Thursday, May 28, 2009

American with a Spanish accent

I was reading Chicky Chicky Baby's blog about the hail storm that struck Southern MA on Memorial Day. Boy, was I sad I missed it. Sounds like it was a blast.

I was stuck here instead on Memorial Day weekend:




Sleeping here:



And eating this:



Each night I was lulled to sleep by these little guys (coqui, coqui, coqui):



And boy was it tough nursing a touch of a sunburn with our own indoor pool:



Looks like the kids had a good time, though:



OK, enough with the sunny, warm, happy pictures. The trip really was a good time. I could have done without the windy (not as in breeze but as in curves), incredibly steep hills that we traveled each day just to get back and forth to civilization...but at the end of the day we were surrounded by family and I was able to freshen up my spanish accent. By the end of the trip, instead of saying "Abby", it would be "Ahbby". Fun to hear your annunciation change in a matter of days. And while I wouldn't attempt to hold a conversation, I could order a ham, cheese and egg sandwich in spanish at Burger King in St. German, PR on the way to the airport. Bravo for the white girl.

One night, all the brother/sister in-laws went out to eat while all the grandchildren (9 of them) stayed home with the grandparents. What a treat. I ordered the food pictured above which is called Mofungo. Sounds kind of x-rated, but it's really delicious. This version was Mofungo Italiano which meant they would bake the dish and add cheese. Who doesn't love melted cheese on everything?

It's mashed plantains (type of banana), covered in shrimp (many Puerto Ricans prefer octopus or mahi-mahi) and a red sauce broth with onions and Puerto Rican spices (which are NOT spicy like Mexican spices). It was baked with cheese and so delicious.

We also enjoyed an appetizer plate with plantain chips, surullitos (fried corn sticks), fried pork and cheese sticks with a ketchup/mayo type dip. I don't ask a lot of questions, I just eat. However, if I lived in PR I'd weigh 300 lbs because everything is fried. I finished off my meal with vanilla flan (custard) and others ordered queso flan (cheese custard) which was yummy, too. All of this while we were sitting out on a deck, built on a mountainside, being serenaded by the little frogs on the island called Coqui which are like loud crickets - but more pleasant sounding.

We obviously enjoyed a beach day as you can see above. Water was in the mid-70's and the natives thought it was cold. Us tourists just jumped right in. My kids spent 4 hours (yes 4 hours straight) in the water. I made them come out for 1/2 hour and I spent a good portion of the day in the shade of a tropical tree. We were lucky, only a couple of pink shoulders and cheeks. No one blistered or swelled like I used to do as a child. Who loves SPF 50+ raise your hand? *Raising*

By the end of our visit my son and I were ready for air conditioning, hot showers, and our own beds. We're the two home-bodies in the family.

We'll be back to visit - in a couple of years. I need a little break from the tropical paradise. Too much of anything isn't a good thing. Buenos Dias.

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