Weekend in the East (bio bay, luquillo, fajardo, El Yunque)

Where do I even begin with this weekend? It was filled with so much fun and so much awesome scenery. Basically, we went out to Fajardo to kayak in the bio-luminescent bay (laguna grande), go to El Yunque Rainforest, and end it at la playa de Luquillo, one of the most beautiful and calmest beaches of Puerto Rico.
But let's start from the beginning so my memory doesn't fail me (like it has in half of these posts).
I was woken up at 10 AM Saturday with a call from my teacher, who was on campus to teach a workshop for intercity kids. She had to pick us up at my apartment early because she had to run back to her house in Old San Juan where she forgot her cell phone, so we drove back there. Old San Juan has very tiny streets, they're all one-way and have one side reserved for street parking and one for cars to drive. So we just blocked up her whole street by parking next to the parked cars so she could run in and get her cell phone. Mission accomplished.
On our way to the freeway to Fajardo, we were passing the hotel where her son's cafe is, so she asked if we were hungry. I always say yes to that question. We stopped there to get the famous 3-tea blend and a muffin and to visit for a while. Their tea is so good so I'm glad we stopped.
I played co-pilot on the way to Fajardo and had to pay special attention, because my teacher get's lost very often with directions and such. I fell asleep anyways, and my teacher just said she would let me know when she needed me. Ok, so you know when you're in the country, and the roads don't have names? They just have those route numbers with north, south, east or west and it's confusing. I've encountered these a lot with my parents and little sister trying to visit colleges in the middle of nowhere like Ohio Northern or Findley. Well, that is exactly what we were up against on the way out to Fajardo. From the main highway, we did find the route we needed, but from there it was very confusing. The directions from the kayaking company listed about 5 different turns we had to make. We didn't make any of them and we kept on straight, yet we ended up on the last route we needed before the beach. In other words, instead of making 5 turns, we continued straight and made it right to where we were supposed to be. I think a few revisions need to be made.
We unloaded at the beach and tried to look for the kayak company, but were told we were real early since we were taking a night kayak trip. This gave us time to play in the water and soak up some sun. Fajardo is the north eastern part of the island, where you have access to the other islands of Puerto Rico such as Vieques and Culebra. Those were in the background as we played in the water. We saw some cool fish and a lot that camouflaged into the rocks on the bottom and others that looked like the seaweed leaves, which was really cool. There were a lot of boats in the background as well as kayak companies setting up. As a per-departure snack, we got some pinchos, those kabob thingies. They actually had a shrimp one that Jenn tried and my teacher and I got chicken.
Finally, it was time for kayaking. These were open ocean kayaks, so we would be getting wet from the waste down, at the very least. We just wore our swim suits with a shirt over top, but it was pretty chilly. My teacher says we're not allowed to say that it's chilly because we're from Ohio, where it's snowing now. Surprisingly, we now think that 70's is cold because we spend the day in the 80's. Anyways, we put on bug spray and life jackets and grouped up to hear some instructions. Everyone got a partner, so Jenn and I stuck together while my teacher went with another single guy. She kept trying to get Jenn or me to go with him, but he was old by our standards and I'm too shy for that business. It was funny to hear them trying to communicate because he spoke no Spanish and she struggles with English, but they made a good team. Our kayak guide was funny, referring to kayaks with other companies as "the enemy" and teaching us how to hit them and make it look like an accident. Well, it was decided that I would be the person in the back of the kayak to steer and everything because I had been kayaking a few times in the ocean and my gym class in college was kayaking. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much I remembered from that experience.
We got into our kayaks and rowed into a single file line until our whole group was ready. We kayaked across the ocean docks where the boats sat to an opening of a river canal. This canal was awesome because it had mangrove trees that hang over the top of you and form a canopy. When you look up through the branches in the air, you can see a million stars. The little river was very shallow and pretty narrow so we had to be careful not to crash into the trees on the side and get stuck. We got stuck anyways, on a few occasions, but our guide just told us that we got the full experience that way.
After about half an hour of kayaking and some twists and turns, we got to La Laguna Grande, a bio-luminescent bay. This lagoon is filled with millions of organisms that react to movement by lighting up. In other words, when you stuck your hand into the water and wiggled it around, your hand lit up like tinker bell. It was the coolest thing ever. At one point, you were able to swim in it to see your whole body light up, but they discovered that all the oils, perfumes and bugsprays that we wear were killing the organisms which would also stop them from lighting up. The sky was filled with more stars than I've ever seen before. I saw the usual suspects, like Orion and the North Star, but they were surrounded and filled with a million other tiny stars.
