Luz and Amity were getting ready for the day ahead as Amity's stomach began to rumble."Looks like somebody wants breakfast" Luz said as she finished with her hair. After 5-10 minutes the two were ready. Making their way down the elevator. After making their way down the two made their way to the breakfast area opening the doors. A woman stood behind a podium."Good morning, your room number please." She asked. "It's 1663." Amity said as she looked them up "ok ladies right this way." She said as she led them to a table with 2 cups and a carafe of coffee. " My name is Elena. If you need more coffee or want juice please let me know. Otherwise enjoy the buffet." She said as she left to tend to others.
" Luz does that mean we can -" Amity said as Luz interrupted."Yes Amity we can eat as much as we want." Luz said. "Really Luz." Amity said as she had never experienced a human buffet had it all. In the center was a table where one could get scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, pancakes, sausage and a vegetarian option. Besides that table stood another which gave the European continental breakfast. They also had cereal, oatmeal, gluten free breads, bagels, breads and an omelet/waffle station."Amity my love lets eat." Luz said as the two grabbed plates and made their way to the buffet tables.
The two went to work piling their plates with mounds of scrambled eggs, potatoes and bacon. Upon returning to their table the 2 requested some oj poured their coffee and began digging into their plates. "Wow this is good". Amity commented."Save some room so we can hit the waffle station." Luz said as she went for a fork's worth of egg. After a few minutes the 2 had cleared their plates."You know why don't we save the waffle station for tomorrow." Amity said as Luz nodded in agreement. " I see you ladies are done now your breakfast is complementary but you still have to sign this check its hotel policy." The man said as Luz signed it and the two went back to their room to freshen up before heading to the taxi stand near the hotel's entrance."Luz I thought you wanted to rent a car?" Amity asked.
"Of course I do but it's hard to find parking in Old San Juan. We are better off taking a taxi." Luz said as she got the attention of a cab just take a taxi, it's less hassle." Luz said as the two made their way to the taxi stand. There was just one cab at the moment with an older gentleman wiping his windshield."Excuse me, can you take us to Old San Juan." Luz asked in Spanish."Of course I can." The man said as he opened the door and let the 2 in. They quickly began the drive to the iconic neighborhood. As they sat in the car they were passing by political ads. When translated to English they read"Vote yes for sovereignty." The driver was listening to some Spanish political radio talk show. It seems they were talking about the upcoming vote for Puerto Rico's future.
"Now Jorge, please tell us about this vote and how it will change Puerto Rico's future." The host said. "Well this will finally end the colonial nightmare Puerto Rico has been in since 1492. It's separated into two rounds of voting. The first will determine whether we become sovereign or not. The second round depending on how the 1st round goes will then specify the option." The guest said. "What do you mean by specify?" The Host asked. "Well Maria if the people choose yes for sovereignty the 2nd round will decide between full Independence or a Free Association state. If the People vote no on sovereignty then the 2nd round will be a choice of either maintaining the current status quo or becoming a fully fledged state." The guest said. " Ok Jorge how do you see this vote panning out?" The Host asked.
" Well Maria, given how Dalmau and his administration have had a successful turnaround of the Puerto Rican Economy and his crackdown on rampant corruption, many have flocked to the pro sovereignty camp while the opposition has struggled to put up an effective counter so I would have to lean towards sovereignty winning." The guest said as the radio suddenly went off. "We are here that's $15." The taxi driver said as Luz handed him the money as the two of them were dropped off at Plaza Colón.
Amity looked around as she saw these bright colored buildings all with such interesting architecture. "Luz it's so pretty." Amity said. Luz looked around and there were several shops and eateries nearby. "Luz where do we go 1st." Amity asked. "Well I want to get Gus and Hunter each a guayabera." Luz said. '`Luz what is a guayabera?' Amity asked as they walked by the typical tourist trap shops. "They are a traditional Latin American button up summer shirt. My dad used to wear them in the summer when I was a little girl." Luz said. `I see. Well, clothes are a good gift to get. Especially with Hunter's choices in outfits." Amity said merely thinking of some of Hunter's choices in clothes made her cringe.
