One Artist's Debut at The Beach House in Rincon

Lorri's debut as an artist could not be off to a better start. After two nights of setting up at The Beach House in Rincon, Puerto Rico, she is selling her artwork almost as quickly as she can make it. The photo above shows her signing her first ever sale! Exciting stuff!

Lorri grew up watching her grandfather work with wood, and fell in love with the smell of sawdust. When she proclaimed her desire to be an artist and work with wood, I knew she could do it. I believed in her with all of my heart. She is smart. She has an eye. She is talented. But still, I warned her, she had never worked with wood before, or tools or saws, so be prepared to spend a year or two learning and creating pinterest fails along the way. Don't get discouraged I said. 

I honestly couldn't even watch. It would be too painful. I left her to the workshop full of shiny new saws and paints and instruction manuals. Time, I told myself, and a few trips to the emergency room for stitches, and maybe, who knows...

A few days later she came and showed me her first piece. It was really good. When her scroll saw finally arrived, things got really crazy, and within a few days she was churning out amazing perfect little palm trees. 

Here is the crazy thing. I can draw. Lorri can't. She couldn't draw a palm tree to save her life. But when she sits down at that saw, she has a vision in her head and just cuts to it and it always comes out perfect without a picture. While I can't cut anything besides big pieces into smaller ones. She is AMAZING!  And every day she only gets better and she has only been doing it for a few short months. 

It has been nothing short of inspirational to see her work develop every day, and being at The Beach House in Rincon, we have got to see that I am not biased, as many people are drawn to one piece or another and the response has been awesome. It has been an incredible experience and I could not be more proud of this emerging artist.

We could not have chosen a more beautiful perfect place in all of Puerto Rico to debut Lorri's artwork. But we did not choose The Beach House. The Beach House chose us. Or rather, Kevin, the owner, made space for Lorri when he heard there was no room for her work at the art walk downtown. 

It was early last fall when we first went to The Beach House for breakfast. We were drawn by positive food reviews, and the amazing views overlooking the ocean and Desecheo Island. It was early and the chairs were still atop the tables, but servers found us a place and spent more time than normal making us feel at home. 

View from The Beach House with Desecheo Island in the distance on the right.

From the bathroom, a man emerged with a mop bucket and smile. He found a broom and worked his way along the business front, sweeping and wiping counters. When he neared our table, he stopped to lean on his broom and chat. 

He was a retired New York Firefighter. I thought it was nice the owner hired this retired hero as a janitor to supplement his pension. But I began to worry about his future there when our talk ran into ten and then twenty minutes. 

A rare glimpse of the elusive, photo shy, humble owner of The Beach House

My fears for the poor pensioner were assuaged when I learned the humble janitor who rises with the sun to clean the bathrooms every day is indeed, Kevin, the owner of The Beach House. He talked to us that morning about the beauty and power of the place, the sound of the crowd in the evening in February when a whale spouts in the distance, and the energy of the place when the big waves come in. Like so many locals, Kevin is a man who loves his island, and has taught us how to love and appreciate it all the more. 

In the days and weeks since that first meeting with that humble janitor, Kevin has become a dear friend of ours. I would love to be able to tell the story of the good things he does in the community, but he won't share them. I only hear secondhand accounts from people he has been there to help, or overheard phone calls where he is arranging to send chefs and supplies to earthquake victims. He was a 9/11 responder too, but he will only tell you about "the other guys" and their heroism. 

The Beach House in Rincon Puerto Rico

It is this same humble approach to the business every day that makes the place so special. We love the views and it is the best place in our book to watch the sunset. We love the mix of tourists and locals every night and how even the guests treat one another like there are no strangers. And we love, love, love the food. But more than all of that, we love the people at our Beach House. Kevin, his family, and the staff have become very much like our adopted island family. 

Despite being there almost every day from sunrise until close (7am-midnight, 7 days a week, 365 days a year), Kevin is always the first to blame the good things about the business on the staff. In fact, if you go online and read about the business, this will probably be the only place you ever even see his name or his picture associated with it at all. 

