It was almost time to depart on our trip but first I had to tend to the final exercises of WWS451 and so the students were asked to gather for photo time and we grabbed Deven Desai who took these wonderful pictures of (seated) Camille Francois, Jacob Fisch, Josephine Wolff and (standing) Pete Wang, Yuchen Zhang, Paul Dimaggio, Shawn Kothari, Raleigh Allison, Jen Chen, David Dobkin

This left us ready to leave bright and (very) early the next morning and so I said good bye to Ben welcomed Peter and Seva and put bright lights on Suzanne as she was leaving the house and we made our way to section 307 of the parking lot at Newark where we grabbed our bags cleared security and got into the coffee line at Dunkin Donuts where we ran into Hal Stern. Once airborne, this was my lunch since I had given my elegant upgraded business class seat to Suzanne. Next thing we knew, we were there and at the airport making our way to a taxi and from there on to Fajardo where we saw the lines for the ferries as we waited with baggage and then pulled our bags to the obligatory phone booth picture before grabbing lunch at our favorite Fajardo restaurant where the diet coke and grilled cheese left Suzanne in the dark but enlightened Seva and Peter and me.

Next we made our way past the parked boats and noted that our favorite Fajardo restaurant was for sale before settling onto the ferry ad making our way past the ships out to sea which involved a few changes of location on the ship to find seats that satisfied us and gave good views as Peter did his ancient mariner imitation and we eventually saw bodies of land which calmed the seas a bit but led to discussions about which of these land masses would hold the entryway to the harbor at Dewey

until we saw the harbor saw the welcoming signs and got off the ship to see Raquel who took us to Jerry's jeeps where among the roosters Jerry led us through the routine of the car rental, the island, his life story, ... in an amazing monologue that he must share with everyone.

Having been enlightened about every turn in every road, every bump, every tree, every native, ... we were well prepared to follow Raquel to the house we were renting above Zoni Beach and so after an amazingly uneventful ride, given the warnings, we arrived at our villa

These droplets of rain on our window told the story of the next day (and the ones after that) even as we looked out at the building which housed the Kramers and the scenery beyond which was the road to the beach (where even 6 wheel drive could not bring us back). Suzanne had her breakfast and we checked out the views by the swimming pool as I had my coffee and reading and we admired the setting we were in

complete with views down to Zoni Beach before starting our walk down to the beach which was as beautiful as the pictures show though the weather did not make it attractive to do more than wade and leave foot prints even as we learned about the local turtles. Behind the beach was this scenery which was deeply affected by the weather conditions ad we made our way down the beach and I peeked behind the beach into the jungle where lovely little ants were doing their thing before we made our way back to the parking area and past the various garbage and recycling receptacles and back to the lot across from ours where Mr. Erler was building his house which would be the envy of our car with its license plate. Once down the stairs we were in the house but gathering to depart once more as I determined that with flash and without, the glass didn't quite let me join the picture. On our journey to explore the island, we came across the fruit stand, this being Friday and so the day for fresh fruit. For some reason, my camera did not enjoy this picture and indeed, this was the last picture I was permitted for quite some time as the camera first entered a mode where it told me to turn it off and on and then starting grinding gears and finally had trouble focusing. As a result there are limitations to what follows though it all ends happily.

Indeed, after Flamenco Beach and Melones and a trip to the top of the mountain (such as it was) and Jolly Rogers restaurant, we made our way home and the camera permitted a few photos of our room and then we came across Peter deeply in a trance about MazeCube before we had hors d'ouveres and drinks that brought Seva Suzanne and me back to life for the journey to Susie's restaurant where this was the menu which engaged Suzanne Seva and Peter but not me as the bushwhackers came with the unusual glass of wine and the appetizers and waters and main courses which could only work if they had lots of crunchy things on top

as elegantly prepared by Susie who may have some difficulties ahead since we were the only people in the restaurant and were not inspired to make a return visit. Back at the house, Seva and I played a game of scrabble which ended with this board.

