Cathedral School Puerto Rico 2025
April 11, 2025
Our day started with our arrival at the Miami airport, followed by a connecting flight to San Juan. When we touched down, our Global Works instructors Lauren and Claudia greeted us and informed us of the day ahead. As we were super tired, we did not do any work. We hopped into vans and were transported to the Big Yellow House, where we would be staying for the next week. After we got settled in, we played in the large backyard where there was a volleyball net, a basketball hoop, and a meadow that we adopted into a soccer field. Around 5:00 PM, we walked to a nearby beach. We played in the ocean, rested in the sands, and played with some of the locals. After about an hour, we returned to the Big Yellow House. We then had a delicious dinner of chicken, potatoes, and salad. After that we cleaned up, journaled, and turned in for the night.
By Sammy & Thomas
April 12, 2025
Today we had an early morning that started off with a wonderful breakfast. The breakfast consisted of eggs, sausage, fruit, and some delicious French toast. Once we had wrapped up breakfast we packed our bags and took around an hour bus ride to old San Juan. There, in the beautiful city, we had a historical walking tour getting to see the city’s fortifications. The tour took the morning before we headed to one of the local Puerto Rican restaurants where we got to choose our meals. Either eating chicken, pork, beef, or mofongo (a plantain bases dish) with a side of rice or plantains.
After we ate our lunch we were granted with around 45 minutes to shop around the San Juan area searching for souvenirs. Following the shopping, as a group we all got ice cream and boarded the bus again. Back to the Big Yellow House where we are staying we sat around and played cards as we waited for the dumping rain to subside. After the rain cleared up we were finally able to walk to the beach and have a incredible time in the cool water. Then we headed back had a quick pasta dinner followed by a interesting documentary on the history of Puerto Rico. Then we did our daily journals, brushed our teeth, and all hopped in our beds to settle down and go to sleep.
By Henry and Spencer
April 13, 2025
Today we woke up to a great breakfast of eggs and pancakes. The morning was very sunny but humid which was very nice. Around 9am we drove 20 minutes to villa del rio, a town that was destroyed by Hurricane Maria. We worked today with rebar and made beams that support to roof with Willie, Angel, and Eggy who live in the community. By mid afternoon we went to Angel’s house where his wife, Maria, fed us a scrumptious lunch of rice and chicken stew. After lunch we returned to work. We built more beams and finished by making a much bigger beam. We finished work and headed back to the big yellow house. Everyone was stinky and sweaty so we headed to the beach. At the beach it was incredibly crowded so we walked to try and find an available space for our big group. Once we arrived we began swimming and passing the volleyball it the warm water of the Caribbean. There were many cool and diverse fish in the rocks and caves in the water. Not only was it warm and sunny but it began to rain while we were in the ocean. We returned home and saw our Jacob who had arrived at the big yellow house. We greeted him and prepared for dinner. Dinner was also rice and chicken but the chicken was grilled tonight. Overall it was a great and rigorous day of work and we can not wait for what’s in store tomorrow.
By Crawford and Griffin
April 14, 2025
Today the boys woke up at 7:30 to get ready for the rigorous work ahead of us. They quickly jumped out of bed and ate a delicious breakfast. It featured meals like French toast, eggs, Go Gurt, and ham, It was delicious. Then we hopped in the vans and head to the work site. We’ve made a lot of progress since yesterday. We got the roof beams on and we’ve done so much more. Although the work was quite rigorous, it was still tons of fun. Also, we encountered a dog by the name of Willy. He was one of the cutest dogs we’ve ever seen. We also enjoyed our delicious lunch of spaghetti and meatballs that hit the spot after a long morning of work. We did such a good job that we were able to finish a little bit earlier than expected and able to head on back and go to the beach. The beach was most wonderful as the weather was stupendous for swimming and relaxing. We spent a good amount of time there till we moved on over back to the Big Yellow House. Once we got back we enjoyed a bit of relaxing and playing basketball.
It was one of our classmates’ birthday, our very own Finn! One of our old classmates named Ben R. brought sweet treats to celebrate Finn’s birthday that were Puerto Rican. We also enjoyed our salsa dancing class. It was very fun and we all had a great time that was the end of our day.
