July 2024: Puerto Rico

July 29-August 1

Monday

Jaime said we could go to Vieques for the night if we hurry and finish the chores we needed to do. Jaime has a friend who has an apartment in Vieques, a smaller island to the east of Puerto Rico. He had to go spacially map it out and he was kind enough to invite the volunteers to come with him. 

Our task for the day was to clean Casa Grande. We hurried and got that done as soon as we could so we could buy ferry tickets. We got everything together and left for the ferry port. We passed the boatyard on the way and I have never seen so many boats.

We were a little late getting to Ceiba, the city with the ferry port. They had closed by the time we got there so we booked an Airbnb for the night. It's called the ferry house because it's a 5-minute drive to the port. We made a trip to the grocery store to get supplies for some amazing Shepheard's Pie. I learned some new cooking techniques and ate as much as I could.

Tuesday

In the early morning, we went to the ferry port to get tickets. Unfortunately, they had sold out of everything until 3:00 PM that day. We bought those tickets but that would mean we wouldn't have anything to do from 6:30 AM - 3:00 PM. Jaime said we could go to El Yunke, the rainforest in Puerto Rico. We went to Jaime's favorite place, Las Tinajas. There's a collection of 4 waterfall slides. You take a hike to the top and slide down on naturally formed slides. The scenery was wonderful. Much of the ground is a red-brown clay.

After El Yunke, we got on the ferry. The ride is about 45 minutes long. I was planning on being alone on the ride because I've been in close quarters with these people for a while and I need space but Michelle came over and we chatted.

We got to Vieques and went straight to the house. It's $700 a night but we got to stay there free as Jaime's friends. We'd just have to clean it up after. So rather than sleeping in a bed, I chose to camp on the beach which is a 20-second walk from the house. We got all settled in, putting groceries away and exploring the house. After that, we relaxed in the pool and I set up the tent I would be sleeping in. It was dark as I was trying to set up and I'd never set up this model of tent before. There were extra pieces but the tent stood up so that was good enough for me. I didn't have any kind of pad with me but I could move the sand beneath the tarp to form my body. I got comfortable but the ocean was too loud. It would stay around the same volume for a while then an unusually big wave/crash would happen. It kept waking me up so I decided to wear earplugs.

Wednesday

I woke up at 6:20. Shoot. I had set an alarm for 5:40 to see the sunrise but I guess I slept through it. I tried a new alarm sound and I guess it didn't work too well.

I unzipped my tent and looked outside. There was a big group of people a ways down the beach. I was wondering if they'd come closer to my tent and if I could pack it up before they got to me when I saw a horse out of the corner of my eye. Then I saw Jaime. He trains horses and he was whistling and moving his arms in meaningful directions. I didn't know what it meant but I later learned that these are wild horses. Jaime was prepping them so he could ride on one. It's a whole process and I don't think he has enough time to get on a horse on this trip but maybe he can find them again next time. Jaime says has about 30 horses kept behind the gates of a government facility on Vieques. I'm not exactly sure how he's able to keep them there but he knows his horses. There are a lot of wild horses here by the way. You'll be walking down the street, turn a corner and there will be horses just standing there.

Michelle made a red sauce pasta dish for dinner. It was very good but a bit pricey for the ingredients. We prepped everything to leave early in the morning so we could make it to work the next day.

I spent my day going from the ocean to the house pool to cleaning for Jaime. He wanted to do the scan of the house but there was dirt on windows and walls that hadn't been cleaned before we got there.

Thursday

I woke up at 5:15 and Jaime was saying we'd miss the ferry. We had to change the ferry to the next available time, which was 9:00. By the time we got back to Finka Kurt it was 3:15. Where did all that time go? Driving, flat tire, miscommunication, winding roads, and one stop for Jaime to buy something (but there were people around that didn't want him buying it so we hurried out of the neighborhood). 

When we got back to Finca Kurt, Joey was not happy about us being so late. He's really stern about times. We had a whole talk the other day on how even one minute late to the morning meeting is not acceptable. Kinda weird that he's just fine with letting us work an extra 2 hours one day. Feels like a double standard but I think we'll talk about it tomorrow morning.

Anyway, this trip has been amazing! Thanks so much to Jaime, Michelle, and Michael for making this weekend amazing.

July 26, 2024

It's been a while since I've written and it would be impossible to write everything that's happened. So I'll start with today.

