Drinking a pineapple

Drinking a Pineapple

By Alison Ehtisham

For months I waited. I had heard about the coconuts and pineapples of Puerto Rico and was anxious to try them for myself. Dr. C said that you could get a coconut with a hole cut in it and drink the milk straight out of the fruit. I wanted to try this with a pineapple. Since October I had been craving fruit. In my anticipation, I even bought canned pineapple from the grocery store, but it did not fulfill what I had imagined the fruit would taste like.

                Finally the day came. I was headed to Puerto Rico! The anxiety and excitement all came crashing around me at once as the plane took off from Oklahoma. As we passed through the clouds I saw a warm orange glow from the city below shining through the clouds. It reminded me once again of the fruit I was so anxious to taste.

                Two days passed in Puerto Rico without the taste of the succulent fruit, then finally the day arrived. El Dia de los Tres Reyes, Three Kings Day, is one of the most celebrated holidays in Puerto Rico. After watching the parade, our group moved along to the festival in the square. The sights and smells were too much to take in all at once. We stopped for pinchos, which is chicken and bread that is skewered and covered with barbecue sauce, then we were free to browse as we wished.

 I only wanted one thing: a pineapple. I searched and searched for the perfect vendor, then finally I found it. I waited almost painfully in line. As I reached the front I could smell the wonderfully sweet smell of the fresh pineapple as it was sliced. I watched the woman behind the counter as she meticulously placed the fresh slices of pineapple around the edges. With the placement of a cherry on top, I reached for the fruit as she handed it towards me. I could feel my mouth starting to water, but then my heart sank. She passed it to the woman behind me! I felt cheated, angry. I was there first and I had been waiting for months! I fixed a disapproving stare as she prepared another drink. “This one had better go to me,” I thought to myself. She glanced up at me and, with a smile, handed me what I was dying to try.

It looked exactly like what I had imagined it to be. The rich yellow and green colors of the fruit mixed so perfectly with the bright red maraschino cherry placed perfectly in the middle. I took my first sip and was immediately drawn into the rich, sweet flavors of the fresh piña colada. I took a bite of the pineapple surrounding the rim. It was rich and succulent, so unlike the pineapple I got at home in a can. I sipped happily as we wandered around the merchants. Despite all of the things did previously, I felt that I had grasped a solid taste of Puerto Rico.