Our winter vacation was a little early this season (i.e., before Christmas) because the frequent flier miles worked out better this way. So, things were a little more hectic than usual getting ready – I actually had to do some work during my trip and had a stack of papers to read as soon as we got back – but we still had a fantastic time, as you can see from the additional photos here.
For our second trip to the Isle of Enchantment, we decided to stay in the northwest corner of the country, in the town of Isabela. The town was a lot farther from San Juan (about 2 1/2 hours) which prevented day trips, but the drive is gorgeous (lots of greenery) and the beach by our condo was prettier than the one by our Luquillo condo: cleaner sand, and cool rock formations in the water.
We basically spent our vacation on the beach, heading out to a nearby pozo (natural salt water pool) twice a day. The pozo was perfect for the boys, so much so that they are finally over their fear of the water (which of course makes life more difficult for us at the moment). Within a week, Nikita was practicing swimming in “deep” (waist-height) water in goggles and Ivan was happily kicking in the water, sometimes actually floating by supporting his body with his arms. They also enjoyed braving the waves when the water was more turbulent (trying at times to bodysurf), which was more work for Igor and me as the undercurrent was rather strong.
Back at the condo, we would take our meals (usually soup made using a great seafood mix from Spain, until I got sick of it) and siestas. When Nikita wasn’t playing chess with Igor, he and Ivan would pester me to bring up videos of “Glee” covers (we had internet connection at the condo – a first for us), They had a funny way of naming the songs: La la la la la la (My Life Would Suck without You), Bust It (Bust a Move), the Pajama Song (Jump). For Puck’s “Sweet Caroline”, they would either sing the first few notes or move their hands through their hair to indicate a mohawk.
Another memorable aspect of the trip was that Ivan transitioned to the toilet almost overnight. I thought toilet-training him would be easier because I was sort of doing it since he was a baby, so he never forgot what it felt like when he needed to go. It was just a matter of him deciding once and for all to ditch the diapers. For a few weeks before the trip, Galina gently told him that in Puerto Rico, he would be without diapers, and even though we purchased them when we arrived, we didn’t open the package until halfway through the trip. Ivan instead mostly wore underwear (he would choose between Thomas the Tank Engine and the robot underwear), except those times when he would “forget” and want diapers as a fall-back. Diapers are also still needed for #2. But he was diaperless on the flight back, and has continued to be so for the most part since we’ve been back. Whew!
We also had a few more stressful moments. On the way there, I learned that my passport expired back in October (good thing I was going to Puerto Rico and not Europe!) and when we arrived at the condo, I discovered that I somehow broke my wedding ring. During one of the rare times we actually explored the area beyond the beach, we got stuck in the sand. The “SUV” we rented only had 2-wheel drive! After a week, Igor came down with something that made one of his lymph nodes swell up. The infection made him stay home while we played on the beach (though Tylenol made him feel better) and somehow marked an end to relaxing evenings. One evening, a picture frame came off the wall while I was doing laundry, and the evening before, my frying fish attracted a TON of flies to the condo. I killed at least ten before sitting down to eat.
Overall, we had a great time, and I would return to Isabela despite the distance from San Juan. People in town were very friendly and helpful (actually able to steer us in the right direction when we were looking for gifts), and we found some great bakeries. In the future, we would stay in the same condo complex, but perhaps in a different unit because our unit faced a former fishing village, with kiosks (mostly bars) a 5-minute walk away. So, we were treated to live music nearly every evening, which was fine a few days into the trip, after I had caught up on sleep – the most memorable song was a meringue version of “Hotel California”. More annoying was the music blasting from the cars of people heading to the kiosks – the cars had huge speakers built into the back seats! Igor found the music repetitive, but I actually love the music (though at lower volume), and Ivan loved people-watching.
