Puerto Rico - Day 5

Great news hip hoppers!  It seems that I am finally settled in sleep wise!  I am happy to report that I was up at 7:30am…I was hoping that I was up before my grandmother but alas I stepped outside my room and saw her sitting in her recliner, dressed, with her newspaper in hand squinting at each page as if she were surveying and scrutinizing each article.  As soon as I got up I headed to the front porch to complete something that had been bothering me from the night before.  Last night while I successfully updated my blog, I was unable to successfully post a video to it.  This morning, I figured it out! 

Let me just take a moment to say that I am in the midst of what I like to call technology purgatory.  Its not necessarily full fledge hell, but it sure ain’t heaven either!  Verizon abandoned Puerto Rico about a year or two ago and since then a company called Claro has pretty much taken over.  Now, I am a Verizon customer and always have been since I purchased my first cell back in ’99.  That being said, I came prepared to have certain service issues but also took a few precautionary measures before coming out here.  One of those measures was purchasing Tether for my Blackberry.  This application allows me to use my cell phone to gain access to the Internet via my laptop.  So, as long as I have cell service, I have Internet service.  But remember, my cell service is pretty shotty.  Initially, I was connecting my phone to my computer via a USB cable thinking that a direct link between the two would be my best shot.  I was SO wrong!  Last night/this morning I discovered the wonders of Bluetooth technology!  I may be years late but I don’t care I am celebrating like they just rolled this baby off the factory line!  I figured out how to sync my phone to my laptop so now, sending files like pictures and videos happens in a snap!  The phone and the laptop like literally ‘talk’ to each other.  Transferring those files was so easy that I decided to try to use my Tether app via Bluetooth and I am now streaming the Internet like I’m in a cyber café! Of course, I still rely on the strength of my signal, so the best place to be is on my grandma’s front porch…but since the weather is so nice, I really don’t mind it!  Ok so that is my tech geek moment for the day.

Moving on, I made note yesterday of my trepidation regarding waiving the insurance on my rental car.  I waived it because my father had told me last time I was out here that if I am using my credit card, I should have insurance coverage.  For some reason though I had this nagging feeling that I needed to look into that further.  So, this morning I got on the phone and found out that although my dad was right and I was covered under my card, I still needed to purchase liability coverage through my rental company.  Nope, I couldn’t just add it on over the phone.  Yep, I had to drive back to the airport in order to handle that and so …it was time for another Misha/Mama adventure!  This time, we decided to take our trusty mascot Max (Mama’s yorkie who is her little prince)….so really it was a Misha/Mama/Max adventure (M³ )!

Today’s adventure consisted of Mama mostly giving me car advice.  Its painfully apparent she wants to ride in style.  She wants nothing less than a year 2000 and she really wants me to purchase from a dealer.  She says people aren’t how they use to be and she’d prefer that I have a place I can go to if I run into any problems with the car rather than purchasing it from a person off the street.  One thing about Puerto Rico, man, there are cars for sale on the side of every roadway!  So, its not that there is a shortage of cars to choose from, its just deciding what, from who and at what cost.  I promised her I’d try to make a purchase this week as she has offered to help me out a bit.

Arepas

Also, on our way to the airport I mentioned I was a bit hungry (yes, again) but I had good reason…this morning I cut up a few apples and bananas for the two of us and paired it with a piece of pan de tetita and some cream cheese.  Then, I went for a run in the sun just around high noon.  So, by the time 2/3pm came around I was ready for a little somethin’ somethin’!  She then told me about this new phenomenon of side road treats called arepas.  Apparently Venezuelans and Columbians are setting up shop in PR and making a killing off their street trucks selling arepas!  Arepas are like a sandwich except instead of bread, it’s like a corn meal patty and then meat and cheese are inserted in the middle.  Mama spoke about them like they were the best thing since slice bread so as soon as I saw one, I pulled over.  It was a nice break from the monotony of driving for 45 minutes straight and gave Max an opportunity to take a little walk.  Well, let me tell you, first the arepa was just ok.  Mama tried it and agreed.  She says the Venezuelan truck near the mall puts way more meat and cheese in theirs and just tastes better (I stopped at a Columbian truck).  Second, I thought I was going to be caught smack in the middle of a dog fight today!   Let me explain…

So, we go to get out the car  and walk to the arepa stand when Mama hands me Max and says "Let him out on your side."  Max was giving me a problem and would not move from my seat so I had to force him out the car.  As soon as I did that I turn to my right and there is a medium/large sized black dog right there…ready to sniff Max.  About 17 different things ran through my head at that moment and they went a little something like this:

Oh shit! Where did this dog come from?  Oh no he’s gonna bite me!  Oh my goodness he’s gonna go for Max any minute now…oh shit!  If he gets Max my grandmother will never forgive me!  Ahhh!  Yell, stomp, yell at the dog Michelle! “Get out of here! AYE!!!” He’s not moving, oh no Max is barking now!  Save him Misha, save Max!  Save yourself! Oh no what if he has a disease!! (I just realized maybe the dog didn’t move because he didn’t speak English LOL)

Meanwhile my grandmother is sitting there cool as a cucumber telling me to just pick Max up and throw him in the car.  Now, if any of you know me, you know that me being caught between two dogs…one I have to physically pick up and the other I have to try to shoo away…well, that was an internal struggle like no other.  I’m happy to report that I am still here though.  Alive and well, yet as I type I am avoiding eye contact with my grandmother’s kinda pet cat (she keeps it in a sectioned off part of the house where it, thankfully, never interacts with us).  That fat thing is scary looking, especially at 12:30am on a lonely block in a very quite Puerto Rican neighborhood.

Ok, I got church tomorrow…see yall on the flip side!