Observations... & then some.

Most of you know that i was in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the last week. Unfortunately it wasn’t for vacation… it was for work! Cop’er, on the other hand, came with me & HE managed to have a relaxing time. Lucky him.

While in for PR, it was impossible not to notice things, make observations, assumptions & conclusions. Now I would like to share those things with you. Buckle up.

1. Even though the temperature seemed to be a reprieve from the 100+ degrees we were having in my neck of the woods, it was not to be. With temps in the 85+ range & 100% humidity, I was actually wishing I was home to cool off! Lower temps there = deception! Even the people who live there complained about the ‘heat’ & it’s like that all the time!
2. Because of #1, I would have to say open air hotel lobbies & bars are NOT a good thing.
3. Puerto Rico is in the “Caribbean” – both location & attitude. That said, they move at a MUCH slower pace than anyone on mainland US & that includes the snail-paced people of the southern states. If you were at a restaurant & in a hurry, you would have had faster service by going into the kitchen & preparing your own meal. I have NEVER been anywhere with slower service.
4. But let’s not stop there… everywhere we went, it was SLOW—the airport, the hotel, the restaurants, the services, the response time, the attitude.
5. There were lots of homeless people in the city.
6. Puerto Rico is a territory of the US. The people are citizens, but are not allowed to vote for President. They do not pay federal taxes. But even knowing all this, I have come to the conclusion that they really aren’t part of the US. The majority speak Spanish; they drive like all the other Caribbean islands I have been to(without real rules and structure); etc.
7. The citizens of PR… they like their Crocs!
8. You can buy alcohol in the drugstores and even some fast food establishments.
9. The water at the beach of the resort was so warm it was ALMOST too warm. I thought I was working up a sweat just floating!
10. There are lots of lizard-ish things walking around… as frequent as squirrels here!
11. If you are thinking about buying rum at the duty-free shop on your way INTO PR, don’t bother. It’s not going to happen.
12. When you are leaving PR, you have to have all your bags checked by the USDA. No produce or exotic animals are allowed to be packed into your luggage. That was a first for me.
13. Cop’er & I have thought about cruising out of San Juan, but after this trip, we’ve marked that off the list of things to do. I can really say I don’t have much interest in going back. I might be southern, but I like my life a little faster paced.

I managed to take some shots of the hotel. And before you say I had time to ‘sightsee’, I’d like you to know that my sightseeing was a day and 1/2. The rest was working (long hours) or too tired to do anything. Good thing Cop’er saw enough for both of us… + we’d been there before!