Postcard from San Juan, Puerto Rico

Saturday, 1/26

This morning everyone got up at dawn to watch the sun rise as we
approached San Juan. There is a huge old fort, El Morro, on the
promontory that greets us as we navigate into the harbor.
Jim mentioned to the Dean that I had a dental emergency (my cap popped off
yesterday), and the Dean called his daughter Elsa, who lives here in
San Juan, to make an appointment with their dentist! Elsa's husband
Gary drove us into the city to the dentist's office, waited with us
and then drove us back to Old San Juan so we could resume touring.
San Juan is a totally American city, with Sam's Club, KFC and Church's
Fried Chicken, Best Buy, Radio Shack and even smaller franchises like
Claire's and Pep Boys Automotive. There was one store I don't
remember seeing in the states, called Condom World, advertised by a
billboard sized smiling round happy face wearing a condom for a hat!
Old San Juan is very different, and exists for the pleasure of
tourists, with lots of designer shops on cobblestone streets and
ornate Spanish influence buildings painted in pastel colors. The
souvenirs are all made in China, of course. The official animal of
Puerto Rico is a little tree frog that sings like a bob-white, called
coqui (ko kee). We visited the Fort of San Cristobal, walked through
Columbus Square (Plaza de Colon), and visited chapels including
Capilla del Cristo and the Catedral de San Juan, that Jim had
assigned to his students to visit. Next to the chapel is a park full
of paloma (pigeons) that will sit on the arms and heads of the children
who gather to feed them. (As a city girl, I say Yuck! to that - rats with wings!)

There are restaurants of all nations, but of course we wanted to
sample the local fare, and Gary pointed us toward a great café that
specialized in Mufungos. These are fried plantain or casava (tastes
like potato) shaped into a shell, filled with your choice of chicken,
lamb or vegetables, with delicious sauce. Puerto Rico only makes one
local beer called Medalla, but the locals prefer Coors or Heinekin.

In the evening, we accompanied 70 of the students to a reception at
the University of Puerto Rico, where the American students shared a
light meal with Puerto Rican students, and got to ask
questions and share experiences. All of the Puerto Rican students
spoke excellent English, and they were chattering away in no time.
After the meal, the DJ started the salsa music, and the American kids
danced salsa like they had done it all their lives. After a few
songs, a spontaneous Electric Slide broke out (to a Latin song of
course) and yours truly joined in!

Sunday 1/27
Up early today to catch a bus (Jim was the bus leader) to the El
Yunque Rain Forest for a morning hike. I was expecting heat and
humidity, but it was lovely and cool, more like a cloud forest, with
cascading streams and waterfalls everywhere. The trail led to La Mina
waterfall, where the kids (and some of the professors) shed their
shoes and immersed themselves in the cool water, and sat under the
waterfall for a while. The students all said the waterfall was the
highlight of the hike.