Puerto Rico, Day 1

Wow!  Where do I even start?  First of all, I go for days without ever seeing land (a little strange at first), and I start to feel really comfortable with walking around on the ship as it pitches and rolls.  And then we get to land.  As we came into port, the sun was just coming up, the water was smooth, and the energy was high on the ship, beautiful! 

This is the view as we were still pulling into port, early in the morning.

Another view of the port

And here I am standing next tot he cruise peir, you can see one cruise i nthe back groud, but everything in this area is very picturesque!

So, we arrived in port at 6:30 am ( I am now one hour ahead of eastern time), but could not get off of the boat until 10:30 am, because we all had to go through immigration, individually, since we left from the Bahamas.  We also had a pre port briefing, which we will have each time once we get to port.  This is usually where a diplomat from that country/capital/city/area will come on the boat and welcome us to their country. 

This is the Puerto Rican Diplomat that did our breifing, we are all sittig in the student Union, the main classroom/stage/common area

(We also have a briefing the night before we get to port on safety, first aid, nutrition, precautions, and what to be aware of.)  After all of the students, faculty, staff and grandparents went through immigration, and then we were cleared to leave the ship.  It was impossible to try and find a certain group of people ahead of time, so I just got off of the boat and waited to see who I would find out there.  I found a group of about 8 girls there, and we all decided to go into Old San Juan together. 

My port friends for Day 1.  Back row: Furg, Susie, Nicole, Amanda, Ariel, and Michelle, in the front rom and Gretchen and I.

We got in the cabs, and took off.  Old San Juan is about a 15 minute cab drive from where our ship is docked (we are not at the cruise ship dock, but one further down the sea) Once the cab showed us where we were on the map, we got out and just started walking around, going in the little shops, and people watching.  We continually passed big groups and small groups of SAS students (we really saturate whatever the port city is quite easily).  We walked around for two hours, and then decided to get lunch.  I speak the most Spanish out of our little group, so I translated the menu for some, and others just guessed.  I really wanted to use my Spanish more, but everyone speaks English, even if you ask them something in Spanish, they reply in English. Anyways, for my lunch, I just told my waiter to bring me his favorite (yes, my dad would be proud).  I got a very typical Spanish meal.  It was a stew of beef and potatoes in a brown sauce, with rice and beans on the side, and also two plantains! 

It tasted good, and I also got my meal way before anyone else, and the waiter kept coming over and asking if everything was ok, and if I wanted anything else.  He did speak in Spanish with me, so that was nice.  After lunch, we were on a quest for post cards, which we did find.  We also found a lot of other really neat stores, and restaurants that looked delicious, but you can only eat so much, it really is a shame…  After another hour of shopping we decided to head back to the ship, and meet up with some more prople who were off on tours for the morning.  At this point, I met up with a different group of people, and once again, we were off to explore the city of Old San Juan.  This time, however, we did not take a taxi.  We walked all the way from the ship, to Old San Juan, and then we walked for another four hours before we headed back to the ship.  We went into more little shops, went on a search for a bank for one of the girls, bought ice cream from a street vender, and got yelled at by the police (oops!) 

We found this wide side walk that was shaded by trees on each side, and at the end of the road was this huge water fountain, and directly behind that was the sea.  So, we walked down there, and sat on the edge of the fountain and everyone took turns taking pictures of the group with all of the various cameras.  (That’s when we got yelled at by the police; apparently you can’t sit on the fountain edge to have your picture taken.)  This was also right by the fort in Old San Juan, so we looked around there too, as well as Casa Blanca and a cemetery (very beautiful).  After all of this, we walked back to this ship.  We walked for a total of six hours straight with out taking breaks, and that is on top of my morning three hour walk.  I defiantly have blisters!  So, we rushed back to the ship, because we were all doing the welcome reception that night at a local university. 

this is the covered walkway!

