From Puerto Rico’s Beaches to a DMV Winter Wonderland

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By Renetta Garrison Tull on February 11, 2010 • ( 1 Comment )

At Hacienda Buena Vista, near Ponce

It’s February 2010.  I just came from the warm beaches of Puerto Rico to the shocking snow of the DC/MD/VA area.  All I can say is WOW, especially since I’m not even home yet due to weather-related travel diversions.  So, this blog is for my entertainment and for whoever else is reading.

I spent several weeks in Puerto Rico, and I loved it!  And I left PR to come back into the middle of the biggest storm in the DC area’s history! The biggest snow storm EVER in this area! It’s an LOL moment. Really … I’m still laughing! But all in all, I am happy to be able to experience such interesting extremes … beaches one day, tropical forests the next, and 4 feet of snow the next. Amazing experiences.  So, for this blog, I’ll show you some beaches (of course), some food, music, and PR’s countryside.

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Beaches

These photos show the beaches of Ventana al Mar. As you may remember, I lived around the corner from this beach, so I went several times per week. Determined to get the most out of my days on the beach, and knowing that I was heading back to snow, I decided to explore new areas of the beach. So I walked, and walked and walked along the sandy shores … I didn’t know where I was going, I just followed the coastline … the scenes were just beautiful in my opinion. So I share them with you here.

My favorite beach photo

Food & Music

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Food – Puerto Rico – Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Although, we didn’t go to Archipielago in Ponce to eat http://www.archipielagopr.com/index4.php, we went with a friend, Dr. Ivelisse Rubio, to see if it would be a good site for an outdoor dinner concert for the famous group, Haciendo Punto en Otro Son. She is the novia of one of the group members. The view was beautiful! Here are some links for the group, they are famous for their mixes of different types of music: samba, bomba, etc. Their style of music is called “Nueva Trova.”  They’ve been around for 35 years … definitely legendary.

Here is a video of a performance from the 70’s!

Here’s another concert from 1992:  Cantares Latino Americanos – Haciendo Punto

http://haciendopunto.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haciendo_Punto_en_Otro_Son

http://www.musicofpuertorico.com/index.php/artists/haciendo_punto_en_otro_son/#discography

We also listened to his (Irvin Garcia’s) new radio program on 740 AM on Sunday afternoon 5-7 PM.

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I love quesitos.  These are pastries from PR. My favorite panaderia is Facciola in Cupey:

http://www.facciolapr.com/.  I enjoyed them with coffee and black cherry jam in the mornings!

Tropical Areas

On Sunday, we went to one of the original coffee plantations in Puerto Rico, Hacienda Buena Vista, near Ponce.  It was nice to be in the tropical areas for an afternoon. Some of the photos are in the slide show below.

http://www.nps.gov/history/nR/travel/prvi/pr18.htm

Here is a slideshow that includes the countryside of the drive from San Juan to Ponce, the tropics of the Hacienda Buena Vista, and the beach, of course!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

And so … I’ve returned to snow, but I’ll post those pictures another day.  Plus, after all of that walking on the beach, I am experiencing a bit of cabin fever and am determined not to be stuck to my computer all day just because there is snow outside.  My students know that I spent most of yesterday updating their websites with the latest information for our program’s activities.  Many of them must have been connected to computers too, because I received a record number of applications for our grad student retreat in just a few hours!

As I remember San Juan, I’ll look forward to being back in PR in September: http://srdc.suagm.edu/Undergraduate%20research%20Symposium/XXI/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20call%20for%20abstracts%20XXI%20URS%202010.pdf

For my friends with students or programs, have your undergrads apply to participate in the Research Symposium in Sept. 2010, or plan to showcase your grad school — we can all enjoy PR together!

And now, I’m going outside to walk, run, and maybe play in the snow!

Categories: All, Life/Work Balance, Puerto Rico

Tagged as: Life/Work Balance, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Beach, Puerto Rico Food, Puerto Rico Music, Renetta Tull, Songs