An Intergalactic Busy Signal

Driving the twisting back roads of Puerto Rico towards the famous Observatorio de Arecibo radio antenna, the world’s largest radio/radar transceiver antenna, I couldn’t help but to have flashbacks to the movie Contact. Specifically the scenes where it was shrouded in tropical rains, a hidden techno-wonder, that suggested man’s mastery of radio waves, of physics itself.

Arriving at the visitors’ center, I was greatly disappointed to realize that Warner Brother’s post-film largess was spent on a museum that not only didn’t mention much of Arecibo’s successes or technology, it didn’t even have convenient access to view the actual antenna.

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Puerto Rican Gold

What might you say to a sunny day in December? A sunny day you spend relaxing on a beautiful beach? A beach, warm, sunny, tropical, which is also still America? You might say “Florida” or “Hawaii” but would you say “Puerto Rico”?

I know I am saying “Puerto Rico” right about now. It’s the start of my Christmas vacation and I’m on Puerta de Tierra, a beautiful beach in Old San Juan the same afternoon I left cold, wet Washington DC.

Better yet, Mom is headed this way too. She’s joining me for two weeks of fun, sand, and sun on this interesting “Free Associated State”. Yes, Puerto Rico is part of the United Sates, everyone is a citizen and you do not need a passport. But like Washington DC, they do not have voting representation in Congress.

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