Alaskan family of five moves to Puerto Rico.

Day two:
Well another adventure or instruction in patience? We woke early and drove over to SAMs Club. That store had everything from swimming pools to
Paella. It so different from a SAMs club in the lower 48. We then went to a coffee shop. Coffee is served in very small cups and extremely HOT! You have to ask for black coffee because they will make it with cream and sugar automatically. We then went snorkeling in Rincon and watched a thunderstorm roll by. We also signed the kids up for scuba lessons starting Thursday.
We had another lesson in being prepared as Berkley needed something that required us to find a store really fast. Nothing is fast in Puerto Rico. That adventure took us on a 45 min frustrating journey. 
We ate lunch at a sea side restaurant that really relied on its view to survive. The food and service was horrible. I understand why Puerto Rico has so many street vendors. Stay away from restaurants and eat at the street vendors. We also saw something really gross, iguana on a stick.
I'm not ready to try that. Oh, we have a lizard in our bathroom.
The house hunting is kind of slow as realtors don't call you back. I really don't know how people make money here?
It was a slower paced day.

Day three:
Woke up, had coffee, watched the sunrise over the mountains. As the sun came up the temperature rose to over 90 by 8:00 am. The Owner/landlord brought us coconuts and fresh bananas for breakfast.
We raced over to Rincon for the ECO horse back riding tour(girls only). Liam and I went snorkeling and stand up paddle boarding. We all were severely sunburned and hungry. So we tried a roadside stand and it was fantastic. Great service, great food. I now know why the Puerto Ricans only eat at these and drink at restaurants. Weird, huh? But it works. We got a hot tip from the owner of the roadside stand and headed out to find our new coche.  The hot tip was just that. It didn't work out so we continued north and found a roadside car dealer. We stopped and bought a car for $7000.00. Hey, remember we sold the Subaru for $8250 so we are still a little ahead. We also negotiated this purchase in Spanish. I will admit it is a little pimped out but who cares. I'm Puerto Rican now! I actually like the neon lights and curb feelers., just kidding.
After the car purchase we went to SAMs club again and enjoyed the AC.

Day four:
It was another fantastic day. We woke up and drank coffee to the sunrise. Charlie's came over to tell us his adventures of the previous day. We shared a coconut for breakfast and talked about finding a house to live in Puerto Rico. He explained that life is a lot different here. And having things done quickly is just not going to happen in Puerto Rico. He said, "embrace that and you will be fine!" He left around 7:30 am.
We were able to get the kids up and out of the house by 8:00 am. Yes, I know that is a miracle.
Our plan was to drop them off at the Bouqueron Beach Club and then look at houses. It was a good plan. I had bought a GPS from Swip Swap before we left Kodiak. I was super excited to use it. I plugged it in and set a course.
We ended up so lost and twenty miles off course. And it's British accent just pissed me off more and more. 
Apparently, Puerto Rico and GPS just plan don't work well together.
We finally got to the beach club at 10:30 to find out it was closed to kids.
Berkley and Liam were so pissed off! Thats all they wanted to do today. I decided we needed lunch and from there we headed to El Meson (sandwich shop).  We had no idea what we we ordered but whatever it was? It was good.
Just then the rain started!!!! I mean RAIN!!! For three hours!!!! Super heavy rain...
We started looking at houses with the kids. This was not a good idea as they all have OPINIONS! We found a few houses that are interesting and we are planning on seeing one tomorrow after scuba class.
We ended up at a Mexican restaurant drinking margaritas! Then we went swimming in the Caribbean Sea waiting for the sun to set.
Oh, need a GPS?

Day 5:
We seem to start out everyday the same. We fight to get the kids out of bed and get ready to leave. Charlie comes by to share his wealth of knowledge and his frustrations of Puerto Rican life. We share fantastic coffee and then we are off and running.
The kids had Scuba class at 9:00 am so today was a little easier than normal. They actually like Scuba class.
Jenn and I ran a few errands and picked them up at 11:00.
We started calling every realtor we could find and guess how many called us back?

One!!!

We saw two houses and he flat out lied to us about home prices.

We have now decided to rent instead of buying. The main reason is when we decide to sell. If they pull the same Mañana crap we will never be able to sell it.

Liam said today,"OK, OK I GOT THIS. Lets buy a house and then immediately put it on the market so in two years it might sell!"

Everyday he says something crazy!

We drove all day looking for houses and finally gave up around 5:00 PM.

Of course we had the normal, he is touching me, I sat in the back already, turn the AC off, put the window up, turn the AC on!

All I can say is, "REALLY!".

It was an exhausting day.

Oh, we saw our first iguana today. It was Freakin HUGE!!! And it scared the crap out of us. I think he lives right outside our cabin?

