Island Life

"It's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose."

-Joseph Conrad

Today I'm taking a little break from reminiscing about my hitchhiking adventure. I've been trying to get it all down on "paper", rereading my journal and sorting out the handwriting, much of which was written in either the dark or the rain. Having shipped my laptop to New Hampshire from Seattle, I find myself less able to make time for typing on the office computer here. And where is here?

Puerto Rico.

Back in June, not long after arriving in Alaska, I recognized that my summer was going to be wet and would not include a beach, so I emailed a hostel in Puerto Rico and asked if they would be interested in a work exchange. They agreed and I bought the plane ticket. Now I live in one of the most beautiful and interesting places I've been to yet. I live on an island off the East Coast called Vieques, a small community on the edge of the Caribbean where there is very little to do but relax. I swim almost every day in water that is warm in the

morning and cool in the afternoon, appearing to change according to the temperature of the air. There are wild horses that wander down the road, palm trees that look like any tropical fruit juice advertisement, and bars that serve as the gathering place for every social event simply because they are the only show in town.

I got here on November 20th, nearly a month ago, and am loving it. I work 28 hours a week for my bed and three meals a day plus discounted drinks, and the other 12 hours I choose to take on get me some cash. No, it's not a good long term position, but it will get me through the next few months far from the clutches of winter, which seems to have ventured much farther south then it belongs.