Where the streets have no name

It just started bursting with rain this afternoon. I attempted to watch the news this morning for weather reports but I couldn’t tell which region they were talking about. I’m realizing that some of my issues here are language-based but most of it really is just being in the new townie in a town that happens to have no street signs.

I’ve been navigating pretty well within 10 minutes of my home but beyond that I’m going to need some maps and studying. Living in NYC, I got so used to be on a grid, so nice and simple. Here there are tons of winding roads and it’s hard for me to know which direction I’m heading in. Luckily there are a couple of main markers like the big volcanic mountain to the south and the ocean to the north. Of course, depending on where you are on the island, that can all change.

Listening to locals give each other directions makes me feel less lost though. My coworker had to show the bike shop owner using rocks as markers where my house was so that he could drop off my bike. Low and behold he found it! Guess it’s going to be like that navigating around. I suppose I’m used to navigating that way but it’s always nice to have street signs as a reassurance.


(cable guy installing on a hot day)
I don’t know if I mentioned before but I got cable TV installed at home. I figured it would be nice to have a couple of channels in English so I wouldn’t feel so homesick. The cable guy was so nice and it was blazing hot the day he made the repairs. He walked me through all the channels and how to use the remote and tape shows while still watching other channels. He also informed me that I would have access to a few special channels for free but only for 10 days. He suggested I tape any movies I wanted. Customer service is amazing here!

Of course now I’ve just been watching American movies on TV but last night I watched an MTV-like channel and got hooked on the top 10 video countdown. It was such a bizarre mix of boy bands, rock/hip-hop bands with the guys dressed in little suits with skinny ties, and female singers bopping around with cartoon characters and singing all cutesy. Of course I had to watch until the end for number one which was this Jackson 5/Menudo type group that danced and sang. We’ll see if they can keep it at number one!