Day six:
Today the normal morning ritual. Black coffee, watching the sunrise, and Charlie stops by with fresh fruit. Today's gift was plantains. These are interesting to eat. The best recipe is mashed and fried with a dash of salt and pepper. 
Today we seemed to get a lot accomplished. We had an appointment with a realtor at ten this morning. She showed up at 11:15 over an hour late. We kind of new this was going to happen.
She showed us two houses. The first was five mins from my office. It was small but the price was good. The second house was huge and had a swimming pool. We liked this house the most so far.
We then headed over to the International School in Mayaguez. I was super impressed!!! The kids hated it. I think that is because they knew they would have to work for the grades or maybe the baby blue uniform? IDK
After that we ran to downtown to get auto insurance for our new truck. This was really scary. His office was in the worst ghetto in all of Mayaguez. We had to park in an area you would normally do drug deals. And then get buzzed into two separate security doors. When inside the insurance guy looked like he should be on the Jersey Shore TV Show. We made the deal and escaped unharmed in a matter of mins. It really felt like a drug deal.
We also got Duke registered with a Vet. He made fun of us because we are from an area he claims people get banished to, Kodiak. He was nice but I didn't like his sense of humor.
We also went to the big Mall in Mayaguez tonight. That too was an experience you would only believe with your own eyes.
Liam's good words for the day--- "Hey, that's a donut cop!"
I will let the picture explain this comment.

Day 7:
Another fantastic day. Coffee, sunrise and whinny kids. No sign of Charlie this morning. I guess he takes Sat and Sun off?
We headed south at 0900 to meet with another realtor. She was perfect! She was on time and very professional. I liked where today was going. We identified five houses on various places all over Cabo Rojo and Mayaguez. She said to give her a few hours to make calls and collect keys. We then took the kids to Rincon for Scuba class. It was around 10:30 when we dropped them off for their two hour class. We dropped the rental car off at the car wash and walked to the farmicia. That store had everything. It was then that i couldn't think of a better time to have a beer.
It was 11:30. The sun was blazing hot and the humidity was telling me it was five o'clock somewhere.
After my first sip I got a phone call to see our first selected house. I am sad to say I left that full beer. She said meet me at 12:30. I drove like a Puerto Rican after picking up the car and kids. The first house was a disaster. Five bedrooms, five baths, huge pool, poolside bar, white tile everywhere, a veranda, a guest house, and basketball court. It had not been lived in over a year. The house had white tile everywhere (kinda creepy). It seemed a little like a sanitarium.

Jenn loved it, hmmm. Is she ready to have me committed?

We left that house knowing the next showing was not tell next week.  We had lunch at Pollo Tropical. It was good food not the best but we are getting better at picking out where to eat. I ordered another beer thinking, it's five o'clock somewhere, right? After the first sip I received a call from a golf course home owner. He said he was only in town for a short time and asked if we wanted to see his house. I gathered the kids and my lovely bride and took off to see my dream house. Yes, I again left my precious beer behind. 
We of course got lost and arrived a half hour late. When we did find the house it was beautiful. it was also clean, the pool was running and the AC was working. It is a block from the club house and pool. The beach is just around the corner near the yacht club.
See what I'm thinking????
Perfect house!!!! A little pricey but whatever right? This one is worth seriously thinking about!!!
We left there and headed to the airport in Aguadilla. We had to return the rental car today.
We had diner at a Mexican Restaurant in CrashBoat. That's a surf beach near Aguada. The best food we have had so far!!!!

This morning was the surprise of the day. We saw someone BBQing an entire pig at a gas station.
Think fire at a gas station, hmmmm.

Liam says, "that's a good idea!, boom!"

Everyday brings more and more cool things. I actually really like it here.

Day 8:
It was another great day! I finally got to sleep in. The kids woke me at 9:00 with gifts of joy. I was given a fresh cup of coffee, a fruit smoothie, Father's Day cards, cologne, and a remote key finder. The key finder was actually a cool gift as I loose my keys, phone and wallet daily. The funny thing is the key finder is linked to an iPhone app. If I loose my phone I can't find anything. It was still a cool gift as Maddie thinks I have Alzheimer's.
We headed out to see another house on the golf course at 11:00. It wasn't as nice and didn't have a pool. This was even more of a requirement as it got up to 95 by 10:00am. The pool was the first thing we looked for. No pool! We left!!
We decided to head for San Juan but got side tracked in a town called Ponce. It is an unbelievably beautiful city.  The buildings are gorgeous. We drove down all the downtown streets taking pictures at every corner. The iron work on the porches and gates was incredible. Everything was closed because of the father day holiday. We ended up at the Macaroni Grill for dinner. It had Great food horrible service(Puerto Rican norm). They forgot Madison's order. It was sad. She starved :-(.. Or did she? I forgot. I have Alzheimer's.
We then tried the GPS again. HUGE mistake!!! We ended up in Caguas and couldn't get back on the highway. The GPS couldn't figure out which way to go either. It started to get dark at 6:30 and my panic started to take over. We ended up in the center of the island in the mountains completely lost. Did I say lost? I meant distracted from my main mission or course. I have Alzheimer's remember? I wasn't lost.
I forgot to add one important thing. Your new car isn't charging the battery and when the headlights are on it drains the battery down to nothing and dies. I was supposed to drop it off last week but I forgot?
Alzheimer's ????
I drove like a banshee or a Puerto Rican, you choose and got the family home safe.
Crap!!! Where is the family?

Day 9:

It sure doesn't seem like nine days have passed. The reality of not being in my safety zone of Kodiak is starting to set in. I knew it would hit. I just thought it would a few more weeks.

