One Down, Many To Go!

Wow, is it really Saturday night already? It has been a week since my arrival in Puerto Rico and I already experienced a few cultural differences. One: Toast. Sister Vivian asked me if I would like a "tostada" along with my coffee (Coffee is another delicious difference) and I said, " No, Thanks". Being Mexican-American of course I thought a "tostada" was a fried corn tortilla that is used in many Mexican dishes. I wondered how anyone could eat a fried corn tortilla with their coffee; that just seemed odd. Well little did I know a "tostada" in Puerto Rico is a toasted slice of bread, silly me. Two: Beans. During lunch on Wednesday, Sister Rufina asked if I'd like "arbichuelas" with my rice and I looked at her as if she was offering me poison. I have NEVER hear that word before. I had no idea what that was: a type of meat, bread, topping? But it wasn't any of those, "arbichuleas" in Puerto Rico, is beans, lucky me. Three: Cake. In Chihuahua, Mexico "bizcochos" are these cookies made with lard, covered with sugar and cinnamon and OMG they are so so good! So after dinner one night, Sister Vivian asked if I would like some "bizcochos" for dessert, of course I wasn't about to turn down desssert, so excited that they knew what a bizcocho was in Puerto Rico, I delightfully said, "Yes, Please." And so Sister Vivian takes out this thick, dark chocolate, moist looking cake out of the fridge.  I was a bit surprised when I saw this cake (not that I was disappointed by any means) and not the cookies; once again I assumed it was something different. The cake was delicious like only home made chocolate cake can be, and Sister Vivian explained that bizcocho was a cake, any cake, that was for dessert. Now the best one, Coffee. Instead of pointing out the difference, I am just going to tell you how its done, here. First, you pour your milk (I like anywhere from 1/2-2/3 of a cup) into a cup and heat it up. Then you pour the coffee (the strongest coffee I have tasted yet!) into your cup till the desired color (I like my coffee light brown, almost looks like a white chocolate mocha... MMmmm). Finally, you add sugar. Sounds delicious right? Because it is! If you try pouring your coffee like we do in the States (like I did, about 3/4 of a cup of coffee + 3 creamers + 2 Splenda packets), you will set yourself up for failure. My first cup was pretty bad, but I got the hang of it on my second cup. Sister MariCarmen from Saint Scholastica was right when she said American coffee compared to Puerto Rican coffee is just "black water".

Tulips & ice cream cake

   On a different note, I was suppose to start work on Thursday (the day of my B-Day!) but the computers were down because Mr. De Jesus was working in updating the computer system so he said I could take the day off if I wished, so I did. I had lunch with Sister Rufina (chicken, rice, beans, salad, and Mmm, cake with Butter Pecan Ice Cream). Just us two were home, so we called it a private party! S. Rufina also cut some perfectly bloomed purple tulips from her garden and put them in a vase as a gift for me. What a sweet heart! But later that day during Visperas (evening prayer) all the Sisters sang Happy Birthday in english and 4 different versions in spanish. And to top it all off, they even bought me an Ice Cream cake! I felt so spoiled because I had two cakes and they both included ice cream! I had a good birthday, also special thanks to everyone on Facebook who left me comments and of course my family.


So, yesterday Ashley and I went to the post office because we wanted to buy a book of stamps because we want to start sending people postcards from Puerto Rico. From the little places we've seen around the monastery, we did notice that many buildings are abandoned (this is largely due to the big chain stores that have developed on the outskirts of the town and have caused many local businesses to go bankrupt) so we thought there really wasn't much walking distance from our house. But as we walked, we noticed that there are many shops in the "downtown" part of the town. There are cafes, clothing stores, shoe stores, restaurants, and pharmacies all around the Plaza where the Church is at. Discovering that was pretty exciting because coming to Puerto Rico, I don't think I really had a "Honeymoon" stage. I automatically started at the bottom, not expecting much. But little by little, I can feel myself climbing up that U-chart to an adapting stage, where everything is becoming very familiar very quickly.