It was time to go back and we all lined up again to start down the river back to the ocean. This trip would be easier and faster because we would be going with the current. I was excited about that, but then quickly learned that we would encounter enemy kayaks that would be entering as we were exiting. Not good. We crashed a few times into oncoming traffic and got stuck in a jam in the roots of the trees. We finally made it out and back to shore where they had snacks and water waiting for us. My teacher decided she was going to change and went to her car. When she got back, she told us about how she had to go pee but didn't want to go in the nasty bathrooms, so she went in her fast food cup by her car. She really is a character.
For dinner, we saw a restaurant as we were headed back to the highway to stay in Luquillo. The tables were outdoors and the scenery was gorgeous. We had great service and confused them on whether we spoke Spanish or English. We're too tan to look American, but our facial features are American, and then we always enter places speaking Spanish, so it's fun when they come up to our table and say "¿Inglés o español?" Well, with my teacher, it's always at least a 3 course meal. We got 2 appetizers: some shrimp in a fruity glaze and some ham croquettes, both of which were awesome. Then we went to look at the menu. Surprisingly, one of the cheaper things was Filet Mignon, and I don't feel like I get to eat that enough, so I ordered it. All of our dishes came out beautifully decorated with sauces in different designs. Everything was delicious, and when the waiter came with the bill, our teacher refused it and asked for dessert. We ended up getting a creme brulee made with sweet potatoes. It was awesome and also beautifully presented. We called our friends who were staying with us at the apartment, and they said they were at dinner at Taco Maker, a fast food taco chain. My teacher doesn't approve of that, especially since we were meeting up with another teacher and her student teacher, who needs to experience Puerto Rican restaurants, not Taco Maker.
We got back on the highway and went to the ocean side apartment and were exhausted. I shared a room with my teacher who was literally passed out with lights on and everything when I got out of the bathroom. We slept great that night.
The next day, I woke up to birds chirping and the sound of ocean waves, which I now believe is the way that everyone in the world should wake up. We threw on some clothes and went to Walgreens to get bottles of water and then subway to get some breakfast and a sandwich to eat later on our hike. I was very impressed with subway's breakfast; I had no idea they made the eggs right in front of you to put on the flat breads. We took our breakfast back to the apartment to eat on the balcony in front of the ocean and then got our stuff together to go to El Yunque. The other teacher and her boyfriend hike, kayak and bike all around the island, so they knew the spot to take us in the rainforest.
El Yunque is a rainforest that is a mountain, or basically the whole mountain is the rainforest. So, we had to drive up and around the mountain until we finally got to the trail to Las Minas waterfall. They have created trail paths with concrete stairs and big rocks to help everyone get to their destination, which was really nice. After hiking 30 minutes down hill and seeing some awesome scenery and plants, we arrived at the waterfall. It was so beautiful and everyone was going in it. We took off our clothes to get into our bathing suits and climbed over a bunch of huge rocks to get into the freezing cold water. I saw some fish swimming around and we kept screaming because of how cold the water was and also because there were huge rocks at the bottom of the falls where we couldn't see them below the water. We got some awesome and hilarious pictures of it all, though. We dried off and hiked up hill all the way back up to the top where we ate lunch by some beautiful scenery and then decided to head out to the beach.
Luquillo beach actually has a parking lot that you have to pay to park in. This is all because the beach has wonderful park facilities. They have great bathrooms, life guard houses, and awesome colorful tiled showers. Luquillo beach is arguably one of the best beaches in Puerto Rico. One of the teachers told us that most people think it's the best, but in her opinion, she likes the beaches on Culebra and La Playa Sucia better. But 3rd best in her book is fine with me. The water is very calm and there's almost no waves. It's also crystal clear and you can see your feet. The sand in the water doesn't have anything in it. No rocks, no plants, but you can see schools of fish swim by and there were actually a few people walking around with starfish they caught. We floated in the calm water and laid out a bit. One time when I went in the water myself, I ended up making friends with these 3 little kids. They thought my name was strange and said I seemed like I was from a different planet, but I just told them I was from the United States. The little girl told me she had never heard of it, but then proceeded to tell me how she was born in New York. My teacher said that I'm a good teacher because I taught some little kids that day how New York and Ohio are both states in the U.S. I pulled them around in their floaties and when we had to go, the kids didn't want me to leave, it was so cute. Sadly, we had to go home from there so my teacher could babysit her grand kids and Jenn and I could go back to our apartment.