Our day started out very interesting. We had a surprise visitor at 1:00 am and had to rent a bigger car. We did not have enough seats in the truck. I'll explain the visitor later. The funny thing is the car rental places only open at 11:30 at night. Most flights that fly into BQN fly in at night. So that's when that airport comes alive. Weird, huh? I say that a lot now.

Today we had to register our truck in the Puerto Rican DMV. What an experience that was. If you could visualize the waiting room scene from the Beetle Juice movie you would be close. The line ran out the door (75+) with only one teller. What a joke!

After that we had to pay off our insurance broker/dealer in the seediest of all neighborhoods. It really did feel like a drug deal. As we were leaving he said, "Hey, if you need anything? I know everyone including the judges! And if I don't know them I know someone who does! I help you!!"

The judge part really concerned me!!!

We left there and drove like crazy to get the kids to  the International School for the entrance exams. They had gone swimming near the waterfall behind our cabin. They were content staying right there but that wasn't in the cards for them today. They complained the entire way over to the school.

After the testing we decided we should take our new guest and family for lunch. Madison decided on her own that she should pick the restaurant because she worked so hard on the entrance exam? We caved in and she picked the worlds worst Chinese restaurant. She had no idea that Puerto Ricans don't know anything about Chinese food. I did not think it was possible to mess up Chinese!!! But they succeeded!

It really was a busy day. I left out some of the running around this morning. We took the truck to a repair shop. They didn't have all the parts needed to fix it. So they asked us to pick them up. Weird, huh? The repair shop wrote up the parts list and off we went. The estimate for parts had the word ROTOS on it. I took that estimate list to the parts store and they sold me ROTORS. Which I thought was the right thing as it was on the parts list. Turns out ROTOS means broken. I didn't need rotors at at all. I only needed bushing for the rear shocks. They were broken/ROTOS.....
Imagine my frustration driving back and forth.

After lunch and the crazy running around. We decided to go see a movie at 7:00. The first 35 mins were packed full of fried food commercials. I didn't know Burger King soId fried chicken. The next ad was for Church's Fried Chicken. Followed by McDonald's fried chicken pieces and so on. The theatre was nothing like the lower 48. The screen and seats were awesome. The price $6.00 per/person and they served Subway sandwiches. I really enjoyed how different it was.

The surprise visitor was Berkies boyfriend Elijah. He flew in to surprise and celebrate Berkies birthday. He arrived at 1:00 this morning. It was nice to see a familiar face.

Day 10:

I like it here more and more.

Yes, we need to polish a few things but life is better in PUERTO RICO!

Today, didn't turn out exactly as planned. Berkley, Liam and Elijah wanted to go to the beach.  We drove all the way down to Boqueron. Then they changed their minds. I was  ok with that decision as I wanted to spend time with them. It was weird. But I actually did want to be with them.

We then met a realtor and saw two more houses. After that we had lunch at Taco Maker. It was pretty good for fast food.

We then went to pick up the truck. It was not ready of course. I learned long ago if you pace back and forth mumbling gibberish in the customer service area they seem to want to get you out of there. I did this for just over 10 mins and bang!! I magically jumped to the front of the repair line. :-))
Maybe the twitching eyelid helped, idk? The truck is home and safe.

The kids made us a fantastic dinner with the fresh fruit from the street vendors. They made a  Baked chicken with a mango salsa and garden salad. Fantastic!!!!!

Oh, I struck a deal on the golf course house we move in on the first!

Day 11:
Today started as normal with coffee and a visit from Charlie. We talked a little about the banana plantation and the future projects. His plan is to turn the rentals into more of an ECO tour spot. I will admit, bird watchers, hikers, mountain bikers and greenies would love it here.
He asked if i wanted to tour the edge of the property to check for damage from the heavy rains the night before. The back part of the property( 1600 acres) is full of bananas and thick jungle. Charlie built what he called an escape route. He built a back exit from the property in case of disaster. 

It turned into a four wheeling nightmare. There were trees were down and landslides everywhere. We were able to drive over several trees but then we had to cut down a tree. Yes, cut down a tree in the jungle. I asked Charlie, if he had a chainsaw. He said, No! "

"I have a
M A C H E T E!!!

And he pulled the biggest knife I have ever seen from the back seat of his truck. He stood in front of me holding the machete. All I could think about was the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Crap, that was a big knife!!!!

He hacked at the tree until it fell apart and we pulled it off the road and away we went.

I didn't mention that Charlie looked like a serial killer, did I ?

I made it back to the cabin safely.

We then rounded up the kids and headed for the beach. Today was going to be a day without pressure! No talking about the house, no talking about anything that would cause stress.

The beach was amazing. I am so proud of everyone. We all swam in the ocean for hours watching thousands of different kinds of fish. At one point I had followed a school of small bright blue fish to about 500 feet off shore. I looked up to see who was next to me and my family was back on the beach. I was alone in the big blue. While swimming I couldn't shake the thought of barracuda and sharks. I dont know? it could have had something to do with the video playing at the dive shop? And just then huge fish swam up to me. This fish was as big as a king Salmon. It surprised me and scared the day lights out of me. I thought it was a shark. My snorkel filled with water and panic set in. It wasn't good. I started to relax after I figured out that it was a small grouper or very large rock bass?
After that I stayed closer to the beach.

