Dateline: Puerto Rico, Part 1

I arrived in Puerto Rico yesterday afternoon, to 91 degrees and cloudy skies, after mostly (and thankfully) uneventful travels (except a flight from Atlanta that shook more than a martini mixer!).

In all the years I've been coming in and out of this island, I've never had a taxi driver who used the meter (they just charged me a flat fee), but yesterday a young, hip-hop clothed taxi driver not only set the meter but actually charged me what it read ($14). I gave him $20 and told him to keep the change just because he'd been so honest. I figured this is the new generation of taxi drivers.

Once home with my parents, I had the pleasant surprise of seeing both of them in pretty good shape, and my mom had even bought these beautiful yellow roses as a welcoming present for me.

Today, my mom and I both went to get our hair done because tomorrow my father and I participate together in a panel on postcolonial studies at the university where all three of us have taught. I actually taught my first class there, an Introduction to Journalism, in 1995 or 1996 while my mom taught there for 20 years and my dad taught a seminar on cultural studies a few years ago.

The university is on a beautiful campus of what used to be a sugar central, and some of the old, wood, plantation-style homes are still standing and now house administration offices. It struck me yesterday that this might just be the right place to spend my junior leave in 2011, especially since this panel tomorrow is in anticipation of their inaugurating the first cultural studies program on the island.

In less academic pursuits, today I also went to my favorite rotisserie chicken place, the famous Fuentes, and picked up half a chicken, batata and amarillo dulce and my mom and I had a very nice dinner. For my dad, I picked up his favorite at the panadería, the powdered sugar-coated mallorcas, and our favored pan de agua.

While having dinner in the kitchen with my mom (while my dad watched his news shows de rigor), I noticed the centerpiece with Puerto Rican guineos and mangós and decided to take a picture, since they represent so well the contrasts and flavors and textures and beauty of my island.