Synergy School Puerto Rico 2024

February 10, 2024

We woke up to Ariel or Dan knocking on our door, we had gone to sleep just three hours ago. After we had pancakes, fruit and sausages for breakfast, we went on a tour of Old San Juan. We learned a lot about the history of Puerto Rico and saw lots of monuments and old buildings. There were cats wandering in and out of our tour, most were very brave except when a classmate or two would scare them away. We eventually made our way to one of the four forts in Puerto Rico. There were lots of passages that led to hidden decks and views of the ocean. There were also gaps in the top of the wall that led to a very tall drop to the rocky ocean below.

After our tour we got lunch at El Jibarito, a very old and traditional Puerto Rican restaurant. We heard a scream from one of the stalls in the bathroom, there were only a few brave people willing to go to the bathroom in the one with a bug. After lunch, we went souvenir shopping. We went to some stores with our tour guide, Alvin, and got an arrangement of souvenirs. Before we got on the vans to bring us back to the big yellow house, we got to buy more souvenirs at an artisan market.

Once we got back, we immediately started getting ready for the beach. Half the class left early after having a sandy salty time at the beach. The other half stayed to enjoy the warm Caribbean water. Once everyone was back, we all rinsed off and showered. We had a pasta dinner and cupcakes for dessert.

After dinner, we had an ice breaking activity about our comfort levels with different situations. Then we wrote down some goals and split into groups to talk about them. Now we are playing hide and seek in the house. Good night!

By: Maya, Matteo, Bea

February 11th, 2024

Today everyone got to wake up at seven instead of six o’clock. We had french toast, fresh fruit, jamon, turkey, gluten free waffles, and yogurt for breakfast. After breakfast, we all got ready and piled into the vans. The drive was an hour long but we finally got to our location in Utuado. We were introduced to the owner of the land Mika and her mom, and our tour guide Ray. They talked about how the place was spiritually connected to the taino people. We were led into a clearing by Mika and settled around a bonfire. We introduced ourselves and talked about our intentions on the property. Some people said that they wanted the class to bond more, others said they wanted to connect with nature. After that we were split into two groups. The first group went down into the jungle and studied petroglyphs in the rocks by the river. One of the theories was that at least 1000 years ago vikings used the river area as a sacred place. The government wanted to make a dam in the river, but they soon found the petroglyphs and realized it was sacred ground, and so they stopped construction immediately leaving only a set of stairs leading to nothing. While we were seeing the petroglyphs, the second group went down to another part of the river with really old and sacred clay and covered themselves in it. The clay is said to have healing properties and would help you connect to the elements there. Some people said that the clay made their skin smoother. When done, group two put on lifejackets and jumped into the river from a low cliff. Most say that this was their favorite part. They floated downstream until they got to a particular rock with more petroglyphs. The guides explained that the petroglyphs that looked like faces were there to remind the people that lived there a long time ago of their stories. The groups switched roles and then met up at the end. Lunch was vegetarian. Some folks were skeptical because they wanted meat, but the food turned out to be very good. All of it was grown locally on a farm in a nearby neighborhood called Barrio Limón and picked by the chef, Samantha. A lot of students said that their favorite part of lunch was the rice with beets, carrots, and fresh herbs. We sat on really big banana leaves and watched the guide’s dogs run about.

We drove back to the big yellow house and played hide and go seek tag. The rest of the day was pretty chill, until the Super Bowl came on. Everyone was really excited to watch it. Dinner was garlic chicken, fried plantains, flattened plantains (tostones), and salad. It was windy so all the food was blowing away. We watched the Super Bowl and some people found some coconuts. As the teachers were trying to connect the Super Bowl to the television, students were dropping the coconuts off the deck to try and crack them open. When we finally got some open, the teachers said we had to stop throwing the coconuts. We ate them in satisfaction and awaited the next day: our first work day.

By: Moon, Violet, Zev, Max C.