After a few minutes of walking Luz shouted. "They have it look at the mannequin." Amity looked to see a mannequin wearing tan pants and a button up white shirt. At 1st she couldn't tell the difference between it and any other button up shirt she had seen in the human realm then she noticed that it had 4 pockets and detailed vertical pleats. The store's name was Almacenes Fernandez. Going into the store had sports apparel, much of which was dedicated to baseball legend Roberto Clemente as the two looked around the store they saw a wall of guayaberas. Some were linen, some were cotton/polyester, some had 4 pockets and some had just 2. As the two looked at the wall of shirts the store clerk came by. `Hello ladies, how can I help you?" The man asked.
"Well we want to get 2 guayaberas for our friends." Luz said. "Ok we have plenty of options. Do you want traditional linen or the cotton/polyester mix?" The man asked. "We want Linen. These two guys are good friends. I'm not going cheap on them." Luz said as the clerk narrowed down."Ok then you want 2 pockets or 4 pockets?" The man asked. "We want the 4 pockets." Luz said. The clerk then showed her all the color options they had."Which one do you like, Amity?" Luz said. Amity looked at the remaining options. The colors available were black, white, sky blue and red."Well I think for Hunter we should get the white on and a sky blue one for Gus." Amity said.
"Good idea my sweet potato. We will take a large white guayabera and 1 sky blue in a medium." Luz said. The clerk quickly grabbed the shirts in question, folding them and packaging them in ziplock bags. Ok that's $140." The clerk said. Luz handed him the money and the two went off. They checked out other local shops. They had all sorts of stuff knick naks, shotglasses,clothes and rum. As they were looking through one of these stores Luz spotted something she knew would get Amity going."Hey Amity bet you'd get a kick out me wearing this." She said. Amity turned to see Luz holding a Puerto Rican flag bikini. As Amity began to picture Luz wearing that on the beach her face went a red as a tomato."I'll take that as a yes." Luz said as she went to the cashier to buy it along with some beach towels. As the two continued their walk around the neighborhood they passed a gay bar. Taking a glance in they saw it was full of guys. The two were a bit disappointed but Amity went over to a local in the bar and asked" Hey you wouldn't happen to know where we could find a gay bar that was more female oriented." The man put down his bottle of medalla light." Of course it's called Atrevete Bar & Cafe. Let me write down the address." The man said as he jotted it down on a napkin.
Amity thanked him and the two continued to walk past a cigar shop. As the two peered inside they saw an older man rolling cigars by hand. After they began the walk to the El moro fort. After paying the entrance fee. They walked around the fort taking in the wonder of its iconic watch towers.``Luz how long did it take them to make this?" Amity asked." I think several hundred years." Luz responded." The construction coven would have had this place done in a week." Amity said laughing as the two took photos. After an hour of looking around and grabbing a history book in the gift shop for Lilith the two made their way back to town. As the two walked back, Amity felt a drop of rain on her back. One drop quickly became a downpour as the two ran for cover in a nearby restaurant.``I thought it was supposed to be dry." Amity asked.``Well the rain can be pretty random in the Caribbean." Luz responded. The two decided to grab some food as they waited for the rain to pass, splitting a steak jíbarito sandwich. Once the rain died down the 2 made their way back to the hotel in order to clean up for a night at the bar. As the sun set on the Caribbean the two made their way down to the taxi stand hopping in a cab as it sped away towards the bar….
20 Minutes Later…
The cab dropped them off at Atrevete Bar & Cafe and the two could immediately tell this was their kind of spot. The place was chock full of girls and the salsa music was blasting. As Amity looked around and saw dozens of young latina beauties her mind was going crazy. She had to mutter to herself."I'm a married witch. I'm a married witch." As the two made their way to the bar they were greeted by the bartender."Hello, welcome to Atrevete Bar & Cafe. What can I get you ladies?" The woman asked. "Just 2 mojitos and an order of wings."Luz said as the woman went to work mixing the cocktails."Here you go ladies, your wings will be out shortly." The bartender said as she handed over the mojitos.
