Trey Elvis Hansen

Images on magnetic tape flicker in succession as a spinning mirror-drum, and revolving disc project (and resurrect) a way of life lost to the ages. In this film we see painted hot air balloons adorning the bulkhead of a 1958 Pan-Am Boeing 707. Six passengers laugh and mingle, seated in the round upon a cushioned booth as flight stewardesses deliver complimentary meals and beverages on trays of sterling silver. A centerpiece of potted flowers adorns the table.

I have briskly strode the streets of Old San Juan on many occasions, I have sauntered through them but once. This 500-year-old city can be just as easy to hate as it is to love. If you only look at the surface, the city’s whimsy runs no deeper than the pastel paint adorning its Spanish colonial buildings. To truly love La Ciudad Amurallada, one must first scale its stone walls and look beyond its many blemishes; and, frankly, this is impossible to achieve without first surrendering to “island time.”