I Make Up with the A5

First off, a correction. In a previous post, I talked about the hyper-expensive-to-run, super-regulated, German public transportation system, and about the no-cost-to-the-state, capitalism-run-wild Darwinian public transport system of Ecuador. I said of them, "Both will get you where you want to go, and fast. One is smelly, though."

The correction:

They're both smelly.

But speaking of buses: Armed with a confidence in the knowledge we'd built up of our surroundings - the bus routes, of course, but also the general layout of the city, and all the tidbits we'd picked up in the little guide book I bought at Plaza Las Americas the other day - we decided to find a New Beach today, and took the everpresent A5 bus out to a public beach called Escambron. From what we understood, it had public showers and bathrooms, and readily available fast food options for lunch. And it was also part of a large public park complex, where the kids might actually be able to cavort on land for once. We were filled with excitement.

But first we had to take care of a few things. I walked to U-Save Car Rental and reserved us a car for Monday. We will hit the road at that point - the only question is where. Janneke really wants to see Ponce, and I'm itching for some south coast action myself, as there's a weird semi-desert ecosystem there that's unique in the world. In addition to the highlands. I don't really know why, but the interior of the island is fascinating to me. Of course, I've never been, but there's a town that's called the Switzerland of Puerto Rico because it's always cool there, and there's much less gringo influence in the culture. But the biggest attraction is certainly El Yunque, the big national forest in Puerto Rico. I have to see about booking us a tour tomorrow - that may be Day Trip #1.

After booking the car and doing some other errands (I brought the EBCRD along and made good use of it), and after sitting in on some puppet shows that Quinn and Tess were putting on for each other over the backs of the sofas, we scraped together our quarters and nickels for bus fare and hit the road. Got the world's best bus driver on the way out - Doesn't pound on the brakes and make everyone who's standing fly around and tear their shoulders out of joint; gives fantastic walking directions from the bus stop over to the beach; and refuses to just go around people who are illegally double parked for their own convenience - of whom we saw three in one block - but rather pulls up behind them and honks, gently somehow, until they get out of the way. Doing his part to make Puerto Rico a better place. Though it's a pretty darn nice one already. Janneke complimented him like mad on her way out the door, and he laughed and thanked her. Quinn, who hadn't heard Mami talking to the driver and couldn't have noticed all the little things he did while driving, independently remarked as we got out, "He's a really nice man." Must have liked his face - he's got a good eye for people, I think.

The new beach was totally waveless, and the kids went bananas. Quinn swam more, and more competently, than ever before. He had tubes in his ears for years when he was little, so he was late getting accustomed to the water, but he was breaking personal records for distance swimming underwater today. And all those personal records were minutes old, because before today he'd never done it. Janneke taught him to float on his back, something he used to be deathly afraid to do, and he delighted in pointing out when he was swimming in areas where he couldn't touch bottom, something he used to also be very scared of. Tess, meanwhile, wearing her anti-tickling suit, floated like a cork, and managed to keep herself upright after only a few seconds of insecurity. Then she tooled around like a pro, arms and legs going constantly to stabilize and motivate herself. No ear trouble for her, so she's going to be a fish much earlier. It was a real blast, and went on for hours. One exciting thing is that Quinn's new lack of fear of going under the water may lead to him enjoying snorkeling, of which there is a lot to be had around here. It makes me giddy to think about it, what with his nature fascination these days.

Janneke walked to Subway and brought back lunch, and after another hour or two in the water, we clambered out, showered, and went looking for the kiddie park. Couldn't find it, so we headed back toward the bus stop. And then we found it. Beautiful, clean, well-maintained park, filled with playground equipment that has that fancy, space-age rubber bedding so the kids can fall off the monkey bars onto their heads and bounce onto their feet and laugh about it, and where, Janneke learned from the folks who work the stores, there's 24-hour security. AND where, as Janneke then found out for herself, there are...you aren't going to believe it...clean bathrooms. And I don't say that because we're in Puerto Rico - restaurant bathrooms here are, if anything, cleaner than back at home. I say it because it's a public park. And public park bathrooms stink. But not this one - Generally, as I said, Puerto Rican bathrooms earn top marks. (Though the bathroom in Pueblo, the supermarket, is straight out of Bangalore. I think I even found a bag of pot in there! Though I can't be sure. Could have been a teeny, tiny, ziplocked bag of some condiment or other.)

On the busride home, a woman asked us where we were from, with our little blonde kids who speak with an Argentine accent but toss in English words every so often. And in explaining ourselves, it came out that Janneke teaches Russian. Another woman there told us that she was of a Russian family - that her grandfather was Russian, had been blacklisted in the States, and had worked as a political satirist. She said she has a whole collection of his cartoons that she's been trying to find an outlet for. Janneke took down her info - she got off at our stop, and lives about a block and a half away. Could be an interesting thing to look into - we'll keep you posted!

As I climbed down off the A5, I noticed it was studiously not looking in our direction. I paused before stepping onto the sidewalk, and there was an awkward silence. The airbrakes puffed; in the distance, a dog barked. Finally, I said, "Hey, man, I'm sorry. I misjudged you. You're a pretty cool route, once a body gets to know you." The bus didn't respond, but I saw its chin start to quiver. I jumped down. Just as the door started to close, I said "So, anyway, we're thinking about trying a beach over in Isla Verde tomorrow...You go that way, by any chance?" Its eyes widened, and it looked at me through a fogged-up windshield. "Yeah," it said. "I go that way." It smiled broadly, blinked away a tear, closed its door, and rolled off. Love that bus.

Supper of leftovers, more puppet shows, and then to bed. I didn't get to sleep until 2:00 last night - no real reason, just couldn't sleep. So I'm hittin' the hay early. Enjoy the pitchers!




Tess' puppet show. There's no sound, but basically, it was a
satire about hermeneutics in feminist literary thought.



The new beach. Janneke took this picture, by the way. So the
placement of the bikini-clad women is not my doing.



Get used to this sort of relationship with women, Quinn.
This is pretty much how it goes from here on out.



Tess swims.



Tess learns to pump as she swings.