Ruminations of a Ross Section Sixer: How I Spent My Spring Break: Tuesday

One of the things I was most excited about while I was in PR was to be able to get my hair done. I know, everyone was excited about the warm weather and the sun and the sandy beaches. But I couldn't wait for my hair appointment. I hadn't gotten my hair cut since October, so I had split ends galore, and my highlights were halfway down my head. However, for reasons unknown, I scheduled my appointment for 9am. So, even though I hadn't gone to sleep until 3am, I was up at 7:45am. I snuck out of the house at 8:15am while everyone was still passed out. On the way to the salon, I stopped for a quesito at Cidrines, and then spent 90 minutes getting pampered by the woman who had done my hair since the 9th grade. It was great to see her, and I was extra happy at the fact that getting my hair done in PR is so cheap! At 10:30am I rolled back into our villa, hoping that I hadn't left anyone stranded while I was off being vain. Fortunately for me, everyone was still pretty much asleep.

Three different groups headed out for the day. While some people headed off to the Marriot beach, and others to the Seven Seas beach in Fajardo, 10 of us headed to the Bacardi Distillery and Old San Juan. In what I found to be a common theme during vacation, I had to stop and ask directions. However, I also realized that when I was giving the directions to my classmates, they seemed to be unable to follow them, so the other car was late to Bacardi. So we headed off on our tour, learning that SPOILER ALERT! the Bacardi bat represents family unity. Um, if they say so... Once we got done, we sat in the Pavilion enjoying our free drinks, waiting for the other group to finish their tour. Since it was getting kind of late and no one had eaten, we debated lunch options. And since I had been raving about Taco Maker all trip long, they all insisted we eat there. I asked the woman working the Welcome Desk if there was a TM nearby, and she gave me some fairly poor directions. I managed to get us partway there before becoming utterly confused, so I stopped at the police department to make sure we were headed in the right direction. The cop was trying to explain where we needed to go, and the blank look on my face was enough for him to hop in his cruiser and take us there himself. That's right ladies and gentlemen... I managed to get us a POLICE ESCORT to Taco Maker. Once we finally made it, I proceeded to translate everyone's orders. Except for the "brave" (i.e. stubborn) soul who insisted he could order without my help. Needless to say it didn't work. It seemed that everyone enjoyed the Taco Maker, but I think that no one could understand why I was so excited about it.

On our drive to OSJ, I treated everyone to an authentic PR driving experience... since I wasn't sure where I needed to be, there was a fair amount of last minute lane changes, sudden braking and u-turns. We made it to OSJ in one piece, thank goodness, and parked down by La Puntilla so we could walk along the water on the Paseo de la Princesa, through the Puerta de San Juan, and up to El Morro. When we were in the fort I started to feel a bit nostalgic while everyone was looking around and taking pictures. After stopping for a mantecado de coco, we proceeded down la Calle Cristo, while I pointed out all the important landmarks I could remember. So of course I mentioned the Plaza del Quinto Centenario and the Hotel El Convento, but by far, the most important tidbit I could impart was the following: "This is La Catedral. That's where my sister got married!" Not the kind of info they'd be getting on a regular tour! Once we made it to the bottom of the Calle Cristo, we stopped at a restaurant for Happy Hour. Trust a group of MBAs to find the nearest location for booze...

Xavi had decided that he was going to cook dinner that night, so after we dropped everyone off at the villa and he put the beans on the stove, we headed to the nearest Grande to stock up on dinner fixings, breakfast goods, and of course, alcohol. While everyone started prepping dinner and mixing their entries for the night's Drink Off, I headed upstairs to nap. Or at least try to, considering how loud everyone was downstairs. Once dinner was ready (at around 10pm), I went downstairs to eat (yum!) and preside over the Drink Off. As the only person who hadn't tried any of the four entries, it was up to me to tally the votes. The grand winner was the Peach Passion, a recipe that Meryl and Emily smartly learned from the Bacardi tour earlier that afternoon. For their efforts, they won a 10 pack of Gasolina, a rum-based beverage that, for some reason, is sold in pouches just like Capri Sun. Weird! Second though fourth place was a bit tougher, as it was a three way tie. So Matt S and Jen (sangria), Xavi (something made with Bacardi O) and Byron (Caribbean Lover) were forced to split the remaining prizes: a tin of Fancy Feast and a can of Easy Cheese. Not exactly some great prizes there...

Since it was ridiculously hot downstairs (there were about 20 people crammed in the downstairs suite), I went to our room to read. I had no idea how much time passed before Meryl burst in and said: "The cops are here!" I guess our neighbors weren't too happy with us, because they called the cops. Thankfully, Sherri had a Puerto Rican friend who was visiting, so he was chatting the cops up, making sure they understood that we weren't trying to be difficult. Once the cops left, Meryl and I went upstairs to get away from the insanity. Unfortunately, the level of noise started climbing again (and we had the A/C in the room on!), so I went downstairs to "regulate." Everyone apologized for keeping us up, and I said: "Not us, the neighbors!" Why we couldn't keep the volume low, heck if I know... After Xavi told me for the 5th time that day "Your hair looks amazing!" (and Byron felt the need to chime in: "Your skin is amazing!" and Jessica Goldberg pitched in: "Your personality is amazing!"), I finally went to sleep. Tuesday was a fun, cheap day, but lord was it long!

Next update: Wednesday - taxis and kayaks