Priorities

I struggled with whether or not to write a post about this. But then I got all ornery and thought, "It's my blog, and I'll write what I want to!"

Jon and I were in Pueblo the other day. Pueblo is the Hannaford of Puerto Rico, and as a foodie I could not have been more thrilled to find it! While we were there in the household items aisle, I stepped on a scale.  Let me explain....  I am not a scale junkie, and I actually weigh more than people guess due to the fact that there is a lot of muscle on this petite frame.  I take more stock in how my clothes fit and what my energy level is.  Having said that, I do think under these circumstances the scale can be a good gut check.

"These circumstances"

Don't get me wrong, I am loving Puerto Rico, however, these are not a health conscience people.  The diet is predominantly carbs - like overwhelmingly.  From bread, to rice, to fruit, to sweet sweet sweet treats - everywhere.  I am living in a city that offers everything in walking distance and the closest gym is a drive. As much as the Puerto Ricans love to be outside, it's overwhelmingly recreational.  Ok.  Do we have the picture?

Before I proceed, I will say once more - I am loving Puerto Rico and the wonderful, kind people, however, fitness, for so many reasons, is a priority in my life.  I have an active job, an autoimmune disorder that is managed through diet and exercise, and I'm vain!

Back to the scale.  Jon and I both got on, and were both thrilled with the #.  I had not gained or lost a thing, neither had he.  It made me so proud of our choices.  After three weeks here, I have maintained a balance between eating out indulgences and cooking on a regular basis for our family.  Proteins and vegetables.  Jon and I have also maintained our workout regimen.  Total investment of $15 for a yoga mat and a resistance band.  Jon runs regularly enjoying the scenic views of the city and the water.  I have mapped out a two mile walk to the beach, I work out when I get there, jump in the water, and walk home.  Using a combination of purchased items, trees for wall squats, rocks for various exercises, chairs, and other structures, I get in a full body workout three times a week.

Box jumps

Dips

You name it! Curls, Flies, Rows, Shoulder Presses, Squats

Anyone who knows me, knows I preach about diet and exercise.  This blog post is to let you know I practice what I preach.  I want to be a good role model to my kids and to my students.  And if I didn't "walk the walk", I couldn't have climbed those waterfalls, or hiked the rain forest, or played football at the beach with Bryce, or carried my groceries up the San Franciso-esque hill where our apartment resides.  Because of diet and exercise, I am going to be able to take in all that travel has to offer and create memories with my family all while looking pretty darn good in a bikini!!

The View at my gym.

From Puerto Rico - #solutionsoverexcuses

"Oh Sh(bleeeeeeep)t!" - Allie Swaney

Coming to Puerto Rico from late Dec - late Feb, means you get to celebrate many holidays in the land where Tuesday is a reason to party.  Puerto Ricans love festivals and parties and celebrating.  You would think New Year's would be a blowout, and it is in one regard and not in another.  New Year's Eve is not a night to go out and hit the bars and make a fool of yourself here in Puerto Rico.  Here it is a night for family.  As you walk the streets many homes are filled with the sounds of large families eating, singing, dancing, and laughing.  People are dressed up and the settings are elegant, but they are intimate and private.

We dressed up, grabbed a bottle of champagne, and decided to head out. Just as we exited our apartment and hit the street, Allie got her first opportunity to scream the expletive that is the title of this blog.  Puerto Ricans love fireworks, and they will set them off anywhere.  I mean anywhere, as in the car parked next to our apartment as a launching pad.  And the car next to that, and the top of the apartment, etc. etc.  Explosives and shrapnel in all directions gave us beautiful fireworks, and Allie's outbursts, as entertainment.

We headed to Paseo de la Princesa.  And yes, it is as magical as the name sounds.  A long lane covered by beautiful trees and decorated with holiday lights leads you to the fountain and up another lane to a gigantic tree covered in Spanish moss that we have named "The Tree of Life".  We walked out to the end of the pier overlooking the bay.  Champagne poured, countdown clock ticking on the iphone, we exclaimed, "10, 9, 8...."  when the year changed, Allie exclaimed once again as fireworks exploded overhead and across the bay.  It was spectacular as the sky filled with color.

It wouldn't be Puerto Rico without rain, and the heaven's did open up.  We stood under La Puerta de San Juan and waited for it to pass.  When we emerged, we wished Feliz Ano Nuevo to many people with their doors, windows, and hearts open to a new year.

From Puerto Rico - a sparkler isn't going to cut it!

We're Going UP the Waterfall?

Our trip to Rincon ended, and we headed back to the apartment.  As we lay our heads to sleep, we were sure to set an alarm.  We needed to be up early in clothes that could get wet in order to catch a shuttle to our Rocaliza adventure.  This half day excursion was our Christmas Gift from Nanny and Papa John Swaney.  There are many adventure trips here on Puerto Rico, and Nanny did her research.  She found us a half day trip that took children as young as 9.  This piece of information, led me to falsely believe, and comfort the kids with the notion that this was an easy little adventure for tourists.  Not at all.

Picked up in a large passenger van with two other groups of tourists, a 45 minute drive takes you into the Carite Rain Forest in Caguas.  The tour guides are lively, funny, patriotic gents eager to scare you with stories of snakes falling from trees and aggressive river swimming (all for show), and delight you with stories of the beauty of their home country.

We arrive and you are geared up with a harness and helmet, and told that everything you bring needs to be in a dry bag or leave it in the van.  The hike is intense in the most awesome way.  Mostly vertical, you are climbing UP, yes I said "UP" waterfalls.  Guides in the front and the back manage the ropes system as the hike takes you through the river.  It was no joke.  People fell.  And when I say people, I mean all of us.  We have the bruises and the sore legs and ankles to show for it.  But none of us would have ever turned back.  It was so cool.  The guides are helping you along through hand holds and footholds that you cannot see under the rushing water.  Every time you scale another waterfall you ascend onto another photo worthy plateau.

It was really cool for Jon and I to demand such strength, flexibility, and agility from our somewhat aging bodies.  But what I enjoyed most was watching the kids.  They were by far the youngest of the group, and by far the most capable.  I watched grown adults shake as they pulled themselves up the ropes, and my kids climb like monkeys, fearlessly (well, somewhat fearlessly) up these treacherous rocks.

The hike ends with a triple dose of awesomeness.  1 - you hike into the largest waterfall with a gorgeous, drinkable!! fresh water pool. 2 - you get down the mountain via three sets of zip lines. 3 - at the end of your journey, you have a home cooked meal of chicken, rice and beans, empenadas, and flan.  And you can exercise your option to purchase sangria and coquito.  Which we did.

From Puerto Rico - tourist or not - you're climbing!

About the photos - only after starting this blog, did I realize that pics must be landscape to upload.  Having been taking plenty of landscape photos for future blogs.  Thank for your patience!

These are links from the tour company and an independent review.
Rocaliza Adventure Tours
Puerto Rico Day Trips

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!