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Glen Urquhart School Puerto Rico 2024

April 23, 2024

Our first day started bright and early at Boston Logan airport. With our excited minds and open hearts, we boarded our first flight of the day to Baltimore. Once we landed in Baltimore we immediately got onto our next flight to our final destination, Puerto Rico. As we approached the island, we could feel the overwhelming humidity and heat. Our incredible Global Works leaders met us at the airport with snacks and water. After an hour drive, they brought us to a spectacular restaurant with pizza and AC along with a great balcony view. Soon after we were done eating, we got situated into our home for the next few days, the Big Yellow House. With our stomachs filled and sleepy eyes, we settled in. Though we were tired, we took a quick walk to the beach and cooled down in the fresh salty water. The beach was filled with astounding views of bright blue water and lush greenery. With our spirits uplifted we strolled back to the Big Yellow House, ate dinner, had a group meeting and then down for bed.

By: Eddie, Liam Mc & Tom

April 24, 2024

Today our class traveled to Old San Juan, and took an awesome tour with our guide Alvin who showed us multiple historic monuments, beautiful churches and sceneries. We enjoyed a traditional Puerto Rican lunch at Rest. El Jibarito, and also tried paletas, which are very similar to popsicles. We learned a lot of new things about Puerto Rican culture and how the city was founded and built. Once we returned back to the Big Yellow House, we had some time to rest and hangout. We then gathered to watch Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown documentary about the locals here, and how Hurricane María affected them and their lives. Our class enjoyed watching this because we not only learned about Puerto Ricans but also their recovery process from the hurricane. Watching this helped us understand what they are going through, and prepared us for the work we will be doing in the community, Villa Del Río, within the next two days. It is easy to say that all of us have learned a lot today and have a very open mind going into the rest of the trip. We are very excited for what is ahead of us!

By: Macy B., Nico Bernardi, Bailey S.

April 25, 2024

Starting our 3rd day we woke up an hour later than our past few days, which was quite refreshing. After eating our breakfast, we eventually loaded onto our two vans around 9am and headed off to our worksite. As we drove, we took notice of the wonderful views of the island. Once we arrived, we were immediately welcomed by María and her family (alongside their pet pig). After quick instructions and selecting our translators, we were set off to work. The jobs we had were hard, especially when under the beating sun, however we can confidently say that we were rewarded tenfold by the sight of our hard work paying off. We mixed cement, carried buckets of sand, and of course, ruined all our clothes. Afterwards, we had a much appreciated lunch before heading back to work. We would cut and set the rebars, getting a tremendous amount of work done. To cool off in the afternoon, we went to the beach and swam for so long that our hands were wrinkled and our hair was left salty. We headed back to the house, ending off the day learning to salsa dance, a pleasant activity we used to unwind and relax. In it we all became naturals and had at least a little rhythm by the end. Overall, it was a successful day with lots of hard work and team work.

By: Katie D. Katie S. & Anthony

April 26, 2024

Today we completed the floor of the bathrooms we started working on the day prior. We all took turns shoveling sand and rocks, filling cement buckets, and carrying the buckets to where they were being poured. After we finished we went back to the Big Yellow House and packed up for the beach. There, we cooled down after some hard work. We then returned to base and got ready for the party. We invited members of the community we were working in to celebrate a job well done. We came together to eat food and play games. After, we had a meeting where the members of the community thanked us for our work. We had accomplished more than expected given our age and the size of our group. We said goodbye to the community, and turned in for the night. Today was a day of hard work, achievement, and celebration.
By: Liam, Henry, Chamberlain, and Malcolm
April 27, 2024
On this lovely Saturday morning, we started off by waking up bright and early to pack the vans and head off to our first destination, a short rainforest walk with a beautiful cove at the end. The rainforest was filled with green trees and bright colorful flowers. Scanning over the magnificent view, we saw crystal clear water of a flowing waterfall tumbling down the mountain. Once we made our way back to our vans we rode for another hour to a delicious restaurant, eating a variety of food such as fish, chicken, and a traditional dish called mofongo. Following our extravagant meal, we had some retail therapy. The shops overflowed with knits, food, and tourist nicknacks. Post shopping we made our way over to the hostels for the first time. We were delightedly surprised to see the nice interior decoration and comfy beds. After walking back and forth from our living spaces a couple of pizza boxes and beach trips later, we closed out our night with the bio bay, where we saw beautiful bioluminescence glowing in the water.
By: Cat, Jo, and Grace