"Amity, a toast to the start of the most wonderful years of our lives, Salud!" Luz said as the two took a sip of their drink. "This is good Luz." Amity said as their order of wings came with a side of tostones. "Wings for the newlyweds." The woman said as Luz and Amity looked at her stunned."How did you.." Luz said before being interrupted."You two just gave off the vibe." The woman said before walking back into the kitchen. As the two dug into their wings they took a good look around. They could see girls having drinks and chatting, girls dancing and girls kissing. They also saw in the corner a group of women playing darts. However as Amity took a closer look she saw a picture of a man in a suit taped to the billboard. It was horribly beat up as it had taken many darts."Hey Luz who is on the dartboard?" Amity asked. As Luz took a good look an older woman walked over."That is the asshole ex Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló."The woman said.
"Why is he so hated?" Amity asked."You must be a tourist so I'll tell you. Btw my name is Maria." The woman said as she went into detail about his scandal involving corruption, homophobic texts and mocking the dead from hurricane Maria."That's awful." Amity said. "It was. I was at that protest and had a police baton whack me in the back of the head. I will say though that protest marked the beginning of the end for the pro colonial govt. Puerto Rico is in a far better place these days with Juan Dalmau in charge." Maria said before she finished off a beer and walked away saying. "You ladies enjoy your night."
With that out of the way Luz and Amity finished their wings they decided to get another round of mojitos. As the night went on and Luz and Amity had had a few more drinks the urge to dance hit them. Making their way to the dance floor La vida es un carnaval by Celia Cruz was playing. The two lovers began to dance the salsa. Their dance was in perfect sync with the music.
"Ay, no hay que llorar (No hay que llorar)
Que la vida es un carnaval
Y es más bello vivir cantando
Oh-oh-oh, ay, no hay que llorar (No hay que llorar)
Que la vida es un carnaval
Y las penas se van cantando"
As the two danced the night away other patrons looked at them and cheered them on. "Girls got the moves for a gringa" One girl stated. "Well duh, her wife is latina she definitely taught her how to use their hips." her girlfriend said pointing to their wedding rings. "Rita, when are you gonna get the courage to pop the question." She said, "I told you Mariana I'm not ready to settle down." Rita said. As the two continued to go back and forth Luz and Amity were blissfully dancing the night away when they decided to take a break.``Well that was amazing." Amity said. "The night is still young, my sweet potato." Luz said, making Amity blush. It was at this time the two girls who were watching the Amity dance." You two were great." Rita said as they introduced themselves.
``Thanks we had plenty of practice at our wedding." Amity said.``How long have you two been married?" Mariana asked." Less than a week. We're on our honeymoon from the states." Luz said.``Oh really congrats. Let us buy you two a medalla light on us." Rita asked. Not wanting to be rude they accepted the offer of free beer as the bartender brought them 4 bottles of medalla light so cold the bottles were cased in frost. As they each grabbed a bottle Rita got the bar's attention. " Hey ladies, we got some newlyweds in here, let's give them a toast. To a happy marriage to Luz and Amity Salud!" She said as the bar joined in unison the newlyweds blushing in embarrassment.
As they finished the beers both were pretty tired and woozy.``I think we're gonna head out. We really want to hit the beach tomorrow so we want to get some rest." Luz said. "If you're gonna hit up a beach go to Luquillo. It doesn't have a big lgbtq scene but it's been growing in recent years and it's a pretty damn nice beach. My folks used to take me there as a kid." Mariana said.``Thanks for the tip. Hope to see you again." Luz said as she and Amity called a uber to take them back to the hotel.``No problem. You girls should come back tomorrow night. It's karaoke night." Mariana said as Luz and Amity climbed into the uber as it sped back towards the hotel