Category Archives: Tropical Plants and Food

Flashback to Puerto Rico: August 17, 2005

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Observations of the Island, Trip to Ceiba and Survivalism in Guanica

In PR

This is the 7th Part in the Honeymoon Flashback Series. I would like to finish sharing this whole journal that we wrote on our honeymoon in 2005 before we leave to start our new Puerto Rico life adventure this fall 2013. Go here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.
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Today we got up around 9, hung out a  little and then went down to breakfast. Unfortunately we were a little late since we found out they closed breakfast at 10 and we got there around 10:30am. But they went ahead and served us. It was a good home-cooked style meal with fresh fruit for only about $8 for the two of us! And because we had been eating so much fried food here on this island, it was a much needed health booster.

Even though the US has an obesity problem, it seems that Puerto Rico has it even worse. I think it is for sure worse than Colorado which I believe is the leanest state. There is so much fried food everywhere, especially fried chicken, pollo frito!, places everywhere and many of the people look like they enjoy it a little too much!

Even the Chinese food places serve fried chicken instead of grilled chicken in the chicken and vegetable dishes, but the kicker was that they served it with both white rice AND French fries of all things which we thought was so weird. They also don’t have unsweetened iced tea. All the drinks are super sweet here. It’s also hard to get just a cup of iced tap water like we usually do when we eat-out in Colorado.

Anyhow, back to the trip. We spent some more time down at the thermal pool which is nice and relaxing. Then we packed up and headed out.

Today was a day of driving. We drove up the mountains, down the mountains, to the ocean and back again. We drove the ruta panoramica (Panoramic Route) and Highway 53, we took toll roads and back roads. We were definitely tourists taking lots of pictures everywhere we went.

plantation

We saw farmland -what looked like bananas or plantains and maybe coffee growing on the sides of steep green hills. There are some interesting plants and flowers on this side (eastern) of the island.

We went through Humacao and found a Chili’s very easily and were able to finally use our gift card! We also saw another lighthouse -we have made a little side game of trying to see and photograph all the lighthouses on the island.

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Finally we arrived here at the Ceiba Country Inn and are trying to rest -again for the second time. Our first room was infested with some sort of biting bugs. So the owners moved us into another bugless room -thank goodness! The owners are nice Americans from Rhode Island. They have adopted like 3 dogs, all former strays. Poor things. Dogs and cats run around stray all over the place here and the females seem to all be pregnant or nursing.

Ceiba
The view from the place we stayed in Ceiba

Well, off to Vieques tomorrow!

Oh, I forgot, on the day we traveled to Guanica, when we also stopped by the Guanica Dryland Forest, we went for a hike because we saw a sign for the old Fort Capron ruins. So we decided to walk the 5 kilometers it said it was from where we could park. We got REALLY hot though and Britton took off his shirt and gave it to me to wear on my head as a type of hat. Then we kept walking and walking and hiking and walking but still we didn’t see any ruins.

Spiky plant and hat
Watch out for those spikes!

Finally we decided to turn around about an hour later when we saw thunder clouds and lightning. We tried to hustle to avoid the rain and I had to watch my feet to avoid tripping over the rocks. So as I was looking down I ran smack into a thorny tree branch and poked my eye. My eyelid started bleeding but at least my eyes had been closed at the time of impact!

Termite hive
Termite hive?

We also saw a huge nest of some sort that we can only imagine must be a termite hive. Britton developed some blisters on his shoulders from the sun and sweat. By the end of the hike we were super happy to the see the car (with A/C and water) once more.

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Just Like the Goats

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When we stayed with Awilda at the property we nearly bought in the rural jungle near Lares, Puerto Rico, we learned quite a lot from her. About her philosophy and attitude towards life. About how she ran her finca. About her goats. We still often think about her and the inherent wisdom that comes from living as a partner with nature for most of her life. One of her pearls of wisdom we still often quote was that we humans are “just like the goats”.

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Me and a goat on a rope in Lares

This was specifically in response to how she had helped her daughter through the labor and birth of her grandchildren without any doctor or medical help of any kind. We sort of just stood back, awed by this woman. “Just like the goats” she had said. As if we were actually the crazy ones to think we needed all the fancy tools of modern society.

As we thought about it more, it is really pretty true. We humans are a lot like goats. We give birth. We raise our young. We eat and rest and play, and need a social structure, just like the goats.

