Lotsa Lychees

6/5: Well, I’m here in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The grounds of the Tropical Agricultural Research Station are beautiful. We are living in a cute one-story house: 3 bedrbooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, washing machine in the backyard and “dryer” (read: clothes lines) outside (underneath an overhang, of course). The station director picked us up at Mayaguez airport. We took a Cessna (a full flight = 7 passengers) from San Juan to Mayaguez. It was a little frightening, I admit, but we got a beautiful view of the island.

The station director was kind enough to give a short driving tour of the town (it is a rather small town) and university campus. He then took us to the grocery store. Prices are pretty similar to those in NJ, and so is the variety of foods, actually. I found tofu and soymilk. However, my worst fear did turn out to be true –no hummus! Ah! So I bought chick peas and used the house’s blender. It ended up a tad bit garlicky…I did, however, find pitas. Someone please explain. Also, Breyer’s was like $8. I sadly walked away. Our cashier and bagger both had the same name, according to their name tags. I found this hilarious and really wanted to ask if they found it funny, too, but they didn’t seem to want to be working  and I  worried the language barrier would get in the way of me trying to make a joke.

A bit about the TARS station. It is part of the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA and was established in 1901. Some key research areas include the genetics of sorghum and dry beans and development of new varieties; introduction, preservation, evaluation, regeneration, and distribution of tropical fruit germplasm, and evaluation and development of management systems. The station has 127 acres in Mayaguez and employs 7 full-time scientists. There are additional farms in Isabela and St. Croix.

Observations from my first walk around the grounds: There are plenty of different smells, from floral to earthy to rotting. The mango trees are loaded with fruit! Becareful, mango is related to poison ivy (as is cashew) and if you have bad reactions to poison ivy you may wanr to ask your friends to pick manoges for you. There are little lizards everywhere (including the house – I think we named him Rico but I still call him Mr. Lizard). There are also chickens on the property. I’m not sure to whom it is exactly that they belong. I saw a couple of them in the tree and wondered how they got up there. They seemed to be wondering the same thing.

I started reading the Core Pesticide manual. I can’t imagine myself spraying pesticides. I’m pretty awkward, as I’ve said numerous times. I feel like something could go terribly wrong. But certification makes one more hirable and it’s probably good for me to learn the material, so I’ll read the book and sit through the class and take the exam.  Yes, another exam. Now that GRE’s are over I have to sign up for more exams, right? So, for the fall, it’ll be pesticide certification and biology GRE’s (arg, ETS I hate you for taking my money! Hopefully, I’ll get a fellowship out of the deal? Fingers crossed).

6/6:

We had an early start today. Up at 4:45 AM. We went for a run (apparently I’m pretty good – I was able to keep up for the 10 minutes I actually ran – though I was out of breath in 5 minutes…I’m in terrible shape it seems). We met the horticulturalist at 6 AM for a day of lychee harvesting! Have you had a lychee? If so, it was probably at a Chinese buffet or from an Asian food store. They remind me of extra-sweet, extra-large grapes, but with a bumpy, raspberry-red peel. They are conducting variety trials and we helped harvest the lychees from several different trees for evaluation. (I’m at the coffee shop in the Plaza right now and they have a pretty nice playlist going…Is this Beatles or Monkees? Sorry. Anywho, it’s nice. Some guy just interrupted to ask (first in Spanish, then in very clear English) if I’d be interested in getting internet set up in my home.) Some of the apparent differences: color (from raspberry red to orange-red), fruit size, fruit shape (one was heart-shape), and yield. Because lychees need a period of cold to stimulate flowering (and, consequently, fruit production) the test sites are in the mountains. The drive was 2 hours each way. No wonder we start at 6AM! I’m not complaining though, the scenery was breathtaking, and, in some respects, particularly the vegetation, reminiscent of Costa Rica. We drove along highways and through a few small towns. There are houses anywhere – not exactly everywhere, as there is still plenty of forest and farm and open space, but anywhere, from valleys to mountaintops to the precarious slopes in between. Many of them are painted “happy colors” : pink and lilac and yellow and peach. Some of the houses are really quite beautiful. Our driver joked. “ We may need to stop by my house on the way back to Mayaguez” (indicating a beautiful light orange mansion with a circular driveway. I preferred the slightly smaller pink house next door. Hey, we could be neighbors! (In our dreams…)

We passed through Lares. The city of beautiful skies, as it was renamed by the mayor. Or, more historyically, the city of screams (?). Independence fighters led an uprising there. There has been much controversy over the name change, or so I was told. We saw chickens and dogs on the sides of (and in) the road. We saw plenty of coffee trees and banana and bamboo and orange trees. Actually, after we finished harvesting in Castanera, we dropped some fruits off with the landowner and he gave us oranges. We watched as the oranges (tons of them!) were unloaded onto a converyor belt to be washed, waxed, and sorted by size. They were all destined for local markets and therefore were not the bright orange color I’m used to seeing in NJ grocery stores.