He will tell you the business is great because of their amazing chef, Heriberto Sanchez, and the kitchen staff. He will blame the great vibe of The Beach House on the servers and bartenders and the energy of the island, and the amazing people who are drawn to Rincon. And he will blame his sons and family, who are partners in the business as well. 

And when he does a great favor for an artist friend and lets her set up and show her work there, he will refuse any credit for that as well, and say simply, humbly, that "art is another spice in the soup that makes Rincon and The Beach House so wonderful. It is a soup. You're helping make the soup taste even better." 

I believe that. Our Beach House family has made our time on the island so much more the memorable, and they have lent so much flavor to our lives. The smells of the ocean and the food, the sounds of the music and people, all swirl to create an amazing unique vibe at The Beach House. It really is a soup. It all has to be in there for it to work so well... not least of all... the secret spice... of one retired firefighter cleaning bathrooms, pushing brooms, and entertaining travelers with insider tales of whales and waves and island magic, and soup. We love our Beach House. 

The Beach House is not only a great place for art, breakfast, lunch, dinner and live music sunsets. It is a great destination for your stay in Puerto Rico! Check out their website here:

http://www.thebeachhouserincon.com/

Like their Facebook Page:

The Beach House Facebook

The Beach House also happens to be the ONLY Puerto Rican bar nominated for a USA Today Reader's Choice Award for Best Caribbean Beach Bar! Please hurry and cast your vote for them here:

USA Today 10 Best VOTE

This is not a paid advertisement. The views expressed are those of the authors and have not been approved by The Beach House. 

Thank you for reading!

Buzz & Lorri Malone

Aguada Puerto Rico's Angel of the Mountain

Those who know me back home in Iowa could tell you that I am as likely to speak about such things as God or angels or faith, as Lorri would be to attend a craft show during an Iowa football game. In short, it simply wouldn't normally happen. 

In the here and now however in Puerto Rico, I find it difficult not to be deeply moved by what we have experienced and what we are witnessing all around us every day. 

As this blog surpassed 150,000 readers in recent days, we were overwhelmed by the hundreds of positive messages we received. It was such an amazing outpouring of love and blessings from people around the nation and the world. We felt like we could never return so much love. Quite randomly and during a moment of emotion, I replied to one of the messages... just one... and said we needed to meet her and give her a hug. 

I had no idea where she was, or who she was, but in a much smaller world than we used to imagine, and a world where if you can dream it, you can do it, we reached out through the darkness of internet space. A few minutes later, I received a friend request. It was her. Despite the vast majority of our new readers being in the States and elsewhere, this woman, the one we decided out of a few hundred correspondences to randomly hunt down and force our hugs upon, was literally, right up the road from us. 

Views from the drive up to the Panaderia La Vina Aguada Puerto Rico

Her name was Maribel Candaleria. She and her husband, William Gonzalez, are pastors and own the Panaderia La Vina Aguada Puerto Rico, atop road 411 km 9.8, Bo. Atalaya, Aguada.  

We expected to drive up the mountain, eat something from the bakery, collect a hug, exchange some love, and return home with little more than a good feeling and a loaf of bread. As is almost always the case here on the island, we received so much more. 

Panaderia La Vina Aguada Puerto Rico

Views from the Panaderia La Vina Aguada Puerto Rico

Inside is a busy bakery and store, with locals streaming in and out for bread and donuts and supplies and tacos. It really cannot be overstated how much a part of the community bakeries are here in Puerto Rico. They are the convenience stores, the purveyor of your fresh baked daily bread, and the gathering place for friends and neighbors. It is where working parents can make a quick stop to pick up something for dinner, where so much local business accidentally gets conducted standing in front of the glass baked goods display, and where you can find that must have emergency item...

For our friends in the states. Who doesn't want to try some smoochie soft? 

Once inside we were introduced to a small unassuming woman with a warm and pleasant smile. She sat down with us and we talked for what would turn into a few hours. Last night, we met again and talked for a few hours more over tacos. I might add, that in spite of her smallness and humble demeanor, Maribel Candelaria has a presence that fills the room and surrounds you with a positive feeling. She is, in so many ways, much larger than she first appears. 