We then gathered our skin diving stuff and headed back home just as the heavy rains and lightning started. When it rains in Puerto Rico, IT RAINS!!!!

We drove around for over an hour trying to find that Mexican restaurant from day four. We couldn't find it. That's right we put faith in the GPS again. When will I learn? We eventually found a different Mexican restaurant and had a very good dinner in Rincon.

It was a good day. A few heart dropping moments including hitting a pot hole and water spraying up everywhere. It blocked all visibility covering the entire car with mud and water. It happened so fast. I didn't have time to turn on the wipers. i ended up facing on coming traffic nearly crashing into an on coming car.

By the way, a pot hole here is sometimes as big as a car.

Overall it was another great day !

Day 12:
Time is flying by! We ran out the door at 7:30 this morning to get the kids to SCUBA class. They love diving. It was pretty easy to get them up and out this morning. We saw Charlie as we were leaving and he said he has our next cabin ready for us. It was a little strange as he was holding that huge machete. He said It's high in the jungle but much cooler than our current cabin. Hehehe!!!

We rented our first cabin until the 27th thinking we would be able to find a house before the first. The owners had already had this place rented. So now we are moving to a cabin higher up the hill.
No big deal. But the grin on his face sure was!!!

This day was crazy hot.

Elijah (Berkies Boyfriend) also started scuba class with the kids. He was able to catch up to them with very little effort and they all did their first dive together. The first dive was at a beach called Crash Boat.
They had a blast.  They will all be certified divers next week. How cool is that?

Oh, we decided to take the dog with us, Big mistake! He got sick from both ends! In the new truck! Imagine what that smells like in 95 degree heat.

GROSS!

I had another lesson in patience today. I needed to print some stuff for the moving company. So I went to Walmart in Isabela
And bought a small cheap printer. Of course I forgot paper and the cable to connect the computer to printer. So when we got back to the cabin I had to run back out. But this time I went to Kmart in Mayaguez. Guess what they lock up behind glass. Yep, the printer cable! Guess who has the key for the glass case? Yep, that's right! Only one person in the entire store!  My quick trip to Kmart took over an hour.

Thank god for my boy, Liam. He calmed me down.

:-)

Day 13:
Its a beach day, thank god! We woke up early and got the kids up and out by 9:30 today.

I know!! it is a miracle.

We headed for the beach club in Boqueron. It was a beautiful morning and the truck ran like a top.

I will admit the truck did still smell really bad. 

I can't remember why? It might have something to do with my Alzheimer's? Or I just plain blocked it out. The dog exploded from both ends in the back.

Liam went out early and cleaned the truck the best he could. Again, thank you Liam. You get a piña colada for lunch. :-))

We arrived at the club at 10:30 and immediately went to the beach. The three oldest went out on jet skis and Liam hung out with us. It was not his choice! Elijah buried him in the sand and Liam couldn't get out. It took Jenn and I together to dig him out.

He was pissed!

The owner of the jet ski company asked us why we moved to Puerto Rico? He was selling everything and moving to the states.

I said to torture the kids! Is it working?

He didn't think that was funny.

We swam, sunbathed and wrestled in the ocean.

We even shared memories of a dear departed friend.

Our hearts and prayers to out to the Chernyaev and Servitis.

Nellie died this morning. She was in her late eighties. She was a fantastic woman and raised three kids without a drivers license. Imagine trying to do that today. She smiled all the time and made everyone laugh. Every time we saw each other she thought I was a Jewish Furniture salesman from her neighborhood in Detroit from the 1950's. I think his name was Karl? She had the strangest sense of humor. You could never tell if she was being serious because of her beautiful smile. Nellie was an amazing woman. I am glad I got to know you.

Day 14:
Today was mine! I finally got to pick the adventures!

We started out at 8:00am. We made Liam and Madison sit in the way back of the truck. You would think I took their cellphones away and told them they had to use rotary phones! They complained and argued for two full hours. It was so sad. I really cried for them. I really did. Just kidding! I really didn't care. It was my day.

The drive to Arecibo Observatory was beautiful. This observatory had just discovered a near earth asteroid with a small satellite orbiting it. It uses radio waves and converts them into analog signals then into digital images. The dish is 100 meters across and is the largest on the planet. It's location is 18 degrees above the equator and provides one of the best locations for atmospheric research. I was in nerd heaven!!!!

The kids were more impressed by the fact that sight has been in three Hollywood movies. The first is called Contact, the second Golden Eye (James Bond) and the third Losers.

It was a super cool place for nerds. It's too bad I'm the only nerd in my family. I had a million questions. I think I drove my family and the tour guide nuts?

We then drove to Del Rio Camuy, Caverns. We made Elijah and Berkley sit in the way back this time. The grin on Liam's face was like he had just won the lottery. He was so happy to in the middle row. The cavern was interesting but if you have seen one cavern you have seen them all. The tour was long and HOT!! Have you ever heard of a hot cavern? I haven't either! I wish we would have stayed at the observatory. I guess I'll research it over the Internet :-(""".

We left the caverns headed home with Liam in the back again. He complained the entire way home. He said, "can you find a few more pot holes!
Can you quit hitting bumps! Can you quit turning so much! I'm hungry! I have to go to the bathroom! Turn down the A/C. And so on......

