Puerto Rico: Hurricane Relief, Session 3 2025
July 8, 2025
We awoke this morning to some delicious eggs and French toast. We ate fast and got out the door quickly. An hour away was Old San Juan. We met our tour guide, Alvin, who showed us El Castillo San Felipe El Morro. Alvin also explained the various influences of different countries like Spain, England, Netherlands, and the U.S. on Puerto Rico at the castle, the best view of the Atlantic Ocean is from inside the bathrooms! Then, we had lunch at the restaurant El Jibarito. There, we tried the various native dishes such as mofongos, tostones, amarillos, and rice and beans. During lunch, Alvin treated the winners of his trivia questions to flan. Did you know that the first governor of Puerto Rico was Juan Ponce de Leon. After lunch, we visited several souvenir shops where many bought clothes or jewelry. As a parting gift, our leaders treated the crew to delicious popsicles from Senor Paleta. Then, we returned to the Big Yellow House and quickly changed into our swimsuits and headed for the beach. At the beach the girls swam in the waves, while the boys played some football, which was shortly concluded by heavy rainclouds. Upon arrival back to the Big Yellow House, the crew indulged in some much-needed R&R. After cleaning up, everyone was ecstatic to see Ricky pull up with dinner. Dinner consisted of chicken, rice and veggies, and salad. Fortunately, our leader, Sarah, shared her cake with the entire crew in celebration of her birthday. Happy Birthday, Sarah! After dinner, the group joined together to engage in some team-bonding activities, such as games like the human knot and participating in a community contract. We finished up the night by going over our plan for the construction site for tomorrow, which will be our first official workday. Everyone is so excited!
By Asher, Orla, & Ravi
