Boquerón & La Poza del Obispo

January 4 & 5, 2018

After leaving San Juan we drove to Boquerón - or I'll clarify that I drove there. They finally convinced me to drive and it was one of the scariest things I've done. Julio got me out of the San Juan traffic, but then I drove the rest of the way. I was too short for the pedal and I ended up driving through mountains. I think it might have been better had I had a nicer car (no complaints though, the car was free), but it is what it is. I don't like driving in new places where I'm unfamiliar with how the traffic drives. We made it safely, though.

We were there for two nights, and I only have 4 photos to show for it. I wish I had more of the town because it was cute and quaint and you could walk with no problems. This was also where we saw the most damage from Hurricane Maria. Boats lined the shores and trees were uprooted. Yeny took us to this one beach town where they used to rent cabanas and it was completely closed to guests. It was a government run resort so they usually offered housing for cheaper, but there is uncertainty to whether or not the government will put the money in to restoring it. I mean it's June 14, 2018 as I write this and there are still people without power on the island.

The town was pretty lively at nights so we spent the evenings going to different bars and trying different foods. All of which were amazing. There was a gay bar and a lot of gay couples in this town, and I'm always surprised how accepting other cultures are. The USA isn't Russia, but we still have a long way to go in terms of accepting others as equals. Our days were spent on the beach enjoying the sun before we had to go back to the frigid Cleveland temperatures. I even managed to go most of the trip without getting sun burned. The only thing that got burned was my feet because I didn't apply the sunscreen evenly. That sun is brutal though, and I can't imagine how burnt I would have been if I hadn't obsessively applied sunscreen all day every day (I'm on a medication for acne and was told NOT TO GO IN THE SUN).

January 6, 2018

We had one full day left in Puerto Rico because our plane wasn't leaving until 2 a.m. We spent it driving back to Arecibo so we could finish cleaning up the house and packing our things. The last thing Yeny wanted to show us was La Poza del Obsipo. When the waves are calmer you can see a natural pool made from the limestone that protects you from the harsh waves. Unfortunately, the waves were extremely rough that day so I wasn't able to get a great picture of the pool.

There was this cool wall that we walked past to go up on the hill, and I was drawn to the crumbling stone. As I was doing so research for this post I noticed that in all the pictures I saw the wall was completely standing. I'm going to assume it was damaged because of the hurricane, but don't hold me to that. The wall below says, "La poza no se vende, se defiende (The Poza is not sold, defend!)" meaning that places like this beach should be for the benefit of all not the rich who plan to privatize it.

That night we went to the airport only to find out our plane was delayed a few hours. When we eventually boarded they accused someone on the plane of stealing this little metal pole that went into the security door. When no one fessed up to taking it they made us get off the plane. To make a long story short we were stuck in the airport for 24 hours with the promise that we'd leave a little bit later, a little bit later. That's what they kept telling us. Eventually everyone on our plane got fed up. There was basically a mob forming asking for answers. It was a mess, but thankfully they rebooked all the remaining people and we were able to make it back to Cleveland via Orlando with no issues. I did end up having to miss a day of work because we didn't make it in time. However, I'm just adding another 5 year story to my life's memoir. You can read more 5 Year Stories here.