Surprise in Ponce!

This morning, we got up to head back to Basilia's for breakfast.  After eating, we made our way to the tour bus to head to the city of Ponce.

Ponce is a little more than an hour's drive from San Juan.  On the way, we saw beautiful landscapes with mountains and trees.  Everyone was taking pictures and videos because the scenery was so amazing!

When we arrived at Ponce, we exited our bus near the main plaza.  Immediately, we were greeted by the parents of our very own Mrs. Morales!  They are incredibly nice!  Jean-Paul and Alyssa greeted them with roses and everyone hugged. Jean Paul's father and all of his brothers were students of Sra. Morales as were all 12 of Alyssa's brothers and sisters!!

The first location we went to was the first fire station in all of Puerto Rico.  It's been turned into a museum, dedicated to the memory of many of the heroes of the Ponce fire department.  There were very old fire trucks and pictures of former fire fighters.  A tour guide told us about a story of the heroes of Ponce, who aided in stopping a fire at a local high school almost 100 years ago.  We all took pictures and looked around the museum.

Afterward, we walked around the plaza area and looked at an old cathedral.  Inside, there was beautiful architecture and stained glass windows.  We took some pictures and walked back to where we started.

Mrs. Morales' parents took us to an ice cream shop and bought us some delicious dessert!  Everyone agreed it was really good and thanked them.  They gave the teachers some souvenirs from Ponce and took pictures with the students.  They even bought waters for the students after they finished their ice cream!  It was a really good time. Mrs. Morales's dad sent a message to her and we sang Happy Birthday to him because tomorrow is his birthday!!!

They left after some good-bye's and everyone spent some time shopping.  There was a souvenir shop with really good prices near the plaza.  The teachers also walked to a local museum of the history of Ponce.  There was information on how the island was formed, the people that moved here and famous people of Ponce.  After an hour, everyone returned to the plaza to board our bus.

We traveled to the La Guancha boardwalk for some more sight-seeing.  The board walk and little souvenir shops and restaurants.  The scenery was really pretty.  There were all kinds of really nice boats on the water.  Some of the students purchased souvenirs and took pictures.  Others fed the pelicans and tarpon fish in the area.  For a dollar, you could buy a bag of sardines.  If you threw one up, a pelican would swoop down and catch it!  The tarpon were so big, they looked like sharks.  When you fed a sardine to them, they would fight for it in a frenzy!  After 45 minutes, we boarded our bus to go to dinner.  

The bus took as to an authentic Puerto Rican restaurant in Cayey called Lechonera El Mojito.  We ate lechon (roasted pork), roasted chicken and turkey, arroz con gandules, platanos amarillos, pastelitos and more. It was a Puerto Rican feast!!

On the way, there was more beautiful scenery, and even a house that was shaped like a UFO.  

We ended our day in the hotel with our first round of getting suitcases ready. We have one more day in Puerto Rico. We are making the most of every minute here!!