Puerto Rico: Hurricane Relief Session 3, 2026
July 17, 2026
I woke up today really early and got on my flight and although it wasn’t my first time flying by myself being back in Puerto Rico as a Bad Bunny fan who’s been to his concert and knows a lot about reggaeton it was a much awaited & cooler flight over. Once I got here I got to meet many new people in the airport, and then drove 45 minutes with them to the Big Yellow House. From here, we got to see our rooms and sleeping arrangements for the first time. After making my bed, I took a nap right away. In the afternoon, I was able to further connect with the other kids, and learn more about them. It was very exciting to bond with these people, knowing we will spend the next week together. We had no activites between hanging out and dinner, but Dominoes was played over and over again. Dinner was fun and we ate good chicken, rice, and salad. After, we got assigned group leaders and we had to wash dishes, clean the kitchen and prep the people for tomorrow’s activities. Overall it was a good first day and learning about the weeks activities, how we’re going to eat good food and tan while still working and helping re build sounds like both hard work but fun at the same time.
By Nathaniel and Amaya
July 18, 2026
We started off breakfast with the accompaniment of a few (very) late attendees, where we had french toast sticks, scrambled eggs, fruit, and sausages. The food was pretty filling and it spread a smile that expressed my immense jubilance at the appearance of the meal. We chilled out for a while and relaxed, then read the previous nights blog and did a stretch circle with our leaders which made us feel ready for the day!
We got on a sweaty bus with a lovely bus driver and drove to Old San Juan. We went on a guided tour and traversed our way through the tour of a myriad of historical statues, many of which were of women that played instrumental roles in the increase of women’s rights across Puerto Rico and the greater United States. Additionally, we toured a war fort that was built by Ponce De Leon to defend Puerto Rico against foreign attacks during the early stages. We had the most BOMB lunch at a local Puerto Rican spot with variety of meat choice. ¡QUE RICO!
Then we went souvenir shopping in the beautiful and colorful streets of Old San Juan. It was quite perplexing how every building had a different color. Then we came back to the Big Yellow House. We had a phenomenal down time where some peers choose to rest thy bodies en sus camas. After, we went for a super refreshing swim in the bay beach adjacent to our house, but had to leave early to catch the dinner. Once again, we had chicken and plantains but it tasted good again. Then we cleaned up our dishes, and played a fun game of night at the museum before we relaxed until bedtime.
By Milo & Claire
July 19, 2026
Today we started off the day waking up a whole hour later at 7:30. So we all felt very ready for the day of hard work ahead! For breakfast we had pancakes, sausage, and eggs. Then we got ready in our work pants and gloves, which were not only very protective for our hard day of work but also very chique and stylish! We then got on a bus to drive us the short distance to the work site where we continued work on a partially completed house. We spent most of the day shoveling and lifting buckets in order to level the ground in the house!
For lunch we walked a 100 m to the community service leaders house where his wife Maria made us a delicious lunch of homemade rice, chicken, and salad! After coming back to the Big Yellow House, we chose to watch the World Cup game instead of going to the beach because we were all tired. The game lasted forever and there was one goal in the super exciting game!
For dinner we had pasta with meatsauce and salad, which was a nice change from the regular chicken. Lastly, we had some free time and did a fun group activity where we guessed words on our heads. To end the night we had ice cream (which some of the group was more extatic than others). Overall a day of hard work but got a lot in return!
By Justyn & Amelia
July 20, 2026
This morning we woke up to a filling breakfast. It encompassed eggs, sausage, fresh fruit, and french toast sticks. After that we made our way over to the front lawn and played a game. The game was were you had to look at someone in a circle on the count of three and if they were also looking at you, you were out. Then we hopped on the fresh smelling school bus. (Also known as the big cheese). When we arrived at the worksite, Willy and Angel gave us detailed and insightful instructions on construction. Our job for the day was to make cement and pour it into the mold via a bucket line. Although the work was hard, it was captivating and empowering. Then we walked 110 meters to Maria’s house for lunch.
For lunch, we had deep-fried dry rub chicken wings and rice, prepared by Maria and her family. (Someone had a higher wing intake than everyone else.) After we wrapped up lunch we walked 400mts over a large hill to the bus. Once we arrived back to the Big Yellow House we relaxed for a bit before heading back to the beach. At the beach, one group headed on a scenic walk down the coast and the rest of us headed into the water to cool off. We played volleyball as well as other games. When we got back, we took showers and relaxed until dinner.
