Mi primer gol!!

Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Gameplay involves swimming, treading water, players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a net defended by a goalie.

Polo acuático es un deporte que se practica en una piscina, en la cual se enfrentan dos equipos. El objetivo del juego es marcar el mayor número de goles en la portería del equipo contrario durante el tiempo que dura el partido. Los equipos cuentan en el agua con 6 jugadores y un portero. Existen faltas, expulsiones temporales y expulsiones definitivas. Un partido se divide en cuatro tiempos de juego efectivo de 8 minutos cada uno. Los jugadores no pueden pisar el suelo de la piscina, ya que está prohibido y generalmente la profundidad de la piscina no se lo permite; los jugadores tienen que mantenerse todo el partido flotando, lo que les consume mucha energía.

Today is a significant day. A memorable day. A day to celebrate. Today, I scored my first goal at water polo practice. The ball is huge (compared to my tiny hands and to the Disney princess ball I'm accustomed to in the health center pool) . You're only allowed to touch it with one hand at a time. Even the little kids I play with have way better ball handling skills than me. BUT I can swim. I swim hard, and I use common sense. Fortunately, the combination of those two strategies got me in an ideal location that resulted in one magnificent goal. GOL!!!

Lost to the Puerto Rican sea

1. My heart.
2. My polarized sunglasses.

Damn.

BUSCADO: Amigos alteticos

Ayer, fui al Parque Central para caminar 4 millas en el jogging trail. Pague los $2 para estacionarme, camine camine camine y hice algunos ejercicios de halterofilia. Cuando estaba estirando las piernas, vi unos groupos de corredores estirando y preparandose para una corrida. Soy una chica curiosa, le acerque al grupo y le pregunte que estaba pasando. Me dijo que era una carrera de 5K para todos que quisieron correr, y el precio??? Gratis! Ya lo calente al cuerpo, ya las estire a las piernas, firme la hoja y estaba lista! Corri con el groupo y pense a mi misma - aqui estan las personas que TENGO que conocer en San Juan. Las atletas. Las que hacen carreras por hacer una carrera.

Era un buen dia, tambien encontre una tienda de bici YYYYY un supermercado que vende espinaca! Llevo una vida bien sana.

Life how I like it. Orderly.

I think all of my "big" moving transitions are done! As of this week I have...1) a car (whose title is officially in my name), 2) insurance on said car, and 3) health insurance (With more than emergency coverage in PR...and the ability to get prescriptions refilled). WHEW. Now it's party time.

Last weekend I went hiking in the rainforest. This weekend I'm exploring the caves. One "someday" weekend I'll be headed to the west side of the island for surf lessons. There's a performing arts center by my house, the Caribbean's biggest mall, a high class movie theater that shows the same ol' flicks...but serves wine and has cooshy seats, potholes everywhere, bioluminescent pools, windsurfing and jet skiing, and of course endless miles of beach. There's so much to do right by my house, but I'm overdue to get out of the city - it's time to get less car exhaust and more nature in my life.

Highlight of the work week: 1st Water Polo practice at the Natatorium
Low of the work week: Flood rains that made my 6 mile drive home from work take 1.5 hours.

Gasto de tiempo

Last night I spent 3 hours at PepBoys while the guys changed my oil and fixed my tire. Today I spent 5 hours at the Department of Transportation to get Pit's title in my name. Even waiting takes longer here.

KJ and the Flat Tire Curse

KJ and the Flat Tire Curse - sounds like a book series, doesn't it? Well, with my history of flat tire stories somebody could make a novel out of me. Let's tack on flat tire #4 and #5 in the last year - here's today's edition:

Yesterday, the road bit Pitufo. Today, I got stuck with the clean up. Remember the craters in the pavement that I told you about? I wasn't joking!!! I was stopped at an intersection and some guy in the car next to me signaled for me to roll down my window. He started pointing and talking, in all forms of communication saying "Crazy lady, stop driving!! Your tire is FLAT". Freaking out is a hard language to misinterpret, so I pulled over to a nearby bus stop to evaluate the situation. Flat.

I've had this car for less than a week! As far as flat tires go, this is BAD timing. I've been driving on the "PR mandatory" insurance policy because we just swapped the car to me and I still have to get to the DMV to get them to do the official paperwork in my name. If I had one more day, I would have had roadside assistance at my beck and call. But I didn't. Instead I had a creepy dirty lady come over and ask if I wanted help.