He was in a mood all day. His final act of defiance was at dinner? I asked him what he would like to eat and he said, "I CAN'T READ THE MENU!! I DON'T WANT ANYTHING! I CAN'T READ ANY OF THIS!"

By the way, we were at a Mexican restaurant. He has been eating Mexican food since he was born. In Puerto Rico the food items at a Mexican restaurant are exactly the same as in the Lower 48.
Maybe he needed more sleep last night?

We had a wonderful dinner with a little extra something in my drink. A dead floating fly. I'm glad my lovely bride saved me from swallowing it. I had never even noticed it.

Overall, it was a great day for this nerd! I was happy!

Day 15:
We woke up early and headed to Rincon. The kids had another Scuba Class. We dropped them off and walked around downtown Rincon. The farmers market was going strong and full of veggies and cool hand made crafts. Rincon is a beautiful little surfing town with cool little tourist traps and awesome surf shops.

Christine from Texas shared the lyrics of a Beach Boys song with me today. Her mom is in the Surfing Hall of Fame.

Surfing Safari, by the Beach Boys
"Lets go surfing now
Everybody's learning how
Come on and safari with me."
Huntington and Malibu they're shooting the pier. At RINCON they are walking the nose.

How cool is that? Rincon is in a Beach Boys song.

After the scuba class the kids walked over to Lucky 13 for lunch. Everything in Rincon is kind of Granola. Remember those hairy legged girls with Birkenstocks from college? Yep, this is where the ended up.

We then headed back to Mayaguez to get the radio fixed in the truck. We thought, drop off the truck and go see a movie. Then like magic the truck would ready. Nope!! The radio guy didn't show up for work today. It was his forth day in a row. I really think no one works in Puerto Rico. We went to the movie anyway and saw "Now you see it.". Great movie with a cool twist at the end.

After the movies the girls wanted to go to the mall. I really thought I was smart about this one and said, sure... We arrived at the mall just after 6:30. I knew the mall closed at 7:00 on Sunday. I kept thinking, gosh, I'm a genius. How much money can they spend in less than thirty mins??

Don't ever ask yourself that question!!!

Day 16:
Another fantastic family day with very little kid drama.
We headed for Toro Verde at 6:45 am. We knew this was something the kids wanted to do. So it was very easy to get them motivated today.
Toro Verde is in the center of the island. It takes about 2.5 hours to get there due to all the crazy roads and elevation. Toro Verde is a Zip line park. It has one of the longest lines in the world. We had reservations for 10:00 am.
On our way we started to hear a popping noise from the rear of the truck. It got so bad we stopped at a repair shop in Arecibo. They couldn't figure it out and sent us to another repair shop and they couldn't figure it either. We left and continued on our way to Toro Verde. The noise was completely stopped? .

We finally arrived at 12:30 and started riding the zips at 1:30 after all that safety rule stuff no one listens too. It takes eight different zips to get to the bottom or 2-3 hours.

IT WAS CRAZY FUN!

We met some wonderful people including a group of ten Hooter girls who were in our same group. Yes, the same ones that wear the super tight t-shirts with tight orange shorts. But these Hooter girls seemed smarter than the normal Hooter girls. They had come to Puerto Rico to be in a wedding party.

Liam said he overheard one of the say, " I'm so hung over! I partied all night! I'm so messed up!" She said this to a random mother of two next to us.

Liam said, "that Hooter girl shouldn't be talking like that around kids. It makes them sound dumb!"

I guess my smarter than normal theory was wrong?

The last ride of eight was across two canyons and about a mile long. We loved it.

We left the park at 5:00 and headed east. This was a HUGE MISTAKE!!!

We should have headed back the way we came. We ended up on the scenic tour road and at the highest peak in Puerto Rico. We could see the ocean on all sides. It was incredible. But it took us two hours to get nowhere.
We keep trying to make sense of the map but that just wasn't going to help. I knew the GPS was useless too.

So we drove south until we hit Ponce then west to Mayaguez. Our return trip took us 4.5 hours and the popping noise started again from the rear axle. It seems to start after the car is running for more than two hours? Turn it off for a few mins and it goes away?

Is it a lemon? Or just a normal Puerto Rican car. It works for a few hours then needs a siesta????

Good night.

Hi williamusps,

I have moved your topic on the Puerto Rico forum for better visibility.

Thank you

Maximilien
Expat-blog Team.

Have fun while you can. You are in for some surprises once the vacation aspect of your move wears off. My only advice at this point is DON'T buy a house yet. Rent one for awhile. If you can, at least at the beginning, bring somebody you know and trust that is Puerto Rican with you when you do any kind of business at all. Oh, if you are at a traffic light (anywhere)and the vehicle in front of you doesn't move when the light turns green, for your own safety please don't beep your horn.

I'd like to ask a personal favor of you. Please carry a bag of dog food and some water in your vehicle and show some kindness to the many stray dogs and cats when you can. Thanks and good luck.

