island of dreams (house, to buy, movie theaters)

[mym]

in a week, i will return to the island of my dreams. of my memories. where i am just a boy and my father still lives. where the rain falls hard on corrugated roofs and the thunder shakes the screen door. where the beach and the patio invites. where the trees and the nights are music.

[unPescador]

Palabras en un pincel. Maravilloso, gracias.

[chacho_keva]

Originally Posted by mym

in a week, i will return to the island of my dreams. of my memories. where i am just a boy and my father still lives. where the rain falls hard on corrugated roofs and the thunder shakes the screen door. where the beach and the patio invites. where the trees and the nights are music.

Your words conjure fond memories of when we lived there. I revisit those memories often.

Thank you for sharing.

BTW, tried to Rep you, but the CD gods are not allowing it today.

[chacho_keva]

I've previously described one of my fondest memories about growing up in Puerto Rico in this forum. Please bear with me if it sounds repetitive.

I took up jogging in the mid 70's as a teenager. Once my endurance increased, I began jogging to Playa Cerro Gordo Vega Alta, some 7 miles away from my home.

Every now and then, I'd get up on Sunday mornings before my parents, have a quick breakfast and hunt for lose change around the house. I only needed $1.50 to buy something to eat upon arriving at Cerro Gordo.

Once a few coins were in my pocket, I'd begin my daylong trip to the beach. I'd jog along Carretera #2, through Barrio Sabana Hoyos,into Barrio Breñas where there was a long stretch of Flamboyan trees which covered most of the road. That shade on the road dropped the temperature by several degrees immediately. Un fresquito mas bueno que siempre se sentia en aquel estrecho de carretera.

Upon arriving at Cerro Gordo, I always did the same exact thing: Sit beneath the shade of a palm tree for as much as 20 minutes to gaze at and listen to the lazy beach waves. I'd then go to the only nearby store, buy one pastelillo and a can of Corona beer. After eating, I'd go for a good swim in the calm warm waters. Once out of the water, there was always someone familiar to talk with.

By 3pm, it was time to go home. I'd walk back. But the walk was always short because someone always stopped to offer a ride. I'd arrive home where my mom would have dinner ready. Even though I'd been gone all day, my parents never asked where I was, what I had done. They knew where I had been. Best of all, they had little reason to worry about something bad happening to their child.

What beautiful days those were.

[Oramasfella]

Island of dreams...reality of nightmares (in 2017, unfortunately).

[mr.magoo]

Mym and Chaco-keva..wonderful thoughts and great story.

Not bragging but just comparing, I've pretty much traveled to a lot of places..Hitch hiked through Western Europe, down to Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia North Africa..Visted every state in the US except, alaska, and alabama, been all over Canada, BC to the Maritimes..
I am like what they say about Horse Sh*t ..everywhere

I am lucky to have a brother on Oahu, and an Uncle in Kauai'i so I got to go there, and Maui and Molokai.
I loved every place I have traveled..

In 1997 I got to go to Puerto Rico with my fiancé and my future FIL .my future MIL was already there visiting her mother, who was 98 at the time in Ponce.
My FIL took us through the backroads and shortcuts...me driving the rental.

when we got to Ponce, fires were burning in the hills, water was being turned off during hours of the day..
The fan in our room made a tick tick sound all night, put me to sleep....I woke up to the sound of a horse clopping up the street.
My MIL been diagnosed with terminal cancer and this would be her final trip there.

We hung around Ponce visiting, for a few days then we all piled in the car and drive up to Vega Baja to visit my FILs brothers and sisters..8 of them who all live on the same street.., we spent a couple of days there, went back to Ponce, hung out for a bit more, then I had my 'to see list' ..from a travel book i bought.

My wife and I drove to Salinas, then to Lajas, San German, Cabo Rojo, Boquerón, Mayaquez, Rincón, Aguada, Aguadillia, Arecibo, back to Old San Juan, down to Rio Grande, Loiza, Luquillo, Humacao, spending a few days and nights, mostly staying at Paradors..after two and 1/2 weeks, we went back to Ponce..for another 3 days..

I loved traveling around with my wife, because most places were new to her too..she mainly went back to PR to attend college and visit familia..

My favorite part was listening to my Wifes family 'talk story' , cook wonderful comidas, show me places only the locals know, having her dad show me how to open a coconut with a machete..etc..showing me the different fruit trees, the root vegetables, the flowers, iguanas, and identify all the things that crawl or fly in the backyards...
The local names for everything..where you could buy cervaza in a little store..
It was the very best Vacation of my whole life..within a year, my MIL was gone, and five other people I had met in PR were gone too.

I went back one or two times a year every year since 1997, a few years back we bought a place in Rincon,
I love it there, this last two years with all that is going on in PR, I am wondering if we made the right choice..

I truly love the lovely Isla of Puerto Rico and I love the people even more.
Once you visit it becomes a part of your blood and soul.

sorry for the long saga.

[mym]

our first house was an old cabin that formed part of a small resort outside mayaguez. this was the early early 80s and the downturn hadnt gotten us yet. the tuna canneries were open and the city was alive. cars with loudspeakers drove through the tight city blocks - aprovechate! zapatos la gloria! and on every other corner there'd be an ancianito selling panadol.

every store front was taken. every possible thing you could buy. pollitos, school books, communion dresses. everybody went to rex cream for corn icecream. we had movie theaters in town. small affairs that showed one movie at a time.

we went snorkeling in buye and body surfing at sandy's. breakfast bbqs at steps.

but i grew up in el campo. tracking down pumarosa trees that grew by el rio. there is a guama tree down the hill from me towards the quebrada. it is a huge tree standing alone in a clearing. it has long yellow like beans that you open up to find a mossy covered nut. you eat the moss. kinda lika a quenepa. i knew every mango pina tree. everybody knew every mango pina tree. i know the charcos you can dive head first in. theres a little waterfall, only a foot. but you can stick your head behind it and be dry.

we'd play with gallitos at school.

i lived above colmados and next to colmados. early 80s salsa and merengue. wifredo vargas, bonny cepeda all day long.
aqui no se fia
no se habla de politica ni religion


on the corner we'd play basketball. miss the backboard and it was you that had to go down the hill to find the ball...

[mym]

if you are looking for hacienda ruins - look for palmas royales.

[mr.magoo]

@mym..I just read your post/story about Mayaguez to mi esposa...

she said her Tío worked at a Tuna cannery in Mayaguez..she was staying with them in Ponce (Urb. Jaime Drew) while attending College..he would leave for work before dawn, get picked up by a neighbor...
when he got home he always had a few cans of tuna for her.

[mr.magoo]

thinking the same thing as Chaco..

wassup, Sunscape ?

Inquiring minds that keep 'US Territories' alive on CD want to know..

If we all leave...you and this site will be stuck alone with Hellion....