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Feeding a baby goat out of a bottle

We also have built a huge infrastructure that makes us THINK that we are not like the goats. We use examples of how we wouldn’t have survived without the system, how the system is a net, how technological advancement helps us out in situations where things might go wrong. How we have much larger brains than other animals. How we can do some amazing things unlike other animals. All of these are true. I am quite certain that without the medical system, 5 days after I was born, I would have soon died. As many goats have died. And yet, at its core, we are still animals just like the goats. Living, fragile creatures that need a community to survive.

Sometimes when we think about our move to Puerto Rico we feel a little over our head, out of water, leaving our known infrastructure for the unknown and we get scared. When we are scared we have a tendency toward trying to find some protection. In the modern world these are things like money, insurance, technology, schooling, advanced tools, experts, security systems. Helpful, sometimes, but all made-up human contrivances that make us think we are separate from nature.

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Estrella, Awilda and Britton in Lares. They have shown us that if they can do it, we can too!

Underneath it all we are just like the goats. We will figure out how to survive using the tools that are available to us. We’ve been to Puerto Rico many times. People live just fine. They don’t need nearly as much “cargo” and contrivances as we have just to survive the harsh Colorado landscape. It is warm all the time. There is food and medicine dripping off the plants and swimming in the ocean. It rains nearly every day.

If Awilda in her 60s, her stepmother in her 80s and her goats can survive in the jungle mountains of Puerto Rico, we should be just fine in Rincón. We just may need to toughen up a little. And maybe get a goat or two.

We really are just like the goats. And goats don’t need much. It will be nice to try a life that is closer to that more basic, natural existence. We are just like the goats, but with bigger brains. And sometimes those brains do us more harm than good.

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Clearing Space and Filling It

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These next few months will be all about clearing out our space in order to move into a new one (even more than we have in previous purges). And I don’t just mean physically, but also figuratively. Physically we have to sell, give away, donate, pack or toss almost all of our belongings. But as we do this, we are also figuratively making space for new things to move into it.

I think we all know the feeling of clearing off a table only for more things -keys, coins, papers, etc- to “magically” creep onto it again. We have to constantly keep a check on our space to make sure it holds what we want it to. In the same way, we must do that with our lives and what we bring in it: people, money, jobs, hobbies, our thoughts, our dreams, our purpose! Nothing stays a void very long. We are constantly filling and refilling. Creating and re-creating.

Often our physical artifacts are representations of our thought realm. When we aren’t careful and selective, it can be become cluttered -a mess. We must be careful what we bring into our lives- our home, our mind, our body – so that it will be a true reflection of what you want to see, to be.

And so in this way, it has been a real re-awakening to what is important to us, especially when we got new carpet and had to move everything that had been in every room. Most of our “stuff” really is just stuff. They are representations of things that were once important to us, and some of what still is. But most of it is not necessary in our transition to what we really want, and where we really want to be: which is 3000 miles away on four jungled acres in a tucked away surf town on a Caribbean isle.

I think we are coming close to a point where we will be looking more at what we want/need to take with us instead of what needs to be discarded. For instance, this is the list of things we will take so far:

Kumquat and Mexicola
The two plants I’d like to take

Clothing– we will need a little clothing to get us started. And most of my jewelry because it is small, easy to take and a lot have meaning (like our wedding rings for example).
Sentimental items– some physical photographs/albums, journals, small gifts, small wall decor items
Computer/lap top– for our music, files, blog, and digital photos
Paperwork-like licenses, titles, taxes, identification
Kitty- We have chosen to take Kitty. It will be a mini-adventure for sure to take our cat with us. And through his eyes we will see our reactions somewhat mirrored
A couple of houseplants– I would like to take our Mexicola avocado plant that I grew from seed and a kumquat tree.
Bikes -We are not sure on this one. I love my beach cruiser and it would be perfect in Rincon, but is it worth shipping? Same thing with Britton’s mtn bike. It is old but reliable.
Guitar/bass- We will probably be using a lot more acoustic instruments like bongo drums and acoustic guitars, but this perhaps will be a sentimental item for BK to bring. He is selling his amp, however, which will literally clear a lot of space.

Marshall Vintage
Amp for sale!

I think these are good representations for what we are bringing into this new space that we will be creating. Our knowledge, history and experiences. Responsibility. Living things. Love. Music. Hobbies and interests. Health.

In 7 short months, we will be walking into a new space and filling it with the building blocks of a new, exciting adventure. And we are thrilled!

Rincon House Fish Eye
Thanks to Linda for capturing this fish-eye picture of our place in Rincon!

 

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