Flying can suck, Puerto Rico definitely does not!

I am writing this from a very sunny, 80 degree plus, porch in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico.  No art this post, this is really just a chance for me to communicate with my whole family in grey (but oddly warm) upstate NY.

So. Flying yesterday. Whatta adventure. Got up at 3 in the morning. Drove to Rochester, then we barely make the gate due to the fact that they were boarding early! We are not on the plane 10 minutes before the announcement comes on that they are having trouble closing the door. So can we disembark. We do. Then the announcement comes on that the mechanic is looking at the problem, but we might have to start making alternative arrangements for flights with connections in Dulles airport. But they are going to try. I should say that United’s personal in Rochester were outstanding in their communication and cheer. That isn’t sarcasm. They really kept us informed as much as possible.

Anyhow, the mechanic is successful in about 45 minutes and we all get back on the plane. Arriving in Dulles, we have 10 minutes to make the flight to San Juan, PR. Unfortunately, the gate is in another terminal and Dulles has grown since I was there last (in the 90s). I sprint, carrying 40-60 lbs of laptop, art supplies and tennis gear. Of course, it is all uphill, including one killer escalator, my calves burned on that one. Except for one stretch of moving sidewalk, which felt like I was sprinting like a gazelle. I get to the gate exactly at 8:29, the time for departure. All panting and sweaty and wheezing. And the plane has pulled away from the gate. Grrr…

Poor Millie comes stumbling up 5 minutes later, her bum knee throbbing and I deliver the “cheerful” news that we missed our plane. So. We traipse over to the United help desk, where we spend the next 15 minutes dripping, while the poor lady tries to figure out some way of getting us to Puerto Rico this fine day. Finally, after many computer hiccups, she figures she can send us back north on Delta to JFK airport to catch a flight to get to San Juan about 6 pm. Originally, we are supposed to get to San Juan at 1 pm.

Of course there is a wrinkle, after treking to yet another terminal to Delta… they are close to their weight limit and we have to wait until almost boarding before we know if we are on the flight. Luckily, that time comes around and they have enough thrust and fuel to carry our flacca butts into the sky. Delta’s flight to San Juan is fairly pleasant despite I’m stuck in the middle. Managed to nap a bit. Saw the underwhelming movie, New Year’s Eve, which made Millie and I both a bit nostalgic for our life in NYC two decades ago.

Then we get to San Juan, Millie’s parents and nephew are patiently waiting for us… but our luggage is missing. Yup. Our luggage never made the transfer from United to Delta or some such. It is supposed to come today to Millie’s folks casa.

But our fortunes of travel have finally shifted for the better. It was so much fun hearing Millie speak spanish with her family, all of them talking a mile a minute, interrupting each other excitingly. I catch and understand maybe every 20^th word, getting more from inflection and body language when I get anything at all. But it gives me such a warm feeling being back.

We arrive in their home town of Santa Isabel about 8:15. We drive to the center of town, going to a bakery that Millie’s nephew, Christian, works at for some pastellejos and pan. Yum. But a surprise awaits us.

There are three or four streets that have hundreds and hundreds of Xmas lights and these beautiful arches of lights that make a tunnel down each street. Millie took photos on her iPhone, I hope to get some of them up on the blog soon. It is really gorgeous. And humorous. There are little scenes of small statues enacting tableaus of music playing or the nativity. Including one bearing the sign, (and I hope I get the spelling right) “La Venganza de La Chon”. The scene is; two pigs are spit-roasting a poor human. Another human, with a bottle of poisoned whisky, passed out, awaiting his turn to become a delicacy. I laughed out loud.

Then we get to Millie’s parents home and the eating begins. We eat pastellas, rice and beans, pastellejos….so yum!!! I even get some intestinal sausage. Which might have been the spiciest dish I’ve ever eaten in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico cusine isn’t spicy like a lot of mexican food. They rarely use chillis. But the sausage was nicely spicy. Millie’s niece, Christina arrives, always nice to see her. Millie’s sister, Metchie comes a bit later. It is a full house, noisy and happy. We finally collapse in bed around 12:30.

A long day of travel. And totally worth it!