The AirBnb got rented out for the weekend so I'm in a carport tent for the next few days. Yesterday we moved out and cleaned and today we finished cleaning. Last night I slept in a tent and it was not very comfortable. One corner of my bed is lower than the rest and I think it's my first time sleeping on a noticeably unlevel surface.

Our work for today was cleaning and we went to 2:00. We should've only gone to 1:00 but it needed to be done before the guests arrived.

After that I ate the rest of my chicken sandwich I made yesterday. So delicious! I have so much to be thankful for.

I accidentally fell asleep in my tent after eating and playing a card game with Loa.

It's been a simple day but I'm happy here. Getting ready to go home though.

July 18, 2024

I want to get back in the habit of writing here. It's just hard to. The days can be exhausting, if not physically, then emotionally/socially. After a long day, like today, I have the option to journal and write everything that happened but it feels like so much.

I woke up at 6:45 this morning. I have to be at a meeting at 7:45 and I needed to eat before then. Loa made us pancakes. I guess I'll talk about all the people who are here right now.

Loa - a sweet woman who was helping take care of a friend in the States but her friend got better. I believe she suffers from nerve damage and she was saying she's disabled because of it so I'm impressed that she's out here working. She's a volunteer.

Michelle - A Swedish Puerto Rican who is here learning more about her mother's culture. I believe she mostly grew up in Sweden but she's spent time living in the US and other countries. She's a volunteer.

Jaime - A Puerto Rican man who has a crazy life. He grew up partly in the US and partly in South America. He is here to cook when there are paid events.

Blake - She grew up in the States and moved to Puerto Rico when she was older. She met Joey and she's been helping out here ever since.

Joey - The property owner. He was living in Colombia when he inherited this property. He decided to make it home and I'm so glad he did. It's a wonderful place.

Anyway, Loa made Michelle and I pancakes. We had to walk about 5 minutes to our meeting spot but all of us missed that the meeting spot was changed to a different location. So we were late on Michelle's and my first day. 

We did some introductions and split up. I went with Joey and Jaime to make storm shutters for hurricane season. It was fun using the circular saw but I am not impressed with the battery-operated tools. I've learned that even with the chord, wired tools are better. You don't have to worry about the right batter and the charge and the power level and the other headache stuff. The work went relatively smoothly, with a hiccup here and there. Around 1:30, I got a text on the group chat that Jaime(who had finished his part of the job around 10:00), Loa, and Michelle wanted to go to the supermarket and stop by the beach for a bit. They said they'd like to leave in 10 minutes and I still had a lot of work to do and I would be another 20 minutes. They were kind enough to wait for me while I finished cleaning up and putting supplies away.

I got up to the main house ready to eat. Loa made smoothies and I was excited to eat one. I got it out of the fridge and that's when Michelle told me it had peanut butter in it. Shoot. I should tell people I don't like peanuts when I first meet them. I ended up eating leftover pancakes for lunch.

We went to the beach first. It's so beautiful!! I wish I could be at the beach all the time. The water is warm and I could see my toes when the water was up to my shoulders. I would stay in the shallow area and feel around for shells. They're so pretty: all the colors, and textures. This beach had a fair amount of lava rock.

After the beach, we went to a Puerto Rican restaurant. They have all the main stuff, chicken, pork, tostones, rice, beans, and so much more. I'm going to have to find out how they make rice and beans because I've never had rice and beans as good as the PR rice and beans.

After that, we went to the grocery store. From there we came back to Sumer Farms. It's pronounced the same as the last two syllables in consumer. It's named after the Sumerians. Joey mentioned that they were the first civilization to settle down and get into agriculture and I think that's a metaphor for the phase of life he's in.

July 10, 2024

Today Tom and I worked on powerwashing the bridge. It's not an exciting job, but I think it's fun.

We decided to go to a hidden waterfall/swimming hole across town. It's just beautiful. There's a 10-foot ledge that you can jump from and it's deep right beneath the jump. I ended up doing it 4 times. 

July 6, 2024

We went to Ponce and Yauco again. I went last time I was here, but Tom and Allyson wanted to see it and I'm always down for an adventure.

We started by going to see the colorful part of the city. The roads going uphill are at a 15-degree angle. I actually have an app on my phone that can measure the angle of my iPhone and I'm using that so I can track the intense roads here. Nancy's driveway is 18 degrees.

