Warm breeze and glowing nights

I've never sought out bioluminescent organisms on purpose, but I have to say, through the gift of our neighbors, we did it, and it was amazing. Both mike and I have run into them either fishing or scuba diving.But I have to say there's something about doing it on purpose that makes the experience even more special.

The magic of bioluminescence is that you get to be in the water with 4 to 5 million organisms per square foot. Please don't let that freak you out. They are amazing photosynthetic organisms that reproduce abiotically. They only live about 14 days but man can they reproduce exponentially. When you get in the kayak, it's amazing to watch the paddle bioluminesc as you move through the water. It's especially cool next to the mangroves, because the water is darker, but when you actually get in and run your own hands through the water slowly and quickly, that's when you see the real magic. Slowly, it's like sparklers when you were a child. Faster, it's like being harry, potter and casting expecto petronum. There is an explosion of green blue light. I'm sorry to say it does not turn into your spirit animal, but it's nearly as awesome. The captain of the boat was kind enough to capture us all in the water and send it to us.

Full disclosure... I clearly did not take the picture of the bay that you can see in the top right hand photograph, but I wanted you all to see where we were, because it allows me to talk a little bit about why the bioluminescence are there, so often. They are carried by the current and sometimes it funnels them into this area so that we are able to enjoy them. Another fun fact is that the town that we were in is one of the agricultural capitals of Puerto Rico, and they specialize in the pineapple. There were pineapples all over town in pictures, structures and murals. I cannot recommend this more, but I would almost skip the kayaking entirely and just swim with the organisms, because the personal interaction is so much better.

All right, I'm clearly skipping around in this episode, but on the way to bioluminescence, Mike and I got to see a part of the island we'd never seen before. Is that a shocker? Of course, not. We've only been here for one day. This is the oldest cathedral in Puerto Rico. Normally, I would give you a long drawn out discussion about who founded it, and who the Abbott was, and all the other stuff, but this time, I walked in on a wedding. I don't know why this makes me stop, and feel so blessed. That's not a word I use very often, but I really felt it. All of the family and friends were there, some of them were dressed up, and some of them were not. Outside the church there was the car that would clearly carry the newly married couple away. I got to see the church and witness their new life. Maybe it's something about my own marriage that makes me so sentimental about other people's. I promiseI wasn't as intrusive as it looks in the video, because I would never want to ruin someone else's day. I felt very grateful, I know that's repetitive, but she will never know that she will be part of my memory forever. I guess this is why I travel for me is one of the most valuable parts of my life.

Okay, this did occur before our bioluminescent tour, but I can't let it go, by the way side. Mike and I went to this amazing restaurant in which I had one of the best whole fish I've ever had in my whole life. Mike had the langostine or lobster or caribbean lobster. I'm still a little shaky on the phylogenetics of these species, but don't worry, it was delicious. My fried fish was red, snapper, and was also incredible. One of my favorite things about the food here is that they seem to serve plantain with everything. Think of it as the french fries of America.

12/21/25 The first statue was a bit of a mistake. You'll see the statue that I wanted to go to later on, but I'm so happy that we ran into this one. It's an incredible story about Ponce de Leon and his crew coming to Puerto Rico. The statue tells the story of kidnapped people and redemptionThe statue tells the story of kidnapped people and redemption. I'm so sorry that the tale is too long to tell. This is one of the many reasons I think you should visit. When we went to the second statue, I had a visceral reaction. I could only imagine that he was one of my students so young and so iconic to this part of the island. In some ways he's like the vitrovian man. Not exactly one person, but a model for all fishermen in this area.

Sometimes you have to skip a lot because you do so much in one day. This is one of my photographs that Mike took of me because I love to watch the water move against the rocks. I don't know if we would have stopped Playa Jobos, as it is a bit build up and touristy, but some of our friends told us we shouldn't miss it. I'm glad they did because again, we had an amazing meal.

Mike had the fish tacos and I had Grouper ceviche. We also had pumpkin empanadas, which are as amazing as they sound. I hadn't seen them on any menu yet, so they were a definite must for an appetizer. Sorry that this blog isn't terribly linear, but I guess I'm hungry because the food is coming first!

