San Juan Ferry Protest - Oh What a Day and Night! (photo heavy, fair warning)

(Imp. first note - let me make it perfectly clear. I can be a total idiot. I forgot to bring extra cards for my camera, meaning I filled it too early - mainly with video - so the last half of the protest was up to the rest of the many photographers to record. I didn't get to do that, my fault!)

Major impressions? Incredibly organized. Clean. Powerful. Pride in being a member of the Culebra island family. Incredibly organized. Did I mention incredibly organized?

(imp. second note - We are not 100 x 35 refers to the fact of the big island being 100 x 35 and that that is not all of Puerto Rico; her outlying islands and people exist!)

 Waiting to get on the ferry. It left on time, at 1 pm.

 The camping 'park' was actually a huge, beautiful pavilion in the park. No mud! Thank you, Jose Mayoral, who took care of the details (financial and logistical) for us having this area.

 Susie and Jacinto brought a large tent, which became the central part of Camp Culebra (it was after 8 pm by now)

 They brought a big Culebra flag too!

 John and Myrna, discussing the situation (or wondering what to eat)

 The crowd was good sized, Culebra and Vieques well represented

 This was the immediate stage audience. The pavilion is beautiful!

 Jacinto taking a very brief time-out

 Our mocko-jumbies were great!! Tomasito is carrying the Vieques flag.

 I'm not sure who made this wonderful model, but it played a very large part in the protest. Those are luminaries around it, there was some good dancing around it too.

 This woman's drum group from Vieques were...stunning. Very tribal, incredible drumming skills and voices. They opened the musical portion of the evening. Powerful women!

 I have no idea who this woman is, but she looked pretty powerful herself.

 As in all things Puerto Rican, the kids were there and taking part

 50 cots were brought from Culebra to keep us off the bricks. I was shocked, pleased and chalked it up to one more (huge) bit of the organization that went into this. There were plenty of snacks, but then Fede and Alicia, who had gone out for a bit, came back with Peking Duck. I'm pretty sure that we were the only ones who had Peking Duck.

 Listening to the music, resting after a long day getting to San Juan

 It was very, very bright in the pavilion. Not a bad thing! Nice sleeping bag, Meryl!

 These guys drummed all night. And I do mean all night. Luckily we were all too distracted by gearing up for the march (breaking down the cots and tents, protesting in the street, getting a bit cleaned up) to do them any bodily harm. They were still drumming on the ferry home (I'm figuring they may have set some sort of record). I have a feeling some guys slept real well last night!

 There was plenty of (free) food for breakfast, from Vienna sausages and ham and cheese sandwiches to fresh fruit. More organization noted. 

 Camp Culebra post cots

 Good thing we were NOT in a muddy field. A reporter talks to one of Vieques' leaders.

 Waiting for the buses to bring in the Tuesday morning protesters from Culebra and Vieques. Note, more organization and this one is huge. Buses were provided for free transport (and a cool t-shirt if you were in the right place at the right time) from Fajardo to San Juan I drove up with Fede and Alicia as we had some errands to do, but I heard the bus trips were good fun!

 Mary Ann brought this very symbolic wheelchair. I heard it made the news.

 The cots, bagged up. Once the truck for them arrived, people just wandered over and grabbed what they could carry. They were loaded up in about three minutes. It was very cool to watch that unasked for communal cooperation. It happened quite a few times.

 Before the actual march itself, we hit the corner of the park (which is right in downtown San Juan) for the morning commute. 

 Each time the light turned red, we were in the streets (we being both Culebra and Vieques participants. People switched around, carrying a flag, carrying their passion)

 The architecture of San Juan always boggles my mind. This is 'just the sidewalk'

 I have no idea who these belonged to, but most likely, she came to the pavilion directly from work. Most likely. 

 I was back and forth from the pavilion to the street (yep, did a little red light action)

 During the whole two days, the police were a very benign presence. Unsure what to expect, the almost disinterest was the one thing unexpected. 

 Dolly blowing the conch. Powerful stuff, that!

 These boys were among many of the youth from Vieques who asked their community leaders to be involved. They were another intense presence during the march.

 Island leaders planning meeting. How we would march. How to take care of any 'worst case' possibilities. How to take care of their island families while speaking out. Wow.

 This little girl had just jumped up here and let me take her picture. She's gamine gorgeous.

 I called them the Painted People. They represent us all.

 Some of the Culebra tribe who just happened to be decorating the wall.