Was it the creepy dirty part or the lady part that made me say no? You be the judge. Maybe I stereotype. She walked off, and I opened my trunk and started moving stuff over to get to the spare...that I assumed would be there. Up meanders another offer for help. A tall skinny dude. I said ok. Really, what other choice did I have?? I know how to change a flat on my car at home, but with this new one, I couldn't even get the hub cap off!! He recruits a screwdriver from a random passerby and proceeds to swap my sadly broken tire for the spare. The spare is a bit low on air, but no big thing. Hero of the day, right? I thought so...for a moment.

I looked up to him to say thanks when I saw it - a tattooed tear under his eye. He's a freaking gang murderer. (My brain:WFT, WTF, WTF). Then he asked for money as a thank you. I explain that I don't have cash, but I could write him a check. He doesn't have an account. He asks again for money. (My brain:WFT, WTF, WTF). He tells me to follow him and we'll go to pharmacy to get my check changed to cash. AGHHHH! I locked Pitufo and followed him, thanking my lucky stars every step of the way that it was broad daylight. After walking five blocks or so, we get to the pharmacy and who is there waiting? Creepy dirty lady... his GIRLFRIEND. (In any other story, I'd say"oh shoot me now" but in a story like this, you just can't say that!).

Apparently these two are not allowed into the pharmacy, because they stood in the doorway and ushered me inside, all the while shouting to the check out ladies what I needed to do. I explained my situation at the checkout and got escorted to talk to a guy working in the back. He was sincerely helpful, guided me to give no more than $10 as a thank you, and then offered to walk me back to my car when I told him the guy that helped me scares the #(*#@*($# out of me. Ding Ding Ding! The first offer of the day I happily accepted.

On the way back to my car Good Guy tells me that Gang Murderer is a well known criminal in the city, a very very bad man. Shocking. We get back to Pit and see...another flat tire. The spare was low on air when we left, but not flat. Now. it's. flat. Flat tire #5. This is my life.

Good Guy was clearly book smart on changing flats, but happily accepted my help with things like... using the jack and removing the lug nuts (hahaha, just those small little things). I locked Pit and we wheeled the spare down the sidewalk to a cute restaurant where Good Guy had me wait (and told the cooks to feed me anything I wanted) while his buddy took my tire to get it adequately pumped up. Good Guy came back, my tire came back, and we returned to Pit where I taught him how to put the tire back on (I couldn't sit on the ground and hold the tire in place with my dress pants on.... I'm really glad he played along). I was all set! He then proceeded to stop traffic so I could back out and gave me a little wave goodbye as he walked back to the pharmacy. REAL hero of the day. I drove off in a daze of disbelief, laughing and gasping. This is my life.

PIT STOP!

First, let's start with the bad news: My camera BROKE. (waterproof my @$$!!!!!!) While this post should be accompanied by pictures, it is truely just impossible at this time. Postman, I wish you swiftness in bringing me the warrantied replacement!!

Now, the awesome news: I just saved a bundle on car insurance. Hahahaha, SERIOUSLY! That news is, of course, associated with the other good news: I have a car! After being manhandled by all of the used car salesmen in San Juan, feeling empowered, feeling stupid, feeling mislead... I sheepishly accepted the help of the brilliant mechanical guys at my work. This was kicked off by them laughing SO hard at lunch as I described my car shopping attempts, but to give them due credit, they did instantly got out the classifieds and start making calls on my behalf! I felt like the kid sister... well cared for, but the victim of everybody's joke. Sheepish. Grateful. Sheepish.

The ironic ending is that I ended up with the most girly car I've ever owned in my life! I think they were stereotyping just a bit, but it really is perfect for me with gas prices at $1/liter. My new ride is a little blue VW Bug! I've named it Pitufo Burbuja de los Pinos (roughly translated to Smurf Bubble of the Pines) It has only 72,000 miles, gets ~33 miles per gallon, and I got an awesome deal because it was owned by the cousin of one of the brilliant mechanical guys, who was, get this, a clown. I DRIVE A CLOWN CAR.

(To top that off, I really did get a great deal on car insurance! One of the other guys at work knows someone who owns a branch of a popular insurance company so he got my year long policy dropped from $824 to $509!! That's cool.)

No lo puedo creer.

