Author: MJ (---.prtc.net)
Date: 01-10-07 17:40
"I love Culebra but I still have a hard time understanding why a laid back island environ requires a Darwinian instinct..."
Interestingly, just today a friend of mine and I were talking about this subject. I won't go into my response to the phrase Darwinian instinct, because someone might bite my leg...or I might bite my own leg.
This may be harsh, but Culebra, IS Culebra. Things run out, there is lots of stuff we don't have, crowds aren't always expected, lines form. That is because tourism is moving very fast here and sometimes...that's just the way it is. This isn't St. Barts or Jamaica or Nassau. It isn't even Vieques. It's Culebra. The whole laid back thing isn't a THING...it's how it really IS. We run out of food, gasoline, the water and electric may go off, etc. So people coming here will either be okay with that, or they won't.
There are places to go eat that don't have lines, but they aren't on the lists a lot of times. Personally, when I travel, I look for the local places that DON'T have lines (and trust me, I have a stool with my name on it at Dinghy Dock and one half warm at Mamacita's and hit the rest of the places here as much as time and money allows, so I am not saying don't go to those places, hey my friends OWN those places, I go there and I love to do it).
Those of us who live here, Culebrense and gringos alike, are all very aware of what those who visit may think we *lack*. But we live here anyway, because we don't WANT a Wal-Mart or a Plaza Extra or an Albertson's or an Office Depot or a Cosco or whatever it that would provide an immediate fix for our desires and, at times, our serious needs. It's a choice we live with 365 days a year, not a week or two. We LIKE it this way! Weird, huh? But so it is.
To think because this place has been written up all over the place that it is some on-time, all-prepared sort of island would be a mistake and a disappointment. It is what it is. A tiny island growing, with more people arriving to enjoy it than it sometimes has room or resources for. I've started sending people to the beach for local food at lunch, there are great kiosks there that should be checked out (Flamenco) if the lines are crazy or the wait is long at some of the local well known places. Explore! Have an experience! Meet some locals, you may get invited to dinner!
Culebra, as the bumper sticker said - it's not just an island, it's an experience.
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