Tuesday The next day we check out of our first Airbnb apartment and prepare to meander our way along to our second half of the stay, moving from the part of the island where Monique’s maternal grandparents live to where her paternal ones do—from Rio Grande to Arecibo—and then on…

Thursday It’s a dusty outcropping overlooking the sea, at the top of the road that drops down on either side in both directions—a sandy parking lot with beer bottle caps long stamped into the dirt. A good sign. We walk into Richie’s Restaurant, unsure of mask protocol. The air has…