Chinchorros, Vejigantes, and Mystery Machines.

Since I arrived in Puerto Rico, I have been anxious to explore more of the Island outside of El Verde.  But the lack of transportation has hindered my adventuring.  Aside from a few weekend trips to the grocery store and one afternoon at the beach, no opportunity to travel had presented itself.  I was beginning to feel cabin fever akin to Jack Torrance in "The Shining".  Just when I though I might be driven to a murderous rampage, everything fell into place, and most of our crew left for a long Presidents' Day weekend trip.

Supposedly, there is a festival somewhere on the island almost every weekend.  We found two: one in Maricao and one in Ponce.  First we visited the Maricao Coffee harvest festival.  Many growers had stands with samples of their brews.  I tried a couple, but not being a coffee drinker, the appeal was lost on me.  I did enjoy exploring the numerous artisans.  Many of them practiced their crafts right behind their booths.  I found one woman selling handmade glass pendant jewelry.  She had a pile of beach glass, and I picked my own stone for her to make me a custom necklace in a matter of minutes.  Its nice to see real artisans at the festival in stead of all of the mass-produced made-in-China trinkets that seem to be everywhere.

Maricao Coffee festival (My cameral battery died :(  Photo Credit: Andy Brandstetter)

Afterwards, we found a local bar to grab a couple drinks.  Maricao is a small town, and at first the bar looked a bit shady with only a few people inside.  But we soon found out that they were very welcoming people.  We danced and played pool for a while.  Then my friend Sheffin and I sat at the bar and chatted with the bartenders.  One of them spoke English and translated for the other.  Even through the language barrier, we managed to make a connection.  The more we talked, the more free drinks they fed us.  When we tried to tip them, they were adamant that we keep out money.  Alejandro told us these small mom-and-pop type bars are called "chinchorros".

The Carnaval de Ponce was a change from Maricao.  Coinciding with Mardi Gras, Carnaval is celebrated the week before Ash Wednesday.  Teenagers dress as "vejigantes" in colorful frilled costumes with horned papermache masks representing the devil.  On Sunday, we made it to Ponce in time for the main parade. The theme of Carnaval is to ward off evil, but it seems to me that it is a celebration of city pride.  Many organizations participate in the parade by building floats or marching in costumes.  The streets were absolutely packed.

Parade at Ponce (Photo Credit: Andy Brandstetter)

Throughout the weekend, we camped out at night.  I never thought I would be so cold on a Caribbean island.  All I had was the thin blanket from my bed which just did not cut the mustard.  No matter how much I tried to cocoon myself, I couldn't warm up.  All of that cool damp mountain air chills you to the bone.  At one point, three of us squeezed together like sardines to try sharing heat.  In Maricao, we stayed on the baseball field in the festival grounds.  We woke up to find ourselves in the middle of a VW Westfalia village. I've never seen so many Westies in one place.  One was even painted like the Mystery Machine!

Westfalia Village! (Photo Credit: Andy Brandstetter)

Two of the nights, Alejandro's parents graciously let us camp on their property in Ponce.  They have a gorgeous piece of land dotted with bananas, starfruit, and citrus trees.  A river runs through the back of the property with a few large rocks that were perfect for relaxing in the morning.  In the morning, we all had breakfast together in the kitchen.  His parent visited with us for a while, and we played with Ale's little siblings Armando and Alisa who are a riot.

Monday morning, we thanked the Miros for their hospitality and started our trek back to the station.  Driving along the southern coast was gorgeous, but after a long weekend, I was beat.  I was so glad to get out of the station, but also ready to sleep in a warm bed.  This weekend was just what I needed: adventure with a little bit of chaos peppered in for good measure.  And it was nice to bond with my station mates outside of El Verde.  I'm excited for our next adventure, whenever and where ever that may be.