A School Day in Puerto Rico

Hi, everyone! This is Hannah and Yane.

Today was our big trip to the Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR). We started out with an early morning and sleepy bus ride. We arrived at UPR and were welcomed by Dr. George Bonilla and a few honor students. During the breakfast they gave us, the High School String Ensemble performed many acoustic pieces. They were phenomenal! We then attempted to live up to their performance by singing “I’m Not Perfect,” which was a total failure but at least we tried :) However, we did have Ben and his guitar to save the day. He played an original piece called “Town of Ghosts”. After breakfast our class got divided into five different groups. One group went to science class, where they extracted DNA from a banana. Two groups went to math class, where they studied geometry. The other two groups went to history, where they studied about Puerto Rican Diaspora in the Historical Content. After that, we attended an assembly meeting with the rest of the school where a guest speaker talked about the literature of the Puerto Rican Diaspora. The honor students took us to a classroom where they served us a wonderful delicious lunch. We then headed over to the University of Puerto Rico History, Anthropology and Art Museum. We toured around the museum and looked at different paintings and mummies. Then we headed back to the university’s high school campus to get ready for the girls and boys basketball games. Both teams lost, but the score was closer than last year. During the girls game there was also a soccer game going on over at the other court. During the games the two different schools hung out and talked. The students from both schools went to a little market to get drinks. Unfortunately we returned to the school and sadly had to say good-bye to the students. Fortunately many of the students exchanged contact information with each other. Everyone made friends with each other and enjoyed the day.

We headed back to the hotel, where we went to the pool for a little dip. Then we headed out to dinner to a little café in old San Juan. We had a small Spanish class and discussed what went on today and what is going to happen tomorrow when we go to Ponce. Overall it was a fantastic third day with a lot of fun!

Also, a highlight for me was when we saw endangered Puerto Rico parrots building nests in a mango tree with dry palm frongs. A rare and beautiful sight! - Wendy

The Rainforest and Luquillo Beach

Hi, everyone! It’s Alessandra.

Today was our second day here, and some of us started off our day by going for a run with Brian. It was drizzling a little bit, but it was still nice. While we were running, we heard the Puerto Rican national frog, the coqui. It is a very tiny tree frog.

The first adventure we had today was going to the rain forest. The rain forest’s name is El Yunque. Everything there was just beautiful. The plants, the flowers, the ground, everything. As soon as we got up into the rain forest, it started to pour! Even though we had rain gear, we all still got soaked. It was still so amazing.

After El Yunque we went to a beach called Luquillo. It was a public beach with lots of people. It just showed how diverse Puerto Rico is. The water was fantastic. It is a blue color, not so much clear blue, just blue. It was also very salty. It was warm as well. After we were tired of swimming and were starting to get "pruny," a lot of us went walking along the beach to a little beach food shack. The food there was so delicious. Tonight we went to dinner at a restaurant called Bebos. The food there was yummy, too.

It is just amazing to be here in Puerto Rico and seeing all the culture, the diversity, the sights. It is an amazing experience for me.

Hope you are having a good time and good weather back home in Philly! :)

PUERTO RICO 2011- DAY 1-Viejo San Juan

Home!

We are delighted to complete our final entry for Puerto Rico 2010!

What a trip we had and what fabulous memories the travelers shared!!

We had a great final day -- with our tour of the Capital building in San Juan, with visits to El Morro, and a walk through old San Juan. We had a delicious lunch at Nina Rivera's sister's restaurant at Christopher Columbus Plaza before we took in more sights and did some souvenir shopping.

We were sad to say goodbye to our guide, Mike, at the airport. We loaded our bags onto the USDA conveyor belt and had a moment of panic when one traveler admitted he had a coconut in his suitcase. Truth is always the best policy -- the coconut arrived safely in Philadelphia with us.

We hit one major turbulent bump on our ascent out of San Juan -- but other than that, it was a great flight home with wide-awake kids, enjoying every minute together.

For us, the group of five chaperones, we felt enormous pride in these children's ability to navigate new experiences and, for some, independent travel for the first time. It was a rare privilege to share in their wide-eyed views of the Puerto Rican world -- and to get to know them more as individuals and as a group. We are tired, but grateful for the experience. And we love the Class of 2010 even more than when we departed -- which, for us, is proof of a most successful trip.

We'll post more pictures and end with how we started... UNO DOS TRES! TPS!!!

Update from Wednesday, February 17th

It was another sunny day in Puerto Rico – a day filled with outdoor activities.

We woke “late” today, with a wake-up call at 7:00 am. After a quick, continental breakfast, we suited up and boarded the bus to head to the beach. We took a scenic drive through Pinones, taking in the beautiful Atlantic Ocean views.

We arrived at Luquillo Beach around 10:00 and had over two hours in the sun and surf. This beach is considered one of Puerto Rico’s finest – and it proved true. There were no spindly sea urchins to prick our feet, as a few has experienced at other beaches. It was soft white sand and lovely blue water. We had a great time – with Brian, our lifeguard, busily counting 36 bouncing heads in the gentle surf.

We bought our lunch at the beach food stand -- with lots of delicious offerings, Puerto Rican style! Some splurged on frozen beverages and other sweets -- while others applied, and re-applied, layers of sunscreen to guard against the power rays of the Caribbean sun.

