Cockfights

There is a Cockfight Arena right by the airport in San Juan. Cockfighting has been legal in Puerto Rico since 1933. Louisiana was the last U.S. state to allow the sport, but its ban took effect in August 2008. Me being an animal lover this "sport" makes me cringe.

Calvary Chapel

I was so happy to find an English speaking church here in Puerto Rico and its only 5 minutes away! A couple of families in housing also go to Calvary Chapel and I carpool with them when Ryan in underway on his boat. It is so nice to be able to fellowship with families who are in the "same boat as us." (pun intended) haha

Guavate, Puerto Rico

We headed out to Guavate for lunch this past Sunday with another couple from our neighborhood. It was about 45 drive from our house. It is basically outdoor restaurants that specialize in seasoned whole-pig, slow roasted over an open fire. There are also various side dishes like rice and pigeon peas, cassava, breadfruit, sweet potato, blood sausage, and yellow or green plantains (I really like the plantains). Even Anthony Bourdain, of No Reservations on the TravelChannel, came to Guavate on his trip here to taste this specialty. Guavate offers very authentic food, cooler temperatures because its up in the mountains, and great live music.

I love meat, but I just don't want to see the face of the meat im eating!! I makes me sad/ grossed out : ( But it was fun watching as they hack up the pork with a machete. The cutting boards are all concave from years of hacking and it was very reasonably priced. You get a plateful for about $6.

I wasn't excepting it to be so quaint, with nice pavillions and a natural spring running through the middle.

This is what Ryan looks like after he eats too much...lol! He had to kick back for a few minutes before we walked around.

I have never seen this before till I moved here. Its a gambling toy horse game called "Pica." You bet on a horse (every horse as a number) and if it lands on yours you win. It kind of reminds me of roulette.

Bff's

Bella and Harley (chocolate lab) are best friends. Harley's owners are from Houston and we take them on walks together a couple of times a week.

They are the same age (a little over a year) and love to chase each other.

Around the House

I was walking Bella around our neighborhood and this wicker coffee table was sitting by the dumpster. I remembered seeing coffee tables turned into benches on pinterest, so I thought I would give it a try. I made Ryan come pick it up for me. And he thought I had gone crazy!

Ryan ripped off the wicker and replaced it with a piece of plywood, foam, and fabric.

Its not fancy, but cheap and fun to make and goes great in a entryway. 

We have really tall ceilings in our living room and both bedrooms. I have been on the hunt for 108 inch curtains, but I hadn't found any that I liked for a decent price. Plaza Las Americas is a mall about 15 mins from our house and is also the Caribbean's largest shopping center (I'd say it is equivalent to the Galleria.). We found a store called West Elm. They had exact curtains I had been looking for and for an amazing price! I LOVE a good deal!

I'm very happy the way they turned out. It really makes our room feel a lot bigger!

Ryan built these frames for wall decor to go in our living room.

   

He helped me drape fabric over them to make it look like a canvas.

The good thing with these all you have to do is change the fabric and you have a whole different look!

Batey Zipline Cont'd...

Here is me coming down on the zipline! You only have about 2 or 3 steps to stop yourself. But after a few "zips" you get the hang of it.

Here's Ryan coming down!! At the beginning of this video you can see the instructor throw out the foam break. It helped us slow down when we got closer to the end.

Iguana

I walked outside to bring Bella to potty and this iguana is just chillen in the driveway! I was in shock for a second and then fumbled for my phone to snap a quick pic before it ran off. Then Bella and I both took off inside the house cause we were both scared of it! O the joy of living in the Caribbean lol.

Batey Zipline

 We took the "Batey Zipline Tour" which was located in Utuado, about an hour and a half away from our home. It included a visit to a cave , rappelling a 70 foot cliff (which I opted out of), six different ziplines (three of them over the Tanamá Rivera) and a long walk through interpretative paths for approximately 45 minutes. It took about 4 1/2 hours for our group of eight people to complete. This is a picture of me and Ryan about to walk over this extremely wobbly bridge after a 45 minute hike into the forest. The bottom part of the bridge looked like chicken wire held up by thin rope, but our tour guides promised me it was very strong and safe. Only 2 people at a time could walk on the bridge. I'm smiling in this picture, but I cried and scream the whole time I was on it!!!

After a few ziplines and more hiking we were up in the mountains. It was so beautiful! The higher we got the cooler the temperature. Behind us is the drop off for the rappel portion of the tour. I gave it one look and said "hell no" and they showed us a path we could walk down and meet them at the bottom. Ryan insisted that he didn't want to do it either, but I know he really did (what a good husband).

This is the second strongest bamboo in the world. This is our tour guide in the corner of the picture telling us all about it. It grows 18 inches a day and gets about 100 feet tall. The roots grow out as far as the bamboo is tall. It also has huge thorns that you can see in this picture.

Ryan and I are about to hop in the boat and head into the cave!

This is a limestone cave that is about 2,000 feet long and cuts through a mountains.

Heading in!! I got a little nervous at this point.

They gave us head lights to put on our helmets. It was pitch black inside and we could hear bats squeaking all around us. They gave us strict instructions not to squeal and scream because it would irritate the bats.

Coming out of the cave.

Finally making it out of the cave! We had so much fun and I was proud of myself for not being a big baby. We will definitely be doing more ziplines in Puerto Rico before we leave!

Large Load

I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this small truck with a car almost twice its size in the back! Looks like they were determined to move it...

Special Delivery

Bella got a package in the mail from my parents!! She got a bone, sock monkey, and a ball. She loved her gifts, thank grandma and grandpa :)

She passed out on her monkey.