We had lunch at a beautiful creek near the extension station. Sat on rocks. Watched the water. Watched water bugs fight over bread crumbs. We then harvested two lychee trees at this site (there wasn’t room in the bed of the truck for any more fruit. There was barely room for what we picked!) (Oh, by the way, the café is now playing some more traditional Puerto Rican music). This second site was just perfect – ideal temperature, sun was out, breeze was blowing. Ah. And plenty of lychees for all.

On the way home, I noticed a number of roadside fruit vendors and food trucks, including one selling doughtnuts and one selling fruit frappes. At one intersection, a man was selling water, plantains, and coconut candies to stopped cars. There is also an abundance of fast food and other chain restaurants, from Church’s Chicken to Burger King to Subway (all advertising proudly that they serve desayuno). There are plenty of Sears and Walgreens stores, as well as a K-Mart. One of the staff recommended trying El Meson – it’s a Puerto Rican chain that makes great sandwiches. Gas is about the same price as in NJ, but this is not clear at first glance, as it is sold by the liter in Puerto Rico. I was so confused. $0.92 would have been a steal!

We talked a bit about the music scene. Reggaeton. Daddy Yankee we all knew. I was disappointed to learn that they had not heard of Bolo Flow (I saw him in New Brunswick at the Urban Arts Festival last Sunday, or was it Monday? And got a free CD because I don’t really give a damn and dance when I like the music.) I was told he was pretty big in Puerto Rico. I’ll have to bring the CD for the car ride to Isabela (which is half as long as the trip to the lychee sites) tomorrow.

Also, quick tip, if you ever come to Puerto Rico, don’t ask for Pit USA – the department store name is pronounced Pee-too-sah.

I’m in the town plaza. It’s set up like any town center – the mayor’s office and then an open square with a fountain and status and such and the church. On a building across the street, someone painted a pirate ship – I love it; the sails are purple and the skull and crossbones are pink. Diamonds and hearts are “raining” from the light grey storm cloud. The ocean is light blue.

Ready for another early morning tomorrow!

OK, so still at the plaza, even though I can’t connect. At  least I know it’s not my laptop because the barista (barrister? It’s a guy…) can’t connect either. There’s a young man at the table next to me. I suspect he’s not from here. The books he has with him are in English. And he really does not look Puerto Rican. He’s wearing a red lifeguard shirt. However, he apparently has friends here. A guy and girl just arrived and they all are ordering coffee.  I wonder why the trees in the plaza still have Christmas lights on them (They are red, white, and green lights after all).

This breeze is wonderful. The bugs are probably going to start biting soon. I got off pretty light today. Maybe my bug spray is just superfantastic. That was one thing my AZ brother in UPR-Mayaguez kept asking – did you pack Off? Did you pack bug spray? Of course. Haha.

Darn. I can’t eavesdrop on the trio at the table next to me. I really need to learn Spanish! I heard Colombia. Maybe she’s Colombian? Neither of the guys look Hispanic. However, the island of Puerto Rico is fairly diverse in itself, a rainbow of skin tones and a variety of backgrounds. A number of different cultures have influenced the culture here.

I hope I do not offend anyone in my blogging. I am simply observing. Puerto Rico, though part of the U.S., is unique. Sure, both NJ and PR have Wendy’s and Wal-Marts and our laws and regulations are, for the most part, the same.  Puerto Ricans are US citizens after all. Yet, I found myself speaking as if Puerto Rican were a foreign country. 

OK, I really should go make dinner. I made a huge pot of rice yesterday – it better damn well last the week! We bought a huge bag of white rice at the grocery store yesterday. Thank goodness we had a ride. Carrying that home would have been terrible. I’m such a weakling. Though you should all be proud of me. I helped carry a tub full of lychee fruits today.

OK, so maybe lifeguard boy is from here as he just called over someone else he knows. It’s a reunion! Damn language barrier. I like to people watch and listen.

Signing off for now. Another early start tomorrow! Though no run. She is working with the chemist for the rest of the week. He gets in at 7, not 6, so she doesn’t have to wake up as early as I do. Do you really think I could push myself to run alone? Haha. I laugh. But maybe if I run with her the weeks we get up together I could kind of be in shape enough and continue that until the Big Chill and actually run the entire thing? Umm…I have my doubts…

6/7 Today we stayed at the station in Mayaguez. Our trip to Isabela was rained out. Instead, we sorted and counted the lychees we picked yesterday. Not all of them - there are too many! We finished over 5,000 though. We sorted them into commercial and non-commercial (small, underripe, etc) fruits and further subdivided the commercial into good and bad (brown, torn skin, etc.). We started at 6AM, took an hour break for lunch, and finished at 3PM. Just weighing and sorting and counting. The data will be used to determine the best variety/varieties for the region. Brix will also be measured. You want delicious fruits with high yields of sellable fruits. One of the varieties with a beautiful, heart-shaped, delicious fruit may not turn out to be the variety of choice, for instance, because the fruits brown quickly.

During a short morning break, I asked the secretaries if the station had a library. It did, but most of the books have since been given to UPR and the rest are completely disorganized.

"Is there anything in particular you are looking for?"

"Something on tropical fruits, to complement my work."

"Oh, I can give you a book some of our researchers wrote" (in the 1970s).

I have just begun reading this book on major and minor tropical fruits. Be prepared for fun facts.

Some more info on lychees: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/lychee.html