This was something that Mike and I had just picked up from Google Maps along the way. It's an homage to the fact that Puerto Rico was supposed to have a train that ringed the island. It never came fully into fruition, but I'm glad that this is a tourist attraction because we would never have seen this glorious beach otherwise. The reason it was never finished is sheer cost. There is a canyon a few kilometers away from here that simply put the project under. It's some of the most expensive railroad ever laid at the time. I also got to make a very cool video about how sand is made. If you are interested, you can watch it.

How sand is made

Mike and I were so lucky to simply walk along the beach and be amazed.

This is the main square in Isabella. You are looking at a wonderful sculpture by Lindsay Daen, 1980, called Isabella y el Mar and the main church in Isabella, Parroquia San Antonio de Padua. The culture of this island almost demands beautiful public spaces like this, and the people use it. It's a great place to meet people who have lived here for a long time, and just chat. Even though my Spanishis not great, and some people simply speak back to me in english, I've gotten a lot of compliments on the fact that I try. I can't imagine how insulted I would be if most people spoke English and everyone simply tried to speak to me in Spanish with out trying to speak my native tongue. There's also a lot of spanglish here. Which is super helpful because I can switch between the two languages and so can they.

I want to back up a tiny bit, but this is one of the tunnels that was supposed to be part of the entire railroad ring. There isn't an entire ring railroad on Puerto Rico, so you knew it didn't happen. When we visited the shoreline is gorgeous, and everyone was so kind, but really, that's just Puerto Rico.

Right down the road was this beautiful statue. How many times can you say, "Oh, I was pulling off on the exit ramp, and wow, this is what I saw!" Mike and I are so happy to be able to learn about Puerto Rican history one piece at a time. I just can't recall learning anything in school except that Ponce de Leon came here. The iconic face sculpture, La Cara del Indio, honoring Cacique Mabodamaca, was sculpted by Puerto Rican artisan Isaac Laboy Moctezuma (also spelled Monctezuma), who carved it into a rock face at one of Isabela's entrances in 2000, making it look like it was carved by Taíno, native Puerto Ricans, hands.

I have to give you some geology on Puerto Rico, because the landscape here is unlike most of the caribbean islands that I've been on. The island formed from volcanic activity about 190 million years ago, built by subducting tectonic plates, creating an island arc that was later rafted north and uplifted, with its core of volcanic/plutonic rocks now covered by younger limestones and sediments, leading to its complex geology of volcanic mountains, Cordillera Central, and karst landscapes.

Just in case you aren't familiar with that geology term, karst describes any landscape that was formed by the dissolution of soluble bedrock, primarily limestone, or gypsum, creating features like caves, sinkholes and springs. Slightly acidic water slowly erodes the rock over time, forming complex underground drainage systems. Man, is it fun to watch the water at low tide come over these beachside structures.

Mike and I are sad not to be with our family at christmas, but celebrating on the islands is amazing because the Puerto Ricans really love to decorate.

As I told you, every single town has a square and this is the one in our town Aguada. This is a smaller town, by the way, nowhere near as large as Isabella or Aguadilla, and look at the light display that they put on. Of course this being a catholic country, there's always going to be El Señor somewhere in the display. Unfortunately, mike and I will be leaving on the third of January. If you wonder why this makes me sad, it's because the Puerto Ricans celebrate Día de Reyes or Día de los Reyes Magos (Day of the Magi/Kings). Many people have told me that this is an even larger holiday than Christmas. The Three Kings, Melchior, Caspar, Balthazar, bring gifts to good children, similar to Santa in other cultures, but on the eve of January 6th, Children also collect grass, hay, or straw in shoeboxes to feed the Kings' animals, placing it under their beds or near windows like we do cookies and milk. And if you know a single puerto rican, you know, they love to party, so this is the day for festivals. It often involves large family gatherings, music, festive foods such as Coquito. People we have met say that Día de los Reyes Magos is deeply rooted in Puerto Rican culture, honoring the biblical story of the Wise Men visiting El Señor.

All right, weary readers, I'm going to leave you with this last photograph and sign off for today. Happy almost Christmas!