Gregg

One more thing. Naturally it's going to take an adjustment period in dealing with the heat if you are coming from Alaska. But unless you have a very good paying job, you probably won't be able to run an air conditioner in the house due to the extremely high electrical rates. And I don't know if anybody has told you but utility services are notoriously unreliable. Depending on where you live you could have frequent power outages. Sometimes for a couple of hours, sometimes for a week or so. Try to get a place to live that's near a hospital or the Alcalde's residence(mayor). Also get a place with a cistern for when you have no water. Just understand, you moved to a place that has some tremendously beautiful aspects, but living there is often a far cry from living in paradise. Some people are able to make it work well, some aren't. I wish you and your family the best.

Gregg, I think williamusps is the same person as WJKodiak, who posted here before, the new postmaster in Cabo Rojo.

William, welcome to Puerto Rico and I hope you and your family get used to the place soon.

There you go again Gary, flaunting your astuteness.

We actually really like it here. I may appear to be negative in my daily notes but that's not my intention. I'm just pointing out things that are completely different from our former Alaska life. Plus I'm trying to make this something my kids will want to read.
We are having a fantastic experience.

Good tip. It is very sad for us to see how many dogs are running around.

Day 17 & 18:

Jenn and I woke at 6:00 and drove over to SAMs Club. The kids were still asleep and so was everyone else in Puerto Rico. On the way we stopped and had the best cup of coffee. I guess I'm getting used to the small, sugary and heavy creamed coffee. I have been dying for a Starbucks! In land of coffee they don't have coffee huts? Weird, huh?

Luckily SAMs Club opens at 6:30. This is by far the best time to shop and find a parking place.
Another strange thing about Puerto Rico, shopping carts! No one ever takes their cart back to the store. It's amazing what the parking lot looks like in the morning, shopping carts everywhere. It really looks like a scene from the Walking Dead TV show.

After dodging all the carts the kids and I ran to the post office and by a catholic school in Mayaguez. Maddie really liked this school but its not bilingual. So the we are now thinking the international school maybe the only option?

I was told today by someone at that school that Puerto Rico is a different country than the US. But now I'm starting to agree with that.
Weird, huh?

Well after much deliberation we decided against the golf course house due to the extra and hidden costs.

Yes, the worlds of Maria Painter were ringing in our ears! Thank you, Maria! You saved us from making a huge financial mistake. I'll bet you didn't think we listened to you?

So the house hunt continues. We called several realtors and looked at two more houses. We are not in love with any of them. So that might be a good thing.

We have had a wonderful experience so far. I just wish we could check off a few items of our list. We have accomplished very little in two weeks. I better start embracing that mañana comment or drink less coffee!

Side note:------squirrel....
Never try a drive thru fast food restaurant in Puerto Rico. I think the speaker changes what you order before you get to the window.
Weird, huh?

I've been lurking on this site for the last few weeks and have thoroughly enjoyed everyone's experiences and honesty but I had to create an account just to say how much I LOVE this thread. Well written, humorous, relateable, informative and honest. Please continue your daily diary.

Day 19:
Everything works out, right?

Woke up happy! I'm not sure why. Maybe because the sun was up and it was only 88 degrees with 95 percent humidity. Brrrrrrr!

Charlie stopped by and had some coffee and he shared some more of his life experiences. I will miss him when we move on. He really has brightened our days. He has the greatest sense of humor. 

Jenn drove the kids to their final scuba class in Aguadilla. They will be officially certified divers today. I am so proud of them. I stayed back to do my favorite thing, pay bills!

It was a reality check!!

Our vacation is almost over. I start my first day at work this coming Monday.

We still don't have a house. and we don't have the kids registered in school yet, we don't even have a local bank account. And as of tomorrow our vacation rental is the next clients rental.

So the house hunt is more important than ever now.

We drove to San German and looked at another house. It was very primitive house. An open floor plan without windows or screens. I loved it. It was like tent camping without the tent. Just a roof. The bathrooms were enclosed and it had a great kitchen. The gardens were imaculate. Jenn was back in the car faster than I have ever seen her move.

So what do you do when your in the same situation? That's right, you go to the movies, a zombie movie! And while your watching the movie you have your car repaired at Pep boys.

Another EPIC failure!! No big deal. I'm starting to realize that is normal.

Tomorrow we meet with the school again and fill out more papers. I have concluded that Puerto Ricans love paperwork. Then at 11:00 we meet with another realtor.

I think tomorrow will bring better things.

Or Zombies!

Day 20:

We woke up very early. Madison had an appointment at the catholic high school at 8:00. We also had to relocate and be out of our current cabin by 9:00 am.

It was a super busy morning plus it was well over 90 by 8:30.

Even the grounds Keeper was passed out in the yard from heat exhaustion or it had something to do with all the empty Medalias cans trailing the lawn mower.

We drove around with a friend who showed us around Mayaguez. While we drove around with her. The kids went to the the resort to swim in the water park. The water park was really nice.

We saw so many hidden neighborhoods and parts of Mayaguez that we had not seen. Including a French chateau on top of a south facing mountain. It was beautiful.  It wasn't for sale. The gated homes reminded us of houses in the Hollywood hills. It was a beautiful area with gorgeous views.

Later this day we found an interesting restaurant that serves authentic Puerto Rican food near the beach in a really rough neighborhood. The food was great the service was horrible.

At a nearby intersection we could see a huge fight in the middle of the street.