Lorri Malone, Maribel Candelaria, and Buzz Malone 

Maribel and William had purchased the bakery at a time when they had good paying jobs at places like Honeywell and Hewlett-Packard. They had bought it to preserve it as a place for the community, as well as to create and maintain jobs. They had never planned on becoming bakers really. 

As the economy on the island changed, the corporations that supported the middle class on the island changed too. Just as in the states, Puerto Rico had a much stronger thriving middle class in recent decades than it does now. Without diving too deeply into what has changed, we hear all too familiar stories about corporations, globalization, and the squeeze on individuals and local economies created by the relentless pursuit of ever greater profits. In the end, Maribel parted ways with corporate America and looked to her bakery and to God. 

She spoke of coming to work at the bakery every morning and feeling overwhelmed. The financials did not always work. The work was without end day and night. Drugs dealers on her corner ran away customers. The building itself was massive. It was too much space and the electricity bill alone was enough to break them. She prayed every day and asked God what the purpose of it all could possibly be. She could not see it, but she always had faith that God had a plan, even if it had yet to be revealed to her. 

Maribel had always been active in her community, her church and charities. She began working with groups of missionaries and youth groups who were on the island to repair homes of the elderly and families with special needs children. At first, she would help match the missions with local people in need. When she discovered the missionaries were paying high tourist rates for their meals and stays in Puerto Rico, she finally understood what God had been leading her to do. 

She approached the drug dealers, filled their bellies with chicken and cold drinks, and explained to them that they were ruining her business and could not be there any longer, because while the corner might technically be public property, the cameras from her business saw and recorded everything. When their boss came to her, she took the same direct approach, and soon her corner was safe for working mothers to stop and grab a loaf of bread day or night. 

Maribel Candelaria, God's most reluctant baker

Missionary housing room above the Panaderia La Vina Aguada

Maribel and William converted the entire upstairs of their building into a sort of hostel for groups of missionaries to operate out of. They have since fully restored the upstairs to house almost 30 people, and have added two additional properties they are working on to house even more volunteer workers. 

Maribel has hosted and fed hundreds of volunteers from youth groups and missions that have renovated and constructed houses, painted buildings, and worked to help develop the local agritourism economy growing up around cacao by planting trees and working closely with local businesses, the local mayor and government officials to gain access to a closed school to turn into a cacao processing facility and create more local jobs.  

The following photos featuring youth missionary groups performing work in Puerto Rico are attributable to LYNC8 Facebook page. The group bills itself as a "Christian non profit organization committed to raising awareness to social injustices in the U.S. and Latin America" but from everything I have heard and seen, they mostly just do a lot of good, hard work for people who need it. 

In the aftermath of Maria, Panaderia La Vina Aguada became a hub for the activity of rebuilding. Every morning officials from the US Army Corps of Engineers, the power company, and the local government descended upon the backroom to meet. Working with the mayor's office, Maribel would help direct the work to make sure those rural people with the greatest medical needs inside their homes had their power turned back on first. 

At one point, there was an urgent call from someone that people were there trying to take the power poles that were staged for their community. It was Maribel who physically stood on top of the poles and made sure they weren't taken away. As I said, she is much larger than she first appears.

Now, in the aftermath of the earthquake, as we sat and talked, she is fielding a steady stream of phone calls. She is working with people who are out in the countryside of the damaged areas to the south seeking out the same people she is always looking out for, the elderly, the sick, the special needs families. Those who cannot make it to the large distributions in the cities, or those who larger relief efforts have missed or overlooked. 

One call is about blankets. Another is about medicine. Another still and she is talking about which mountain road is impassable 60 miles away, and the alternative route her team has found to get around to the area where the house is. During our first meeting, the building began to slowly roll beneath our feet. It was another earthquake. We all went outside until it passed. 

I say she is a saint, a miracle. Maribel only laughs at the thought of that. She isn't an angel or a saint she would argue, because sometimes she gets so angry about injustices or the way things are, or when people who don't need it abuse systems designed to help those who are in real need. She has seen people thrown off of food assistance who are barely surviving while others abuse the system and it frustrates her. 

Maribel allowed me to share her story, not to sing her praises as the angel we believe her to be, but to remind people that she and her husband William are not unique, or imparted with superhuman strength or special powers. We all have the capacity, the ability and the means to do more for others, to help more, to love more, and make the world a better place. Most of us simply choose not to. 