Casa Blanca

They named this castle or fort after Christopher Columbus, since he was a very influnecial person ot their history, so this is "Castillo de Cristobol"

This is the Capital Building

Melissa, me and Val in front of a little cafe located on the covered walk way

I just love this big tree, the roots were speaded out all around it, and it kind of had that enchanted feeling.

Everyone got all dressed up, and we loaded up the buses.  Our bus ended up going to the University of Puerto Rico.  What a fun night!  They divided everyone up into groups of three to four students.  I was in a group with two other girls, and one of them was from the Flint, MI area, and goes to the Univ. of Michigan ( I told her about what big fans my fiancé and brother are of U. of Michigan football, she thought that was great).  Her name is Evelyn, and we hung out together for the rest of the night. 

Evelyn and I standing in front of the MV Explorer, after the welcome reception

At the Welcome reception, we all had a Puerto Rican host, and he was in charge of telling us all about Puerto Rico, as well as the University, and answering all of our questions.  The university also put together little goodie bags for each of us.  It was filled with Pens, a pin (which I collect), an address book, and a letter opener, various candies native of Puerto Rico, a Puerto Rican flag, and maracas. 

First we had a speaker from the University of Puerto Rico get up and give a speech, and then the academic dean from the Ship also gave a speech, saying a little about the SAS program.  Then, we had all sorts of appetizers, typical of Puerto Rico, pina coladas, and live music.  As we were eating our snacks and mingling with each other, we also had entertainment!  We had about 8 dancers come out and they showed us the typical dances of Puerto Rico, such as dancing using these sticks, and then scarves, and then a grand finale of a couple of skirt flipping dances, all very artistic and traditional, passed down from generation to generation.

Traditional Skirt flipping dances

After all of this (it was a very busy night), the students taught us how to Salsa and meringue dance, and since I took those two lessons on the ship, I was in good hands! 

Celest, Amy, Megan, Liz, Merideth, Puerto Rican Host Maria, and me!  We also Salsa Danced the night away!

 It was getting very late, and every one was getting weary, so we headed back to our home on the sea.  This is a picture of Evelyn and I in front of our ship before we boarded back on the ship.  Evelyn was not feeling well, so I got to be the nurse, and help her figure out what she should do.  After such a long day, the only thing I wanted to think about, was going to bed, and I did!

Here are some more pictures just of the boat.

This is my new home!!  I Love IT!!!!

Puerto Rico, Day 2

            I decided to let myself sleep in a little, since I had been up so late the night before and was completely exhausted.  When I did get up, I took care of some of my post cards, and got a little bit of sun, and enjoyed the morning.  After lunch, I left for my Rainforest hike.  The rainforest was about a two hour drive away.  Since it was a touring company that Semester At Sea hired to take us out (probably about 25 people in the group) we also learned all about the surrounding cities to San Juan that we passed on the way. We took a pit stop right before we got to the Rainforest, and had time to try some authentic Puerto Rican food, all very good.  We finally made it to the rain forest, and let me tell you, the Rainforest is amazing!  And on top of it all, I learned so much about the rainforest, and bird, tree, flower and amphibian species.  (All of this information is what the guide told me, so, if you think it is wrong for some reason, I apologize)  There is only one other natural rainforest in the USA, besides El Yunque.  That is in Washington State (there is one in Hawaii, but it is experimental, not natural, so it is not included in the count.)

All of these pictures are just a smal sample of the beuty beheld in the forest!

Ther eare small waterfalls and streams everywhere, so jsut the sound of the flowing water is very relaxing and theraputic. 

The color is just so vivid everyhwere I looked!

The path was a mossy over grown side walk that ahd seen better days.  It did do its job of letting you know where to walk.  This was a very easy hike. 

Another little waterfall hidden back a little ways in the trees

The big rock in front is a great picture of the weathing effect that the constant amount of rain has on the surroundings. 

