Watkinson in Puerto Rico

 The first morning away from Casa Coral, our team had a slow start to the day, consisting of sleep, pool swims, and a panadería run. Unfortunately for those who attempted to sleep in, a neighborhood rooster with a broken internal clock had other plans, but impressively many still managed extra hours. On the other hand, the conscious travelers split into two groups: pool and panadería.  The pool was intensely refreshing, and altogether an incredible way to start an incredible day. Regardless of the faulty pool noodles, a quick splash in the morning seemed to be exactly what the doctor ordered. As for the panadería people, an hour-or-so wait at the café made for a delicious albeit rushed desayuno . By 12:45, we had all eaten breakfast as we individually saw fit, and so the team ventured to a Fajardo marina for our scheduled snorkeling. Waiting to check in for the aquatic activity, we (re)applied sunscreen and hung out in El Rooftop  restaurant looking out at the rows o...

Today the Watkinson team had an early start to their day. We left Casa Coral at 8am to travel to the new place we would be staying called Del Mar. After dropping off our stuff and bumping into one of our competing schools, Westover, we were on our way to El Yunque. Our new driver, Rafael, was also our tour guide and on our way to El Yunque told us many facts about the island and the rainforest. He also told us the origin of the name El Yunque which means Anvil and is based off a Taino word.  As we drove through the rainforest Rafael narrated what we were seeing, and we learned a lot about the flora and fauna, and how they evolve together to create new endemic life in El Yunque. Another cool fact he shared was how Puerto Rico was formed by a volcano, making it an Oceanic Island not a continental island, so there no large animals or predators at all. Our nature walk was a complete sensory overload. As rain hit our skin, birds and coqui chirped above us, and the vibrant colors of the ...

 Today we returned to APRODEC, and met with a biologist named Jorge, who works for CIROM ( Centro de Investigación de Organismos Marinos ). We learned all about coral development, sea urchins, crabs, reef restoration, and CIROM's efforts to grow the coral population. We got to walk around the coral/urchin/mangrove nursery and see all the tanks and organisms. One cool thing about their set up was that it almost perfectly matches the environment the corals will be in when they are released. There are shades that let the same amount of light through as there would be 20ft under water, and water chillers mimic the temperature. The entire area can also be packed up and transferred if need be in case of a storm. We are looking forward to seeing what we learned from this experience in action Saturday when we go snorkeling in Icacos!  After a delicious homemade meal from Ingrid at APRODEC, we had a brief Taino language primer and got to leave paint handprints on the wall of the buildi...

We started the day with a big breakfast spread made by Ms. Alferi, Sabrina, Isa, Izzy and Aria. We had eggs, bacon, avocado, oranges, yogurt, and toast. Then we all got ready and headed to APRODEC (Alianza Pro Desarrollo Económico de Ceiba), wearing our matching Puerto Rico shirts. We drove to Ceiba, which is Southeast to an area that we haven’t been to yet. We first went through gates because it is a military area, and then drove up a steep and windy road to the APRODEC building. As soon as we stepped out of the van, we could see a beautiful view of the whole military area, including lots of greenery and the ocean with boats heading towards a port. Then we went inside, met Nani who would be working with us, and introduced ourselves. We first shared what we knew about Puerto Rico so far, and then learned more from Nani about the work that APRODEC does. We learned how the APRODEC building is not at all connected to water or power systems, so they do their best to preserve all their reso...

Some of us began the early morning to watch the sunrise, and although disappointed by the cloudy morning, enjoyed exploring the beach in the cool morning air. After getting dressed, eating breakfast, and preparing for a long day's worth of activities, the Puerto Rican travelers loaded onto the bus and headed over to El Puente. However, in a mere 30 minute ETA, our bus broke down and we ended up being stranded on the side of the road. Nonetheless, we took refuge under the tree, watching planes fly over us, and digging into a bag of goldfish. Once the new van arrived, we were headed down to El Puente, but now we even had music in our van! At El Puente, an environmental organization in Rio Piedras looking to become a pillar of the community, we walked through the town and learned a little Barrio history. We walked through a market, saw lots of graffiti, many dominos tables, and other organizations around town. After our walk through, we relocated back at El Puente and had a conversati...

       Today, after getting a bit of a later start to our day, we cooked breakfast before embarking on our first trip: a day in Loíza. After a scenic bus ride which passed by vast meadows with free roaming cows, verdant mountains, and small towns, we eventually arrived at the home and studio of Samuel Lind, a very well known and respected Puerto Rican visual artist; he was not home when we got there, so instead we switched up the itinerary and went across the street to a family owned and run vejigantes (traditional Puerto Rican masks made out of coconut husks) workshop, which had been in operation since 1958. While we were there, a Puerto Rican lady named Adelina, the daughter of the man who founded the business and created countless vejigantes, taught us about the culturally rich and fascinating history of the masks. In addition to the masks themselves, we learned about the history of a figurine of Santiago Apóstol (locally depicted as the persona Santiago Matamoros...