Blogger Vacation

Since we are no longer traveling, the Blog is officially on Vacation! It may be a long time before we are out the door and the Blog is up and running again. Time for us to do yardwork, seriously pursue our ancestors, and enjoy the company of friends and family right here-at home. Stella plans to herd us and provide warm welcome to visitors. We'll give a "heads up" when the Blog has decided to get back to work!

Some Botanica from the Jardin

I will never again think of my crepe myrtles as just crepe myrtles. In Spanish, or at least in PR, they are "astromelia". My astromelia are sleeping now-getting ready for spring.

Having had fresh gandules, we are forever ruined for Goya's canned. Maybe frozen-I'll be checking at the Shop and Save in town.

However, I expected them to grow on a bean type plant-no more than 3 ft high. Here is what I found in the grandparent's countryside garden.

I suppose I should not have been surprised to find the hybiscus to be 25 feet tall either.

And these "little" guys were about 5 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. They were having at this plant-working their way to the top.

KG

Africa

Walking uphill from the Tiano area, one comes upon the African area of the garden.

I was pretty fascinated by this sculpture. As I walked around it to get different perspectives, the posture and facial expression seemed to change.

I liked the benches as well-maybe one about Africa and the second about the Americas.

Then, to top it all off, one of my favorites, iris.

KG

A Few More Things In the Tiano Area

KG

Tiano

There is an archeological excavation near Ponce. In the 1970's, I believe, a hurricane swept through, and the resulting flooding of a river uncovered the remains of a Tiano community along with their ballfield.

The Tianos were not the first native people to live in PR, but they were the ones here when the Spanish came.

I don't know anything about their ball game(s). This field brought to mind those of the Mayas-where the loss of a game might mean your head would be the ball in the next game.

Anyway, I found this ballfield very interesting. We were told that it is authentic. I think that means that it was modled after the ones uncovered near Ponce.


Using the above photo to orient yourself...

this is the right side of the field.


And this is the left side of the field.



This is the endzone.

This little frog, about as big as a bluetooth, makes the sound that is it's name-coqui (co-key). It has become something of a national symbol, and you cannot miss it (though you may think it is a bird) when you walk outside at night.

KG

Abuelos Campasinos

I'm sure the reason we were recommended to visit here is this section of the garden. Hilda's friend's lover is studying accupuncture and herbal medicine.

If you take the suspension bridge over the river and walk up the unpaved path through the forest, you will come to a little house surrounded by herbas and edible plants.

On this Saturday, there were people having some sort of celebration-lots of kids and cooking going on in the outdoor kitchen. Paper plates were being passed around, and the word Cheryl and I kept hearing was, "Iguana". Hard to tell if it was about what was on the plate, or the one she had just seen by the river. When we left, we could hear the people singing. Very lovely!

I only took a few photos here. There were lots of people hanging around, so it hardly seemed the time to photograph their party. I was also having a great time checking out all the herbs and exotic fruits and veggies.

No problem finding yautia in the grocery in PR. In this garden I found several varieties. When the sugar production failed, these root crops growing in the forest were what fed the people.

The fruit of this tree is used to make containers-bowls. There are some in the photo of the altar.

KG

Botanico Jardin-Sugar Production

One of Hilda's friends suggested a trip to this garden in Caguas-that it was much better than the one in San Juan. We tried to go early in the week, but it was closed. Saturday was a good day. Once we made it through the gridlock of traffic and actually found the gardens, we were glad we did.

The gardens are on a former sugar plantation. They are roughly divided into four sections: The Sugar Production, The Grandparents who lived in the Countryside, the Tiano (native people), and the Africans.

The entrance takes us right to Sugar Production. Sugar was very lucrative in PR because of the terrain and slave labor. This area of the garden is very "old world" Spanish-manicured and displaying artifacts that would have been used in the production of sugar by the ruling class.

These are the pots used to boil down the cane juice. These are used to this day in our area of Florida. Farmers in Florida and PR grow cane for personal use. Sugar production in PR is pretty much history. Cheaper Cuban sugar descimated the sugar industry in PR around the middle to late 19th century.

I didn't know, until after we left, that the building you see in the background is a replica of the old slave quarters. Shackles were found in the building when they began rennovation of the property for it's current use.