After our explorations in New Orleans, Laila and I flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico ready to embark on new adventures. Our flight arrived after 11PM, but there was no customs line to go through for US citizens, so we went directly to the very well organized taxi stand lines, and within fifteen minutes were left at Calle Martin Travieso, the address of our next AirB&B room. It was almost midnight by now, and our taxi driver just let us out and left, so there we were, standing on a street corner, not sure if we were even in the right place. As it was so late, Laila was reluctant to call our hostess, but there was nothing else to do; there were no doorbells to ring, and several locked gates protecting the apartment house. Looking at all the barred windows and doors I wondered what we had gotten ourselves into, but this was the Condado district, a reputable part of San Juan. So she made the call. After waiting for what seemed like an interminable time, our friendly hostess finally came down and ushered us up three steep flights of narrow stairs to her lovely apartment. Unlike in New Orleans though, we had only one very small room --up two more flights on a tiny spiral staircase-- and one bed to share; there was no air conditioning, only a fan which we ran constantly when we were there. After enjoying the spaciousness of separate beds in two large air conditioned rooms in New Orleans, neither of us slept well that night. 

   Our first morning in San Juan we explored the Caguas region including having a traditional lunch of rice, beans and patacones in the Botanical Gardens; also in that area are many free museums highlighting musicians, weavers, and the making of cigars by hand. Everyone spoke Spanish, so Laila got to practice her language skills while I tried to retrieve what I had learned in Central and South America and Spain. I finally learned to reliably say "Cuanto cuesta?", asking how much something cost, instead of "Cuanto cuesto?", which basically asks people how much they would pay for me. My Spanish leaves a lot to be desired, no pun intended.  

   The next day, even though everyone cautioned us not to take the always unreliable public buses, we caught the bus to Old San Juan. No problem at all! It is imperative to visit the two forts that bookend Old San Juan; we thoroughly investigated all six levels of El Morro, but cut our explorations of the San Cristobal fort short as the afternoon downpours temporarily quenched our questing spirits. And we were hungry. Puerto Rico's national dish is mofongo, and we definitely needed to try it, so, after wandering in and out of various restaurants and having no success in finding vegan anything, a young woman approached us and suggested one of the locals' favorite restaurants. Seeing that the line there was out the door and around the block, we took this as a very good sign and went to Cafe Puerto Rico on the old Plaza de Colon for a late lunch. Voila! They offered a vegan version of mofongo, and it was absolutely superb! I chose the cassava and garlic sauce version; it was so delicious we decided to return for more mofongo on Sunday. This is the comfort food of Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands, originally from a Creole culture background or Western and Central Africa. No one is sure, but it really does not matter; it is just insanely delicious.   

   Trying to get the bus back to the Condado district first tried our patience, then we realized that, as so many people had told us, maybe a bus just wouldn't come. We stood in the rain deciding what our options were; we could walk, but we didn't know the way and it was at least six miles back, and neither of us wanted to pay for an expensive taxi. So we stood at the bus stop, hoping and waiting, and I said, "Who wants to take us to Calle Martin Travieso? Somebody must be going that way." Very soon after that a car stopped, and a young man asked us if we needed directions. We told him we were waiting for a bus; he looked at us pityingly, and finally offered to take us to Calle Martin Travieso as he said he lived three minutes away. He also acknowledged that we had no reason at all to trust him, but he'd take us if we wanted. So Laila and I looked at each other, and decided to get in the car. It was a very good decision! He was as good as his word; we chatted all the way back and thanked him again and again. But this was only the beginning of our learning that kindness is a way of life for many Puerto Ricans.  

   On one of our days we visited the El Yunque Rainforest, where, of course, it poured. But the sun was shining in San Juan, so when we returned we walked to the beach. I swam and swam in the warm wild ocean, but the wind and current were very strong; I found myself being swept quite far away from our spot on the beautiful beach. Such a delight to play in the ocean again and be reminded of its power!

   On Sunday we planned on going back to Old San Juan, and got to the bus stop early since we figured that busses might run even more infrequently on a Sunday. Several other people came and went, giving up after waiting for what they considered a reasonable time. We continued waiting for over an hour, but saw no busses in either direction. Former hitchhiker that I was, at this point I jokingly said, "Won't someone please give us a ride into Old San Juan?" Unbeknown to us, a very kind couple had been watching us while they ate in a nearby cafe, and after their breakfast they approached us to ask if we knew the bus drivers were on strike. Of course we hadn't heard this, and since they had nothing planned for the day, they offered to drive us into Old San Juan, showing us the scenic route, and also the best way to walk back if needed. How fortunate for us! (But Laila is half convinced I have special powers.) That day we ate mofongo again at Cafe Puerto Rico, and took a ferry to tour the Bacardi rum factory, learning more than I ever cared to learn about the production of rum. And afterwards, since the bus drivers were still on strike, we walked the 6+ miles back to the Condado district, passing by some of the beautiful, iconic San Juan beaches.  

   I want to return to Puerto Rico to explore the western part of the island where the rainfall is not so frequent, and also to paddle on the southern shore of Vieques Island, on Puerto Mosquito's Bioluminescent Bay, the brightest in the world! But just imagine living where you can go ocean swimming every day, where the water and weather are always warm, where strangers will stop to offer you a ride out of the goodness of their warm hearts. Imagine that.