February 12th, 2024

Today was our first work day to help build houses for people affected by Hurricane Maria (2017). We got to meet Susena and her family whom we are building the house for! They welcomed us with open arms and gave us many treats. To start, we woke up at seven, and today for breakfast we had French frittata with waffle fries and sausages as a side. Today’s drivers were Fernando and Daniel, Daniel was very funny and played lots of music at the work site to make time go by faster. We left at nine to go to the work site, which took thirty minutes. When we got to the work site, a man named Angel and another named William briefed us about the rules of safety for working. After we got assigned to our places, they turned on the cement maker, and started making it.
The materials for cement are: eight rock buckets, ten sand buckets, and two cement buckets.
After the first few tries, we mastered the system to make the working go much faster.
Two hours later, we got a lunch break at Angel’s wife Maria’s house. Maria is a Puerto Rican native but moved to New York in her youth, and told the girls many funny stories. She made us rice, chicken wings, and salad, which everybody enjoyed. At her house, we got to see all of her pets, including roosters, chickens, hens, goats, horses, ponies, and her amazing dog.
When we went back to the work site, we worked for two hours, and because everyone was dirty, Eggy sprayed everyone with water, which made everyone cool down. Sadly, today we got off to a late start because all of our supplies weren’t fully there, which caused us to start at 10 and end at 4 but everyone at the work site made the time go by much faster. As stated, after leaving around 4 with a bunch of sunburns and tans, we were completely exhausted and sweaty! The beach was a must go stop, but due to the late start we didn’t have much time, but we made it work. Since a few people were exhausted not everyone came, so Ariel stayed back while the rest of the class went with Dan, Alfredo, and Rebecca ( Rebecca is a Global Works worker) the waves were huge and the water was warm. It was a perfect choice to go to the beach because of how great the water was. After the beach, we went and had dinner and it was by far the best dinner we ever had! It was Grilled Chicken, Rice, Salad and Bread. After a fantastic dinner we met an amazing Salsa teacher named Yara, who taught us all the secrets to impress someone on the dance floor. Overall the day was great and we can’t wait for day 4.

By Beck, Oli, Mei & Taliyah

February 13th, 2024

The light shone through our windows (it was actually Ariel banging on our doors), as we woke up to another day of work and adventure to help those who lost their homes to Hurricane Maria. After a quick pancake breakfast and getting ready we loaded into the vans and headed to the work site. Along the way the girls screamed their hearts out to Disney’s Let it Go and How Far I’ll Go. At the worksite we had a quick pep talk with the workers and then got down to business. We formed a line passing cement buckets down to the floor of the house. Team work makes the dream work! Even through our farmer’s tans and cement covered bodies, we felt good and energized knowing that we had helped those in need. We worked for about three hours before heading to a delicious lunch by Angel’s wife Maria. Shout out to her for making the best wings ever! After that we headed to the beach for some skimboarding, drip castle making, tag, chicken fights, and all fun in the waves. We came back for some showering, basketball, and chilling before dinner. After dinner we treated ourselves to some homemade milkshakes and watched a documentary about Hurricane Maria. 10/10 day, can’t wait to finish the floor tomorrow!

By Pia and Neala

February 14th, 2024

We all woke to the smell of french toast at around, breakfast was short and sweet, the perfect beginning to our final work day. We were greeted by the community that we had been working with for the past two days. As usual they gave us an encouraging and uplifting pep talk to hype us up before work. Before we had even started our work, we noticed that the floor was about three quarters full. Seeing the finished product of the work we had done the day before gave us the exact encouragement that we needed for today. The day started off slow but once we rearranged ourselves and locked in, our progress rate increased. It seemed grim at times with the blaring sun in the sky, but in the end we completed the floor. We all watched over the walls as the last bucket was poured, followed by lots of cheering and encouragement. Everyone was so relieved to have finished the project and left the worksite with immense pride. From the worksite we left for Maria’s to enjoy our last 10/10 meal. Today it was pasta, meatballs, and salad. After we got home, it was time to pack. We are leaving for Casa Corral in the morning, so in one short hour we had to get mostly packed and clean up the whole house (Which as you can imagine was a heavy lift for a few children like ourselves). Thankfully, we were able to finish with plenty of time to enjoy our last time at the one of a kind beach around the corner. The water was clear, the air was fresh, and the sand soft. It was like the whole beach was saying goodbye. It was perfect. We came back home to work on a special card that would eventually go into Maria’s house. We made the poster filled with love and funny memories along with some stories. Later, we had an excellent dinner with all the community members sharing their fragile, yet educational stories about their experiences during Hurricane Maria. There were some tears here and there. It was very emotional. Afterward we said our goodbyes and went to bed
By Mabu, Ash and Christo

February 15, 2024

Today, we woke up very early in the morning around 6:15 am. After we woke up and cleaned up, we had to pack because we were leaving for a very nice beach villa at 9:00. We had packed most of our stuff the night before, but still had a few last-minute things to clean up like towels and pajamas. Soon, we hung out outside eating our pancake breakfast and waiting for the bus to arrive. Once the buses arrived, we packed in. It was about an hour and a half bus ride when we pulled up to a middle school. Our confusion as to why we were there was soon explained after the person we would be working with walked out of a trail next to the school.

We tracked into the forest, our tour guide Ramon told us that we would be clearing foliage to help up their eco tourism. Ww got to work and cleared most of the leaves away by lunch time. We had an incredible lunch of Greek gyros followed by more work after we ate. We finished work about 2:30pm and checked into our boutique hotel. We all swam into the brackish river that flows into the ocean.
After we were done swimming, everyone went back to their houses for shower time. We all met back together for dinner. We are looking forward to jumping into our new beds and getting a good night’s sleep for the adventures we have tomorrow!

By Sophia and Amelia
With appearances by: Zalli and Max I.