We decided to leave and not walk around the neighborhood. We left the parking lot and turned left heading east. As I was driving I noticed a fews strange and empty roads signs but I really didn't pay much attention or care. I just wanted to get out of this neighborhood. Plus I knew where I was going. I drove about a mile on this small highway. My youngest son  Liam was yelling, "DAD, you're going the wrong way!"

I thought how does he know where we are going? He is only 13. He said it again and again. He was driving me crazy.

I keep thinking the same thing. He is only 13! How does he know where I'm going? And just then I noticed headlights coming towards us and the road signs were backwards.

I thought for a split second that I was on a Twilight Zone episode. It then occurred to me my son was right. l quickly turned right and got onto the correct side of the divided highway.

I guess he was right. He did know where we were going. Maybe I should listen to Liam more?

It was another fantastic adventure filled day. And another lesson learned.

I love Puerto Rico.

Day 21:

Another amazing day!

Have I mentioned how much I love Puerto Rico? Everyday is truly a gift.

We are in the middle of a banana plantation. We get to see different kinds of bugs everyday. Bugs that we never thought existed. Some of this bugs are super tiny flying bugs and drive you crazy. Others are as big as  a car. The grosses is the cockroach. They thrive here due to the high amount of rotting fruit. It nice to see these right away in the morning next to the bed.

We woke up late around 8:00 am and killed a few cockroaches. We then jumped in the car to look at a recently foreclosed property. After about an hour we finally found it. Again the GPS took us to the top of a mountain no where near the actual property. I will never trust a GPS again! Why do I keep trying? The house is located in a weird place. It would have been hard to make it into a home for us and needed way too much work.
We went back to the cabin with great sadness. We had really thought we could make something work with this one until we saw it. We have been living out of a suitcase for 21 days, We saw no end in sight.

When we pulled in front of the cabin the kids were out front. They had made us breakfast. It was so sweet and it really cheered us up. And it was good!!! The fruit smoothie was the best.

Charlie came by for coffee and started to help making calls. His Spanish is way better than ours. He helped us find a few more places to look at. The temperature was starting to become more and more unbearable!

After breakfast Liam and I took off for the gas station. The temperature started to get into the 90's by 10:00 am and the humidity was off the charts! We decided to head over to one of the first houses we looked at. When we pulled in front a cleaning crew was there. Liam and I walked through the entire house again.we didn't find any cockroaches. That was it for me! I knew this was it!

We drove back to the cabin. I asked Jenn to come back out to look at that house again. She reluctantly did. After 5 minutes and no cockroaches she also was convinced and we agreed this was it. We called the realtor and closed the deal by 7:00 PM

We have a house and we have the keys!

After that super fast life changing event we drove back to the cabin.

Something really strange happens here in Mayaguez on Saturday night. Maybe in all of Puerto Rico? Everyone who owns a horse goes for a ride in the dark. They wear dark clothes on dark narrow streets. The riders met at the top of a dangerous, winding hilly roads and drink a lot of beer. No brightly colored clothes. No bright reflectors. Nothing to keep them safe from speeding cars on a Saturday night.
It's crazy and unbelievably dangerous!!!!

To celebrate the new living arrangement we drove to Ricon to eat at a Thai restaurant called, "Ode to Elephants.". It was so hard to find in the dark! But after an hour of fighting each other and the GPS we found it. It's just up the hill from the world famous Pools Beach.

This restaurant is by far one of the best we have found in Puerto Rico. The food was fabulous. Service was great! The prices are cheap. And the it has the best views of Rincon and Aguadilla.

ESTA EXCELLENTE!!! MUY BUENO!!!! I am trying.

We left Rincon headed to Mayaguez around 11:00 pm. The roads between were filled with Police, broken down cars, horses, beer cans and crazy drunks walking in the middle of the roads. It's like a scene from the Walking Dead TV show. I felt like I was driving in a video game. I had to dodge crazy hazards, find my way in a maze of dark narrow streets and avoid the speeding and stumbling drunks on horseback.

I think from now on we will stay inside on Saturday nights with the cockroaches.

Did I mention I found a real coffee shop?
Thank god!!!!

Things really are starting to turn around...

Welcome to Puerto Rico.  I appreciate the enthusiasm. I am curious to learn about your experience with your new Puerto Rico post office crew.  Interesting read.  This truly could be a Paradise...if only.....

Thank you! More please!

You have the best attitude I've ever seen in someone moving to PR... truly much better than mine was. I have to echo Gregg about the electricity costs. We ran ours in the living room during the day for the first three weeks and when the $850 bill came, that was the end of that. Then it was only in the bedrooms and the kids shared a room.

I applaud you and your family's sense of adventure and enjoyment. We move a lot and I find that people who are open to the craziness (both positive and negative) about life in other places makes for great stories and just have to be enjoyed for what it is. I'm convinced that my kids are better people because they've had to deal with the manana attitude and electricity outages and meeting people who don't speak English. I'm enjoying your posts very much so keep them up!

Erin

p.s. What is the 'international school' in mayaguez? SESO? What ages are your kids? We know a few people there with kids who would be very happy to make new friends!