The next day, I was allocated just a small number of photos before the camera decided to go on strike. But I did record some of the views out from our room and the waters -- pool with Zoni beach behind and the main house with the rain waters on the patios not to mention sky views which offered hope that the day would turn into bright blue skies but when I tried to capture Suzanne, the camera balked and then came back for her and also for this self portrait not to mention the kitchen area and the fan but the day's final picture had to be of the BlackBerry after which the camera was firmly on strike.

The next day, it was rainy but the camera shut down after just two photos of the landscaping and the day after there would be no pictures, so you can imagine the withdrawal pangs I felt.

Finally I reached a day where I had the double good luck of a working camera and a bright blue sky. I was tentative because I wondered how long it would last as I took photos of our various views from the bed room and then Peter out of and in focus and some close photos of plantings as I wondered if I should take any more pictures or save my luck for the few photos I had to have before leaving the island but Seva blurred and then became clear as I recorded the house and a plant and then had the camera go dark until dinner where Suzanne and I and Peter and Seva began our cocktail hour which amused Seva and led to this self portrait for me before we went exploring and decided that the Dinghy Dock (which we saw on a realtor's listing the next day) was not the right place and after some exploration we ended up at Mamacitas which seemed to be the only open restaurant in town so we read the menu and went to the bar to wait for the signs to clear and the drinks to appear even though they had used up the last bananas of the day on the party ahead of us Suzanne Peter Seva (out of pose) and Seva (in pose) and I were ready when our table was and while we were happy to not share with the iguanas I was happy to take this photo of our neighbors which, I am sure, came out better than the picture I took with their phone and then the waiter came and explained that no other restaurant could get its act together to be open on Tuesday, hence the crowd at Mamacitas and we toasted this observation as we gathered drinks and had salad and jalapeno poppers before the main courses arrived

and then a visit to the bathroom revealed this sign which I had assured others was for real the last time we went to Mamacitas though it is hardly a collection sign.

Sadly, it was our last day. Happily, my camera was working and even more happily, the views were good except for the dark one and I was able to explore all around the house and the pool chairs and various shots of the kitchen

including memorabilia collected (and left) and the iguana on the wall and many views of the property in various directions

before Suzanne emerged and though the pictures continued (because they could) I saw Suzanne we focused on breakfast at the picnic table and Peter had this view as Suzanne looked out on the pool and I looked at my book before we began the walk across the neighbors' properties to the big rut in the road

to and across the big puddle with the view in the distance until with our final steps we made it to the parking lot and looked out at the beach directly and indirectly before recording the story of the protected turtles and making our way down the beach to this resting place from which we could see Mother and Child down the beach and the beauty of the water and sand as I admired all that was there and regretted that our vacation was in its final hours as the beach mother and child water and clouds and mostly a camera that would let me take a picture at all and especially a picture of the mother and child down the beach brought me joy even as the sailboat drifted and the waves broke beneath the beautiful sky as Peter stood beneath the tame clouds and mother and child brought Suzannne Seva and Peter forth from the water under the cooperative sky as we saw our house in the distance and made our way up the hill to the house and prepared for our departure but not before recording this totem that we left for others.

Our way to the airport was met with twin desires -- pictures of Peter taking the garbage to the town dump

and pictures of the local cemetery though it didn't dawn on us that we would then see a funeral procession which must have involved all of the towns people. This brought us to the airport where we saw the air lines including Air Flamenco which would rescue us as Suzanne and Seva were more relaxed than they would have been it they realized that the empty airport with the roosters outside might be our home for the night which while it might have provided another chance to go to the restaurants where my camera didn't work and to learn even more about turtles would not have been as pleasant as getting on this backup plane and having remarkable views of the coastline as we flew off

and over Zoni Beach and its neighbors and on to Flamenco Beach before passing over the Caribbean

on our way to the big island where we saw the landing strip from on high

and made our way past the cruise ship to a safe landing so that we could get onto the next flight with these nice tokens from Peter though the served meal did not match what we had brought (including the bread from the sketchy bakery) and Suzanne's wine was better than Susie's though my rum and diet coke did not measure up to what I had become accustomed to and after admiring the can we realized that diets be damned and ended our vacation with some nuts.