Reading In The Airport

The Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico

This as the travel season begins:

Marley is frustrated. He's read all the soccer magazines in English, Spanish and German and most of the newspapers in the San Juan airport, and he is thinking about starting to drink pina coladas to make the time pass. He can't find any books that he might like. He has had a waiting room nap, and his neck now aches. He and Bardo have been waiting at the gate for three hours. It has gone far beyond the jokes about BWIA meaning "But Will It Arrive." ... The gate area is filled with the two extremes of Caribbean travel: rich tourists, with fluorescent pallor when arriving and tanned or sun burnt when leaving, and the poor of color, leaving and coming home, carrying boxes taped shut with duct tape, crates, and battered suitcases. The tourists are vibrating with apparent anger at the delay that has been imposed. The locals are implacably resigned to the wait and to show grace no matter what.

The Dream Antilles

Yes, the travel season to "warm places" is upon us. It's hard to get to desde Desdemona, as you already know, especially if you haven't been invited. But there are other lovely spots in the Caribbean. With spectacular beaches. Of course, there will be delays for weather in the US and for equipment. But don't despair. Just remember to bring lots of reading material. And breathe deeply.