Part One: Bienvenidos a Puerto Rico
Pictures are here

I never went hungry a day that I was there. We visited Grandmother every night to eat. That is their custom. I am not complaining, though, as Grandmother can COOK. I have never had rice that looked like pearls until I had hers. It was perfect. Not too salty, not too grainy, not too moist…just perfect. I had to have two plates every time, even if I had just eaten. I could definitely see myself gaining another ten pounds under her roof.

Every day there was something to do. Monday we went to La Guancha. There is a playground, boardwalk, beach, and plenty of bars there. We went in the afternoon so the baby could play. We were able to go shopping and see the sites of the square at dusk later on, since Grandmother lives right down the block from the center of town.

Wednesday we went to the mall in Ponce to do a little shopping and maybe see a movie. The movie we wanted to watch was only in Spanish there, so we decided to wait a little while and go to the other movie house to watch it in English. The kid got 3 toys for himself while we were there, so he was happy. While we waited, hubby decided to visit his old neighborhood and the corner shop there. He told me stories of his childhood, the mean dog next door, and the great times he had living in PR.

After getting snacks at the corner store we were off. We saw Spiderman 3 with Spanish subtitles and my son popped out of the seat exclaiming “This was the best movie ever!” and “Cool!”. He couldn’t stop talking about it.

Thursday, we decided to hit “la playa” *the beach* in Guanica. They call it La Caña Gorda. It was a long ride up the side of a mountain and down again, but so worth it when we got there. The water was WARM even though it was salt. There was a great breeze the whole time we were there. The kid got to make sand castles and swim with his father for most of the time we were there. He had so much fun he didn’t want to leave. They have a weird peanut looking fruit called a Tamarinda that is native to the island. It grows on the trees and is so sour, but so gooey and good. It smells like a prune when you first open the sheath. We took some for the road.

On the way back, we had dinner at Gaby’s World. Their food was expensive, but oh so delicious. Even though we all ate there (including Grandmother), she still went home to cook! I got to speak to her more at the table, even though everyone was laughing that I was so nervous to speak with her in Spanish. She replied “I am not nervous when you speak to me!” We all had a good belly laugh over that one, then I relaxed some more. She is a true heart. I know I have found another grandmother in her.

BY THE WAY
I looked on my memory card from the video camera. Low and behold, the videos and pictures WERE NOT lost! Here are the 3 sky pictures. I still haven’t edited the videos as of right now:

The last 2 days coming soon.