Aspen Community School Puerto Rico 2025
May 8, 2025
On our first full day in PR we woke up to a hardy breakfast of champions. Then we got into two vans and had a chill ride. Our Global Works guide, Lauren, taught us some Puerto Rican slang. We learned about the word orange: orange in Spanish is ‘naranja’ but in Puerto Rico it is ‘china’. Once we got to Old San Juan (OSJ), we walked around and saw all the colorful buildings and different culture, the culture there is a variation of what we are used to. The cultural differences are the food, the language, and the architecture. One thing that was unexpectedly quaint was the tightness of the streets. They were so tight only one person could fit on the side walk. A time we paid the cost of fun was when pigeons flew onto our heads, and shoulders, and knees, and toes. Walking along the bricks that were placed there in the 19th century was exhilarating. Then, we went shopping and ate many foods that made our taste buds jiggle. One of the best parts was experiencing a new place/setting, because it was so different from what we’re used to.That’s a wrap, see ya next time, sweaty people!!
-Hunter and Keller
May 9, 2025
The second day of our global works journey was our first true day of work. We rode over to the site with much excitement, nervousness, and tiredness, but eventually, we arrived. Immediately, we got to work. We were instructed about safety and what we would be doing. We started by laying and tying rebar. After a morning of doing so, we made a cement mix and started laying it by filling buckets and passing them down a fire line. Even with the blazing sun and hotness that surround us, we continued to push though and persevere with each other. The smiling faces of Willy, Eggy, Angel and everyone in the community there made this process ten times better.
Even though some of our skin was suffocating under the caked cement layers on our arms, we had so much fun. When we retuned to the BYH( BIG yellow house) everyone was ready to swim but due to technological difficulties we couldn’t go to the beach immediately. Those difficulties involved someone (COUGH COUGH SACHA COUGH) locked in the bathroom this resulted in an opera production of him singing “meow meow meow HEPL ME”. But it was not a big deal so we just through a ball of yarn into the bathroom and gave him a Gogurt and then after a few minutes, he got out. Thank goodness because we were ready for the beach! Well that’s a wrap folks, cya next time.
Mara, Sacha, and Anderson
May 10, 2025
Today was an interesting day! We got to the job site decently early and we could smell the dry concrete dust as we walked into the area. We got our new jobs such as: shoveling rocks and sand, mixing concrete, lifting concrete, or standing in a fire line to pour concrete. While we got assigned our new jobs we were happy and sad for what was coming. As some of us poured and some of us mixed we all shared shrieks of laughter and tears of pavement dust. As we danced to the music, our hearts leapt to the satisfaction of finishing our area. We ate lunch and Chicken Nuggies filled our stomachs like the concrete filled the sidewalk. After our stomachs were filled and our smiles gleamed withy joy, we went on to the next area. Drumroll…. we started on even more rebar!!! As sweat gathered for the last time, Christina beckoned us to change out of our crusty musty clothes. When we got back to The Big Yellow House we had a break to do whatever our hearts desired. Then we moved on to Salsa dancing. Our professional dance teacher, Yara, taught us how to succeed. Sweat started to gather on our fresh clothes once again. And once it was over, we were joyful, we were tired, and we were sweaty. Whether we’re sweating under the hot blazing sun, dancing to the rhythm of Puerto Rican music, or laughing at the jokes of the people we’re with, we had fun.
Well that’s a wrap, see you next time!!!
By Cali, Bija,and Rory
May 11, 2025
Today was our last day working at Willy’s moms house and it was HOT! We finished our work in the back of the house and also finished the front. We made 2 BEAUTIFUL walking patios for his mom and it was super cool. We asked questions and got answers and we learned a lot. We learned about Angel’s opinion on the political status of Puerto Rico and we learned so much. He is so insightful. We also learned about why Willy and Angel are in this line of work, and how long each of them have worked with Global Works. By the time we got back to BYH, there were HUGE clouds – some could say massive. It rained at the beach but it was still so so fun. We raced to see who was the fastest swimmer and did handstands and more while we were in the ocean: it was flips galore. When we got back to the house, we reflected on our work and it was nice to see how we all learned something from this experience. One thing we all took away is to work as a group and figure out how to be leaders by knowing when to step up and step down for the group. We all hope that we can take what we have learned and share it with the community back home. Ok that’s a wrap cya next time you sweaty people.
