On Saturday I flew back down to PR for work. I was excited, because it meant I could go back to my beloved panadería, with the fresh-squeezed orange juice and the delicious egg-and-cheese sandwiches and the even more delicious oatmeal. But when I stopped by there, starving and ready to delight in its culinary splendors, I was shocked to find that they had closed down. I guess they just couldn't afford to stay in business without my consistent, reliable patronage. They tried to wait for me, they did, but six months was just too long for them. I never should have moved!

Now I'm regretting lost opportunities. I always meant to ask them about their oatmeal recipe — I've experimented with lots of variations but I can never manage to make anything nearly as tasty as theirs. I kept putting it off, figuring, "there's always tomorrow." But tomorrow never came. Carpe diem, my friends. You never know when that person or breakfast establishment you love so dearly will be wrenched violently from your hands by the Fates.

I flew down to PR a few days ago for Christmas, and I've really been enjoying being home. I was introduced to Natalia's new puppy, Lena, who is adorable. She's eager and affectionate, even with strangers, and full of the energy and exuberance puppies are so known for. She's awesome.

Andrés is here too, and we've been spending time with some cool people. One day we hung out on the back patio, drank wine, and got in the pool with Jóse and Lorena. Another day we cooked food and watched Family Guy with Marc, and today Andrés, Michelle, Billy, Natalia, and I went to the beach. Going to the beach on Christmas Eve: OK, so maybe there are a few good things about this island.

[Entry Continues...]

The Puerto Rican government is shutting down on Monday because it ran out of money. They just told everyone, "We can't pay you anymore, so don't bother coming in." I didn't think that could happen. How does a government just say "oops" and run out of money? Did they forget to write down that check for groceries in the checkbook? They should have signed up for automated email alerts when the bank account balance drops below $10 million or something.

Edit: Changed link to point to an English news story. Old link was this.

After spending so many hours driving in Scotland and Ireland, I got completely comfortable with driving on the left side of the road. Now that I'm back in PR, I'm finding myself actually having to apply conscious thought to remember which side to drive on. Most of the roads I drive are very familiar, so habit takes over. But when I'm turning onto a road I haven't been on before, I briefly find myself trying to remember which side I'm supposed to be on. It's surprising; after years of reinforcing certain neural patterns, I wouldn't have thought that just a few days in a new system would be enough to brush the patterns out of the sand.

In Puerto Rico, if you go to a Taco Bell and order a Meximelt and they ask if you want to add queso derretido (melted cheese), and you say yes (thinking to yourself, "Isn't that kind of the definition of a Meximelt?"), what you actually get is nacho cheese sauce.

If you go to Flamers (an unfortunately-named hamburger place) and order a cheeseburger and they ask you whether you want American or Cheddar cheese, and you excitedly answer Cheddar (thinking to yourself, "Ooh, real cheese for once"), what you actually get is nacho cheese sauce.

[Entry Continues...]

Heh, there is panic in PR right now because the truckers are on strike, demanding higher rates and refusing to deliver things, including gasoline to the gas stations and food to the grocers. There are a bunch of containers sitting on the docks with food that is going bad. But foremost in everybody's mind is the fuel thing. Yesterday as word spread about this strike, everyone rushed to the gas stations to fill up their tanks before the gas ran out, like it was a hurricane or something. Lines grew miles long, with hour-long waits, and within a few hours most gas stations were out of gas and closed. Today in the paper I saw that the governor has cut off negotiations with the truckers' union and has called out the National Guard.

[Entry Continues...]