Thanks, Santa

Christmas Dinner

Santa booked us a beach house on the northwest shore of the island in Rincon.  Surfers from all over the world flock to this area to get their game on.  Allie, CC, and Jon have all surfed before, but this ride is on the advanced side.  So snorkeling was the activity du jour.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  It's about 2 hours from San Juan to Rincon with 3 children and an anxious Santa in the car on Christmas day.  Patience was in short supply.  The windy journey to get there was MORE than worth it.

We arrived to our new home for 3 days greeted by what Bryce described as the most beautiful photo ever.  That was the view from our deck.  You enter the property and you are on the deck overlooking your private beach.  Each wall is actually a glass door that opens to the ocean.  So the entire west facing side of the Villa is completely open.  Breathtaking.  The kids get their snorkel gear and in no time are in the water finding fish.  This was Bryce's first time snorkeling and lucky for him he did not inherit his mother's fear of fish.  Yes, I am paralyzed with fear at the site of a guppie.  Irrational, yes, but I've learned to live with it.  Bryce loved sharing with me everything that I was missing out on while I sat on the beach in my chair.  Funny, Jon and all the kids in water, me lounging on a beach chair.  Didn't feel like I was missing anything at all.

Our Christmas dinner was a beautiful meal at a restaurant on the beach.  We watched the sun set over the water while eating calamari and drinking jalapeno margaritas.   It's not homemade raviolis and meatballs, but it was a very adequate substitute.

Bryce was up nice and early before the rest of the house, but not alone.  His new friend, a 2.5 foot iguana, on our deck bid hid good morning.  To which Bryce returned with a, "CLOSE ALL THE DOORS!"  We can only suspect from the slow pace, and clumsy gate of this large iguana that he was an elder of Rincon.  We gave him his due respect, let him alone, and he snuck himself out the front gate.  Bryce did allow us to open the doors again.

View from our deck

We spent the next day doing much of the same, enjoying the sun and sand. And on our check out day we ventured to another beach with waves crashing into rocks spraying the water up and cascading it down the sides.  There was one other noteworthy siting that I have to put in this blog, so I can remember it forever.  During broad daylight - we saw a full moon.  And it shone without shame.  I'll leave it at that.

Our drive back included a clash of cultures that resulted in the elusive parental victory.  Passing strip mall after strip mall with three 1st world "starving" children in the back; there were deafening demands for Subways.  Anyone who knows me at all, knows I am way too much of a food snob to eat at a chain restaurant lest a fast food chain.  Proud to say, I have pulled Jon into this as well.  The pressure was on as the adolescent ex-pats tried to break our resolve.  But then we found it, the road side stand selling Pinchons.  Meat on a stick.  Our lunch was served by another friendly chatty Puerto Rican (the only kind of Puerto Rican) sharing his stories of living in New Jersey, and then giving the kids candies.  And yes, it did happen.  The kids actually said, "You guys were right.  That food was really good."  Bryce commented that it was lunch and a talk show!

From Puerto Rico - get your meat on a stick and spice up your drink!

Christmas

Sorry this is sideways.  For the record, it is uploaded vertically.
Technical help is always appreciated! 

Hola! It's been a week, and a full one at that.  Let's start at the very beginning.  Getting here was no small event.  Flights on Sunday were cancelled due to an ice storm in New England. Bryce and Tina packed in a hurry and took a flight to Philly Saturday evening to get ahead of the storm.  Jon and the girls took a bus to Boston at 3am, flight to Philly, and then were on the standby list for PR from Philly.  Luckily, they got on, and our entire family was in PR by 4:30 pm.
Immediately the hospitality of PR was at our service.  I met Hector, an Airport Ambassador, here to help me find my luggage, my rental car, and give me places to visit, eat, as well as a cell phone number to call him if I need anything else.  This would be the first of many people giving their cell phone numbers, with the message to "call anytime" you need help or a recommendation.
The apartment is in historic Old San Juan. Spanish Conquistadors once roamed these streets and we are flanked by the forts.  We are also flanked by bars, restaurants, and shops, but we'll get to that in another post.  20 foot ceilings, exposed beams, arched windows, marble floors, and luckily AC units for your sleeping comfort.  It's surreal.
Getting settled for more than a vacation takes a trip to Walmart. There are 3 million people on this island, and at any given point 1 million of them are in Walmart.  Absolutely insane experience, but the reason we are all there is because Walmart delivers what it promises - everything to stock your home at prices you don't have to look at.
We got settled and it was on to Christmas.  We learned that the PRicans are a very celebratory culture.  Every day is a reason to set off fireworks and dance and sing and eat, but Christmas is a month long event from Dec - all of January.  We needed items and headed to largest mall in the Caribbean on Xmas Eve.  People were shopping like they had just begun their Xmas lists!  On a personal note, Bryce sat with Santa and told him his wishes and received some very nice compliments from Santa.  I held back the tears but my heart was on my sleeve as I watched this interaction for what may be the last time.  So special to have had it happen here.
We could not find a Christmas tree, so we made one! Our resident artist Allie cut one from wrapping paper, and we hung it on the wall.  We decorated it with lights, ornaments, and candy canes. The presents were placed by the Elves (see the video on Facebook).  Jon read the Night Before Christmas and we all went to bed.  We woke to more packages from Santa, and one bottle of sunscreen with a web address on it.  We looked it up, and discovered that Santa had rented us a beach house for 3 days.
We'll talk about that next time.

From Puerto Rico - wear your sunscreen and bring an umbrella!