Guys. Somebody pinch me. Really, How the #($%**#@&()*#$@ do I pull this stuff off? Let's just look at the laundry list of miracles that is adding up to my life. Seriously – I freaking LIVE in Puerto Rico. Insane. Today was my first day out and about with the sole purpose of discovering the island. Here’s the stuff that cracks me up:

DRIVING: The people here drive like crazy, but it’s really not their fault…. 1) The highways have exits on all sides (left right up down) so it’s actually logical to speed at random and swerve all over the place to make it to the lane you need. 2) Sometimes the painted lines just stop existing, so you guess where you’re supposed to be. 3) You know how Mercury has craters?? Well, so do the PR roads. In fact, if I don’t make it back to WI it’s probably because I fell into one and ended up in China. 4) Road signs… warnings for bumps… lane ending signs… yeah it would be nice if those were consistently present. Ultimately my GPS is my saving grace. Best X-mas present ever.

LATINO MEN: At some point I’m going to be dating one. It’s inevitable. In fact, I think it would be harder for me to NOT date someone than it would be for me to have someone with me. I give you exhibit A: I stopped traffic. Yeah, little me held up 4 lanes of cars. I just wanted to cross the road, but one of the drivers stopped strategically to give me access…he BLOCKED the other cars. I bopped across the street, smiled at him and he rolled down his window to say the Spanish equivalent of “hey, come back here!! I want to get to know you! Guapa! “ Wow. I give you exhibit B: I stumbled across an audio tour business in old San Juan and popped inside to learn more about it so I know what kind fun touristy stuff is in the area. To summarize the story, his name is Randall, he speaks English, French, and Spanish…. and I think we are going out tonight. This island could be dangerous for my ego.

The good news is that I had an awesome and amusing day! I attached some pics of the beautiful stuff I remember!

It's Friday Night. - how cool are you?

So what if it's Friday, I did the same thing tonight I've been doing every day this week.... that is to say....getting lost. The good news is I was getting lost on my way to the Natatorium....and after only an hour, I found it (...should have taken ~5 minutes)! I've definitely got my priorities in line.

So what is this Natatorium and why does it value 60 minutes of chaotic city driving? It's only the most beautiful swim facility in the Caribbean! It's located in San Juan Central Park and is a free facility for anyone to use. Here's what I learned tonight: I have to pass a SWIM TEST on Monday. Hahahaa, that doesn't worry me but there is a catch. The guy who evaluates my swimming will decide what water polo team/league I join. I don't know exactly how the teams are made...maybe kids, adults, steoroid adults, and retirees??? Would you believe that this is the scariest thing I've faced since I arrived??? (Yes, this is factoring in car shopping, working in a warehouse, and seeing chicken feet for sale at the grocery store!!) It's high school try outs all over again. AGH!!

In addition to getting lost, tomorrow I plan to......
1) Go to the beach
2) Go to the beach
3) Go to the beach
4) Go to the PR information center, so when you come to visit I can tell you where to go!!
5) Go to the beach

Like I said, I've got my priorities in line!

I officially live in the Caribbean.

The cab lady lit up when she realized I spoke Spanish! She assured me that biking is popular in Puerto Rico, warned me that public transportation is unpredictable but safe, and then promised that she would get me to my new apartment…hahaha and was true to her word even though we drove in circles for at least 10 minutes.

The apartment is still FULL up with boxes of Karina’s stuff. For those of you who don’t know the story, I am renting my place from a co-worker who just bought a new apartment closer to the beach. Her bank approved everything on a delayed schedule (aka this morning!!!) so she only started moving out today. It’s okay with me though, because now I can help with the moving efforts and give her a great first impression and have some friends before work starts. Half full. Here are my observations so far:

• 2 bedroom 2 bath…. Not quite. The 2nd room doesn’t have a door. It’s a big open space, kind of like another sitting room. Note to visitors: No scandal.
• Walgreens sells Pantene Pro-V, Swedish fish, MultiVites, and Quaker Oats. Milk really is $6 a gallon. I have already stocked up on some basic house stuff and a few food items so I should be good until I get a car and can cruise to a grocery store.
• My bed, sadly, is not a king. Just a queen. I’m not sure when that changed, but I really can’t be too upset…because I’m 5’2 and live alone.
• It’s HOT. ~90 degrees and humid. I’m going to have to drink gallons of water to stay hydrated in this environment! It's been raining on and off since I arrived, but that's okay because I see palm trees out my window.
• My phone says “Extended Network” and I don’t know what that means. Please understand why I’m not calling everyone… I don’t want to rack up insane charges before I know what I’m dealing with.

Tomorrow I need to buy a car. Or rent a car. Nobody lives close to me, so I need a car to get to work on Monday. Ultimately I have to buy a car, so the less rental fees in the meantime, the better. Agh, no pressure! Wish me luck :)