Back In Rincon (For Good)!

It took me exactly 1 week in Los Angeles to realize that I was just spinning my wheels and that I needed to get back to Rincon. The plan was to stay a few months in LA and make some money, but I'll be honest, I missed Cyndi and I missed Rincon and LA just wasn't where I wanted to be. I kept getting these emails with pictures of the dogs on the beach and Cyndi describing the surf, it made me wonder why I was sitting in an empty, cold house juggling car and homowners insurance bills. So I packed my things and said goodbye to the job and 3 weeks after I left I was back in Rincon.

Had I changed, had LA changed?I think living in LA is more of a romantic idea nowadays than a real viable way of living, unless of course your income exceeds 95% of the rest of us and you can hover above the congestion and crime. Maybe in the 60's and 70's when housing and the costs of living were reasonable it was the place to be, but overcrowding and a lack of urban planning have left LA to be like a knotted up clump of wires behind your computer where nothing leads to what it should and everything just needs to be unplugged and begun anew.

I guess I look at all my friends struggling to make the rent, car payment, living in neighborhoods where parking is nonexistent and working to cover the increasing costs of living and while I understand chasing a dream, for me that was never my reason to be there. LA was my home because I liked the weather and the beach, I guess I never realized it could be summer year-round somewhere else.

I needed to go back because when we moved to Rincon it was on Cyndi's terms and I guess I would always be wondering if it was the right thing unless I had gone home after being in Rincon and decided for myself where I wanted to be. So the 3 weeks in Los Angeles weren't a total loss.

So now sitting down, writing this and looking down at the houses that dot the hills into Aguada, I can feel confident that I am home and that whatever happens, going back to LA is not an option. And it is this revelation that will make me work even harder to make it work here, I'll keep you posted ;-)

"Making is Thinking"

The title is a quote from a book by Richard Sennet called, The Craftsman, linking the work of the hands to the workings of the mind. I've read a few books in this vein, books that call upon a new arts and crafts movement and we can see this DIY philosophy having an effect on so many areas of commerce. With global conglomerations merging and finding more and more ways to make things cheaper and in more far flung labor-efficient markets, locally made, hand-crafted items may be the equalizer. From small batch foods like cheese and wine to things for the home and clothes, smaller may be better. Better quality, better for the environment and better for the people who make the goods.

I'm writing this because, out of necessity, I've had to construct the furniture and cabinets for our house here in Rincon. Originally we were hoping to buy the kitchen cabinets from Ikea, but there isn't an Ikea on the island, so Home Depot became our second choice, but after seeing the prices and talking to a few people who voiced concern about the quality of such cabinets for a termite infested area such as Rincon, we started thinking about plan C.

I've made a few wood tables, but kitchen cabinets are a whole new ballgame. I started by making a cabinet to hold our TV receiver and DVD player. It came out alright so I looked up some diagrams for kitchen cabinets online and decided to give it a shot. So far I'm working on my second cabinet for the downstairs kitchen as well as making a wall bookcase and shelf for the kitchen. Everything has been made termite-proof and to our specifications so it fits right and I know it's made right.

I understand what Sennett is trying to express in his book because the more I work on this woodworking thing, the more gratifying it becomes. The time I spend in my workshop is satisfying, I've got music playing and the Puerto Rican jungle to look out upon. I see the quality of the work improving along with my confidence in what I can do. I feel the pride in completing a project and seeing the difference between cutting corners and taking the time to do it right. Not everything turns out perfect, but perfection isn't the point. Knowing that there are alternatives to "Made in China" and spending a fortune on a designer kitchen is.

Surfrider Trashcan Day

Saturday Cyndi and I helped Surfrider install 12 new trashcans at 4 different beaches here in Rincon. We started at 7:30 in the morning at the offices Surfrider rents out of a house near Steps Beach. Wess, the Surfrider, Rincon Chairman and Roger, who owns Surf 787, a surf camp and guest villa in the hills above Rincon, http://surf787.com/Surf787OurLocation.html had already started loading the materials in their cars. Roger donated all the materials; barrels, posts and concrete. There were a couple other people there, but it was looking like it might be a long day if more post hole diggers didn't show up.

We dropped off the trashcans, posts and cement at each location and made our way to the furthest beach, Domes, and started digging holes. Luckily a few more guys showed up and Roger really knew what he was doing so the work went pretty quick. Domes has the biggest parking lot of all the beaches we were doing that day and already had 4 trashcans but needed more so we installed 4 more trashcans in 2 seperate areas. The biggest factors on where to install the cans were putting them where they could be emptied by the municipal trash trucks and not blocked by parked cars, also they needed to be placed where they would get used, not out of the way where more than a few yards walk would be involved. There are also drainage and vista issues we needed to think about and a few places where the ground was too hard to dig.

Indicators, the beach just south of the lighthouse, didn't have any trashcans so we installed 2 at the start of the trail that leads to the beach. Next stop was Maria's which is a very popular spot and will be a focus in future Surfrider projects. There were 2 cans there and we installed 2 more. Finally we installed 2 more trashcans at Steps, to make a total of 4 there. About 10 people ended up showing up and most of the work was done by 11am.

