Shades of Ex-Pat

I recently returned from a stay on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques - a brief and relaxing stay in one of the most lovely and uncrowded beach destinations in the Carribean. I recognize the irony in being happy that I enjoyed such an unspoiled*, uncrowded beach.


Vieques seemed to have a moderate sized gringo ex-pat community. One of the transplants we got to chat with a bit had relocated from Key West a couple years ago when it became too commercial and overrun. She was looking for the next undiscovered, extremely laid back tropical home, and found it in Isabel II, the larger of the two towns on the island. She was friendly and forthcoming about a number of things, but had surprisingly little knowledge of the culture of her adopted home. As we sat at her sidewalk cafe, a young man rode by on one of the distinctive Paso Fino horses that roam the island in various states of domestication (or not), with their exagerated, quick, high step. One of my companions thought there might be a name for that step, so we asked our friendly hostess, who seemed quite befuddled and told us it was the horseshoes that made the sound. It was apparent that she wasn't in Vieques for the native culture, and hadn't bothered to study up for her hospitality role.



By contrast, my travel companion Z found a fairly comprehensive history book of the island (post-Columbus), read it on the beach one day, and became an excellent resource for the group - able to provide, for example, context for the military bunkers we drove by as we looked in vain for a remote beach.

I have other ex-pat friends who immerse themselves in the culture of their adopted home countries, and act as one-woman tourism offices, ethnographers and cultural attaches. I just can't imagine moving to a new place and not being remotely curious about the differences.

Then again, I also don''t understand staffing the tourism office with a non-English speaker who doesn't know whether hiking Mt. Pirata is safe and acceptable (the guidebook said to ask, as the rules governing access to the former military property are ever changing). But hey, it was too hot to hike anyway!

More later about the trip...


*except for the depleted uranium left from years of Navy occupation, testing and war games.

Life on a Desert Island

I am preparing to take a little vacation to the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. A grown up, women-only adventure with two of my best pals. In reviewing our itinerary, we discovered that it will be touch and go for us to make the 4:30 ferry from Fajardo to Vieques, and if we miss it we have to wait until 8:30. So we decided to streamline our transition from airport to ferry by packing everything we need for a week in carry on luggage.

At first, I thought this would be easy. My last trip to PR was a family affair, so there were books and blankets and toys and stuffed animals, oh my! When I visualized the essentials for one adult woman, it seemed like a little backpack would do it. HA!

Challenge #1: the snorkle gear. I really want to bring my snorkle gear, because: I'm cheap and don't want to rent gear, I'm averse to putting things in my mouth that have been in other people's mouths (not a fork/water bottle/ ice cream cone sharer, this one), and my poor snorkle gear hasn't seen water since January 2007.

Challenge #2: hair that really, really hates humidity. Or loves it, depending on your perspective. If you've seen the episode of Friends where Monica's hair morphs into a Diana Ross mega-fro, you understand. Not too long ago, I discovered the miracle of hair products, and not just any products. Through many years of experimentation I have the perfect 1-2-and sometimes 3 step process to keep my hair more or less in check, if not always styled. I am seriously not a high maintenance person - no hair dryers, no mani/pedis...but I gotsta have my leave-in conditioner and curl enhancing mousse, and these things don't come in travel size.

Challenge #3: Books. I am looking forward to plowing through a few, and maybe doing some writing and sketching. Books are heavy and they take up space. This could be a deal breaker.

So this has become a bit of an exercise like those quizzes "what would you take to a desert island if you could only bring five things." Today my travel mates and I will engage in the final negotiation around this. Stay tuned...