Me with a waterfall in the background

The Caribbean National Forest is the only tropical forest managed by the U.S. National Forest System.  The forest covers 28,000 acres with some 240 tree species, waterfalls, rare birds and over a billion gallons of annual rainfall.  El Yunque is located in the Northwester are of the Island, and on the Luquillo mountain range.  Some of the typical vegetation that I saw included wild orchids, giant ferns, tropical hard woods and many others.  We hiked for about an hour, all down the mountain, where we ended at this beautiful waterfall and pool.  At this point, a lot of people were jumping in, and we stayed here for about an hour for everyone to enjoy the beauty of it all.  I also met a girl named Jessica; she is from Shamburg, IL, which is close to where Chris (my Fiancé) is from.  We had a buddy system for hiking, so she was my buddy for the day.

 Jessica and I infront if this magnificent waterfall, people were swimming in the pool behind us. 

Then we started our hike back up.  On the way, there was tree stump that the guide took time to talk about how to tell the age of a tree.  Typically, you would count the rings of a tree to determine how old it is.  Well, rings are developed by changes in the environment, such as weather changes (temperatures, rainfall, storms, amount of sun light).  This was a very big stump, but it had no rings.  The guide explained that since there were no changes in the weather conditions around it, it never developed any rings.  So, then how do you tell the age of the tree?  You can look at it and see different vines and ferns that have grown into the tree over the many years and fossilified themselves.  So, carbon dating must be done on both the fossils left in the tree and on the tree itself.  I do not know the actual age of this tree, but it was old. 

This is not the picture of the tree with no rings, but rather the ferns growing into the tree itself

Another interesting fact about the rain forest is that the soil is horrible at holding the nutrients that the vegetation needs to survive, so like all life forms, it too has adapted to this seemingly problem, and has created its own resolution.  All of the plant leaves are turned upward with grooved “veins” to catch the rainfall, and channel it down the stem to deliver the nutrients.  The plants are able to hold on to and get all of the nutrients out of the rainfall because of this channeling.

As a last resort, the roots are showing out of the ground, and when I looked closer, I could see that each root has nubs on it to also catch any rainfall and to suck up the nutrients before it reaches the soil, and is lost.  The soil is a result of volcanic ash, and that is why it can not retain the moisture. 

There were also a few trees that were the only one left of its kind, the only one in the world of that species.  These trees were so huge and tall that I could not even see the top of them, with all of the other trees around it.  We also saw the recycling process and how the forest takes care of itself.  Here is a picture of a new tree growing out of a dead decomposed tree.  It is using the decomposed tree as its source of nutrients, since the decomposed wood will hold the moisture better than the soil around it. 

After the hike, we headed back down the mountain in our tour bus, and stopped at a few more waterfalls, and to look at the mountain range.

This is a friend of both my roommate and I, he rname is Sam ,and she wants to be a OB/GYN doctor, and of course, the picture is really for the beauty of the mountains!

This is a tall waterfall as a result of the rain water run off from the mountains above it.

Amy and I enjoying the waterfall

I had been planning to go to the Bioluminescent Bay that night, but the tour that I was on got cancelled, and I was really bummed that I wouldn’t be able to go and do this.  I was talking to my friend Jessica, and she was telling me that she was also going there that night, but her tour had not been cancelled, so I was trying to find a way to go, as this was something that I really wanted to do!   We ended up getting back really late, and the SAS trip to the bioluminescent bay was leaving in a half hour.  If I wanted a chance on the waiting list to get on this trip, I really needed to be like number one on the list.  This is a very popular trip that filled up quickly, and from the start I did not have much of a chance to even get on it.  As soon as the bus got back from the hike, I raced back to my room to change my camera battery, and get a new DVD for that camera, as well as to empty my memory stick for my camera.  I got back down to the tour buses and looked for a line to stand in, so I could get on the waiting list.  I couldn’t find the line, so I looked for the lady in charge of the trip, and she wasn’t down there.  I finally located her, and asked to be on the waiting list.  I just happen to be the first person to ask to be on the waiting list!  This meant I at least had a chance that someone on the tour would not show up, and I by default would get their spot.  The tour guide had to wait until it was time for the bus to leave to determine if anyone on the waiting list would make it.  At the last minute, one person was still not their, so, I got their spot!  I was so excited and with good reason.  I have to say this is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

