If Google Maps Fails You, Just Turn Left. Right?

Why did the cows cross the random road in West Puerto Rico?

is it:

a) to get to the other side?

b) to confuse me for 5 minutes as I attempted to problem-solve a situation I'd only half expect to see in a ridiculous applied-math word problem?

c) to make the road smell like..well.

or, d) to simultaneously make me feel guilty and hungry about all of the meat i've been chowing down on. 

This is real life. 

The answer is e) all of the above. 

The answer is also f) to help me introduce day #8 to all of you, but that's okay if you didn't get it. that was a tricky one.

Where does the time go? Or better yet, where doesn't it? I feel like I've done more than I'd ever expected or planned on in just one week! So now what? What do you do when all of your expectations have been met, but you've got 2 weeks left? I left my planner at Posada San Francisco (hear the music in your head) so I guess I'll know where to go when we get there! In the meantime, this is where I am today :) And what a cray day it has been.

Last night I went out to Old San Juan and met up with a few friends from my 1st hostel (miss you, Mo!), so I'm not kidding when I say that this morning came early. Like, 3 snoozes, black coffee, cold shower kind of early (and I've never been a morning person, so early AM departures are already sucky in my book). Still, Rincon, Puerto Rico is a two hour drive, and someone from my hostel was heading that way today-- making this early morning a must.

Oh, Rincon.

Too bad we only spent 30 minutes there.

Don't get me wrong, Rincon is beautiful! (obligatory picture of Rincon beach below) We just got a little...lost.

A lot of people have said that the best way to get around Puerto Rico is by car.

They are lying.

The best way to get around Puerto Rico is with someone who knows how to navigate around bumpy roads, one-way streets, and cow-lines. 

Well, maybe not the best way--I did have a pretty great time.

But having someone in-the-know is certainly the safest! (someone without road-rage would also be awesome [we're talkin' seal-sequel--WHEN PHARMACISTS ATTACK! kind of rage] but that's a bonderlesson learned--not everyone learns to drive in nice-guy Seattle).

I digress (so did my trip).

Today I went to Arecibo Observatory, instead! 

Here's a picture of the world's largest radio telescope. 

Now I wouldn't know, but I hear that this observatory features in a James Bond movie about gold medallions? I just looked it up--GoldenEye? I've never seen a James Bond movie, but I'm willing to bet that the villain wanted to turn this baby into one big, bad weapon. The dome reflector is 1000 feet in diameter, so it's safe to say that 007 did us all a favor by stopping him (he does, right? that's how it ends?) The floating half-sphere, suspended between three huge towers and cable rope, catches the channeled waves from space, processes them into picture, and VOILA. Science.

During the introduction video, I was pretty overwhelmed. Not just factually, but emotionally! Did you know that a sign in Puerto Rico told me that the closest star to us is the same distance between Puerto Rico and Hawaii? This is not true..but still! I want to reach out and touch it--and people are trying! Tiny, tiny people, catching huge music from the stars. Man, if I liked science, I'd be a scientist :) I also got a bit emotional at the end of the tour. Our guide asked us if we had any questions, and I asked her if their center had any connection with the search for extra-terrestrial life (because I am POSITIVE Fox Mulder visits this place at some point in the X-Files, and that's some serious shiz). She said no. Sad Alaska :( Revealed as a dork.

After getting lost quite a bit more, we made it to the caves of Camuy, too! 

And just a second ago, I was marveling at the stars.

There are some really awesome forces at work here--and they've got nothing to do with scientific techno-know-how or person-made leaps of achievement. Seeing the observatory and the Camuy Caves was a phenomenal combination--a really complementary one. I can't process it entirely yet, but I'm working on it. I am a tiny, tiny writer trying to catch big things. Reflectively.

The Camuy caves are also full of bats--and for the record, bat poop smells the worst. I tried my hardest not to catch a whiff, but no such luck. That smell will haunt me for a while. In fact, I'm gonna go shower. Right now.

I did try to catch these cats, though! Eee look at them, they ishh shoo cute! The live around the caverns. There are a lot of stray animals in Puerto Rico--and I'm pretty they've all seen their share of hardship. Speaking of catching things, and hardships and stuff, someone in my hostel caught Dengue fever from a mosquito....don't worry, its not contagious, and I was vaccinated for everything under the sun! But they're in pretty sucky shape. Thank you, hall health, for making me safe.

Here is a picture of me looking nice and healthy, to preemptively sooth all of your worries.

That is all from my end. I hope everyone is doing well! 

I have LOVED reading your comments because it makes me feel like we are together, talking over tea :) aka, if you have time, talk to me! I miss you all.

ak