By Mason and Weston
April 15, 2025
Today was another standard work day on the Puerto Rico trip. We woke up at 7:30 got ready, had a breakfast of eggs and waffles and left for our day. We got to the worksite at about 9:00 and started getting ready for work. It was very hot outside and the first part of the work only required a few people so most people waited to tap in. The major problem with work today was that we got heavily rained out for most of the morning. We were rained out so much we got lunch early in order to stall out the day. Once we came back a group of ten went up to the roof to start tying rebar to the roof but unfortunately right as the group got up it started raining. It rained for a while and once it stopped a family of locals came out and gave us all ice cream. As we enjoyed our treat, Angel told us about the work we were doing and how well paced we are. After work, we had the choice to go to the beach or to just stay in the big yellow house. Most people choose to stay in and we hung out until dinner. Dinner was amazing; from the crispy potatoes to the juicy chicken, everything was made perfectly. After dinner we got ready to write the prompt for our journal. The prompt was, “In what way have we connected with the community members so far on the trip and what are some obstacles.” After writing we all went to bed to wake up again and get ready to work.
By Finn and Matias
April 16, 2025
Hello everyone-
Today was a massive work day. Because of the rain yesterday, we had to do much more work today. We started working on pouring concrete into the molds we set up. There were three groups: one was scooping buckets of sand and rock, one mixing the concrete, and one was pouring it on the roof. The heat was intense, especially on the roof. We had to take frequent water breaks because of how much we had to do compared to the other days. However, in the face of all these obstacles, we pushed through and finished the day’s work with efficiency.
After the grueling work in the sun, we went back to the Big Yellow House and rested for a little bit. Because we were all very sweaty, we went to the beach. It was sunny and the water was crystal clear. After everyone got back from the beach we had some time to take showers and change. After the showers, Mr. Corrigan had great news for us. He said that the people we’d been working with were coming over to the Big Yellow House for a party! We had dinner together and learned more about each other. We even played volleyball with Eggy! This was a day full of ups and downs, but it ended well as the most eventful day yet.
By Jackson and Lucas
April 17, 2025
We started off our day packing up for our two day excursions in the rainforest in Patillas. After that, we consumed a delectable breakfast composed of French toast, eggs, sausages and Go Gurt! Following this we got in the vans for a 2 hour car ride to the rainforests, where on the way we took a pitstop at a swimming hole to take a refreshing swim. We then met 3T, who runs Tropic Ventures, after finishing up in the swimming pool. She served us delicious sandwiches and lemonade for lunch. We were separated into two different bunk rooms. 3T then took us on a beautiful, tropical, and scenic hike. On this hike they showed us different endemic plants native to Puerto Rico. We saw some of the over 1000 acres of their land. Our job here is to help restore the damage the recent hurricanes have done to the habitat. Next, we had a delicious dinner of chicken and rice, and a nice chocolate cake for dessert. We then went through a presentation by 3T about the rainforest and her work. Finally, we went to bed after a fun day of adventure.
By Elliot & Max
April 18, 2025
This morning we woke up to the sounds of the rainforest. For breakfast, we were met with an abundance of pancakes and fresh fruit. Immediately after breakfast we put on our work pants, gloves, long sleeve shirts, and rain jackets for our work from 9:30 to 1:30. The work groups were split up into two different groups; one was gathering buckets of gravel to pour them into potholes and the other groups was pruning vetiver grass that was planted to prevent landslides because of its very deep and thick roots. During this work, there was heavy rain which slowed us down a little, but with some water breaks and snack breaks we finished the job. We were very dirty and wet but still happy to do the work. After work we had group reflections about the service we had done during the day and the importance of it to the community. At 6:30 we had dinner with the whole community with spaghetti and meatballs and a dessert of homemade brownies. Finally we had a small night walk in the dark in complete silence to take in the whole environment.
-Archie and Xander
April 19, 2025
On our last day today we started off with the best breakfast ever. The food was delicious pancakes, eggs, toast, fruit, and yogurt. Once breakfast was finished we finished packing up and took our last photo in the rainforest with 3T. We said goodbye and headed off on the 2 hour drive to Luquillo. Once we arrived, we went to lunch. At lunch we had the option between fish and chicken. Most people choose chicken. After lunch, we split into groups and went shopping. I was able to get a delicious piña colada and buy some gifts for my family. Once we were done shopping we got into the vans and headed to the house. The feeling of walking into the AC rooms was amazing. We gathered around and got to choose whether we go to the beach or stay back. After waiting for a hour it was time for group one to go on their paddle boat tour. Our tour was through the mangroves and was so beautiful. We learned about turtles and found a place where the turtle eggs have been placed. We got back and showered and played some games. When group 2 got back, there was a perfect sunset. The sunset didn’t last long and a big rain came down. Even though it was raining, we got to eat pizza which we all love. After pizza we finished journaling and reflecting, and headed to bed.
-Turner & Otto
