Tree on Thursday

A big ass trunk and fallish weather.

Wednesday 12-27

This looks like a gradient created in photoshop, but it's not. It's my arm in a sweater. I didn't leave the house this day and barely left the reclining chair, which leaves me with this picture, the only one i took all day.

Friday

A hot air balloon over State College

Thursday

Thursday, December 28:



I'm working at Voices this week. Our office is now located in the warehouse of a used bookstore--Webster's, maybe my favorite place on earth. I think this is quaint and nice. I've been spending my days alternating between the warehouse and the upstairs cafe. Our office is located in the Hebrew corner, which is nice because it means I can't get distracted and start reading all of the surrounding books...

There are no meals at my YMCA

My camera said "System error" for all of Christmas and so there will be no yuletide shot, unless I can convince a cousin of mine to send me her pictures. Here's the shot for Wednesday, December 27. It's of the locker room in the gym in my town.

A frigid walk through the park 12/26/06

reunion w/ highschool friends 1/25/06

12/24/06 The Crippled Cow

This Christmas ornament dates back prior to 1953. My dad remembers putting up the 3-legged cow ever since this year. Pictured above, my dad places his revered cow in the back of tree with the rest of his barnyard ornaments. Under my mom's watch, my dad humbly takes his barnyard out of sight of the classy angels, religous icons, and santas on the tree.

Sunday, December 24

Christmas Eve!

Some lobster about to be consumed. They were tasty.

Playing catch-up sucks

Saturday, December 23

John is one of my favorite people. In fifth grade I asked him to be my boyfriend and he said no. He has big holes in his ears and an arm full of Alfred Hitchcock tattoos. Sorry for the blurriness.

Michelle's last day in Puerto Rico

Friday, December 22

Michelle and I visited the Castillo San Cristobal which is impressive on the outside but kind of lousy on the inside. Nice views though, including this shot of the old Spanish military flag, and the Puerto Rican and American flags. It's an imperial flag sandwich!

After a long absence... AM

I'm back, I promise.

Wednesday, December 20

Héctor Melendez's set at the Nuyorican.

Thursday, December 21

AJ and Noel at Los Pinos. Many tostones were consumed before the screening of the mediocre film The Queen at our friendly Fine Arts cinema.

12/21/06
Ivette Rivera Morales

platanos en los pinos

12/20/06

From left to right: Noel, AM, and Michelle chomp down on tostones, amarillos, and mofogo, all of which are made with the PR staple of plantains.

I was walking down the street thinking about how i would have to use a week old tree picture for the day's entry, but then i encountered this picturesque scene.

man in plaza

After I embarrassingly snaped this shot of the cotton candy vendor in the plaza, he approached me asked, "Estas diviorciada o casada?" What? Ninguna

Michelle wasting hours in front of Belinda's computer

Wiken to Aguada!

We were told by locals to check out ruins in Aguadilla and ended up at this torn down building by the beach. It's where couples go for romantic photographs.

our temperamental car takes a rest

Weekend montage (Anne Marie)

Friday: I wasn't trying to make the face, but I'm glad I did. 80s party.


The ride in the público to Aguada.



A very nice couple that I get to live with.

Machete (viernes)

This is a picture of the shelf behind me at work. Below the books and next to the cds lies a machete donated by the WBI director. Encarved is "Club de Coco de WBI". The machete becomes useful during lunch to chop coconuts.

jueves el 15 (AJ)

The two square-dancers pictured to the left are my co-workers at the Women's Business Institute, Stephanie and Vanessa. They are spinning so fast you can barely see them. This type of behavior is not characteristic of the WBI work environment, but rather was in special celebration of Vanessa's cute slippers.

It's winter here in Puerto Rico, (maybe dropping below 80 at night) so the boricuas are dragging out their winter coats and fuzzy slippers.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

A parranda, pictured above, is one of those distinctly Puerto Rican things. Specifically, one of those distinctly Christmas Puerto Rican things. A parranda is a roving gang of minstrels and hooligans who wander around playing their instruments, visiting you and expecting a snack for their trouble. There was a parranda roaming the halls of Sagrado today, though they didn't pass by our office. We were thankful, because all we had to offer them were crackers and water.

Wednesday, December 13 (AM)

Belinda and I bought the same shirt once. Yesterday we accidentally wore it on the same day. The result: a supercute picture.

Wednesday the 14th (AJ)

Unidentified fruit? of a palm tree near el morro.

Tuesday, December 12 (AJ)

AM awkwardly poses in front of one of many christmas displays below our apartment. Although she resisted this shot, we must document las navidades en puerto rico.

Tuesday, December 12 (Anne Marie)

Believe it or not, this unremarkable scene is the birthplace of the idea for diarios. We ran home to get our cameras, came back and blissfully clicked away. Here's to hoping my photojournalistic skills improve.

Pictured above: Two cruise ships and many happy American consumers buying kind-of homemade jewelry from a stand.

Not pictured: Two more cruise ships and countless other American consumers infiltrating the narrow streets of Viejo San Juan.

Bienvenid@s a diarios

Welcome to diarios, where AJ and AM will post daily photographic evidence of the monotonous, the noteworthy and the unexpected images of our lives in Puerto Rico. There are some ground rules (loosely enforced):

1) One photo per day each
2) Photos taken previously are not allowed, unless it is possible it could have been taken that day. For example, the view from our balcony remains mostly the same day to day. It is encouraged, however, to seek original photos specific to that day's inherent uniqueness.
3) Monthly hall-of-fame shots will be posted
4) Weekends are optional, but encouraged if the photographers have traveled outside of San Juan
5) Weekly "runners up" will be posted each weekend
6) The photographer should rarely appear in the photo, though AJ can be captured by AM and vice versa.
7) While captioning is not required, it is highly encouraged.
8) In extremely rare circumstances guest submissions will be taken into consideration.
9) Look forward to Special Editions: Jackson, Michigan and Sunbury, Pennsylvania while our faithful correspondents take a working holiday.
10) Photoshopping is allowed, though if the photo appears dramatically different than the original, it is the author's duty as a both a public servant and spineless journalist to reveal her formatting changes.