This island is one of the most amazing places for me, and this weekends is one of the reasons why. There are so many diverse ecosystems in one tiny place and you can see so much. For example, just this weekend we went to the bio-luminescent lagoon, the ocean, and the rainforest. Another weekend we got to go to the caves and a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. I know why they call it "The Island of Enchantment."

these are a few of my favorite things

Overall, I had a pretty good Monday, besides starting it at 6:40am to get ready to go to school.
We went to school and assisted the teacher as she prepared the students for a standardized test called PIENSE, which is an acronym that also means "think!" in Spanish. Since we're teaching 6th grade, our students have to take this test to test their abilities in math, English, Spanish, and comprehension to get into high school. Jenn and I assist individually while our teacher directs the class.
Later, we went to Walgreens to get some things we needed and most importantly, Nutella. It's the best thing and the most economical way to get chocolate, since a bag of mini snickers costs around $4 here. On the way back, we saw a lot of students in a froyo shop so we stopped in there. The frozen yogurts they make are all natural with tropical fruits. We got a small cup of tamarindo flavor and a small Nutella milk shake to share. We have to go back soon to try all the flavors.
After getting some work done, it was time for TACOS! I had been dreaming about the tacos I saw at the taqueria because they sounded authentic, so we went there for dinner with our friend Caleb. They were great! They had cilantro, onion, lime and salsa picante, exactly how I like them. I liked them so much I ordered my first order of 2 and then went back for 2 more.
The girls from Massachusetts told us about a free trial class of yoga in the neighborhood, so we went there afterwards. It ended up being 2 hours long, but I feel relaxed. It was fun to do because the teacher only spoke Spanish and I got to hear how a yoga class is held in another language. If we want to go back, it's $13 a session or $40 a month, so I think we will see if the rec center has any classes first and then think about it, since we'll only be getting busier in the classroom as time goes on.
Well, we had Nutella, froyo, tacos, and yoga in Puerto Rico. A few of my favorite things all in a place that I'm falling in love with.
Nos vemos :).

all I do is eat fish everyday of my life

So Friday night, we went out to get sushi in Bayamón with a friend we met here and it was exactly how ours is in the states and the place looked like Sushi Rock. Jenn and I split a spicy crab roll and a Godzilla roll, which were great, and in the rolls you got to choose if you wanted avocado, mango, or pineapple. We got mango in our spicy crab roll and it was really good! The other nice thing is that when a Puerto Rican invites you out, they pay. So when I was disappointed at the end when they didn't have a chocolate dessert, our friend took us across the street to Chili's to get molten lava cake. And anybody who knows me (or any server at the local Applebee's) knows I am a crazy person for molten lava cake.

