Puerto Rico and ship life

Puerto Rico:

Day 1:

Woke up at 6:45 A.M. on the 26th to watch the ship pull into San Juan. Saw the early morning sun over El Morro (The fort on the coast), and the rest of the city- it was gorgeous. It was super hectic getting off the ship because it was our first port and everyone was antsy to get off as soon as possible. We spent the day walking several miles around Old San Juan, checking out the town and everything else around the area. The fort we visited is the site that the movie Amistad was filmed at.

Went back to the ship around 5:00 for our trip to the bioluminescent bay. For those who don’t know about this, it’s a true phenomenon. There are only 5 places in the world to view this spectacle, and 3 of them are in Puerto Rico (and the other 2 are highly polluted now, in Jamaica and the Bahamas). We took kayaks out at night, in the pitch black, for a 3 mile kayak trip in Laguna Grande, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. To set the scene, imagine 12 kayaks moving in the pitch black and the only thing you can see is glowsticks on the kayaks in front of and behind you. We took the kayaks through very narrow forest mangroves, and you could hear all the tropical insects/frogs/creatures in the forest around you. We could tell we were surrounded by dense forest, but couldn’t see much besides the glowsticks. It was awesome. Also, because it was so dark the stars looking amazing and the sky was absolutely covered in stars. Eventually we reached a wide open bay, which was our destination to experience the bioluminescence.

It’s almost impossible to explain it. The water glows like fairy dust when you touch it. When you swipe your hands/feet/kayak paddle through the water, it glows under the water and it sparkles and it really seems like magic. It has to be experienced first hand to get a true understanding for it. What causes it is 800,000 plankton per gallon of water, and there is some chemical reaction between these creatures and the water, I’m not sure what. It’s just amazing. From where we were we could see the oldest lighthouse in Puerto Rico. Also, the water was at it’s coldest that it ever gets, year round : 85 degrees!!! SO WARM. As the tour ended, the huge yellow moon rose over us and it was awesome.

Day 2

Woke up at 8:00 to go to El Yunque rainforest. After several attempts by local taxis to rip us off (the rainforest is an hour away), we got lucky and met up with another group and ended up getting an amazing guide named Rupert for the day who was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest that is managed by the U.S. Forest Service. While there we saw a couple waterfalls, and swam in one, ate some authentic PR rice, beans, and chicken over a cheap PR beer, found out that several films (including Swiss Family Robinson) were filmed there, went for a short hike, and saw some of the parks staple sites. It was beautiful, and from high altitudes we could see San Juan and the coast.

**Interesting side note. In case anyone has ever wondered about why people in Puerto Rico and the U.S. do or don’t want it to become the 51st state, this is what I was told by Rupert: 50% of pharmaceuticals in the U.S. come from Puerto Rico tax free. This industry employs 50,000 Puerto Ricans. If they were to become a state, the companies would leave the island and go somewhere else where they could produce them tax free, and people here would lose their jobs. The way it is, Americans are making their money and Puerto Ricans are employed.

When we got back we went to a beautiful beach where locals were partying and hanging out. Later that night we went into Old San Juan to experience the nightlife, which was very much alive. Met a lot of locals and spoke a lot of Spanish which was really fun, including a 78 year old frail man who could only whisper in my ear if he wanted to communicate. I also met a VP of some American company who really liked me, and bought me four drinks from the bar. He told me when I graduate that he wants to offer me a job. The rest of the night was spent visiting various bars, and dancing in the streets with a group of 5 Puerto Ricans I met. It was a hilarious and memorable night to say the least.

The last day in PR was spent at a gorgeous beach, and just chillin’ out.

Ship time:

Since we left PR, I’ve just been in classes, out on the deck, and anticipating Carnival and the rest of my time in Brazil. Everybody is really excited to get our first true glimpse of the world, besides the not-too-foreign Puerto Rico. Today we crossed the equator, and the ship honked its obnoxiously loud horn to signify our crossing. The sun is HOT!!!!! Got sunburnt just laying out for about an hour.

Classes are all very interesting, enough so that I would say I’m actually ENJOYING them, not just dealing with them. The professors on the trip are all equally as excited as the kids are, and they understand that homework isn’t our #1 priority. The workload has been more than manageable so far. Only thing I’m pissed off about is that a trip me and Laura tried to sign up for in South Africa was filled and we can’t take part in it. We were supposed to visit 3 townships in South Africa (the extremely poverty-stricken areas), and cook meals for them, as well as visit the children of farmers in the winelands and play with them for the day. Really bummed we’re not going to be able to do it.

That’s all for now. I’ll update again after Brazil. Leave me some comments or email me (pschwart@uvm.edu) !!!

I’m going to post some pictures on this blog, but I’m also going to try to create a website to post more pictures because I can only post a limited # on here.