Nov 20
Posted under Around the house, Clara and Libby, Life, Puerto Rico, Sights & Sounds by MicheleP.
I posted a video of Libby a few days ago. We asked Clara to sing a Spanish song too but she wasn’t really interested. Instead, she sang about princesses. Imagine that?
If you listen carefully, you will hear a few things in the background…
1) Libby eating chips and 2) the sound of the coqui frogs. The frogs? Charming. The chip cruncher? Not so much.
Nov 18
Posted under Clara and Libby, Life, Puerto Rico, Sights & Sounds by MicheleP.
Today was another field trip day for the girls - library story hour followed by pizza at a local shop. As we were getting the kids ready to leave, we heard some drums outside. As we looked out, we saw a marching band – complete with many different types of drums and baton twirlers in sparkly outfits. Tomorrow is a holiday here (Discovery of Puerto Rico) and so I assumed it was some sort of celebration for that. I was just about to reach down and grab my camera for a few photos when I noticed something.
No one was smiling. In fact, most of the drummers had tears streaming down their cheeks. I was puzzled for a minute and then as I saw the next group in the “parade” I realized…this wasn’t a parade at all.
A black hearse followed the drummers. And behind that a white casket was being pushed on a gurney. A crowd of friends and family followed – openly grieving.
No, this wasn’t a parade. It was a procession. A funeral procession. I turned to my friend and we both said, “Oh. It’s a funeral.”
Clara overheard me. “What’s a funeral, Mom?”
And so with chaos all around me I tried to quickly explain what a funeral was – that someone had died and that they were celebrating their life. I don’t think she understood. I have a feeling, I’ll be answering more questions about funerals…and death tonight.
Nov 04
Posted under Life, Puerto Rico, Sights & Sounds by MicheleP.
If you think election day in the states is exciting…and filled with lots of fanfare…you’ve not experienced an election in Puerto Rico. It’s a common saying here that the favorite “sport” in Puerto Rico is politics. Last night we took a little sample video of some local festivities in our normally quite sleepy little town:
Today, all schools and most businesses are closed – you can’t possibly be expected to work today! And so, we are headed to the beach for (hopefully) some peace and tranquility amidst all the chaos of the day. Â
Oct 15
Posted under Life, Puerto Rico, Sights & Sounds by MicheleP.
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“For where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I with them”
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Oct 07
Posted under Around the house, Life, Puerto Rico, Sights & Sounds by MicheleP.
Today was especially happy around here…
For starters, a cool front has moved in and a very nice (and quite cool) breeze has been blowing all afternoon.
On Tuesdays, the girls stay at school until 2:30 (vs noon on all the other days). Around noon I got a call from the school. I always worry when I see the school number on the caller ID but today wasn’t a call to come pick up a sick or injured child (thank goodness!). Maestra Maria was calling to tell me that the ballet instructor couldn’t come today but that the girls had already prepared for their nap and she told me they could just stay there until 2:30 anyways. That was good news since I was knee deep in mop water at the time. But the really good news? They rescheduled ballet for tomorrow…and that means the girls will stay again until 2:30 tomorrow and I get a free day all to myself that I did not plan on. AND I cleaned my house from top to bottom today so tomorrow really is a free day. Yay me!Â
And my final bit of happy news for the day…As I was driving down the street that leads to my neighborhood, something caught my eye…
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Sure, these already exist in Puerto Rico – but the nearest one is 30 minutes away – in a crowded mall with very little available parking. Not only is this now walking distance from my house, it appears there will also be a drive thru.
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So, yes, I’m thrilled to have such caffeinated goodness in my very neighborhood but I’m also I’m hopeful that this might bring even more business to our little neck of the island. Who know’s maybe there is still hope for a Target in Puerto Rico? One can only hope!
Jun 19
Posted under Around the house, Puerto Rico, Sights & Sounds by MicheleP.
Today I dropped the girls off at school bright and early at 7:00 because I was on my way to the airport to pick up my friend, Heather. On my way, I noticed I was on the low side of gas so I decided to detour a bit and get gas. I had plenty to get there…but you just never know what can happen on the road and I figured it was better to be late to the airport with a full tank than to be on time but out of gas 
.
Well, I’m making good time – running about 15 minutes late because of the gas detour and about 5 miles from the airport, traffic comes to a grinding halt. Not at all unusual for here – especially in the morning. We inched along for a bit until we came to an exit where they were making us get off the freeway. GREAT. So now I’m on some crazy side streets – hoping that they will lead me back to the freeway at some point. For the next half hour we moved alongside the freeway at a snail’s pace. It could have been MUCH worse – the traffic on the freeway was not moving at all. In fact, most people had gotten out of their cars and were just sitting on top of them.
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I figured it had to be a terrible accident – and it was – all caused by a few of these…
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All over the road…
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It was quite a sight to see. And I was very thankful that I decided to make that little detour to get gas as I could have been one of the hundreds stuck on the freeway behind all that mess…or worse.
I made it to the airport, quite late, but was greeted by a smiling Heather
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We had a nice lazy day today complete with afternoon naps, a trip to see the matinee showing of Kung Fu Panda and our traditional “welcome to Puerto Rico” meal including some of our most favorite dishes:
Pina Coladas
Grilled pork loin
Rice & beans
Amarillos
Garlic bread
and of course finished the meal with some flan for dessert 
YUM!
Tomorrow I think we might head to the beach in the morning or maybe just be lazy and stay home and swim (Which is more relaxing? Ahhh…decisions, decisions!)
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