Saturday, we wanted to get to the beach but were too lazy to hop on the bus and decided to go to the pool instead. But why would the pool be open on the weekends? And on top of that, why is it so unacceptable to lay out on the lawns of the university? Either open your pool or loosen your policy people!!! Well, Jenn and I found a small solution to our craving for a tan, we climbed to the top floor of one of the buildings (which have their hallways outside, and therefore, their stairwells outside) and set up camp on the stair landing. Then came the rain. This is tropical rain, though, you know, that kind that comes when the sun is still shining and only lasts for 5 minutes. So we curled up under our umbrellas like the crazy Americans we are and waited for it to pass. If a news helicopter passed over, they would have had quite an interesting story.
When we got home, we had an angry hamper full of clothes asking to be cleaned. Since he wouldn't do it himself, we walked him down to the laundry room with a few dollar bills. It's a good thing the change machine was out of order and the guy at the front desk had no quarters, because I never want laundry to be dull and unadventurous. In fact, my ideal Saturday afternoon is spent in the laundry room or walking around the neighborhood in my bathing suit cover up to get quarters. So that's exactly what I did. I walked to this taco place that could only give me 8 quarters, we scraped up some of our own, and then crawled on the floor by vending machines and the washers to find the final quarter we needed. If you're friends with me on Facebook, you already got to see me playing around in the laundry room and fitting myself into the machines. While we were in there, another exchange student from Ohio visited us so we all decided to do something later with him and the 2 other student teachers from Massachusetts.
After all the clothes were done, we all went out for more sushi to this new restaurant that just opened up nearby. Jenn and I split the amarillo roll, which had a sweet plantain, avocado, cream cheese and spicy mayo, the spider roll and another spicy crab roll. The amarillo roll was really really really good, by the way :). Then we decided to check our a few of the college hang outs, and one of them had music to dance to and karaoke. While one guy was singing "Preciosa," a huge patriotic song that everyone in Puerto Rico knows, Jenn and I were following the words and the DJ offered us a microphone, so of course we sang! Then a girl came up to us to find the list of songs and asked us to sing with her, so we signed up for "Material Girl" and got cheered on as we sang that. It was a really fun night overall.

Today, Sunday, we went for a run and went with the girls to the beach. It's always really windy there, but the water was nice and we got some good tans. Afterwards, we went to this restaurant by the beach called Metropol. I got ceviche which was really good!

Well, that's 3 days in a row of fish, so tomorrow I ordered ribs for lunch at school. I also found a taco place that has tacos al pastor, which are real tacos, not those American things everyone thinks are tacos. Hopefully I get to go there soon!

We've Met our Teacher!

Oh Em Gee.
That's how I would describe our teacher. And this is OMG in a good way.

Ok, first things first. We e-mailed her last night to see what time to arrive at the school because the guy that picked us up at the airport kind of just dropped us off at our apartment and said "there's the school, there's the campus, down this road is some food, see you tomorrow."
When we got to the school, everyone greeted us and our teacher was so proud to have us there. She was so nice and had so much to say. She has such an awesome philosophy on education, I wish I could share everything she said, but some of her most important points were that conflict and mistakes are good things, because we learn from them. She told me that if I do something well, then that's great, and if I do it bad, then that's great too. She was sad to learn we wouldn't be there the whole semester and she's going to try to plan events for the times we are there so we can have more to experience. Jenn and I will be in charge of her 6th grade classes. We will be collaborating on lesson plans but will split the classes so that we teach the whole time for a period and then switch the next period. But all this school talk is nothing.

Tomorrow we will be attending the San Sebastian street festival in Old San Juan where my teacher lives. It's this crazy thing that millions of people go to and I have no idea what to expect. She invited us to stay in her house overnight, since the festival goes until all hours of the night. I'm so excited!!! Especially after being just dropped off like that yesterday, it was so refreshing to be invited into her home and to the festival with her.

After school, we shopped at Walgreens to get some stuff we needed and some food. After eating PB+J for lunch, we decided to walk around campus and most importantly, find the pool. We took pictures the whole way and found swimmers doing laps in the pool. The lifeguard said we could go swimming, but when I say I want to "swim" I really mean float around the pool soaking up sun, get out to tan, repeat. Hopefully the swim team rests a few days of the week. We found the track and decided we could jog there and we're going tomorrow. Even though it's 80 degrees, it's not too hot, there's a nice breeze to work out.

We found the subway here and the guard inside told us what bus to take to the beach. It's only 75cents so maybe we can donate 25 to any homeless person we see on the way. We got Quizno's after, which was soo good, I don't know why I don't ever go there in the States. I guess daylight saving's time is a curse everywhere because it got dark around 6 so we've just been in the apartment online and looking over student teaching stuff.

I just can't wait for the festival tomorrow! I will surely come back with stories to tell and hopefully only good things.