            Greek philosopher Aristotle described the phenomenon of bioluminescence “you strike the sea with a rod by night and the water is seen to shine.”  Primarily a marine phenomenon, bioluminescence is the ability of living organisms to emit light.  Bioluminescence is created through a process of oxidation: luciferin is oxidized in the presence of the catalytic enzyme luciferase, which produce light-generating cells called photophores.  There are only four bioluminescence locations know to man, and Puerto Rico has three of them. 

            So, we get on the bus and it takes two hours to get there.  By the time we do get there it is 10:00 pm.  The air temperature is still comfortable, as well as the water.  The first bay that we load into is not bioluminescence, we have to paddle to that one.  There are about 35 people total in our group.  The guide told us not to bring any cameras or anything that we did not want to get wet, as everything that you bring will get wet.  So, we are all in our bathing suits, and by moonlight, got a quick kayaking 101 lesson before paddling out to the bioluminescence bay.  The kayaks were for two people each, and at the end of each was a blue glow stick.  There were other groups out there, so this way we knew which group was ours.  There was no other light than the glow sticks, so pitch black.  Luckily, my partner, Whitney, had paddled before, and so had I, so we both knew what we were doing, which was a very good thing.  As we first headed out, in single file line, we had to fight the tide a little bit, as well as the fact that it was so dark out.  There was a sunken ship out a ways that we had to go past, you could tell that it had been there a long time and had rotted quite a bit, but a could feet still stood up out of the air.  Well, a few people that did not know what they were doing did get caught up in the ship, since the tide was pulling one way, and we wanted to go another way.  Once we got past all of this and out of this bay, we had to take a narrow channel to the Bioluminescence Bay.  This was a bit scary.  We were told ahead of time of the nocturnal wild life that lived in this area and the thought of them lurking over head as we paddled down this narrow channel was enough to really keep my adrenalin moving.  My partner and I, for this same reason, were trying desperately to avoid hitting the banks as we went, this was a challenge, since it was so dark, since the moon was covered from our view by the trees over head, and the channel had lot of twists and turns.  It took about 30 minutes to finally get to the bay (we were also fighting the water current the whole way).  As we got closer and closer, you could see more of the bioluminescence.  I have to say this is one of the coolest things I have seen! 

            The water does not continually emit a glow, but rather, with anything that touches the water and causes motion in the water, the water glows in that area.  It was a white glitter sparkle.  So, imagine that you are in a kayak, low to the water, and with every paddle stroke, the water lights up where the paddle touches and where the water is stirred.  Also, since the kayak makes a wake as you move along, it kind of lights your path.  You can put your hand in the water (the bioluminescence is completely safe and harmless) and when you bring it up, you see the little light spots slide off (this is the same phenomenon that takes place in fireflies).  I really can’t explain to you how neat it was to see!  And I don’t have any picture since I didn’t take a camera or the video camera, which is a good thing, as everything was wet when we got back.  We did have the option to go swimming once we were out to the bay itself, that to was very neat to see this light all around you with every movement that you make! 

This is my paddling buddy, Whitney, we braved the dark channel together!

            The tour did provide us with snacks afterwards, so it was a good time to just enjoy the energy all around from this experience.  We did not get home from this trip until 2:00 am!  This is a picture of my paddling partner Whitney and I after the experience, we are both very excited about this phenomenon.  By the time I made it back to the ship, sleep was the only thing on my mind, but what a great day!  I love Puerto Rico! 

Puerto Rico, Day 3

The white that you see behind the guard rail is the satalite dish on the ground, HUGE!!

