PR 9 Two Nights In Mayagüez

I experienced the most interesting part of my trip in the third largest city of the country, Mayagüez (pronounced majawez). I somehow ended up there after my rollercoaster ride in the hills of central Puerto Rico and I didn’t want to go look for a hotel in Boqueron. I passed a nice looking hotel who offered me a room for 100 dollars again (a bit cheaper than the price in the brochure) and I happily accepted. There was a car park and the hotel was right in the centre near the main square and the church.

Much to my surprise the city was celebrating it’s patron saint that weekend! I couldn’t have had more luck. It looked as if the whole town was getting ready for the big party. My first impression was very positive. The church was small, but typical for the region. They had this statue of the virgin Mary who I never had seen looking so sad. Some older guy in the church told me it depicted the ‘birth of pain’, when Maria says goodbye to Jesus’ body after his crucifixion. The man was probably one of the oldest people in town who probably has been mayor at one time, or at least someone important. He explained to me how the archbishop of Puerto Rico was going to visit and that there would be an open mass, with a procession and some bands playing in front of the church. Hey, I needed not hear more.

There was a nice atmosphere in the city, with small stands selling fried codfish or a sweet cake called Mallorca. The most intriguing thing was this horseracing betting game which drew a lot of people. I was amazed by this simple betting game which I had never seen before on a European fair. Some guy spins a wheel after which 20 horses race around. When the last horse stops they check which horse stopped closest to the finish line. If you had bet on that horse, you win. I loved the enthusiasm of the people who participated! That was fun. The mass itself was boring. The procession around the square in the centre of which you have a nice statue of Christopher Columbus was boring too, although i enjoyed it as it was the first time I saw such a thing. You see it on tv, but it’s nicer in real life. And then you had some old singers sing some popular songs, to which the older crowd was shaking and moving. The strange thing was that I did not see any 20 or 30 something, making me conclude that it’s the kind of town were you grow up and come back after you spend your young life in San Juan or New York.

Unfortunately I found out that there are young people in Mayaguez too. There’s actually a university in the city. It’s quite bustling. And my hotel was right in the middle of downtown where bustling is all it does on a Saturday night. I had met a nice couple during breakfast who were in town for some medical treatment and had to wait 3 hours in between two tests. They offered me to show me around the city, which I happily accepted. They showed me the campus of the university, the mall, the harbour, the tuna producing industries, the ferry to the Dominican Republic and they constantly reminded me to be careful if I would venture out on foot or with my car. It was as if they were giving me a tour in Beirut. I couldn’t possibly think the city was so criminal after the very nice evening I had celebrating the patron saint. However, that second night in Mayaguez I experienced madness in front of the hotel.

I had stayed in after checking out the area around the hotel. There were some bars and clubs but none of them appealed to me. Some looked a bit dangerous, others worked with a door policy based on the dress code. I just enjoyed watching the people and when I still couldn’t sleep at 2.30am, I decided to watch the street live from the outside corridor of the hotel. And then it happened. A car stopped, someone got out, started beating up a guy, who was immediately backed by his friends who started to beat the aggressor, upon which the driver of the car did nothing less than get in reverse, then turn and drive into the fighting crowd! I swear, I couldn’t believe I was witnessing this. I got back to the room, felt very uneasy and had my imagination run wild about a possible Rio style gang war. My paranoia didn’t stop when I saw two police officers do surveillance in front of my window. Although they should have given me some rest and peace, they actually enhanced my fear of being trapped in a crazy action movie. The noise outside was incredible up until 5 am. I never knew what happened to the kids They told me no one got seriously injured, but I find that hard to believe. All I know is that I didn’t sleep at all that night. And all I know is that I couldn’t hear any reggaeton anymore as that was the soundtrack music to this chaos. Every time a boom car drove around the area (showing off, trying to impress), it almost got kicked out of the bed by the mattress moving to the incredibly powerful bass.