Meridian Academy Puerto Rico 2026
April 9, 2026
Ok, so basically we all pulled up to the airport when we were supposed to, or… all of us except a certain someone. Right before going through TSA, this weird guy came and was like “yo, you have to check all dem bags fam.” So we did dat. (#wutdatmean) But after enough time, we all made it through TSA. As we were waiting two exceptionally curious fellows decided to walk right back through big doors saying “yo dudes you can’t come back if you leave”, but but we got to the gate all together with plenty of time. That’s all that matters, right?
We had some free time or should I say tiempo libre, lots of us got “Dunkies” so that we might have some energy for our sitting. Across the Atlantic we go! The plane ride was a bit bumpy, musta been all dem potholes. No but really, they said it was the perfect day for flying, but then they kept having to get on the speaker thing and be like “MB chat, there be turbelence” (read that with a pirate voice) the plane had a good selection of peliculas (movies). Nahar watched the Superman movie that came out like a bit ago. Xander watched the flight path (mmmmmm ground speed). Some slept, some wept, others wished it was sept (cuz like september is a cool month and lowk it was caliente (that’s hot) on the plane). #sweating.
Then we landed, it was touching the ground. With wheels. The airport was cool, not very boston themed tho, I was missing all the paul revere references. It wasn’t that hot in there, but when we stepped foot outside it was 88 degrees! Cowabunga! The Global Works (thats the program helping us wit da trip) person Mar was very nice greeting us at the baggage claim. She introduced herself and gave us cookies and oranges (oishi oishi) (tummy rumble no longer). She ringed up the G.O.A.Ts Fernando y Alex. They drive the big vans for us. we had a 45 minutes drive to get to our abode. The view on the way there was gorgeous. All of the green was soooo pretty, and a stark contrast from the beantown.
Once we got to the house we all settled in, all the boys are together. The rooms we are staying in are amazing, very nice showers, couches, and even TVs. We had more time to settle in and Mar gave us the deets about what was happening. T’za came out sizzling, Nahar, Xander, and Enrique volunteered to go with Mar on a quick walk to grab the slinged pies. It’s a cute little place near a church and we can see the beach from our communal hangout deck porch thing.
Lastly we worked on expectations for each other, goals we individually had for the trip, and went over tomorrow’s schedule. Currently the goats Nahar and Xander are writing this amazing shakepseare level essay for you. You are so very welcome. Hi mom. Overall this is an incredible opportunity, Mar is doing such an incredible job hosting, and we are all so super happy to be here. This is fantastic, and we look forward to tomorrow being another great day!
Love a todos,
Nahar y Xander
April 10, 2026
Viejo San Juan y Juan (and a lot of walking)
We started the day far too early, and nobody wanted to wake up. But groggily we climbed out of bed, got ready, and stumbled to the café. The food, magical. The atmosphere, magical. The energy, perfect. The weather outside, GOATED. When we finally left, the weather had somehow jumped about thirty degrees up from when we entered. But Alex, Fernando and their guaguas (vans), saved us from the heat. After a while in the vans, we pulled up to Viejo San Juan and met up with Juan, our guide for the morning. He has been doing tours since 8th grade, for five years. He told us all about the history of Viejo San Juan but nobody could listen because there were too many cute dogs, adorable cats, and slinky lizards in the background. After a few hours in the sun, we recharged in the AC of El Jibarito and enjoyed a yummy lunch of the og chicken rice and beans.
After almuerzo, we strolled up the rolling hills to El Morro, the fort at the coast of San Juan. The fort was awesome, because it is massive and there was so much space to explore. We climbed hidden spiral staircases, walked down little passageways to lookout points, and Bryce raced Enrique up the massive staircase down to the fort. Then, we retreated to the center of San Juan and went shopping. Every store was really just one of three options: souvenirs, jewelry, or cigars and rum. We spent our time in the first kind. We walked through to grab sorbet popsicle sticks from a little local ice cream store. Everyone really enjoyed them, and we hopped back in the van to head back to the Surfing Turtle. On the ride back, Julia had a severe condition of “unable-stop-dancing-itus,” and Alex began to question her amount of energy despite walking in the Puerto Rican heat all day.
Getting back to the comfort of our rooms was a relief for everyone. After resting in the rooms, the team ventured off towards the beach. After the beach, our tum tums began to rumble grumble. Crawling through the thick forest, fighting for our lives to stay on our feet and continue the journey 10 miles UPHILL BOTH WAYS despite our lack of water, clean clothes, and survival instincts, we barely managed to get to the other side (it was two blocks), where our food was….more chicken, rice and beans. We’re not complaining though, because it was still really good.
Ok bye guys
Bryce, Enrique, y Julia 🙂
April 11, 2026
Day of the Leatherback Turtle (we did not see any)
Today was a very nice day. It smelled wonderful and all pipes were flowing with ease. In the morning, we were allowed to stay in bed one hour later than the night before, but there were still some sleepy heads who did not want to get out of bed. For breakfast, we had a buffet from the same restaurant as the day before, and we at at the hotel we were staying at. There was tons of fruit, panckakes, home fries, eggs, bacon, and syrup. It was scrumdillyumptious and really yummy in our tummies mm mm mmmmmmm.
Then we walked over to the beach to meet up with Ramon. He talked us through his organzation and how Puerto Rico was invaded by the United States in 1898 and 90% of the island was dedicated to sugar cane production. He told us that the beach here in Luquillo is a significant nesting ground for leatherback turtles, or tinglares, as they’re known here. The large debris on the sand blocks their path, so we began cleaning objects on the beach like large branches coconuts and trash. Some people walked around with a trash bag and picked up trash. Others collected large bundles of branches and another group brought coconuts away in a wheelbarrow. Jack and Jesus broke open a coconut and drank some coconut water. Auden and Anna broke open a coconut and discovered some really big beetles. The mid-day got very hot, so wading in the cool river was perfect while we waited for our lunch of sandwiches and quesitos.
After lunch, we returned to the hotel to rest for a bit. Leisa made a run to the pharmacy, where she bought much-needed sunscreen, Febreeze, and Skittles. While some continued to sleep, some of us went to the plaza for the festival. At the festival we bought smoothies, and lemonade for the tinglar festival. We then met up with the rest of the group to go paddle boarding with Ramon in the reserve. We split up into to two groups, one group swam while the other went paddle boarding on a small river amid red and white mangrove trees, coconut palms, and coquis. The first paddle boarding group took two hours. They had deep conversations of politics, United Sates invasion of Puerto Rico, sugar cane railroads, and leather back turtle nest. The next was much faster, not as many questions. We got a run down on how they track the leather back turtles nest and talked a lot about mangroves. Some people had struggles on the boards: Jesus fell off, Eleanor hit many trees.
After regrouping, we all went to dinner at the same restaurant as last night, after which some of us took a tour through the same festival, but at night. The music is extremely loud, it may keep me awake, but I like it.
Buenas noches
Eleanor, Sid, y Jesus