William, I just read through your blog and just like you I am new to the USPS in Puerto Rico (as a matter of fact I also applied for Cabo Rojo), I am the new Postmaster in Caguas! I am experiencing some of the same things you are and though it does take some getting used to it is a very enjoyable experience so far. The Postal Service in PR and stateside are two different animals for sure. I will continue to read your posts and as two Postmasters from different parts of the world good luck!!!

I agree the USPS in the continental US and PR are two different animals. How can the USPS in PR get away with processing a limited number of passport applications on a daily basis, while not disclosing how many they will do in one day or taking appointments? It's crazy. People line up before 5 am just so they can be one of the 18 or so that will have their application processed. People who get there at opening time are told the office has met it's (secret) quota of processing for that day and they'll have to queue hours before opening. 

This state of affairs is actually worse than the systems I've encountered in 3rd world countries - an absolute disgrace. (If this practice has been corrected since I lived there, then that's certainly progress.) I don't expect much from the feds but this malpractice takes the cake.

The positive attitude is wonderful and admirable. But my fear is that the true reality of living in PR will hit hard one day and the jokes and wonderful adventures and fun times will give way to other things not quite so pleasant. Things on the island are getting worse, not better. I may sound negative. But I know many people that can confirm that reality. I'm pulling for you and hoping you are one of the lucky ones that find real happiness there.

I am not sure what you are talking about "quota's" Nomad because there is no such thing that I know of. Passports are processed only during the hours that the Passport acceptance unit is open. For instance, if the acceptance unit is open from 7-12 we process as many as we can in that time frame. We are a business just like any other. When you go to say Ralph's food store and they close at 9pm do you expect them to stay open until 10 because you need groceries? We have limited staff that are qualified through the Department of State that are authorized to process passports and there are other duties those employee's have to do.  "I don't expect much from the feds but this malpractice takes the cake." First off we are somewhat part of the "feds" but we receive no taxpayer funded money and we survive only on revenue generated.

Hi, Scott. I'll start a new topic for this so as not to annoy the moderators by going off-subject. I didn't mean to imply you were somehow responsible for the practice I describe but I assure you that was happening, at least in the metropolitan area in 2011.

As regulars on this forum know, I'm a by-the-book guy. I understand you need to have procedures in order to operate effectively. I understand that having a passport renewal customer in the regular mail queue would seriously slow things down. So, what I did when I had to renew my kids' passports was I went to the website, looked up what branches did them and at what times, and went down to get them done with everything in order. But I didn't get very far because the offices I went to around Isla Verde told me that regardless of what hours were posted on the internet, they would only take so many people per day and I should queue several hours before they open. The use of the word "quota" is what the personnel were using. I'm not making that up. They would never say how many people they took. And I did queue at 5am in order to be told to come back another day because they had supposedly already met their quota for that day (I was 12th in line). I suspected some sort of fraud, waste and abuse so I called the phone number listed on the USPS website to report this practice, which I suspect was not authorized by any higher-ups, but this number was for Washington, DC, and that office told me I would have to call a number in PR, which they gave me, but when I called that number numerous times over a period of several weeks, no one ever answered. Not once. That's how things can go in PR so I cannot say I was surprised.

Anyway, it must not have been happening at your office or you would know about it. What I ended up doing was flying to the US and taking care of the kids' passports there. The USPS staff at the office I used in the US were fantastic and very professional. I got the passports in a few weeks - no hiccups.

Day WHATEVER:

I stopped keeping track of the days. I'm trying to buy into my new life and my new world. My new favorite world is , MAÑANA. We still love it here. So we are doing something right.

I started work and that also has been an experience. I HAVE SO MUCH TO LEARN!
We are settling into the new house and adopted a stray dog. She is the worlds smallest Pit Bull. 
I'm hoping she will come out of her shell. She is very  timid. The kids named her Maya. They say they named her that because of the town we live in. I think they named her that because we live at the end of the world. A Mayan 2012 thing? Who knows?

I had to buy another car. That too was a ridiculous experience. From the purchase to the payment everything was difficult. Plus, the DMV really needs to be looked at. Wait in this line to buy a tax stamp then wait in another line to sign title off. Then wait in another line to get the mybeta. I'm not sure what the mybeta is for? It just seems to be another tax? I lost entire day to that process.

We discovered a few more exciting things. The wild monkeys run in packs. These monkeys are bigger than I expected. Kinda like small apes. Crazy, I know.
The other new thing are the snakes! Yes, BOA's and they are not small!
We found one in our window the other night.

Everyday brings frustrating, exciting, challenging things.

Two months till surfs up!! We are getting excited....

Have a few machetes around the house and keep them sharp. You might need to cut the head off of one of those snakes at some point or kill a rat. There are a lot of those too. Watch out for other things like red ant hills and centipedes. The machetes can also be useful for home protection. Lock your doors and have rejas (bars) over your windows. And did I say keep your doors locked? (seriously!)

Your positive attitude...even about giant monkeys, reptiles and ridiculously long waits for official business...is so nice!

If you ever start a blog, let me know. Can I pre-subscribe? LOL

MANANA!!!!

I shared your posts with my husband.  We both really enjoyed reading your take on PR.  And by the way, we know exactly what you mean about Manana!!!  It drives my husband NUTS. 

We have really enjoyed reading your blog.  Hope to read some more.

Thanks,
Liz (future PR resident)