You know, this trip didn’t seem so short when I booked
it. But already it’s time to go home.
I’d done most of the packing the night before so there wasn't much to do in the morning.
I then went back to the trusty Caribe Café for breakfast (same as yesterday – why
mess with a good thing). Grabbed the
gear, checked out, and went out front to wait for my ride …
Which seemed to take forever. Five minutes after I was to be picked up a guy
approached me and asked if I was waiting for Elegant Transportation. I said yes though I didn’t see a van pull up
from the company. Turns out that the guy
had arrived early and was looking for me inside. He was helping out the company since the drivers
were swamped. His black SUV had been
parked out front for at least ten minutes.
Oh.
The sun was shining brightly as we headed to the airport but
even though I’d only been there two days I’d already had enough rays. I noticed after my shower on Wednesday that
the skin around my hairline was really tingly and irritated like it would be
after I’d gotten a perm. I kind of
shrugged it off as no big deal. But
after Thursday’s shower I could actually feel the skin on my forehead getting
all tight and leathery. That had never
happened to me before. This wasn’t the
first time I’d been to the beach and even though I don’t usually bother with
sunscreen, I’ve never before had a problem. Two
days in Puerto Rico and I ended up burnt to a crisp.
Going through the airport was fun. I got in one line, realized I was in the wrong one, went to customs, got some stickers, then finally got in the first line for real. Would have been nice if someone had told me about that from the start. This whole trip just reminded me that I really need to learn Spanish. I'd taken it in college but I'm nowhere close to proficient. Fortunately most of the people I met in Puerto Rico spoke English. Still, it's something I really need to get on since I'm sure this won't be my first trip to a Spanish speaking country.
Speaking of which, yes, I would return to Puerto Rico. There is still so much I didn't get a chance to see and the island is truly beautiful. I just have to find a way to be better prepared for the aftermath. Industrial strength sunscreen would help but it's more than just that.
Despite being well both before and during my trip, I brought my nice, cleaned-out lungs back to Atlanta and caught a double dose of pollen filled
smog. This led to two weeks (!) of hacking and coughing, scratching at my peeling skin, and suffering a heat rash on my arms to boot.
So the question becomes:
Was two days of sun and fun worth all this?
Yep.
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