This is the first weekend of crappy weather since we arrived a month ago. On-and-off rain, temps in the 70s, windy. I got in a run yesterday morning, during which I passed 2 local young girls (high school age) running in teeny tiny spandex shorts and cropped tops, identical, some kind of uniform, who flashed radiant smiles at me and an enthusiastic thumbs-up sign, clearly pleased to meet another runner. During the week I encounter a couple of middle aged local women who share a daily walk, and I've seen 2 other women (gringas) running later than me. I also once came across 2 guys out for a bike ride, one of them serious enough to be wearing a cycling jersey. So this was the first time I'd seen serious runners out and I was glad to have such a positive image of the local youth. More often than not, what we see is kids who should be in school but aren't, because their teachers are absent and since there are no substitute teachers, this means the kids are free to leave. The teens we see in the street during school hours, who are not in a school uniform, are teen parents, of which there are an enormous amount here. Jackie remarked the other day how many teens have kids here, and she wanted to know why they have children so young? I didn't get into a deep conversation about this as I didn't want to open up pandora's box, what with Willo in our midst, but I just told her that in many cases (most, if not all), these teen moms had moms and grandmothers who themselves had made the same choices, and they saw nothing wrong with this scenario. I told her that most likely nobody has shown them an example of another way of life, and nobody has urged them to break the cycle, so they just took what in some ways was the easiest path - but really isn't, since we know how hard it is to take care of babies and raise children.
Yesterday afternoon we helped some of the hotel staff clean up the property of trash, and then we partook in the bar-b-q they threw. I figured that would fulfill the kids' community service credits for the week, especially coupled with the beach clean-up they had done with their friends on the beach the previous day, plus I have enjoyed being a part of this resort's development. It's exciting to see it take shape, since it's the first time we've witnessed more than just Bill's stress, absence and a tour of the finished product. I also enjoy getting to know the others who have been involved in this labor of love. Building and running a hotel is certainly something that requires so much sweat & sacrifice. I can't help but wonder how today's high school and college graduates will fare in this type of industry, since they are so used to being rewarded for minor effort (if you show up, you get a trophy or a passing grade), being handed pretty much whatever they want (sorry I'm not around more as a parent, here's an iPod to make up for it), etc. I have a hard time imagining them arriving at work by 7am, staying till 8-9pm, 6-7 days a week as I've seen my friends do here.
Last night we got takeout, comida criolla (Puerto Rican food), from Mia's - a place that serves pizza and Puerto Rican home cooking (hey, why not). It was DELICIOSO. We made a mental note to take Bill's parents there when they visit this week. This will be their first time in Vieques, even though they're Puerto Rican. In fact, I don't know of any of Bill's family members who have been here - most people on the Isla Grande (main island) don't visit.
Today it was pouring rain again, so the swim I had planned with Oscar, the hotel rooms exec, who also happens to be Peru's Michael Phelps when he was a bit younger (he has a signed poster of Phelps on his office wall) and his friend who is visiting him from Baltimore, where she's in charge of Special Events and Charitable Giving for Under Armour - was canceled. We had planned to swim 1.5-2 miles, leaving from Esperanza and circling an island you can see from the Malecón area. Alas, I missed my chance to prove to them how slow but steady I am in the water. Instead, we went to the field nearby to fly kites, during a reprieve from the rain, and then we went to La Viequense for sandwiches and for a brief urban exploration, a quick visit back to the W so Bill could see how the gutters etc are holding up in all this rain, and then a visit to what we found out today is the local Blockbuster (last photo). It's a guy, Chepito, who has a surprisingly extensive collection of DVD's, and rents them out for $1.25, each additional day is an extra $1. He asks you your name and phone number and writes them down on a piece of paper. You pay when you drop them off (no credit card or any form of ID required). He even has microwaveable popcorn, candies, "limbels" (local equivalent of sno cones), drinks. I guess I don't need to contact Red Box videos after all, to see about putting in a vending machine at Morales grocery store.
A disturbing part of our day was when during our explorations, I spotted a horse on the ground in a small field that had 4-5 junk cars, and another horse tethered to an abandoned pick up truck. The downed horse wasn't moving at all and I insisted we find out if it was still alive. Bill drove the Jeep closer and what I thought was a slightly quivering leg wasn't imagined, when we saw its eyelid flutter. I called the Humane Society but got their voice mail, so then we drove round the corner and asked a woman what street we were on. I called the local police and they assured me they would get someone out to check it out, from the Humane Society. The HS here really is amazing. They have the only vet on the island, and she performs surgeries on Tuesdays, well visits (and other visits) on Wednesdays.
Tomorrow, if Rona can get a plane out of here (subject to the storm's passing), so she can visit her OB-GYN in San Juan, I will be watching 11-month-old Baby Dagan. Tuesday morning Bill's parents arrive, staying till Friday. I'll do my best to blog this week, though...
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