Puerto Patillas, Mas

April 1, 2013

The Condado Area, San Juan

Still in Puerto Patillas.  Since last writing, Dave has had two adventures.  A week ago Wednesday, we arose early to drive Janis to the airport to begin her weeklong trip to North Carolina to visit her daughter’s family and help them settle into their new home.  After dropping her off, Dave and I drove to the beach area of San Juan and strolled down the promenade.  The north swell produced huge rollers.  Other Puerto Riquenos enjoyed the early morning on the beach and boardwalk or were walking laps at the track across the street.  An odd mixture of new modern homes and run down fixer-uppers lined the street that overlooked the ocean.  We met a modest-looking man picking up litter and walking his little Chihuahua.  Giving it my best Spanish try, I asked him for a place nearby to have breakfast.  His response was in perfect English.  I asked him how he came to speak English so well.  He said that he’d studied medicine at Georgetown University and worked at Mt. Sinai Hospital.  That’ll do it!  Obviously he was a very bright man and here he was cleaning up the street and walking his feeble though cute Chihuahua.  He told us of a place, Kasalta, where we could get a light breakfast, and by the way, President Obama had a sandwich there.  My first thought was, “Uh-oh.  Pricey.”   We walked the several blocks and found Kasalta, a sort of early 60s, kitschy bakery.  Sure enough, on the wall were Spanish and English informative posters, each with a huge photo of President Obama eating a sandwich there in 2011.  Dave had fresh-squeezed orange juice and a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.  I had a vegie omelet and cafe latte.  Both meals were basic but tasty and just a little on the pricey side. 

 

Beautiful condos in Condado with a view of the beach across the street

But that wasn’t Dave’s adventure.  We’d read that the Trapeze School New York had begun a school in San Juan.  It took a bit of sleuthing, but we found it at its temporary location next to the Coloseo (coliseum).   The school will move in May to the new location next to Pier 8 at the port.  The manager, Michael, originally from New York, signed Dave up for a class that afternoon.  We met the other teachers, Scott, Caitlyn from Reno and Dave, who was one of the founders of the school in New York.  Other than a ten-year-old boy and Dave, the class was comprised of women – mostly 30-somethings and probably well-off.  There was a trio of three generations:  the boy, his mother and his 60-ish grandmother, which was very cool.  Ample kisses were bestowed after each one’s flight.  Dave had told the teachers of his prior trapeze experience – he was skilled enough to have performed in a county fair – but that it had been about 20 years since he’d last flown.  They had him go up and watched to see what he could do.  He looked great!  Everyone clapped and cheered.  After the first flight, he swung out of the net and walked over to me sporting a grin from ear to ear, his exhilaration palpable.  He said it came back to him like riding a bike.  He went up about eight times.  Dave practiced the layout, which is when he flips his extended body, heels over head.  So smooth.  The last three flights he tried to do a catch with Dave, the catcher.  They didn’t quite complete one, but if they would have had a couple of more tries, they would have gotten it.  Dave was a little disappointed about that, but so happy to have been able to try out the trapeze again.  He’s been talking about it for years.  He’s been doing push-ups and pull-ups which probably helped to ward off injury.  Still, after a week and a half, his shoulders are a bit sore but are improving daily.  Not bad for an old man of 62. 

 

Fly, Dave, Fly!

But that’s not all, that’s not all!  Just yesterday morning, we spotted some manatees munching at the edibles on the boat hull of our Czech neighbor.  Dave donned snorkel and fins and jumped in to hopefully cavort with the fat fellows.  The water was murky, so it was difficult for him to see them unless they were very close.  I more easily spotted them standing on the bow.  “Over there!” I’d shout and point.  Our neighbor put on his snorkel and fins and jumped off his stern to join in.  It was as if the manatees were playing tag and Dave the Czech guy were “It.”  The funny thing is that the Czech guy at one point said, “What are they?”  So he’d jumped into the water to follow some huge sea creatures but he didn’t know what they were.  Need I say that single-handers are known for their daring/kooky behavior? 

 

Manatees!

The manatees proved a bit too wily for the Its who returned to their boats.  Since he was already in the water, Dave requested a scraper and brush and began cleaning our hull.  A few moments later, the curious manatees were back and swimming alongside our boat!  Perhaps they were enjoying the morsels that Dave was scraping off.  They made several passes right by Dave who brushed their backs as they went by.  He thought they seemed to like that.  Wouldn’t surprise me as they had barnacles and greenery attached to their backs not to mention the blue bottom paint from doing their own hull scraping.  Dave loved this and even shot a short video of his romp with the manatees but I'm not able to upload it now. 

 

Dave and the manatees