My soul is painted like the wings on butterflies
fairy tales of yesterday that grow and never die
I can fly my friend
It’s been a year since I last set foot in San Juan, and to be honest, I was hesitant to do so again. Not because I don’t like the port, quite the opposite actually, but because I was almost afraid of shattering the perfection of the memory of my last time here. There are some days that you simply crystalize and carry with you, like a miniature time travel device when you need it the most. My last call here was one of those. You can never replicate that, no matter how hard you try.
So…I did my best not to try.
But there was one call I knew I had to make, because it has been haunting me since I didn’t do something there the last time. Besides, I knew I had to show Kitkat the butterflies.
San Jaun remains an odd port in that it’s not very big, but it is very easy to get turned around. The brightly coloured streets all end up blending together and unless you watch the storefronts and use them as landmarks it’s very easy to get somewhat disoriented, plus the map we had wasn’t the best, but we did find the place eventually. As we approached the doors I shrugged and said
So when Amras brought me here? All I got was a ‘hang a right Sis’ as warning…
Oh?
Yes. So…hang a right.
Now I know how I must have looked last year, unable to really even speak, you just…stand there, and feel yourself get swept up by a multitude of shimmering wings. The artist has captured something in those works that no photograph ever could, even if you were allowed to take one. You feel something untangle inside you, like you’re suddenly breathing easier.
Wow…
Told ya…
I was blinking back tears – though I couldn’t have told you precisely why they were coming – as I approached the counter and looked at the display of tiny pieces that were actually in my price range – albeit at the higher end of it. And lo and behold, it was still there, either the exact same one, or one exactly like it. The owner just smiled at me as I laid it carefully on the counter.
The fact that I didn’t buy this last year has just been…
Following you? I tell everyone that they tend to do that…if they’re supposed to be with you they will follow you.
This one did.
You’ve been here before then?
Yeah, I was here with a friend of mine last year, this is probably my favourite place in the Caribbean.
So I now finally own a butterfly, and it’s the right one. I did try and replace it with other cheaper ones between then and now, I really did, but I just couldn’t go through with it. It had to be that one.
That accomplished my mission for the day, so I let Kitkat take the lead in the rest of the day’s wandering. And we really did just wander. I’m really not the best with directions, so I let Kitkat take the lead for which way to wander. There’s something to be said for just proceeding without a particular destination in mind, particularly when the air is heavy and humid and makes you not feel like moving particularly fast and there is plenty to catch your attention, like buildings the colour of ice cream toppings and markets seemingly around every corner.
Despite hoping that its location would miraculously drop into my memory, I was fated not to come even close to locating the tiny bar that serves the best cocktail in the world – I swear you can only find that place by stumbling on it and you are doomed never to remember its location. Who knows, maybe it actually moves.
Last time I was in San Juan my throat stung from the burn of Caribbean rum and my eyes were dazzled by more than just the shine of butterfly scales. This time it was a day of photography, markets and gourmet frozen yogurt.
Doesn’t matter, San Juan is my “Paris”…I’ll always have it 😉