Back to life, back to reality...

Flying back into JFK airport after a lovely vacation in Vieques, Puerto Rico, I was pleased to realize I had missed not only my cat, roommate, and the plethora of New York food options, but also Manhattan itself. This first dawned on me as I watched from the sky as the sun set over the panorama of buildings, but it really hit home when I directed the cab driver to my apartment by saying, "drop me off towards the end- on the right side of the
street- you can just pull up right in front of those police officers arresting my neighbor. Thanks!"

Of course, New York City is also a bit of a shock after spending the week being roused by roosters, on a rural island similar in size, and in nothing else, to Manhattan. Vieques doesn't have one stop light, and, as of 2000, had 69.5 persons/km2, whereas Manhattan has 25,800 persons/km2. However, for a small, sparsely populated place, Vieques has a tumultous and interesting history, and an incredible amount of beauty (unfortunately, I can't even begin to describe the awesome-ness of the bioluminescent bay- you just have to go & see it for yourself).

Picture below is of a person making a snow-angel in water lit by dinoflagellates in the bioluminescent bay.

Vieques appears to be perched vicariously at the edge of more transformation- from a sleepy, affordable beach destination to a more crowded resort area. As of now there is plenty of tourism, with a range of hotels and restaurants to accomodate. However, a big W resort goes up in 2007, and ten years from now, the landscape may be unrecognizeable. After all, it's a cheap and easy flight away from New York, and it is just gorgeous. The reason resorts haven't taken over yet is because the Navy occupied Vieques until 2003. They used Vieques as a testing ground for bombs and the like, until the people of Vieques were able to protest enough to get them out. Their occupation left a large expanse of the island (about 2/3) unpopulated, and in general, slowed the tourism process back 40 or 50 years I'd say. So now plenty of land is available, which many Americans are buying up as I write, for time-shares, summer homes, retirement homes, and the like. Vieques natives are once again objecting. However, although the people of Vieques managed to get the Navy out, the American landbuyers may prove to be more difficult to overcome. When I was visiting there was a lot of anti-American-buyer graffiti in Vieques, asking Americans to take their money home, or simply stating "foreigners go home." This may intimidate some, but I think in the end, the place is just too pretty for its own good, and the land will go.

My hope is just that, as it develops, the pressure to change in an ecologically sound way also increases, and Vieques becomes a destination known for preserving a rural, environmentally-friendly character. With its wild horses, loud roosters, and large ex-Navy unpopulated areas, it distinguishes itself for its nature and its beaches-sans-high rises. As it grows in popularity that should continue to be a focus of its tourism, as it is of its beauty.

Speaking of change:
This is an article from the New York Times from March 2003 (when the Navy still occupied Vieques), and here is one from April 2006.