When dinnertime came around, we were pleased to see potatoes and chicken. I personally loved the potatoes. Additionally, we had red, white, and blue cookies for a patriotic desert to end off a good day.
By Dawson & Molly
July 21, 2026
Today we woke up at 6:30 in the morning while the roosters were roosting. We all circled around the table to have breakfast, which included eggs, pancakes, fruit and turkey slices. We all were really tired though we persevered through the day starting with taking a bus ride to a tropical farm. When we got there we were split into 3 groups that all had different responsibilities. Including grafting, planting and shoveling. Some groups had a divine time in the shade while others were working hard under the sun. Afterwards we toured the farm and we’re enlightened by how much they taught us about the cacao process into turning the cacao into chocolate. Then we tasted the chocolate and it was really delicious. For lunch we had chicken, rice, and mash potatoes it was really tasty. We spent time playing mafia while waiting for the bus to arrive. Some indivuals were quite ecstatic and gave away the mafia role instead of being overt. Once the bus arrived we headed back to the Big Yellow House and relaxed. At 4:00pm we got ready for the beach, took photos, and went for a swim. When we came back we all took showers, and had a variety of activities to play. For dinner we had fried chicken and rice, pork chops, salad. Though chicken and rice has been repetitive, today was the most appetizing and had been mostly agreed upon as the best dinner by the group. After we all hung out at the gazebo, chatted, and soon after got ready for bed. Overall today was really calm and relaxing so we are ready to have a challenging work day tomorrow.
More updates on the way!!!!
By Brody y Alyssa.
July 22, 2026
This morning we woke up and started off the day with a lovely breakfast including waffles gogurts sausage and eggs at 8:00. After something to fill us up for the most challenging work day ahead, we walked in unison to the bus. We chatted as usual until we got to the work site. Although, it took a little bit to get started with the cement it gave us an opportunity to mentally prepare ourselves with the heated work we were approaching. This work day was particularly longer than usual, but not as long as we though. We were pretty hot and sweaty during the half day of work and during lunch. We knew that today was the only day we had to work in those conditions after lunch as well. Our funnest leader of the day AKA Madison abruptly announced that we were done with service and we didn’t need to work late after lunch. (Our faces lit up right away) Shortly after lunch the family who we were helping with their house lovingly thanked us and shared wonderful life long advice. Even though it makes us feel whole that we can work for these families, we were happy that we could go home and shower. Once home, all of us were making our way off the bus until our unluckiest leader AKA Julia was screamed “THERE IS A LIZARD ON YOUR HAIR” To this moment we don’t know how long it was there but our generous friend Brody pulled it off even though it’s legs were clamped on her. Anyways, she survived and so did everyone else that the tiny lizard violently attacked. Some showered and cutely got ready while other went to the beach for a bit and did the same after. For dinner, we were fed delicious burgers and fries (some American food) which filled our hungry stomachs. Then, we had a fulfilling reflection about our experiences and impacts on the trip and relaxed the rest of the night.
By Julia Y Madison Y Michael
July 23, 2026
We woke up around 7:30 and ate breakfast that consisted of French toast, eggs, fruit, ham, and cheese. We then as a group all packed up and cleaned all the rooms and common spaces. Although saying goodbye to the big yellow was harder than we might admit, we will miss all sitting together and playing heads up after dinner. We then got into two vans and drove for about 45 minutes before arriving at a water hole where we spent about two hours swimming, relaxing in the sun, and walking on the rocks.
After a quick situation with gum in the van we finally were able to continue on our journey to the restaurant where we ate chicken, fish, rice, beans, and plantains before souvenir shopping along the strip. After getting some really cool clothes, we made our way to Casa Corral where we got to sit out in the sun and paddle board. The paddle board tour was led by Ramon, a local conservationist and environmental educator, and he was really good at explaining our connection to nature and showed us some cool sea turtles. After someone dropped their camera deep in the river, we thought all hope was lost. But Sarah came to the rescue and was dove into the dark waters and miraculously salvaged it.
We then enjoyed pizza for dinner and were led through a reflection activity where we appreciated each other and reflected on our experience here in Puerto Rico. We then went straight into a very in-depth Salsa dance lesson. We finally finished the day by getting our phones back and saying goodbye to everyone before going to bed and getting on the shuttles to the airport.
With this concluding our one week stay in Puerto Rico, unfortunately many different adventures and stories are finally reaching an end. It was so much harder to say goodbye to everyone than we could have imagined and we all felt as though we learned more about ourselves through this journey.
By Kevin, Izzy, Whitt and Lani
