Conquistadores & whatnot

Today was Day 2 in Bill's quest to get into shape. Both yesterday and today, he has gotten up at 6am to run, and when he gets back I go out. We've started taking Juana with us, because unlike Penny, she actually runs in a fairly straight line. It's been interesting running with her - yesterday I took her on the leash, but today I had her off- leash, since Bill had done that and assured me she doesn't dart out into traffic or heed the taunts of the other off-leash dogs. Well, it's the last time I do that. While on my watch, she darted out into traffic twice, and I had images of her as roadkill just like the dead iguana 25 feet away. Other than that, though, she was a fun running companion as she loved running round the meadow with me, at her own irregular pace. On loop one I was so taken by the sunrise and the horses grazing in the distance that I paused to take a picture with my iPhone. On loop 3 the sun was a bit higher, and when I was close to the horses I took my phone out again for another picture. On loop 4 she expected me to do the same so she charged ahead, then lay down, expecting me to pause to shoot (I didn't). But then at some point she decided to frolick with the horses and I'm not sure if one of them kicked her or stepped on her, but she cowered away wimpering, limped over to me and lay down. She was fine after a few moments but I decided to call it a day and we headed home.

Homeschooling was really cool today. I told the kids all kinds of stuff about how people thought the world was flat, but C. Columbus suspected otherwise, and believed he could find a better way to India than by sailing through the treacherous waters of Southern Africa, by sailing west. And finally he convinced the Spanish monarchs to finance his trip, since they were hurting from their civil war and were determined to be more powerful than Portugal. They had nothing to lose, as they were so behind. I told them about how hard the conditions were for sailors, how the ships were nothing like the Royal Caribbean ships they've seen docked in San Juan, how they slept by finding any open space and then tying themselves down so as not to roll overboard. We talked about how Columbus thought he'd hit India when he alighted on San Salvador in the Bahamas (incidentally, where Bill & I honeymooned almost 13 years ago), and all 3 times he came over to the Americas he figured he was in India and the locals were all Indians. We talked about how the Exploradores were in search of gold, trade, and spreading Christianity. The kids did some art - Willo painted a picture of the Santa Maria and Jackie made one about what the native villages must have looked like to Columbus. I gave them spelling words from the lesson (Willo got words such as spices, ship, trade; Jackie got journey, cinnamon, exploration...) and then we broke for lunch.

The kids played together for awhile and then I figured our 2 day exile from the beach was about all I could stand, and after stopping at the fruit & vegetable stand we headed to Blue Beach, to meet Rona. Several of us congregated and aside from Juana kicking a bucketload's worth of sand into poor Dagan Jr's face, and Jano being completely freaked out by the huge wave that suddenly overtook his mom while she was bobbing with him and his baby sister Adela, it was a very successful outing. Willo & Jackie are now completely comfortable in the water, regardless of the big waves we had today. I got in a quick swim (laps). Tessa & Pablo happened to be there, and they were going off for a run so they were nice enough to take Juana with them. The lucky dog thus got in 3 runs today, and as a result is now passed out on her yoga mat, with her legs up in the air. (No worries, she's still alive).

Right now there's a big snowstorm headed toward CT and I feel really bad for all our friends back home. Well, at least they have well-stocked supermarkets, kitchens that have frying pans, cheese graters, large bowls, they can leave out their food for a bit without worrying about the tiny ants that appear out of nowhere within seconds, if they're pregnant they don't have to fly to a doctor or hospital (Bill just told me that the maternity ward in Vieques has been closed for 3 months, and if you're pregnant you have to hop on a plane, and many women/girls have given birth in flight)... OK, hope you feel better now; I know I do :)

(Pablo took the picture of me & Willo, and of Jackie splashing)