Well, today I was suppose to go on a tour of the caves, however, they changed the time of the tour, and I read that memo a little too late, and missed that tour, so, I made up a plan B.  When I worked at Elkhart General Hospital this past summer, one of the girls that I worked with was from Puerto Rico.  I asked her what she thought were the most important things to see while I was in Puerto Rico, since I only had three days, three very quick days.  Among the other things that she told me to see, was the Arecibo Observatory.  And then this past semester at school, I had a patient who had visited Puerto Rico, and he too said that I must see Arecibo.    So, since I had missed my chance at the caves, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to go see Arecibo Observatory.  First, you must know that I really know nothing about Astronomy, or really anything in the “space realm”, I have never taken any astronomy classes, or done any thing related to this on my own, so everything was completely new to me.  The Astronomy professor from the ship was the one in charge of this trip, and he made sure that I had a whole new bank of knowledge when I left.  In case there are others reading this that also have no idea about what I am talking about right now, I’ll give you a little back ground information. 

            The Arecibo Observatory was a two hour drive, and on the drive we did have a spectacular view of the landscape, pineapple farms, and the jagged limestone cliffs.  The observatory was completed in 1963.  It houses the only science museum on the island, as well as the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope.  Its dish, 1,000 feet in diameter, covers the equivalent of 26 football fields and allows scientists to monitor natural radio emissions from distant galaxies.  Pulitzer Prize-winning author and noted astronomer Carl Sagan and Frank Drake did the first Search for Extraterrestrial (SETI) at Arecibo in 1975- 1976, examining signals from four selected galaxies.  (We live in the Milky Way galaxy.)  Carl Sagan also used this site for the setting of his best selling book “Contact”, which was later made into a movie (in the mid 1990’s), and that was filmed at this site as well.  (If you are a Sci-Fi thriller movie fan, go rent this movie, and you can see it for yourself!) 

This is our group!  I think everyone was amazed!

 The pictures and even the video do not convey just how big and awesome it is to be standing next to this huge thing that has made so many discoveries, and truly advanced our knowledge of the galaxies around us.  I learned all about weather conditions on other planets, light years (I understand light years now at least!), the possibilities of life on other planets (not a whole lot of possibilities), the degree of the axes of the different planets… all very interesting, and it really gave me a lot to think about.  Light when we see different planets through a telescope, we are really taking a look into the past.  We are seeing that that planet looked like however many light years away from us, for example, just say that Mars is 5 light years away ( I really don’t remember how far away it is), when we see Mars from earth, what we are really seeing is what Mars looked like 5 years ago, so it could look very different right now, but we won’t know for 5 more years (just as an example), and when you think about the planets that are hundreds of light years away, and we are seeing them now, they  may not even be there right now, because we are seeing the light that they emitted hundreds of years ago.  It is like looking into the past.  Very cool to think about.  There was really a whole lot more involved with all of the sciences at the museum, but this is just a little tidbit for thought. 

I met a lot of really cool people on this trip as well, and after the tour was over, we all had lunch at this back door little no mans land restaurant, it defiantly looked sketchy, but the food, was so good!  The people were very friendly, and the music was a blast!  It was a good time!  Here is a picture of our lunch spot! 

When we got back to the ship, quickly changed and got rid of excessive “baggage”, such as cameras and souvenirs, and raced back out to Old San Juan for one last hurrah.  We took a cab into Old San Juan, walked around town again, and went into the little shops again.  I found some absolutely beautiful jewelry, and also had a chance to mail out my post cards!  I was with a group of three other girls, and later for dinner, we met up with the other girls that I went to the Bioluminescence Bay with.  We all hit the grocery store to get anything that we may have forgotten at home, or need for our cabin, like laundry detergent.  For dinner, we just went to this little corner café and had appetizers, since our lunch was so late.  It was a whorl wind last minute visit to old San Juan, but a worth while one!

This is where we had dinner.  From left to Right: Abby, Carrie, Me and Meagan.  The food was excellent!