Saklan School Puerto Rico 2025
December 6, 2025
Today was a great start to our Puerto Rico trip! We began the day with a delicious breakfast and then set out to explore Old San Juan. We walked along the blue cobblestone streets and observed historic monuments such as churches, statues and fortresses. El Morro was one of the fortresses that we visited, and it had a gorgeous view of the ocean, many tunnels and staircases, and great spots for photos. Next, we walked among the colorful buildings of Old San Juan to get to our lunch restaurant. We ate tasty Puerto Rican cuisine before exploring the local shops to buy souvenirs. Some of the souvenirs that we bought included sweatshirts, jewelry, bucket hats with ears that move, t-shirts, and some local instruments. We also stopped at one of the narrowest houses in the world, which is only five feet across the entire way back!
Then we headed to Santurce, another one of the neighborhoods in San Juan, and we walked along the streets to view the huge murals and street art. After a long day of walking in the heat, we finally returned to the Big Yellow House and relaxed in the ocean. We saw a horse swimming in the ocean, which was a surprise for all of us! After visiting the beach, we showered off and ate a dinner filled with more Puerto Rican food. Our favorite parts of the day were visiting El Morro to explore the different levels, playing in the warm ocean, and observing the murals of Santurce.
By: Rosie, Haley, and Willow
December 7, 2025
Today we woke up in the morning and ate pancakes. After that we went to the worksite to begin the construction project. We poured buckets of sand, shoveled concrete, and passed buckets full of wet concrete. It was very challenging in the smoldering heat and everyone sweated a lot, but we made sure to stay positive and hydrated. After we had finished with construction, we went to a member of the community´s home, and we learned about Angel’s, the foreman, experience with hurricane Maria. Angel and many others lost everything in the hurricane and Angel has helped rebuild over 60 houses since. Once we had left and thanked them for lunch, we went to the beach to swim and relax. When we returned to the Big Yellow House we had pasta with red sauce for dinner. Following dinner, we learned how to salsa dance, which was quite tiring! The best parts of the day were visiting the beach and playing in the sand and water. We also enjoyed seeing the completed floor that we made at the construction site.
By: Jack and Sam