As I wrote before, Cyndi worked on a beach cleanup day with Surfrider, Rincon about a month ago and I'm sure we'll be doing plenty more, but hopefully these trashcans will help keep the trash out of the water between those days. We got to meet a few interesting people, all but one North Americans, most fairly recently moved here. After speaking with more and more people we notice that there are alot of people who live here awhile and eventually leave. Either they can't make a good income or they get sick of the small town life or it's just time to try another spot on the globe. I can't help but wonder how Cyndi and I will feel about Rincon after one, two or even five years of life here, but hope we're still interested in making it a better place.

A New Project.

Well we've been here just over 2 months now and the upstairs looks good, but the kitchen needs some more cabinets. I built and installed a cabinet for the kitchen sink, but it still needs some shelves and doors and we need another L-shaped cabinet and a wall shelf as well. We're planning on buying a convection oven to hang on the wall and for now, we'll probably just use a 2 burner electric stove top. We may buy a full stove top in the future, but it's not a priority.

So with a kitchen sink installed, Cyndi wanted to shift our focus to the downstairs studio so that we can have it completed before the tourist season starts so we can rent it out on a weekly basis. I cleared out the cabinet that was down there, it was infested with rat droppings and scrubbed the floors and walls, took out the bathroom sink and toilet and shower curtain rods. Last week, we patched a few cracks from previous water damage and primered and painted. I also installed a new toilet (not fun), and poured a new concrete floor for the shower.

I also started building a cabinet for the kitchen downstairs. We bought a small sink and refrigerator, when it's done, there will also be a microwave. This week we need to get the shower tiled and then I'll build a glass block wall to take the place of the shower curtain. After that a new sink and vanity and a bed, tv and some furniture and we'll be done. I think we budgeted about $2,500 to redo the downstairs and even with the cost of professional electrical work, we should make it.

When we're done we'll have a 400 sq. ft studio with a kitchenette, queen size bed and a foldout sleeper, probably space to sleep 3 comfortably. After inquiring with our friends who own guest houses in the area, we figure we can get anywhere from $45-$55/night during the tourist season, November to May. We don't plan to rent it out all the time, we have family and friends who will come visit, but if we can rent it out for even 1/3 of the time we will more than make our remodel investment back in the first year.

Or so we hope. I think we really are working so hard to complete the space so our friends and families will visit. We feel so lucky to have found and settled in such a beautiful place and want to share it with those we love. So let us know when you can come!

Let the Preaching Begin....

While I was in Los Angeles for a week, Cyndi volunteered at a Surfrider beach cleanup here in Rincon. They worked at Maria's which is a beautiful spot where we take the dogs often. They picked up at least 15 bags of trash; bottles, glass, cans, straws, clothes and all other sorts of trash that people take with them to the beach or that the wind blows onto the beach from the nearby road.

Surfrider held this beach cleanup day as a worldwide event, so beaches all over Rincon, the Caribbean and the rest of the Earth were made cleaner on this single day by volunteers like Cyndi. Obviously the cleanup makes the beach nicer, but so much trash effects the animal and plant life in and out of the water. I recently saw a documentary where oceanographers were tracking a giant cluster of plastic in the Pacific Ocean. It was hundreds of miles long and wide, made up of water bottles, fishing line, 6-pack holders and small plastic globules that are used in industrial plastic manufacturing. It was disturbing to see the amount of trash that had made it's way out to sea and the effect it was having on the sea life.

It seems pretty obvious that we need to take care of our oceans, but apparently not to everyone. At the risk of sounding preachy, next time you're at the beach, take a few minutes to pick up any trash you see; even if everyone doesn't do it, for those that do it will make a huge difference, and it makes you feel good.

The Rincon chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, http://www.surfrider.org/rincon/index.php is headed by Wes Merten. He held a meeting on Thursday, so we went to see what they were working on. There were only about 8 other people there, which even though a lot of people from Rincon are out of town this time of year, seems like a very low amount considering it's such a wave-loving community. The next project is installing 24 new trashcans at some of the beaches around Rincon. It's great that Surfrider has the money and the connections to be able to do this kind of thing as it makes keeping the beaches clean a little easier if there are less excuses not to.

Cyndi and I are both looking forward to being more involved with Surfrider and a few other organizations here in Rincon that make the town a better place to live. We're setting our roots here and it's important for us to work toward improving our environment and not leave it up to someone else.

How Can I Makes Some Money in Rincon?

The move to Rincon, came before knowing if we could make money here. Cyndi sold her massage therapy business in Laguna Beach and has started doing sports massage here in Rincon. It should work out great for her. As I've written before Rincon has plenty of athletes; surfers, mountain bikers, kayakers and divers and as far as we can tell only 3 or 4 other massage therapists, none of them just specializing in sports and deep tissue massage. She started by getting a website, http://rinconsportsmassage.com/, and added a free business listing on Google business listings, part of Google maps. She joined the Tourism Assoc. of Rincon (TAR) and got a listing on their website, http://rincon.org/, and a spot on the map of Rincon that is sold for $2 at many of the TAR locations. By becoming a member of TAR, you are also entitled to place your business cards in other TAR businesses. She spent the first couple of months here doing just that as well as meeting various operators and owners of inns and guest houses that can recommend her services to their guests. She has also joined a concierge service, http://rinconvacations.com/, that is a one stop-shop for services for the Rincon tourist. All this marketing work was done before the true tourist season starts in November and Cyndi has already done a few massages.

