Easter weekend

Easter weekend brings in the throngs

So, our quiet little beach looked a not different on Easter weekend!
Still - this is a far cry from what some of the less remote beaches
looked like over the holiday. Apparently, Aguadilla has about 50,000
people, and I swear, all of the came to the beach this weekend.
Weather was just downright glorious for it!

A new pet

Because of the holiday weekend, we got bumped back to our old hotel
room for 2 nights. I had just gone up to the room and sat down with
some pasta for lunch when I looked down and saw that this little
fellow had run right up to within 6 inches of my foot! Had it been a
cockroach, I would have been appalled. This guy, I find endearing...
Go figure. He's now behind the dresser. Anyone want to place bets on
how many bruises I get trying to catch the varmit?

Another picture of our beach

>

> Ok- so I can't take underwater pictures yet, but at least you can kind
> of get a feel for how clear the water is and how much reef is just
> outside of our door. If you look closely, you can see that there are a
> couple of snorkelers in the very center of this picture. I've been
> living in the water here, and every day is so different!! I swam for a
> little while with a turtle, and there are HUGE puffer fish if you dive
> down and peek under ledges. Brain coral that I couldn't wrap my arms
> around... It's just heaven.
>
> Hard to believe that this is the same beach that produced 20' waves 2
> weeks ago.
>

Borinquen radar

Even though Borinquen airport is the longest runway in the Caribbean,
it still has a great general aviation feel about it. It's been quite a
long time since I've spent my evenings as a runway rat, trying to work
my way into flight time, and I'd forgotten just how enchanted I am
with airports. Even though I'm sure not everyone shares my love, I
still thought the light on these radar towers with storm clouds in the
background made for a pretty cool shot.

Cora goes native

Ok-so spending my entire Monday morning in beurocratic lines wasn't
exactly what I would call FUN, but I guess I will chalk it op to local
flavor. It never really bodes well when you get to the public works
building and food vendors are set up outside the door... But. After
going to the 6 requisite stations and standing in line at each one,
Cora now has a Puerto Rican title and some pretty darn spiffy looking
tags, I think!

Sunset 3

Sunset 2

Nothing better than sunset when you live on the west coast of an island

Country pizza

So far, it's a toss-up between this pizza joint and one other closer
to the airport for the best pie around here. This one has $1 cerveza,
so it won out tonight!

The highlight of the day was snorkeling at out beach this afternoon
but since my underwater gear isn't here yet,no fun pictures of that. I
swam up one little channel of reef,and very nearly ran on water
getting out... The tiny tropical fish we'd been seeing were replaced
by a 3 foot grand baracuda. Steve can confirm, since he of course had
to go in after I spun out,just to see what he'd missed.... Happy to
report all digits still attached and wiggling.

Sinatra en Espanol

Back to the cafe - the bottom picture is Tony - our crooner for the day. The first song he picked was Sinatra's "I did it My Way." In Spanish, of course. Very fitting, I thought!

Historic fire house in Ponce

> The entire firehouse is painted black and red like this - and it sits
> on the same square as the snow white cathedral.
>

I found plumeria!

That is without doubt the best smell in the world! On an old square
around a gazebo in Ponce.

Steve on a side street of Ponce

Fountains at the town square in Ponce

They were having an arts festival on the square behind us - lots of
school kids performing, and all sorts of fun handmade arts for sale.

Day trip to Ponce

Taking a siesta! Today we actually made it all the way to Ponce (last
week, we got too distracted by the beaches at La Parguera to continue
on further to the west). This picture is from a deliciously breezy
cafe we found on the town square of Ponce.

Iguana liberation part 3

Iguana liberation part 2

Iguana liberation part 1

A new toy for maggie and mose!

Ah- this one is a great story... I've been frustratedly trying to find
any way to get a wifi signal this morning (not knowing that it was
quickly going to be a moot point as they cut power to the apt anyways)
and found my way down to a driveway where I could grab someone's
signal. Intending only to pop out a message or two and then get on the
road, I ended up standing around and talking to one of the builders
for a good half hour or so. Just as we were winding up our
conversation, a couple of ladies came running up the driveway, so
excited because they had caught this iguana in thrir garden for me to
keep as a pet! I have to admit, it was a surprisingly docile little
fellow, and all involved were quite disappointed when I determined
that I couldn't keep it for fear my cats would eat it - or vice versa.
Especially given a year or so... I've already seen how big these
critters get if they find food...