 A view to the capital building, where we ended the march.

 Pre-march music and slogans. Great posters if you look closely at them.

 One of the younger marchers. Old and young, across every color range. It was a beautiful thing.

 The Culebra morning bus arrives!!!

 Preparing to leave the pavilion. There were admonitions, prayers, advice, enthusiastic encouragement. We were like a starting gate of race horses, quivering to get going.

 The march was orderly, slow paced. But we turned right, away from the capitol building! Where were we going?

 We were going to the Dos Hermanos Bridge, pretty much the central artery into downtown San Juan. And we were blocking it! The sound truck person gave the information that this is what we deal with every day, and have for years, not being able or sure we can  get to where we are going. A loose quote would be 'How would you feel if you went to work at 6:30 in the morning and didn't know if you'd be home that night?' 

We know that feeling all too well.

And this is where my memory card went full. The feeling here was AMAZING! Trucks and cars were honking their horns, the speaker truck was speeching, people were shouting responses and hurrahing. Wow (and yes, the people of San Juan do take the brunt of the many protests that happen there, but that is the nature of capitol cities. We didn't want to pick on them personally, but to make it felt on a large public scale what we in the outlying islands go through on a daily, weekly, monthly, and pathetically, yearly basis. Sorry, good people of San Juan!). The police, again, were a very benign presence.

After we left that intersection, we turned and s l o w l y marched to the capital building, with music and political rhyming couplets coming from the sound truck which was in the lead. The front line banner people next, and then more people with banners. The body of the marchers ebbed and flowed. Sometimes I'd be walking with someone, then they would (or I would) slide forward or back and there was someone else I knew. I'm not sure what the actual crowd size was, between 200 and 300 people I'd guess, but it was much larger than I'd imagined. The street was full, sidewalk to sidewalk, still blocking the direct route to the capitol The road leading there is lined on one side by buildings and on the other by the sea (very sorry I was out of camera juice, it was beautiful. The one ocean shot I got was before the march, when I left the park and went up to the little mini market on an errand). 

We finally reached the capital building, where some official looking people who'd been watching our approach went back inside. We were on the street and on the ocean side, as the whole front had been fenced off for construction (good timing, guv). We stayed awhile but by then, my semi-healed broken toe was clamoring for relief. Fede and Alicia were ready to go, so we did.  A bit more happened after we left (no, the governor did not show his face. No official did, at least publicly), maybe a half an hour's worth.

We decided it was time to eat (we were going to get the 7 pm ferry home) and had one of the best burgers next to Digna's at a place called (are you ready for it?) La Hamburger. While we were finishing up, we saw that the march had ended, there was Tomasito who, when I asked how he felt, said. 'I feel good, and I feel tired.' I can only imagine! All through the march/walk, I'd see him, first at the front, then heading back, then returning, conferring, smiling, working to keep everything right, along with the other leaders. It was pretty incredible, really. 

Unfortunately for the people who took the buses back, the ferry was literally untying the lines when they pulled up. So they had a four hour wait back to Culebra. The Vieques people had the door shut while many of them were still in the terminal. Their ferry was coming back as we were pulling out.

There are quite a few names I'm wanting to get to give credit to. There are also some videos I want to share, but this is plenty for today! 

Oh, okay. This is where my memory card ended. Blocking traffic!!

Have a winner Wednesday. Do something you want.

p.s. When I got home off the ferry (not the restful ride hoped for in the least, pitching and yawing and getting drenched with spray above, hurling going on below - yes, I always ride above), I got a call that, in part, was about the governor saying he is privatizing the ferries. The leaders of both islands are against this. Personally, I believe that it is a Solomon's choice. I think the ATM should have  and should be doing a better job, and that yes, people in positions there should have much better oversight in many levels to perform up to and above a level of competency or lose their job(s). I believe privatizing it could also work, and I believe a different pricing schedule is imperative, one for locals, that we might address our daily needs, and one for visitors, which is the price structure of ferries all over the world for island peoples. It IS a privilege to visit islands and there is a cost to be maintained to clean up after our guests. I don't know too many people who don't agree with that. So, that is my wobbly position on the matter at present. I don't think this is brain surgery, but I do think that open-mindedness is the only way we will get this solved. To be firmly entrenched in a position without proper exploration (and I do not think the governor's way of handling his 'announcement' was proper. I think it was not only insulting but ill-prepared. Who is this private company? Was there bidding on the contract? When? How?).