Like almost every small business owner we have met on the island, no conversation can be had without them talking about the tremendous pride they have about providing jobs in their community. To most of them we have talked to in Puerto Rico, their businesses really are all about their people first and foremost. As an old union bum, this seems so foreign to me, coming from a world where so many businesses seemed to be mere engines seeking profit, where employees are seen more of an obtrusion upon the bottom line as anything else.  

Maribel has a story about every employee, past and current, about the difference having that job made in their lives, how opportunity turned lives around, and how one put herself through college and has a good job at the bank now. Her bakery, as it turns out, is not so much about donuts or fresh bread after all.

Admittedly, Maribel and William are not unique in that regard in Puerto Rico. As I write this hundreds of small business owners on the island treat their businesses the same way, as a conduit to help people in their communities. Many of them are deeply involved in helping the earthquake victims and the continued recovery of Hurricane Maria. 

Without the small businesses, I shudder to think of what the island might be like right now. They are often the conduits between the local people and the government and other organizations, and more often than not, their bottom lines are ultimately about how many more jobs they can create, or how many more beds they can buy for earthquake victims, or how much food they can afford to send to those in need. 

They may not be so special, or unique, and Maribel may only be doing what she has been called upon by God to do, and she will tell you herself that she mostly only connects the dots between people in need, the mayor's office, charities, and those who have something to give, or time to donate, but we still think she is inspiring.

As a Buzz fat kid side note... we will be regulars at the Panaderia La Vina Aguada from now one. Beyond a hug and meeting an amazing woman whose friendship is certain to change our lives, the $1 donuts weighed about a pound a piece, Lorri bought the place out of macaroons, and the woman Maribel has now who makes conejo tacos is a miracle worker all in her own rights. Seriously. Awesome food. Two words...conejo tacos. Homemade shells. OMG!

When we asked Maribel what we could do to help with relief efforts she is providing, she only asked us to let her know if we found someone with special needs in the affected area who the support was not reaching. Also, while showing us where the youth missionaries stayed, we noticed the beds and closets were bare. Turns out she has sent every blanket they had to be distributed to the elderly who are sleeping outside at night. 

The following is a link to her current blanket FB fundraiser even though she didn't ask us to share it:

https://www.facebook.com/donate/490746271444585/

She has it up because a few people in her network prefer to use it. Mostly, they give her the donations directly because they know it will get where it is needed most. She does not actively seek donations and takes no credit for anything ever... "God" she says will find a way to provide what is needed. That may be true, but He still relies pretty heavily upon people like Maribel, who we will always remember as Aguada's Angel of the Mountain.  

Thank you all for the messages, comments and blessings and for reading. 

-Buzz-

Puerto Rico Earthquake Tourist Update

PART 1: For Puerto Ricans Living in the States

Over years of writing blogs and working with people I have always taken great pride in responding to every comment and email and call. With over 100,000 readers here in the last few days, dozens of comments here, hundreds on FB pages, and hundreds of emails, please, please forgive me if yours has been lost in the shuffle. If you feel it is important and I missed it, please send it to me again at buzzdmalone@gmail.com and I will try to get back to you as soon as humanly possible.

Before I begin to publicly address some of the issues and comments raised I want to say a few words about the earthquakes here out of recognition, based on emails, that the vast majority of new readers are Puerto Ricans living elsewhere, worried and desperately seeking anything from back home they can get their hands on. 

For you, I want you to know that this is not Maria. The island is not incapacitated. No one is waiting helplessly for a federal government that may never respond. Your people here are in good hands in their fellow Puerto Ricans. Just as your heart pours out to the island now, the roads from every community pour into the small affected area with goods and services of every imaginable kind. I cannot stress this enough. Pray, and lobby, but rest easy. Your relatives here are being cared for right now by people who know how to provide it because almost every caregiver lived through Maria. 

photos courtesy of Ramonita M Leandry FB Page

I am not saying every community is sending aid. I am saying every neighborhood is doing it. The line of cars stretches for miles and people from all over the island wait for hours only to drop off supplies. Nurses and doctors set up makeshift care facilities. Restaurant owners are cooking giant meals. Hair stylists are washing hair outside. Veterinarians and pet groomers are caring for animals. Entertainment of all sorts is being provided, and of course, as always, there is music in the streets. 