We stopped by a beach but the water was dirty from the hurricane that happened recently. There was always a piece of seaweed or something touching my feet and legs and it would brush past me as the tide came in and out. It was still the Caribean Sea so there was something magical about it. I love listening to the waves. Even with two different types of music playing around me, the sound of the sea waves is sensational.

I wanted to buy souvenirs at a certain shop called Utopia. It's in Ponce and we took our time before going to the store. We got ice cream and walked around the town. We eventually went to Utopia at 5:57 and it turned out they closed at 6:00 so I had to hurry to get the things I wanted. Luckily, I knew everything I wanted so I was able to get it all pretty quickly and checkout.

July 5, 2024

We were supposed to get up and start working at 8:00 this morning. The three workers got a text last night to be ready to start at 8:00 so I was. One of the other volunteers made a traditional Dominican breakfast called "Los Tres Golpes" and that took longer than expected. I didn't get any but it looked delicious and I think I'll try to make it back home. We ended up getting to work around 9:30.

We moved a lot of rusty sheet metal and some other garbage. 

Allyson and I went to the Flower Festival. It was more of a garden festival but the few flowers were pretty. People from the town could rent a 10x10 square and decorate it however they wanted.

July 4, 2024

Today I made pancakes.

For work, I moved sheet metal and other large garbage.

I didn't see any fireworks but I think I heard some.

Fun day.

July 3, 2024

Today I had a late start. I just wanted to sleep in, and I got to do that.

I did about an hour of moving garbage. It was a lot of sheet metal and I think we would have gone longer but the other volunteer cut himself on a piece of rusty metal.

I got to help Debbie make sofrito. I just washed some Recao but it's still cool that I was a part of it. Sofrito is the base of a lot of Puerto Rican cooking. It's a mix of Recao, Oregano Brujo, Aji Dulce, onion, and garlic.

It's been a pretty mellow day. I spent some more time on the computer trying to set up appointments and looking up what I needed to know before starting college. I set an appointment on a website called "Handshake" but it's not working properly. I'll have to call someone about it tomorrow.

The nighttime sounds are so loud and tonight I decided to measure them. They range from 40 dB to 60 dB. It doesn't ever get quieter than 40 dB and the coqui ribbiting bumps it up to the 60 dB. It was fun looking at the chart because it looks a bit like a heartbeat. The coqui ribbit in such a way that it makes bumps on the graph in the same intervals a heart beats.

Hopefully, we can get some more garbage moved tomorrow than today. It's also the 4th! Everyone is expecting me to cook pancakes so I think I'll get up a little early to do that.

July 2, 2024

I got up around 7:00 to be ready to work at 8:00, but it was raining so we didn't work until around later. Debbie wanted to go to town to see if her phone came in. She accidentally left her phone in the US before she came here so her daughter mailed it to her. The phone wasn't at the post office yet but we were still able to do some shopping while we were in town. We got supplies for sofrito and we stopped by a bakery. I love Casito. I'm going to have to figure out how to make that back in Idaho.

There's a new volunteer. Their name is Keya and he's from Miami but his siblings were raised in Puerto Rico. He seems really cool so far and I'm looking forward to learning more about the world through him and Allyson.

July 1, 2024

Today is a switch day. I went from Lisa's place back to Nancy's place. It's been wonderful to have the opportunity to stay with Lisa. It has not felt like a month. The work felt so rewarding and the conversation was incredible. There are little things from everyone that I want to take into my own life and I'm excited to see where these people are going. It's sad to say goodbye but I'm ready for my next adventure here in PR. I hope I cross paths with the friends I made here someday.

Lisa dropped me off in Caguas where Nancy picked me up. After Nancy picked me up, we went to Home Depot to meet up with Nancy's husband, Tom, who was shopping for materials for the aircrete. We got the supplies we needed, somehow fit it in the truck and went back to the house.

There's a volunteer here, Allyson. She was painting the pavilion columns when we arrived so I went over and started helping her. She's a kind person and I'm excited to have a friend for all the work Nancy's putting together.

I also met Nancy's 14-year-old niece, Luna who is staying here for a bit. 

I don't know how long I'll be here but I'm grateful for a place to stay, especially as a hurricane is hitting the lower islands of the Caribbean. They're saying it's going to be a bad year for tropical storms. I guess we'll know for sure in about four months.