Happy birthday to me! What a nice trip. Went to the mountains with my best friends and had a very strange but refreshing experience. Mountain people are mountain people no matter where you go. Gotta love them. They are the left over essence of our idiosyncratic nature. Their simplistic and hard life made me think. I have been to these mountains before. I layed mami's ashes in Guavate in Cayey which is the next town down or should I say up. Ja ja... cannot tell. Did not go see where her ashes lay on this trip. Not enough time. Only a weekend trip.
So the party started at the church and it was raining...
The 15 yr old decided to celebrate her day in the New Orleans carnival style. Different to say the least. There were 2 photographers from Germany filming this event. I was a bit apprehensive of this concept of Germans taking photos for a magazine of this event when it is just a small representation of who we are as a country. Hopefully their reporting will be consistent with the reality of the whole island. The event was very strange but nicely put together. The 15 yr old chose a green chartreuse color for her gown. That in itself told me at the church that this was going to be a memorable evening. And so it was.
After mass the 15 yr old was escorted by Trailer tractors to the party salon 5 miles away. We, 5 of us (city folks) sat in a van waiting for all this commotion to stop and caravan to be cleared. At one boring moment as we sat there for about an hour I looked over to see these birds sitting on the wire over a "Flamboyan." Nice.
We would go take breaks outside to smoke cigs in the middle of all the dancing with the father and all the photos taken at the ceremony. The evening was beautiful and chilly for Puerto Rico after a nice rain and high in the mountains. Well at one point I saw this beautifully lit tractor trailer. I felt like Alice in Wonderland. It was totally black with lights blinking all over. I asked if I could get inside and I did. Oh my God it was a total display of lights and small sounds. Very creative and actually it looked pretty nice. So much space! Nice for a long drive. The height of the vehicle is another matter. I felt meek and small.
I will share more from this trip later. I love my friends and my island! Can't get enough of them or it. Ja Ja.
I would love to be sitting in Old San Juan drinking some nice puertorican coffee, which later has been known to the rest of the world as Cafe Latte. Funny isn't it? And as I sip this magnificently flavored dark but yet smooth coffee I eat a scrumptious "mallorca" from La Mallorquina which was founded in 1848. But since I am not I am drinking a nice tea made of my fresh mint from my herb garden. I have added a new herb, flat Italian parsley, and started a new basil plant. Should be able to harvest before the end of the month, if the weather improves. It has been cold this week and very windy. I also planted 3 cherry tomato plants.
This is a satellite view of my "island of enchantment" as our poet Rafael Hernandez referred to her in his famous song "Lamento Borincano". Marc Anthony's Link below:
