Tuesday, May 10, 2016

History Comes Alive!


We met in the lobby at 7:45 AM to go to breakfast.  We ate at a place called Mi Casita.  There was waffles, pancakes, french toast and eggs.  When finished, we waited for our tour bus to take us to Old San Juan.




When we got on the bus, our tour guide provided some information about the day's events and the history behind what we were going to see.  Our first stop was the Puerto Rico Capitol Building.




At the capitol, we got off of our bus and took pictures of the statue of Saint John the Baptist, the namesake of San Juan.  Around the north side of the building, there was artwork with the official symbols of Puerto Rico's cities.  We finished taking pictures and headed into the capitol building.





We were greeted by a tour guide inside the building who explained the history behind what we were seeing.  In the first floor main hall, there was a circular, enclosed glass case containing the Puerto Rico Constitution.  The building was made entirely of marble and all of the architecture was extremely beautiful!  The main hall was surrounded by carvings of the history of Puerto Rico, including murals of Christopher Columbus and the Spanish-American War.




Upstairs, we were shown statues of former Puerto Rican government officials, including Santiago Iglesias, whom the school we will visit tomorrow is named after.  We were then taken into the Puerto Rico legislative chamber.


-Inside the chamber, the tour guide explained Puerto Rican politics and information about the government.  We were allowed to ask questions and really learned a lot! We wanted to ask if Jean Paul could sit in the chairs since he is our Student Council President, but you have to be 21 to be a congressman in Puerto Rico so we figured he will have to wait! Did you know that Puerto Ricans are US citizens but they can't vote for President? Politics in Puerto Rico is interesting but very complicated!!

-, we left the capitol building and headed out to the south side of the building.  Located there were statues of U.S. Presidents who have made an important impact on Puerto Rico.  There was even a statue of President Obama! 


Next, we left for Castillo San Cristobal, a fortress built by the Spanish during the colonial period.
We watched a shore film which explained the history of the fort, why it was built and how it was used.  The Spanish built the fort after conquering the area and defended it from the English, Dutch and French who were enemies of the Spanish.  Later, the fort was commandeered by the U.S. and used for strategic purposes during World War II.


Our tour guide took us from the theater out into the fort.  We traveled to the top of the fort to look around the area.  There were beautiful views all around!  We went into a tunnel that was used by soldiers to move into different positions.  There was a dungeon with centuries old graffiti inside!  We exited into a courtyard where soldiers stayed and trained.  There was a barracks with old uniforms and equipment for us to look at.  We also saw garrisons on the corners of the fort, which were used by soldiers to stand watch.  We were surrounded by so much history and it was a lot to take in!






The rest of the day we spent shopping, swimming, eating and relaxing. Some of us had a small adventure at the grocery store....


It was an exciting day of history! And we're making our own history every day! We can't believe half of our trip is over already. It's been amazing and we're enjoying every minute if it!




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