If you follow me on Twitter, you might know that I’m traveling for the next two weeks in the Caribbean. I’m currently in San Juan, Puerto Rico…swimming in the warm, blue Atlantic waters and sitting on the beach with drinks that have miniature umbrellas.
I thought about renting a car but after going by taxi for a couple days, I’ve realized how bad of an idea that is. I’m not a scared driver on the road by any means. I believe the only way to drive is fast and slow is for the weak but here…well, there’s no discernible traffic laws as far as I can tell. There’s very few ways to tell if the street you’re on is one way other than if there are a lot of angry motorists coming the other way. I don’t know how the right of way works here because I’ve seen several people merge into the tiniest of gaps in traffic and I am almost sure that turn signals are for decoration only. In Vancouver, you could get arrested for talking on the phone while driving but here, every bus driving I see has his cell at his ear and ironically, there’s a sign saying you should never speak to the bus driver while he’s driving…I’m sure that’s just because it would be rude to interrupt his phone conversation.
Things move slowly here and no one seems to mind. I thought I was rather laid back already but apparently waiting 45 minutes for food isn’t uncommon. Gordon Ramsay would explode if he ran one of these kitchens. That and the bus I mentioned before just gets there when they feel like it. I don’t see any sort of bus schedule and even if there was one, they’re guaranteed to be late so your choices for transportation are either incredibly slow and unreliable or what can only be described as certain death. Jaywalkers just walk out into the streets and hold out their hands to tell cars to stop. That would never fly in Vancouver, where pedestrians are only a small step above cyclists when it comes to people we give a crap about when we’re behind the wheel.
That being said, this place is gorgeous. Despite the heat and humidity, it isn’t seriously uncomfortable and there’s cheap beers, sorbet and other things to cool you down for a buck or two everywhere. There’s good reason this place is one of the most traveled places in the Caribbean.