School Day!

Today, the teachers prepared breakfast for the students at 7:50.  We grabbed some yogurt, fruit and snacks for the day, and headed to our tour bus.  We were traveling to visit the Santiago Iglesias Pantin High School in Ceiba, Puerto Rico.

It was about a 45-minute drive to the school.  On the way, we could see the El Yunque Rainforest in the distance.  Like much of the trip, we were greeted with beautiful scenery.  

When we arrived, the students of the Santiago Iglesias school were getting off of their buses.  You could tell they were excited and anxious to see students from a different school, and our students felt the same.

We were greeted by administrators, teachers and a couple of students when we arrived.  They escorted us to a lounge area to provide us with some information about the school and snacks.  We were told that the students wear different colored shirts, depending on their grade level.  However, much like us, it is near the end of their school year.  As such, there were many students who had dressed down.

We visited the library.  Inside, we saw their books and some student projects.  The projects were models of building in Puerto Rico!

As a matter of fact, the entire school had a relaxed atmosphere!  Many students had completed testing or final projects.  There were a lot of activities that reminded us of the end of the school year at FLA.  There were other similarities, too.  Like us, they have a 50 minute class period.  There is a similar curriculum to ours and the staff used Edmodo in their classrooms!

There were a lot of differences, of course, as well.  For one, the basketball court was outdoors, only it had a large, metal tent structure covering it.  The building itself was a lot more open, too, with courtyards and walkways outdoors.  Could you imagine having a palm tree in a courtyard in the middle of FLA?!

We visited several classrooms, including ELA, special education and business.  All of the classes were taught in Spanish, with the exception of ELA.  The students we encountered were very friendly.  One student even sang for us! 

The special education room was designed like an apartment, to help students with special needs learn how to complete tasks many of us take for granted.

We visited the basketball court and took a wonderful group picture on the bleachers.

 Then, the students played basketball with the Santiago Iglesias students.  They played much better than us!  Next to the court was the trailer for the engineering and mechanical classes.  We went inside, where a teacher spoke to us about what they do, the skills they learn, and how it can be useful later in life.  It was really cool to see an auto shop at a school!

We were invited for lunch in the cafeteria of the school. We had bean, rice, beef, milk and juice. Very typical lunch in Puerto Rico but a lot different than FLA!

The students continued to play sports and meet with Santiago Iglesias students.  They played soccer, basketball, volleyball, and socialized.  They had a lot of fun!  They keep asking to go back but it's not on our itinerary! Maybe next year!!

Finally we headed back for the hotel for some pool time!  The students changed and headed for the pool, where they played for a couple of hours.  Some of us wanted a break from water and relaxed in the sun, instead. 

In the evening, we changed, and headed to Mi Casita for dinner.  The food, as usual, was delicious!

After dinner we went back to the hotel and began working on our presentations and journal writing. We have done a lot and we stopped to reflect and write in our notebooks about everything we have done so far.

And tomorrow brings us a new adventure at Lujillo and Bio Bay (plus we get to sleep in!!)

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!

Island Hopping!

We woke up early this morning for our tour of Culebra Island.  At 6:15 AM, the students met in our lobby for breakfast and snacks.  We hopped on our tour bus and headed for the Culebra ferry.

When we arrived at the ferry station, we waited in line and took pictures of the docks.  Our boat left shortly after we boarded and we were greeted with plenty of sunshine!

The boat ride was about an hour.  The scenery was absolutely stunning.  We were surrounded by islands and blue skies.  While some students were feeling a little nauseous from sea sicknesses, all of them handled it great.

When we arrived at Culebra, we boarded a bus to Flamenco beach.  At the beach, there were shops with snacks and drinks.  We stopped for a quick bite and to use the restrooms.  Some of the students had empanadas and pina coladas.  A short walk later, we were at the water.

The beach was fabulous!  The sand was a beautiful white, and felt wonderful to walk on.  The water was a crystal-clear, light blue.  We played in the water for an hour or two and enjoyed the sun!

When we left, we boarded our bus and headed to Tamarindo Beach for some snorkeling.  A tour guide equipped us with life vests, snorkels, goggles, and flippers.  He explained how to have the best snorkeling experience and told us a little about the beach.  