Yours truly- Jack, Cleo, and Olivia
May 12, 2025
What up gang – it’s your favorites. This morning we had a pretty great start to the day, being warmly welcomed by some maggots in the kitchen and a roach! Then we put on our skibidi swimsuits and went to the beach for 3 hours. Everyone was burnt to a crisp but we had plenty of fun playing volleyball, chasing fish, killing Jorge, and building many sand castles up or digging deep deep down… After that we had two hours back at the Big Yellow House to have lunch, shower and pack up before journeying off to our fire Bomba dance class. We got to wear fun skirts and the girls were way better than the boring boys. Then we went to a SUPER. RIZZY. DINNER. The music was LOUD. I mean like nightclub party super hype banger loud. The food was so delicious as we watched the sunset fall below the ocean. This was followed by a 45 minute drive with a girls car filled with even more music. We then arrived at our new lodging, Casa Coral. We entered heaven. This place is insanely beautiful with a pretty kitchen, my favorite fridge, a patio/kitchen filled with a calm ambiance surrounding us, as well as a deep blue river & ocean. The bathrooms are clean and decorated, the rooms are spacey. Okay okay enough glazing, that’s a wrap, cya next time you sweaty people.
– Love, Jadyn, Havens, and Roxwell 😉
May 13, 2025
Today was another wonderful day here in Puerto Rico! After a delicious breakfast here at Casa Coral, our joinery up to Rio Chiquito began. We lathered up on sunscreen and headed out. Once we arrived, the dazzling views of the rainforest greeted us as well as Yamil, Carlos, Ana, and their son. Even with the sudden downfall of rain shortly after arriving, Carlos told us all about what our day ahead looked liked. But before anything, we experienced a relaxing yoga class from Yamil. After getting most poses, (some more than others), we were given a tour around the lush farm. As we walked through thick sticky mud, we learned about tropical cherries and cinnamon plants, we even saw a small pineapple plant! Our true work began as we weeded around in one of two greenhouses. While the weeding might not have been the most fun, we got the opportunity to plant baby lettuce and chard! Once we finished up in the greenhouse, we had a delicious vegetarian lunch made by Ana, so good!
As a wrap for our day at Rio Chiquito, we played volleyball, dodgeball, and Frisbee in the field. Even with the ball running away into the brush, or Jadyn face-planting into the mud, our time here was amazing. As we said our goodbyes to Rio Chiquito, we returned back to Casa Coral for some much needed swimming time and relaxation. A little while later, another quick burst of rain came through but that did not stop us from going on our paddle board tour through the mangroves. Luckily the rain stopped as we started and we were transferred into the beautiful river world. Getting the hang of the paddle boards went pretty smoothly and as the river lightly began to sweep us away, our guide Ramon began to teach us the fascinating facts about the mangroves. Moving forward down the river and almost bumping Satya into the river, we paddled to land. The windy ocean breeze carried over the twisting waves onto the shore as Ramon told us about turtles. He told us all about the current nesting sites on the beach and even the one right in front of us! The current nests on the beach belongs to Leatherback Sea turtles, the biggest turtles today! Once we said our goodbyes to the GORGEOUS beach we paddled back to our starting point. A QUICK change from our paddle boarding outfits, we walked over to Ernestina’s, a local Puerto Rican restaurant, for dinner. The meals there were SO good and the people were so kind. Once our bellies were full, we walked back to Casa Coral for some more down time before bed, (the beds here are SO comfy). Alright that’s a wrap, cya next time you sweaty people;)
-Mara (with assists by Cleo and Oli)
May 14, 2025
So first, today was righteous. We went to a smoothie shop and got good açai bowls and juices, they were different from American because were in Puerto Rico. After that we went shopping and got some coffee at a local bakery and ate the food. Next we went over in our super cool vans to the shopping strip. There, almost everyone spent their whole budget. We got shirts, watches, and cowboy hats. Next, we had lunch and played broken telly, the flavors melted on our vocal cords as the chicken blended very well with the crispy salad and the French fries exploded with sodium. After lunch we went and got some super sweet Pina coladas that were super sweet. Then we came back to casa coral and went to the beach and had time to pack. We played games, hung out for a while had some pizza and journaled too. Now we’er sitting here writing this and in a bit we’re going to the skibidi bioluminescent bay and will prolly see some aliens.
“ Pretty much, living the dream is living the meme”- Elon Musk
Alright that’s a wrap you sweaty people cya next time.
Yours truly, Cleo + Keller
