C/Kats and participant: Cristian!
As mentioned in my previous post, we had three sessions back-to-back on Thursday. Compared to Monday (the same schedule but an hour earlier), the wind was very strong and with the windows open and fans on, we were much more comfortable. We had a fun bunch of participants that day and enjoyed talking with all three pairs after each of their sessions. One of the participants in our third pair of the day said his preferred language and the one he uses most often is English, and we talked about the implications of that. We chatted about the internet and that sort of thing and had a great conversation while waiting for his partner to arrive.
I really haven’t talked about the participants much (maybe because of the privacy rules) but we’ve had an interesting time talking with the students who come to participate in the study. We’ve gotten history lessons, heard about all the best places for night life, and learned about the school systems and living situations here. It’s been quite informative, but I still really want to visit the on-campus art and history museum the next chance I get.
Cat and I went to a reallly laid-back bar/restaurant on Friday night. The kitchen had already closed by the time we showed up, but the guy behind the bar counter said he would be able to get us an order of wings if we liked. We got an order of 10 wings and ordered matching drinks, both with passion fruit juice (mine was just passion fruit juice). It was a bit loud, but otherwise rather comfortable, and the wings were tasty. 🍗
On Saturday, a local friend of Cat’s from Penn State offered to take us hiking at Gozalandia. Unfortunately, the weather was foreboding and we didn’t want to drive two hours to find a current with a rain power-up, so we went with our next option: paddle boarding in Condado Lagoon! Next to the kayak and paddle boarding rental was what looked like a small racetrack with chairs lined up along the edges. We asked the rental place what it was and they said San Juan Modo, a yearly fashion show, would be held there that evening. Paddle boarding was a lot of fun, although the sea was a bit choppy with the wind, and I think I saw a turtle for a few seconds! The beach we paddled to had full, unbroken tiny shells and we hung out in the shallow water for a while, enjoying an alternation of cold and warm waves sent by the current, before paddling back. The way back was a lot tougher as the wind was now against us, and I almost tipped over once when I stopped paying attention to my balance for a moment, but I made it. 🏄♀️
We also saw two iguanas (or the same iguana twice?), one which was standing in the road and then crawled to hide under the storm drain, and one which jumped from the sidewalk into a tree when a person walked by!
On Sunday I had planned to go to the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, but it turned out to be closed due to it being Father’s Day. We went to Condado anyways for breakfast, where we sat at the bar and got to watch a real car race (in Montréal) on the TV in front of us. Afterwards, Cat walked from there to the beach and I called an Uber to head back home. While waiting, I enjoyed the light rain and realized I hadn’t visited that area of the city before. I’ll have to go back before we leave. I had a great conversation with the Uber driver on the way home, using Spanish the whole time and talking about why I was in San Juan and what I liked about Puerto Rico. I learned a few new words and was reminded of some I’d already known: tormenta – storm; pecas – freckles; antojo – craving.
Can-can pork chop 🐙
allll fat 🐷
That night, I ordered the can-can pork chop (or chuleta kan kan) that I’d seen so many times in pictures but never on my plate. It was HUGE and mostly fat, but super tasty. It was so big they had to bend it in the middle so it would fit in the box. It looked like an octopus tentacle with the way it was cut on the edges! I also ordered plátanos maduros (or amarillos), the craving I’d mentioned to the Uber driver. 🤤
Just two weeks left! I look forward to the rest of our sessions.
rainy Sunday morning 🌧
big blue sky at 6:55 🌠
pink-rimmed clouds at 7:00 🫧