Puerto Rico Revisited

Hello All...



Apologies for the delay but I have had a serious Puerto Rico withdrawl....I miss everything about the island and will be sure to return there soon...Rather than writing paragraphs I will just tell you all some of the notable highlights from my 5 days there...

• My roomate and I arrived at the guest hotel and instantly met a group of dudes from Atlanta with whom we hung with for the duration of the trip...


• We stayed on the 4th Floor of The Radisson Ambassador Hotel and got security called on us NUMEROUS times during our stay...Our floor turned into freshman year in a dormitory at a HBCU.


• I was nicknamed "Southwest" as in Southwest Airlines. There is a story behind it all (I flew American Airlines for the record). For the first 36 hours I was there nobody in the group actually remembered my name. I was "Southwest"


• The 4th floor was witness to MUCH scandalous behavior..both IN and OUTSIDE of my room. What happens in San Juan stays in San Juan


• I got to visit the rainforest. Watched folks swim underneath the waterfall (I don't swim..lol) Got bit in at least 7 or 8 different spots by random insects. The highlight of the rainforest trip was actually being rained on as we walked back to the car. Surreal!


• I had a mini-situation with a couple of dudes who were vying for my attention. By the end of the trip I felt like I was at war in a relationship with one particular person. We are cool now and I am sure will explore some further options when I move down to Atlanta.


• On the final night there was a party entitled, The Cotton Party: Boxers or Briefs. There was some confusion as to whether or not you were required to wear underwear only to the party. When it was all set and done I ended up in the club with a V-Neck T-Shirt on and some red nautica underwear...I must have gotten pinched and fondled by half the club...But it was thrilling nonetheless...you only live once.


• It was an interesting sight to see when they threw on "Get Me Bodied" at the underwear party. All the dudes who wore bikini underwear jumped up on stage and began recreating the choreography in the video in their own creative ways...There were splits, booty poppin on all fours, people dancing in towels wrapped like dresses...It was wonderful to see the freedom.


• I never drank so much for some many consecutive days...Drinking replaced sleeping for me so I had to deal with red eyes for most of my stay.


• The 4th floor group became so close that there is discussion about trying to organize everybody to go to the Dominican Republic in November. It looks like it may happen.


• It was also interesting to see all the muscle boys...chests popped out...oiled up. But when some of them opened their mouths you realize that they need the bodies to distract from the sheer ugliness of their character...But of course there were some great ones too.


• I also have never met so many accomplished, professional, gay, black men. I met school teachers, doctoral candidates, college professors, and other corporate folks alike. It was very empowering.


• San Juan (The Condado area) is VERY gay. I was shocked and appalled. But it did create a comfortable environment.

All in all I was very impressed with the event even though it could have been a little better organized. If I had it to do all over again I would be right there. Not DC...and certainly not Miami...They did announce on the final night that this will be the last year that the event will take place in San Juan. Apparently Bill Gates is holding an E-Trade convention in San Juan next Memorial Day Weekend and ALL the major hotels in Condado are already booked. So no more San Juan Brothas. But I do hear that they are considering moving it to a location in Mexico...So we'll see.

I am just mad I am back home...to regular life. But there are always memories. And luckily I made some cool friends..So we'll see what the future holds.

PeaceLoveandEternity,

Q