the west side

Day 4:
I have always wanted to go snorkeling, which is a bit strange since I am: 1. claustrophobic 2. afraid of the ocean 3. can't swim very well 4. generally don't like water. Isaac was a bit skeptical that I would be able to pull this off, but went along with it anyway. We went to this great little surf shop and rented our gear, and after being warned of Puerto Rican boys hiding in the bushes with bicycles at the beach waiting to steal our things, we were off. I had a rough start, panicked a little and headed back to shallow water. After a few more minutes though, my coach Isaac helped me pull through and we enjoyed a good hour or so of snorkeling. It was amazing! We saw coral reef and tons of fish and swam with schools of them. We didn't take any pictures, but a google search found this which is some of what we saw too. My eyes couldn't get enough, but unfortunately my lungs and nerves could, and when I realized we were about 100 yards off of shore, I panicked a bit and swam like all get out back to shore. When I was close to the beach, a big wave came and threw me into some reefy rocky things, and I got some cuts, and almost passed out from the exhaustion and the blood, but made it back to my towel for some R&R.

that's pretty much what I looked like while snorkeling

Isaac was still snorkeling (honestly, does he ever get tired?) and I was watching him from ashore. Or, at least I thought I was watching him until he got out of the water and it wasn't Isaac at all. I scanned the ocean to see where Isaac was, and I couldn't see a single snorkeler. I tried to remain calm as I looked up and down the beach for what seemed like an hour. There had been about 5-10 other people snorkeling, but now the ocean was empty. I started to panic and pray out loud (if someone had been within earshot they would have thought me loco). I decided that I would run up and down the beach once before I started screaming for help. At the other end of the beach, Isaac popped out of the water. He had taken off down the coast a ways while swimming with a school of fish. I was visibly shaking when I saw him, and so grateful that he hadn't been lost to the seas. I still get a little freaked out when thinking about how scary that was.

After being reunited, we went to a great restaurant and had some Island-y food. The west side of Puerto Rico is filled with surfers, and there are a lot of white american expatriates living there and running all of the restaurants, shops, and hotels. The east side was totally different as everything is run by Puerto Ricans and Spanish is spoken everywhere.

Isaac really wanted to go surfing, so after lunch we found a good surfing beach with decent waves and spent the next few hours there. Isaac is pretty much a professional surfer now, he's thinking of purchasing a surfboard rack for the car :) I had a nice relaxing time keeping an eagle eye on him and making sure he didn't disappear again. Oh, and I saw a whale! It was quite the day.

That evening we ate donuts and swiss cheese for dinner, and then headed to the Rum Shack for a "party". We were told there would be Brazilian fire-breathers there, and were sorely disappointed when none such showed up. They did have a cool surfing slide show and good edamame.

Day 5:

We drove up the coast to check out some more surfing spots, and spent an hour or so relaxing on the beach (ok, I relaxed, Isaac went for a hike. Sit still, honey!) before we hit the road.

a boxing ring we spotted in some one's backyard. totally made us think of Gerald, who is Puerto Rican.

We had about an hour to explore San Juan before heading to the airport, so we went to San Felipe del Morro, a huge fort dating back to 1539.

We had a very smooth flight, picked up Dax on the way home from the airport (thanks Hardys and Lakes!) and were greeted with 4 inches of snow. Oh, Isle Del Encanto, mi amor!