Finished!

I passsed both the tests, each with 100 questions! He approved me for a 30' boat; I need more instruction for something larger.
The UofM has a sailing club that I can join for a great price. I hope to fill up my new log book with lots of Great Lakes ports!

DAY SEVEN

Today Captain Michael made me play skipper to my fellow students - an architect and a Justice Department employee. I learned a lot doing it and it gave the Captain a good idea of my capabilities.

The Walled City

Xavira invited me to dinner and I was excited to see her place in Viejo (Old) San Juan. This is the original part of the city, still protected by the city walls that are part of the fortification. In North America, there are only two walled cities; the other is Quebec City. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Xavira's place is beautiful! She has the upper two floors of a 3-story building that is 350 years old. The top floor has only room for the stairway opening and a pass-through kitchen; the rest is all patio, with a tiled counter opening from the kitchen. Her patio/roof has ocean views in two directions. Her ceilings are probably 16 feet high. The living and bedrooms have tall wooden double doors that open to individual balconies with iron balustrades. The floors are all gorgeous tile. It's a truly prime property.
She served a simple, tasty dish of raw veggies, tuna and breadfruit tossed with olive oil, garlic and tarragon. I will definitely try it at home, replacing the breadfruit with rice or orzo or something. Delicious!

DAY SIX

It's just the Captain and me today, slicing through the Caribbean. He worked me, with lots of repeats of all my newly-learned maneuvers. I hope I can pass the tests . . .

DAY FIVE & Xavira

Today brought me a new friend. Xavira is a fellow student of Captain Michael's - a journalist who lives in Old San Juan. She is about my age and single; we hit it off immediately.
We had a great day sailing. We both knew enough that Captain Michael was at ease and it was a fun day.
I'm so happy that I stuck with the lessons. I was close to quitting. Thanks to Dramamine, I didn't!

Puerto Rico

I'm comfortable in Puerto Rico. My little island marina offers its own security, by way of its removal from the mainland, but I'm also comfortable on the bigger island, even alone.
Two years ago, I was here with a male friend and I feel more more secure this time. I think I just understand the place better.
Much of the beautiful, centuries-old Spanish colonial architecture is crumbling. Most of it needs a paint job. The salt air makes the metal balustrades and gutters rust, discoloring the cement buildings. Even disregarding a lack of wealth, lots of places appear run down.
There's also lots of garbage in the streets. I can't imagine why it isn't managed, but it's all over, even along ocean-front property with stunning views, on municipal beaches and at business frontages.
People are mellow and sociable here, so they hang out wherever there are other people (they call it "liming"). There are impromptu little gatherings wherever you look.
In Michigan, property in disrepair, garbage on the ground and groups of people hanging around are all clues to a bad neighborhood. Those standards don't apply in Puerto Rican culture. Two years ago, we were intimidated by these visual cues, but now I'm not. The garbage looks awful, but it doesn't indicate danger here.


********Driving is very different in PR, too. People routinely let pedestrians and other drivers go in front of them. Nobody speeds up to prevent someone from getting ahead of them. It's very courteous, really although at first glance, it seems that everyone pulls out in front of you. They're just expecting the standard accommodation that is the norm here.
Motorcyclists (even cops!) all squeeze between cars, too, even on a freeway. There are few parking restrictions, so street parking is chaotic. Products and packaging aren't the least bit environmentally friendly, which is unusual for an island. People are very loving to children, often kissing them and being very patient. Customer service is non-existant; if the clerk is on her cell phone, you'll have to wait for her. Strangers greet each other.
It's so fun to learn the intracacies of other cultures!

Boat Dwellers

All the guys who live on their boats have an ex-wife. I wonder if that's why they chose this life, which is, in a manner, dropping out of society.
A couple of them love women, but I sense some latent misogyny in a couple of them, too.
Here are my favorites -

Polito is somewhat iconic on the island. He is a rope-maker and a skirt-chaser. He performs a lot of marine maintenance on the boats at the marina.
Polito likes to dance and, apparently, is really good at it. I didn't get to see it, but he likes to dance without toppling a can of beer he balances on his head (must be a Puerto Rican thing . . .).
He wore the hat in my honor.

Boris is Russian, with all the brawn and swagger of Yeltsin. This Boris worked as a nuclear engineer and was at Cherynobl during its meltdown. His doctor says he shouldn't be alive today.
Boris sits outside the restaurant, regardless of the heat, smoking and drinking. "I no like air-condition. I like breeze!"
When I passed on a drink because I would be driving later, he said, "Is no problem in Caribe."
Boris left Russia when the Soviet Union split. The breakdown really angered him. "You create shit, you live in it. I go live my dream in islands of Caribe."
He sailed to the Caribbean and taught at a university in Puerto Rico for a while. Now he's retired and loves the security and solitude of Isleta Marina. He told me, "I die here."