Best Laid Plans

October 26

We started the day with big plans: We'd work hard on home school subjects in the morning so we could take a trip to the public library, visit a large park located in the same vicinity (where we could have PE class), and have lunch out. We'd get back by early afternoon so we could go to the terrific park and beach near us, have a swim, and be home in time for Karen to meet with students at 5:30.

Per our plan, the kids worked hard on their reading, writing, math, and social studies and we headed out around 11:30. The Google lady who gives us directions on Karen's phone got us to the big park we had found on the map. We passed through an open gate into the park, circled around a roundabout and followed the road into the park interior.  It didn't take long for us to get a bad feeling about this. The park appeared deserted. The road was in poor repair with lots of potholes. While the grass had been cut in recent history, no trimming had been done. There were numerous picnic shelters that were empty. The only sign of life we saw was two guys on motorcycles in one of the shelters. Now, we have nothing against folks on motorcycles. If there had been other company around, that would have been fine. But as it was, this only added to our already creeped-out feeling. It was time to leave.

So we headed to the library. Interestingly, there is only one public library in all of San Juan. We had heard that the facilities were minimal so we were not surprised to find a small building and small collection when we arrived. The very nice librarian showed us around and provided information on how to become a library member in order to check out materials. We looked around for a while and spent a little time looking at some of the Spanish language children's books such as Huevos verdes con jamón (Green Eggs and Ham) and La oruga muy hambrienta (The Very Hungry Caterpillar). By this time it was nearly 1:00. Figuring there would be good, inexpensive restaurants near a college campus, we had the Google lady take us to the InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico - just a hop, skip, and jump from the library according to the map. Wrong again! A drive through construction sites and sketchy neighborhoods finally convinced us that we should just go home.

We may not have found the right park or the right part of the park since the reviews say things like "Great place for families and even to take your dog. Lots of trees and very secure." On further study, it appears that only half the park is in actual use at this time. It is described as a 'natural oasis ' The other half might be, as Karen puts it, "an oasis of crime and drug deals."

So what have we learned? 

• We have renewed appreciation for the public library system at home. Virtually every town has a library that is available free of charge to all residents.  Such is not the case here.

• It takes two people - at least - to drive in Puerto Rico. One to drive the car and one to hold the phone and manage the Google lady's directions.

• You can't believe everything you read in the reviews.

• There's a balance between experiencing a new culture and dealing with different expectations versus using your street smarts to stay safe.

We're obviously still figuring stuff out. But we're having a great time and learning things every day.