I had no plans, but a few ideas to make money in Rincon, so when we got here my agenda was to work on the house and get as much information as possible on what's going on in Rincon. There is still much work to be done on the house, but I also need to start having an income. My experience is in the restaurant business and there seems to be plenty of opportunities for employment either as a bartender or waiter at any of the hotels and restaurants around town during the season and that may be my best option for the first year we are here.

There are also roadside foodstands all over Rincon, roasted chicken, pinchos (bbq'd meat skewers), hot sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers and even pizza. It seems to be a good cash only, low overhead business that allows you to control hours and location, but the key is to cook what works and I will not know that until I've lived here through the tourist season.

The town of Rincon is small and other than restaurants, hotels, surf related business and services, has only the basics of stores; hardware, pharmacy, grocery, a few gift shops and art galleries. There really isn't much else. Any store we would open would have to cater to the swell of tourists who come during the high season and hope for some business from the locals during the off-season. A bike shop would be succesful here, but I really don't have the capital for such a large enterprise. We've thought about a pet supply store and several different service business', such as pool cleaning, but once again, the need to know what we're dealing with here is the key to any success and that will take some time.

I think of Rincon a lot like a new frontier, there are plenty of opportunities, but we have limited resources and the key to success will be using those resources wisely. Rents are relatively low, as are wages, but it's a seasonal town. Almost all the restaurants are closed for the whole month of September. For now, I'm meeting a lot of great people and getting some good advice about what to expect, but I also believe that Cyndi and I have a different and fresh perspective on the town and that is our biggest advantage.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I guess I've written so much about how great Rincon is, it's time to make it real and tell you a few bad things you might want to know before you make the move. We spoke to a few people from Puerto Rico before we moved here and the biggest issue that always came up was the "island" way of doing things. This means that sometimes things move very slowly here and you have to be patient. Coming from Los Angeles this could be quite an adjustment as people in large cities, like LA tend to expect promptness and the freedom to move through their day and tasks with speed and a certain sense of urgency. Yeah, that's not going to happen here.

I really don't know all the reasons for the slower pace, but weather definitely plays a role. The daily rains of the hurricane season break into the day and although its not oppresively hot, the heat and humidity make a siesta seem like a great idea. Also most of the roads are small and cannot be travelled at high speeds. When you get in a car in Puerto Rico it's best not to be in a hurry, enjoy the ride, chances are your destination will still be there whether you drive 60 or 35 mph. Because the roads are smaller, roadwork makes more of a disruption, a lane closed can mean your errand will tke twice as long as planned.

There are other related issues; when we went to register our car at the DTOP (Puerto Rico's DMV), we waited in line to get the right paperwork, then had to go to a different building to pay the fee, before returning to the DTOP to get our registration stickers. While we were waiting to pay the fee, the computer system went down, apparently it happens a lot. By the time the system came back up and we had paid the fee, when we returned to the DTOP, the office was closed, seems they close at 12pm during the summer months.

So the biggest issue: time, if you can't adjust to Puerto Rico's schedule you will make yourself go nuts. On the other hand, living in the Caribbean tends to make you more relaxed and the time issue becomes a way to meet new people and when all your days end with a beautiful sunset on a sandy beach, it's hard to feel too stressed about anything.

For me, the worst thing about Puerto Rico is the endless fast food restaurants that line the streets of the bigger towns. Anyone expecting a Caribbean paradise of small quaint towns with nothing but local authentic cuisines is in for a big disappointment. Mc Donald's, Burger King, and Wendy's are here in force, sometimes all right next to each other. Luckily, Rincon only has one such fast food place, a Burger King on the edge of town. There's also a Quizno's in a mini mall, but I think that's about all the chain type places around.

The language could be an obvious problem for many people. Spanish is the official language and all the street signs and official notices are in Spanish. However, many people on the island speak English and there is usually someone in each store or government office that speaks English. We've met people in Rincon who have lived here for over 10 years and are proud to say they've never learned Spanish, but I really don't think you'll be able to enjoy the culture and traditions of Puerto Rico without some Spanish knowledge.

There are other things; a stray dog problem, some graffiti, trash on some of the beaches, a difficulty finding some of the things we loved in LA (Trader Joes), but these are minor and could be a problem wherever you choose to live.

I really can't think of much else bad to say about our town, Rincon, and the island of Puerto Rico. Maybe 2 months here isn't a long enough time to see the uglier side of things, but I honestly believe that whatever comes our way, as seen through our sunset tinted glasses, nothing will be enough for us to question our decision to move to the "Island of Enchantment".