Unfriendly Natives
by Kristen
I just returned from Vieques during the off season (October '08) where I encountered the unfriendliest inhabitants. Now, I am not a loud, obnoxious gringo, but the way that my travel companion and I were treated, you would have thought we were by the locals. We rented a home in Isabel for the week. My travel companion and I like to immerse ourselves into the community and the culture out of respect for the inhabitants when we travel. We are very low key travelers who keep to ourselves. We shop at their stores, eat at their local restaurants, and speak their language. We don't need to have the locals bow to our feet, because if that was the case we would opt for a resort and never dart outside the compound. During our first outing to the “grocery store” in Isabel, we bought provisions for the week. Well, the checkout clerk and bagger ridiculed our large order as they spoke Spanish to one another. As I am fluent in Spanish, I heard every word they said. I said nothing to them, because I wanted to be respectful even though they weren’t. We encountered other unfriendly natives in Esperanza as well. After these exchanges my travel companion and I opted not to patronize any local eateries or shops. Why spend our dollars where we are not welcomed? We did go on a Biolumiscent Bay tour. We also visited the pristine beaches to soak up the views. If you visit Vieques, I suggest that you rent a great house with a pool, stay in, take in the views and have someone bring you your provisions in an effort to avoid the locals at all cost. Also bring your map making skills since none of the secondary roads have street signs. I definitely won’t be back or encourage others to vacation there either!
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