Some people are afraid. Some people are shaken up. Some people will experience a PTSD from so many quakes happening in such a short amount of time. They will rightfully need emotional care. 

But also remember this is Puerto Rico! Do not fill your head with bad thoughts of everyone being ruined by this. They are strong and resilient and for every person who is in fear, there are also tables full of old people sitting around playing dominoes, who only raise their coffees when the earth begins to tremble, and steady their dominoes with a free hand until it passes. Their greatest fear is spilling on the game table and leaving a stain on the score sheet. They will scan their surrounding when it stops, and if nothing is amiss, they will continue their game as if nothing has happened. 

If I assume that the majority of the 100,000+ new readers of this blog are Puerto Ricans living in the States as most of you seem to be based on comments and emails, then I would say this. The administration continues to withhold $8.3 Billion in congressional approved aid to Puerto Rico in the form of hurricane readiness monies to HUD. This money would directly benefit the people right now. Housing and infrastructure repair is the one long-term thing that the island will need to recover. 

There needs to be another earthquake and it needs to happen in the offices of every US Senator and Congress person in America from the shoes of Puerto Ricans and their supporters, demanding that the administration release these funds immediately. If a silly blog can get over 100,000 readers wanting to know what they can do to help, then I am saying here is your chance. Your people back home in PR are taken care of in the here and now. They need the government to do its part though for long term aid, and that is how you can help most. 

You can start by calling your congressional delegation. The switchboard in Washington DC will be able to put you in contact with your US Representative, and your two (2) US Senators, so you have at least 3 angry calls to make.

US Congressional Switchboard# 202-224-3121

Next, is to reach out to other Puerto Ricans in your state. Trust me, we have heard from a dozen living in our home state of Iowa and there are few whiter places on earth, so if there are a number of Puerto Ricans there, there are Puerto Ricans everywhere. Use social media to find one another or ask unemployed activists (like yours truly) to help. 

When you have half a dozen or more people willing to start marching into their Congressional offices, you have a political army. That is what it will take too. No elected official in Fargo, North Dakota, or Billings, Wyoming, is going to give a shit about the suffering of the people of Ponce until you force them to.

Part 2: For Everyone Else Who Wants to Help Puerto Rico

I will no doubt get some negative feedback about this or people saying I should direct people to give to this or that. So, I will preface by saying that everything in this here blog represents only my OPINION. 

That having been said, I would say to everyone in the world that if they have an interest in helping Puerto Rico, then they should immediately and without hesitation, book their next vacation here. Because, outside of a very small area, the island is completely open for business. Even the Bioluminescent Bay in nearby Lajas has continued to allow visitors the opportunity to swim among the stars of the ocean, with food and drink in businesses served by backup power. 

The absolute worst thing that could happen right now is for people to cancel plans or not come here. That creates an economic ripple effect. The only reason that the people can take such good care of one another right now is that the rest of the island continues to operate and function normally. Like the wait staff at one of our restaurants last weekend who had pooled their tip moneys and were eager to end their shift and head south with supplies for the earthquake victims, the cycle of self help depends upon the rest of the island's businesses humming.

So, the people and businesses of Rincon, San Juan, El Yunque, and everywhere in between want to let you know that the island is up and running! The lights are on and a warm beach and cold drink are waiting for you. NO PASSPORT NEEDED for AMERICANS! It's part of the US!

Finally, we have received HUNDREDS of communications and so many were simply blessings and well wishes from Puerto Ricans here and around the globe. Let us begin by saying our hearts have been moved beyond words by you all. A million blessings in return.

Your outpouring is an example of why we love Puerto Rico so much, and in one form or another, we have always been blessed to receive such a welcome from someone everywhere we have ever been on the island. We feel your love, and we radiate it back out into the universe. 

I wanted to publicly address just a few of the comments here that stood out, or represented trends or the like...

