on the footbridge. But our friend Walde could only work weekends. Basically we had a lot of mini-fires going just waiting to get bigger. We still always have plenty to do, however, and yard maintenance is pretty much front and center this time of year.
Britton and the turkeys under the large avocado tree in the “garden area”
But now the windows are here! It actually took a little less time than they estimated. Windows are a different sort of bird in Puerto Rico than in the states. In the states there are generally egress rules whereby you must be able to escape out of the windows in case of a fire or other emergency.
Here, that must not be the case, because it is very difficult to find any window that you could climb through. The vast majority of windows are Miami shutter style which works for ventilation, but they block out the view. Or you can get a picture window, but they can’t open. Well, we wanted good airflow as well as visibility, so we went with larger clear glass louvres. A good compromise I think given the options.
When the windows arrived we loaded them into the truck and then brought them to the cabin
The other difference with windows is that they are almost always custom made by an aluminum works type place. We learned that trick when we got our screen doors for the cabana. They are usually cheaper than what you can find in a big box store (like Home Depot) and they will fit perfectly! Plus it helps out local businesses.
Britton installing windows at the cabin
The bridge is the other big project that is moving right along. Since Britton only has Waldemar’s help one or two days a week, we made a big decision to get a cement mixer. To ligar cemento we would need to hire at least 2 other guys for at least 3-4 days to fill in the zapatones and the mini-columns, so we figured that even with this job it will pay off and then we can make cement stuff all over the property all by ourselves.
Britton and la máquina
We’ve decided to name this bridge Tito. You know, for Tito Puente! 🙂 Here’s one of our favorite songs of his (though most will know it as a Santana song).
We are becoming pretty good friends with these guys that have been helping us on various projects and planning lots of paseos with them. On Saturdays after the work is through, Papo comes over with a bunch of food and we set up a little mini-bar and tail-gate from it. We listen to bachata from his truck with the doors open, open up some coconuts and drink coconut water with whiskey and eat pollo, yuca, arroz con gandules and dance a little in the middle of the yard. Life is fun. We’re getting stuff done, but we’re enjoying it along the way.
Each year, cities and towns throughout Puerto Rico have their own Fiestas Patronales (translated loosely as Patron Saint Parties). In Rincón, I know very little about the actual patron saint Santa Rosa de Lima, but I know the parties are getting better each year (here’s last year’s post)!
Having fun at the fair grounds (Plaza de la Amistad)
This year we were super excited to hear that Cultura Profética was coming to town! Cultura Profética is probably the best known Puerto Rican reggae band and their songs are often heard on the radio here. We were quite amazed in fact that they were able to bring such a huge name to our little town of only 15,000 people. A free concert in a community venue with a huge headliner? Sign me up! And like most things in Puerto Rico, we went into it without many expectations. This could be a madhouse of people, or muy tranquilo!
One of their popular songs
The big question everyone was asking was what time would they come on? According to the event flyer, the opening bands were supposed to start around 8pm, but we had learned our lesson from last year that due to Island TIme the openers didn’t really start until about 9pm. So we thought we’d get down there around 10pm to watch another great salsa band, Plenealo and guess that Cultura would start around 11.
Plenealo
Carnival rides!
We wandered around and people watched and had carnival food while listening to the openers. I really want to try this game that I had noticed last year. It is always so popular, and I learned that it is called Pica. Our friend Mike said it actually has decent odds.
Pica: A gambling game that is sort of a mix between a horse race and roulette from what I gather
There aren’t any other forms of gambling except Pica and it must be a long-time cultural thing that is allowed in Rincón only during the Fiestas.
A walk through Plaza Amistad when we first arrived
The general scene of the night is super relaxed with people milling around eating and drinking. The evening was cool and refreshing. The perfect temperature. People of all ages come and go and bring in whatever alcoholic -or otherwise- beverages or foods they want as well.
Midnight rolls around and it is obvious that Cultura Profética won’t be coming on any time soon, but by now though we are getting sleepy we are determined to see them. We find some friends and hang out (janguear) for a while. Finally, around 1:20am Cultura Profética takes the stage.
Cultura Profética playing at the Rincón Fiestas Patronales
The show was great, but because it was so late people slowly started peeling away to go home. Their music is so chill it was a sort of lullaby. We stayed for the whole thing and really enjoyed ourselves. By the time we walked back to our truck that we had parked down by the town plaza, it was 3am! We are becoming such farmers that it was weird to be going to bed as the first roosters were crowing. But it was definitely a memorable and lovely evening to be swaying to the grooves under a tropical moon.
Thankfully today we had nothing on the agenda but a beach day with friends to recover from our late, late night out.
In addition to the awesome day trips we took to Wilderness, Ponce and Maricao, we also had lots of fun in Rincón at the Spanish Wall, Farmer’s Market, Art Walk, at a couple of events and just hanging out at the house. Here are a few snapshots that didn’t quite make it into a post on their own, but that were pretty cool.
We all love an afternoon catnap
I found this graffiti somewhat ironic because it says to take care of your beach and not leave trash –but apparently graffiti is ok
We listened to reggae on the beach one night
And had fun hula hooping to the beats (Yah Frances and Theresa)
Another night we listened to our friend Jessika rock it with her band at a local bar
Friends come in many shades!
Mosquito nets are helpful in a cabin without doors or windows
And we found the tiniest little hermit crab you’ve ever seen
