Nomadic Saffer

“Era claro como el sol de la mañana”... The music erupted from the radio as I turned the key in the ignition. My soul rhythmically swayed to the Puerto Rican folk music which carried unforetold promises of the adventure at hand. Although I was lost in translation, the story his song spoke of entranced me. It suddenly led me to places where I was strolling along the cobblestones of Old San Juan, admiring the rustic terracotta façade of the buildings with the sounds of ukuleles being strummed in the background, with friends’ laughter filtering in from the quint sidewalk cafés. The sweet aroma of freshly baked “local pastry” fondled my senses and I could taste the slight burning tinge of the salt from a locally prepared margarita kissing my lips. I was transported to places where the lights were dim and glamorously dressed Latinos effortlessly maneuvered their hips, enthralling the dance floors…

My daydream was suddenly interrupted by screams from my two comrades. We had never driven on the right hand side of the road before and were not naturally inclined to do so. In my corrective attempt I missed the exit. This was day two of our compact weekend trip to Puerto Rico and we were on our way to discover the allures of the rain forest.

The GPS started yelling at me in Spanish. I looked over at it apologetically, trying to decipher the animated landscape on the wee screen and to reconcile it to the faded olive green road signs which greeted me in Spanish. Cars were speeding past us on the freeway as I casually tried to portray an informed image.

The vocalist’s voice escaped the speakers once again and provided solace to my bewildered state…And then, suddenly, as if grace was bestowed upon us, majestically outstretched before us lay a vast tropical wilderness, the tree tops rustling in the wind, whispering secrets of our predecessor’s excursions, with the sign “El Yunque National Forest” smiling at us, imploring us to go forth. It bore future promise, like the very first drop of rain to caress a leaf in the very forest after a dry spell.

Yes, I could not understand the words in the song, but it consumed me. It left a yearning in my heart to fill the vacancy in my atrium that I did not know had existed before. The music is always with me, wherever I may wander. When I close my eyes I hear the drumming, pulsating rhythmically with my own heart beat- a subliminal compass steering me in all my wondrous wanders.