After our lunch, we boarded the bus and headed off to Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve. What a place! Seven eco-systems are alive and well in this protected natural area on the far eastern end of the island. We walked a boardwalk through the mangroves, saw phospherescent creatures that are usually only visible in the dark of night, and climbed atop a lighthouse, providing a 360 degree, panoramic view of the island and surrounding sea.

We hurried back onto the bus to get back to San Juan in time for showers -- The students were eager to "dress up" for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was a fun evening, with a more varied menu than the traditional chicken, rice and beans that have been offered at most of the eateries.

Enroute to the hotel after dinner, we congratulated the kids on a great adventure thus far and gave them an hour of free time to visit and play on the two floors of our hotel. It was an energetic hour -- In the words of one student, it was an "epic" evening -- To be fourteen and with all of your classmates in a hotel in Puerto Rico! Epic, indeed.

As their chaperones, we have been working round-the-clock, literally. Brian gets the award for the least amount of sleep -- he's been up late into the night and again early in the morning. He has taken those who have wanted to run out for a morning, and just as willingly, he has helped the hotel staff unclog toilets in our students' rooms. Dana and Maria have been busiest with first aid kits -- our biggest challenge being students who stepped on sea urchin spins at two different beaches. Dana and Maria have also helped with sunburn care and other general issues, but overall, we have been very fortunate that no student has experienced any significant health issue. And Marco has been the "herder" -- rounding up students who walk more slowly than the group, or need a little time for a quieter conversation. This is a wonderful group of chaperones and I believe it's fair to assess that we have all felt extremely fortunate to get to know students in a new way, as Puerto Rico travelers. Oh yes -- my role -- I've been the photographer, and that's been great for me!

We have had some trouble finding the time to be on the computer, since access to wireless networks has been difficult. We'll try to write on this blog one more time, before we board the flight to Philadelphia tonight. Today, we head off to Old San Juan for a full day of sightseeing.

We look forward to reuniting with families at home tonight. Until then, have a great day! We will!

Puerto Rico, day two!

We began the day with a 6:30 wake up call. Have you ever seen 36 thirteen- and fourteen-year olds jump out of bed and report to breakfast bright and chipper and ready to go? Neither have we. But, actually, with minimal prodding, they were up and fed and applying sunblock as we departed our hotel lobby for a day-long adventure in Ponce.

By 8:15 we were on the road and out of the city of San Juan and into the beautiful, green, mountainous countryside. We made a quick stop at El Monumente Al Jiearito, a folk hero memorial statue of a firefighter and his wife and child. Back on the bus and a few minutes past plantain forests, we arrived at Tibes. Through a Spanish- speaking guide, we learned about this historical place and its people. The Tibes Museum was small but incredible and included ceramics, tools, artwork, and even a human skeleton unearthed on the site. Did you know that members of the Taino tribe often chose to be buried alive alongside their spouse (a decision made after indulging in a mind-altering substance derived from the Agave plant) in a traditional and highly spiritual ceremony? We viewed the Taino housing, a dugout canoe, ball courts, and even saw some petroglyphs.

In addition to learning about the history of the region, we learned about the natural environment. Our guide showed us many trees (mango, tamarind) and plants (agave) and taught us about their medicinal qualities. Some were used to treat diabetes, infertility, memory-loss and other illnesses and ailments. (I’ll be serving my children a puree of mango mixed with milk and honey upon our return to assist them in remembering to clean their bedrooms.) We saw two large green iguanas, about a dozen lizards, and many, many tarantula holes, but, alas, no tarantulas.

Afterwards, we were back on the bus and off to a restaurant in the lovely town of Ponce. We feasted on rice and beans, fried plantains, sweet plantains, and, in the words of our server, “pollo, cow, or bifsteak.”

After lunch, we had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Salvatore at the Ponce Museum of History. Your children will never forget him and the way he made the history of Ponce and Puerto Rico come alive. Salvatore was miraculously able to hold everyone’s attention with his dramatic flair. He gave us a rich lesson on the island’s history spanning from its earliest origins -- Puerto Rico was originally named “Boriquen” which means “Land of the Sun,” or “House of the Highest God” -- to the current political debate regarding statehood (Puerto Rico’s governor is pro-statehood but approximately half of the country advocates for status quo).

Your children were truly amazing and were awarded for their herculean attention spans with some King’s Cream ice cream in the Ponce town square.

Our next stop – “la playa!” Quickly changing into bathing suits, they were thrilled to get to the beach. It was just what they needed after the late afternoon heat and long day of learning. Unfortunately, after 20 minutes or so of cooling off in the water, several students stepped on sea urchins (non-poisonous, but painful) and had stung or splintered feet. A make-shift infirmary was quickly established beachside and about 7 brave children were treated on the spot. You would have been proud of their resilience, fortitude and calm. It was, we are sure, an experience that will provide them with a great “battle story” from the trip. Brian stepped up as not only lifeguard but “carrier of the one with the most splinters from the beach all the way back to the bus.” We hope his back feels okay tomorrow. . .

We’re now almost back to the hotel where we will change and go to dinner, have our daily debriefing/Spanish lesson, and write in journals. Last night, the kids were respectful of the boundaries we set around hotel safety and bedtimes, and, while they didn’t actually go to sleep as early as we would have liked, they did stay in their rooms and were relatively quiet. Many today are paying the price for staying up late last night (after waking up early for our flight) and we think that by tonight, they will choose to actually sleep earlier. We’ll see!

More tomorrow. . . Dana