We were instructed to swim about 200 yards out to a buoy.  We had to be careful of getting too close to shallow areas to protect the local coral and sea urchins.  Mr. Palmer led the students out to the buoy, where they snorkeled along the way.  In the water, we saw all kinds of sea life, including turtles!  The schools of fish and the coral were breath taking. Harry took this awesome video of a sea turtle that come right towards him! It's a little hard to see at first, but wait for it!!!

We played for about an hour before returning to our tour bus.  We headed back to the ferry station to return to Puerto Rico.  It took a while for the ferry to arrive, and of course, it was another hour back.  Many of the students (and the teachers) slept on the way.  The island and the sun had taken its toll on all of us!

We returned to Puerto Rico and boarded our tour bus to grab some dinner.  We were taken to a place called Meson Sandwiches for sandwiches, fried, salads and drinks.  There was a Baskin Robbins in the restaurant, as well, so we grabbed some dessert.

It was 9:00 PM by the time we got back to our hotel.  After instructions on tomorrow's activities, it was time for bed.  Everyone was exhausted!  When it was all said and done, however, it was a wonderful day!!

Happy Mother's Day

We got up this morning at 8 AM to swim at the beach!  We spent a couple of hours playing in the water and relaxing.  Some of the students couldn't believe how salty the ocean is! Fabian swears he saw a shark!!

After swimming, we quickly got ready and headed back to Basilia's for breakfast.  After eating, we walked to buy some snacks at a local convenience store.  Harry wanted to be fully prepared with his Chip's Ahoy and bought a half gallon of milk.

Back at the hotel, the students changed into their swim suits and went to the pool.  They played for an hour or so.

After swimming, we went up to our rooms for some downtime and to get ready for our nice dinner.  We wore our nice clothes.  Everyone was beautiful!

The restaurant in the hotel was called Sirena.  We walked down and they seated us outside.  We had a beautiful view of the beach at sunset!  There was a really nice buffet with traditional Puerto Rican dishes.  There was paella, roasted pork, empanadas, flan and more!  We ate a lot of food.

At the end of dinner, Mrs. Lainez and Mr. Palmer took most of the students for a walk on the beach.  It was nice to feel the sand on our toes!  We stood near the water, silently, for a few minutes to listen to the sound of the ocean.  It was a lovely end to the day.

We thought often of our mothers today and are grateful to them for making this incredible journey possible. Gracias a todas las mamas!! Happy Mother's Day!

Viejo San Juan

After meeting in the lobby, we headed to a restaurant called Basilia's for breakfast.  We had pancakes and eggs, ham and hash browns.  It was delicious!

Our tour bus picked us up from the restaurant and took us to Old San Juan. Lots of shopping!!

Old San Juan is beautiful.  There were courtyards and squares with statues and foliage.  

We visited some souvenir shops and places to snack.  We visited a beautiful church and walked down to the water and saw the governor's mansion.

We met back at the main square where the statue of Christopher Columbus was located.  After a short break (and some virgin Pina Coladas) we spent a couple more hours touring the city.  Ibrahim took some photos with Iguanas.  

At 3:00 P.M., we made reservations at a nice restaurant called Raices which means Roots. he restaurant reflects the early days of the colonization of Puerto Rico. Everyone had delicious meals, like skirt steak and mahi mahi.

After dinner, we boarded our tour bus back to the hotel.  We spent the rest of the night swimming, relaxing and getting ready for tomorrow!

We arrived safely!

We had a long day of travel, but we made it to San Juan!! Checked into our hotel and walked down the street for a quick, late night dinner. tomorrow we get to see what this place looks like in the daylight! Check in for more updates! Buenas noches desde Isla Verde, Puerto Rico!!

Busy Sunday getting prepared for the trip! Last Sunday in Kansas City...San Juan, here we come. We will be leaving this Friday. Have to be at the airport at 10:30, bags packed, ready to go.

I am feeling very appreciative today. It has taken a lot of hard work and generosity to get to this point. Thanks to the FLA community, the 8th grade parents and the staff at FLA. This is an amazing community!!

Keep checking back to our blog for updates!!