1. From my new friend Jorge, Puerto Rico is NOT an island nation. It is a Commonwealth of the United States.   In fact, it is indistinguishable from a state in your day to day living- except for the language, but you have that in Florida with Miami and Orlando, and throughout the Southwest.  To combat the constant misconceptions about Puerto Rico on the Mainland, it is important to accurately and consistently identify it as the United States any chance we get. We are not an island nation; we are the United States.

Jorge made an excellent point. And since we started this blog to basically educate our people back in the states why we love Puerto Rico so much, we should always remember to try be and consistent about that. I guess the poet in me gets carried away and I just like the sound of "island nation." But it is the United States, and you do not need a passport to come here.

2. About God and Curses and Clickbait. Enough people (like half a dozen) took the time to write to say they were upset about the blog title or the insinuation that the island was cursed, that I wanted to say something. I do not believe the island is cursed by God or anyone else. The point was that if you don't know Puerto Rico or Puerto Ricans, it would be easy to make that assumption based on any number of bad news headlines. 

I apologize to the people this offended. My intention was always to say that the people here are amazing and blessed and generous and caring no matter what the headlines say, or what might befall the island. 

It was also said a few times that I used a catchy headline as clickbait to get more readers. Guilty. That is how headlines work. And since at last count it has resulted in like 125,000 new readers, I doubt I will learn any lasting lessons regarding the negative impact of sensationalism. Also... not making a dime from the blog. 

3. My use of "these people" means I am a racist. If you walk through life looking to be offended, you will be. There is enough evil and racism to fight in the world without choosing battles where there isn't one. 

When I am not an unemployed blog and novel writer, I have spent the bulk of my career as a labor union organizer and civil rights activist. I have very much lived my life by the words of Eugene Debs that state "while there is a lower class I am in it, while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free." 

Meaning that if I separate myself from a group of people as I did by using "these people," it is only because I aim to say that I feel unworthy of being included in the group. I am only a tourist here because I honestly don't know if I would climb from the rubble of my own home and have my first thought be about my neighbors. I do know, however, from having witnessed many acts of selfless heroism, that my wife, Lorri, would always be the first to dive into a stranger's burning home, or overturned car (seen it) and offer a nurse's aid. 

I am deeply moved by the people here. "These people" inspire me every day. 

4. I am a Capitalist Living the High Life of an Imperialist Colonizer. Lol. Love this. So many big words. If you follow social media closely, you might believe you would hear this kind of stuff frequently on the island. Truth is, I have yet to ever hear anything like it outside of FB, or a few emails. Sort of reminds me of some of my friends back home with their little red Trump hats and angry laptops though. 

Again, Lorri's career was in training and quality at a non-profit blood center serving hospitals. Mine was in labor and civil rights. Neither career exactly pushed us to the upper echelon of capitalist societal elite. We bought art to support local artists on installment plans. We gave to charities and causes until our bank accounts begged for mercy or over drafted. 

We began vacationing in Puerto Rico many years ago because it was affordable. We kept coming back because we loved the people. When our youngest went off to college, we decided to move here for a while. We are too poor to retire forever. It just seemed like a great place to spend some time so I could write and Lorri and could pursue her passion for creating art in wood, while we figured out what we were going to be when we grew up... again. Our being here this winter is sort of what happens when adult children leave their parents unsupervised. We sold our home and most belongings in Iowa and came here in October. 

The fact is, if we stay here, we would probably be flat broke by August. We wanted to join the capitalist colonialization and exploitation of the island's resources for fun and profit and amassing of private fortunes but turns out we were sick that day. 

 5. Blessings. We cannot begin to tell you all how much your words have meant to us. The outpouring of blessings and love and kindness have moved us to our very core. We have never felt so blessed. A million times over, thank you all. THIS is what we love about the island and the people here. To an extent, this is the way we have always been made to feel here. Welcome, loved, special, blessed, cared about. Familia. 

That is the Puerto Rico we know and the one we love, and we will take it with us always, and swear to do our best to spread that love to strangers, regardless of color or country or language, in all of our travels no matter where we go... just like so many Puerto Ricans have done for us here so many times. 

All of our love.

Buzz and Lorri Malone

buzzdmalone@gmail.com