February 8th SAN JUAN (2nd day)

Thursday, February 8^th

I kind of slept in, but that means 9am. I was taking a shower when I noticed tons of tiny red spots on my arms and legs. None of them itched, maybe one or two at the most. I kind of freaked, at first thought it was ticks or bed bugs.

Priya and I came to the conclusion that it might have been bugs from the night before since I had been outside at night. But then it was kind of weird since they didn’t really itch and they seemed to kind of spread. Allergic reaction??? I had never had one before and couldn’t think of anything I would’ve reacted to. Hmmm… We’ll figure it out.

So Priya and I headed out to Viejo San Juan again (Old San Juan). It was scorching heat again, but the shades and breezes were nice so we managed.

We just sort of walked around trying to find something interesting. We had seen tons of ice cream vendors and they all had 3 flavors: coco, pina, and parcha. We really wanted to know what this parcha thing was so we went into an ice cream place. Turns out parcha is passion fruit. So we had a nice sour frozen yogurt break.

Then Priya had to leave to go on her rainforest hike, so I was alone in San Juan.

I walked around a bit, went into some clothing and jewelry stores, and attempted to talk to some people. The people are very smiley here. I walked into a small, privately owned bookstore and asked the owner there what CD was most popular in Puerto Rico now. He showed me some salsa and reggaeton CDs and I ended up getting a reggaton CD that was a compilation of different artists.

For lunch I went into this café we had seen that said “authentic Puerto Rican café”. It was kind of a dim, narrow, hole-ish place. You just line up and tell them what you want, like the food courts in the mall. I tried to talk to them in Spanish, but I obviously stuck out and they started talking to me in English. Damn it. So I got crispy chicken, rice, beans and FRIED PLANTAINS! Haha. I’m obsessed.

The place started getting a bit crowded with locals. It was definitely full of workers on their lunch break. I felt like I got a good feel for the non-touristy part of the culture.

After eating, I really wanted to go to a mall like place where more locals hang out. So I went to the tourist information office. There, I was greeted by a man in his late 40s who asked me if I was Chinese or Japanese. When I told him I was Japanese, he got really excited and started to tell me that he had been in Japan for 2 weeks a few years ago. He had been dating this lady and he really really liked it there. He still remembered the name of every single city he had visited which was pretty amazing, since Japanese names aren’t the easiest things to remember. But then there was this really awkward moment when he started to talk about how his ex-girlfriend told him that people from Okinawa (the most southern island of Japan that have their own culture) were really different from the mainland population, and proceeded to ask me if their penises were different. WHAT THE HELL!! Luckily I was rescued by another lady that was working there who swatted him and told him to shut up. So that was that and I thanked them and left for the bus terminal.

On the way, I stopped by this boutique and found a shelf full of spices and sauces that were made in Puerto Rico. I got a bottle of mango pepper sauce. Yay, it made me excited.

The bus was a nice break from the heat. And it only costs 50 cents to get off anywhere. It was full of locals with some tourists here and there.

I was going to take this bus to Las Plazas de Americas, the biggest mall around. The ride turned out to be close to an hour with all the stops and traffic. It was really nice though, since I got to see a lot of the new San Juan as opposed to the Old San Juan we had spent the last day and a half in. The bus passed by a lot of schools and picked up kids. They all had uniforms on and not matter how big, tall, short, they were all so cute and charming because of their genuine energy and sincere smiles.

I saw two girls who were about 8 or 9, who had on uniforms that said academy of ballet and something. I also passed by a school that said musical academy. They were all elementary through high school level, it seemed, so that was interesting. There seems to be lots of specialized schools here.

When I got to the mall, the first things I saw were a Verizon wireless, Charlotte Russe and an American Eagle Outfitters. It was really funny. Almost every single store was identical to the ones that were in Hawthorne Mall or Woodfield back in Chi-town. They even had a Macy’s, Sear, and JC Penny at the ends. The prices were pretty much the same too. I have to note though, that there was no Abercrombie and Fitch or a Hollister. They even had the hat store Lids, but it was funny because the ones in the States would be filled with hats of baseball or football teams while the one here were just hats by sporting brands like Nike or Adidas. There were tons of students in their uniforms, which kind of reminded me of Japan and how students are always out and about wasting time after school. Only now these Japanese students seemed to be in a mall in America. Weird combination.

The biggest thing that was obviously different was that there were absolutely no Asians whatsoever. There were Caucasians here and there, but no Indians, no Koreans, no Japanese. I got more stares than I had in quite a long time. Every single person would do a double take, if not staring at me forever. It’s been an interesting experience. I don’t feel threatened or anything though. It just makes me feel like I have an even bigger responsibility of representing “my people”.

The people also seem to know each other pretty well. That and the fact that it’s really easy to get around places really makes me feel that this is a small island country, much more so than Japan.

I left the mall feeling pretty pleased, less touristy, and with a pair of partying sandals I got for $30. I definitely need a pair to scope out some party scenes.

The bus ride back was kind of exhausting. The weight of the day had begun to sink in and I felt myself nodding off at times. It was interesting how there is a sign in the bus telling passengers to not make small talk with the driver (probably so that thy won’t get into an accident) but this driver was like a comedian, chatting and laughing away with the passengers. The driving here by the way is crazy. Although I never really felt scared or threatened, I constantly lean out of my chair to see for myself that the bus didn’t actually squish the tiny little sports car, or the old lady walking.

I got off at the stop that seemed close enough to the ship, found out that it was indeed a 3 minute walk back, and felt satisfied with my knowledge of San Juan. I was definitely sweaty and exhausted, but it was a good day.