The first day in Puerto Rico

A passing view of San Juan as the tour bus was driving through the city.

By: Dianne Lee

Palms trees swayed in the breeze. Outside the San Juan airport, the buildings were short and white. I started sweating under the thick, humid air and I found myself wondering why I was in Puerto Rico. I escaped the heat from Malaysia, my home country, only to find myself thrown back into the same environment. Suddenly, the vision of cool, dry air vanished. I was hot, uncomfortable, and sleepy. On top of that, I was dressed in a bright red shirt similar to thirteen other students and three professors that reads, "University of Oklahoma." The signal was loud and clear. We are tourists on a mission - travel writing.
Minnette Veléz-Conty, corporate communications manager of American Airlines, mentioned that Puerto Rico's economy depended on tourism and medical services. Judging from the friendly shy smiles of the Puerto Ricans, they seemed curious, yet at ease with the sight of foreigners.
After a brief meeting/lunch with Veléz-Conty, a mini bus whisked our group away to Ponce. I was exhausted from the night before, having staying up the night before to pack my luggage, and fell asleep on the bus. Soon, I was jolted awake by the constant banging of my head. I cracked one eye open reluctantly, and realized that the scenery had changed from the dusty, colorful San Juan city to a winding road of valleys and mountains. The sun was setting behind the mountains and the picturesque view gave me enough motivation to take out my camera and snap a couple of photographs.

A sun setting over the mountain.

Near evening, the mini bus stopped in front of a quaint little hotel, Hotel Melia, which was located on a side street in the Historical Zone that also included the “Parque de Bombas” of 1883 (Fire House), Serrallés Castle Museum, and the Plaza Las Delicias. The hotel itself had an interesting history. Hotel Melia is a family busines started more than eighty years ago by a Spaniard, Mr. Bartolo Melia. Today, the ownership falls into the hands of the third generation family. The hotel had a colonel touch in its architecture and its surroundings excluded a warm ambience. But perhaps, the most exciting news when checking into the hotel was the free wireless Internet connection.

The first view of Hotel Melia and the manager rushing out to greet us.

Standing outside my hotel room, I was greeted with the view of the Cathedral, El Vigia Cross and the Serrallés Castle.

A view from the hotel's corridor.

I did a quick exploration of my room excitedly, and found the toilet seats ‘sanitized’ as written on the piece of paper holding the toilet seat and cover together. I removed the paper, lifted the toilet cover and was repulsed to find a thin black hair sticking on the top of the toilet seat. However, I quickly got over the image and refreshed myself before heading to a nearby restaurant with the rest of the group for our first Puerto Rican dinner.
The sidewalks leading to the restaurant opened my eyes into the restored colonial architecture stores and homes. There were wooden or metal doors, intricate designed grill gates, tiny balconies and tall white columns. Some of the buildings were abandoned and covered with creepers, others were restored and painted in bright colors of pink, yellow, purple, blue, etc. The buildings emanated an enchanted feeling and I was left transfixed by the walk through time.
Fifteen minutes later, we reached the restaurant. It had an outdoor patio, a bar, and an indoor dinning area. Different kinds of animal skins and wooden signs with Spanish words adorned the walls.

A wooden sign that was hung up on the wall in the restaurant.

I flipped through the menu and ordered salmon with almond sauce, but found the best part of the meal to be the fresh bread roll dipped in olive oil.
With our bellies full, we strolled back to the hotel and headed to a nearby ice cream store, King’s Cream Helados, which served ice cream with a smooth and icy texture. I licked my almond ice cream cone guiltily after the heavy meal and checked out a majestic looking fountain before heading back to the hotel for a long hot bath and heightened anticipation for the second day.