2024 Saklan School Puerto Rico

December 7, 2024

On our first day in Puerto Rico, the 8th grade class visited San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. We started the day by having a delicious breakfast consisting of eggs, sausage, and French toast. After breakfast, we headed to Old San Juan beginning at the Paseo de la Princesa, (or the Promenade of the Princess), and learned about Felisa Rincon de Gautier, the first female mayor of San Juan. Mayor Gautier, who served for 20 years, helped the environment and the people of Puerto Rico. She is a massive source of inspiration for all of us.
Along our route through Old San Juan, we stopped at the majestic Catedral Basilica Manor de San Juan Bautista. Inside the cathedral, we listened to Alvin, our tour guide, teach us about Juan Ponce de Leon, whose family church we later visited, and his significance to Puerto Rico.
After we visited Ponce de Leon’s family church, we went to a Spanish fort and explored its history and quirks. The fort was on the coastline, so it had multiple amazing views, including one off a balcony in the woman’s bathroom. One group found a stairwell that was extremely dark, and decided not to go up it, because it was “too creepy.”
On the way to lunch, we made an unexpected stop at a museum that displayed multiple Puerto Rican artists’ work. One of the most popular artists that was displayed there was Jose Campeche. After the museum, we had a wonderful lunch at El Jibarito. Next, we embarked on a shopping trip to multiple stores that had items made or sourced all in Puerto Rico. After a stellar shopping trip, we went to the nearby neighborhood of Santurce, where we looked at murals made by local artists. Miss O’s favorite mural was one on the side of a bar of a shiny turtle. We made a stop at Estadio Roberto Clemente, where we learned about Roberto Clemente as not just a baseball player, but as someone who helped others.
Later, we went back to the Big Yellow House to change for the beach. About half of the class splashed around in the ocean, while the other half played blackjack on the beach. Lastly, we ended the day with free time, a Puerto Rico trivia competition and a dinner of pasta and meat sauce. Overall, our first day in Puerto Rico was a success, and we are excited for the rest of the trip!

By Cam and Maya

December 8, 2024

Today was the first day that our class got to go to the worksite. We worked on the cement topping, which is the final layer of cement that goes on the floor of a house. We formed a fire line; 2 students shoveled sand into buckets for the cement mixture at the front of the line, then passed the buckets to another person who created the mix by pouring the sand and cement powder into a rotating machine. After that, another student shoveled cement into buckets, and then the remaining students passed those buckets down in a staggered line to the person at the end, who would pour the cement onto the floor. It was tiring but rewarding work, and when we were finished we were full of gratification that we’d helped someone. When we were done with work we went to a local community member’s house. The food was DELICIOUS!!!! After lunch we returned to the house to prepare for BEACH TIME!!!! During beach time, it began to rain, so half the class returned home early. 🙁 After the entire class had returned, we made tembleque, which is like a coconut custard jello. Then, we ate dinner, and the final activity of the day was a salsa dancing lesson. It was very awkward at first, but as we got into it, we improved our skills and had a lot of fun. Overall, the day was tiring, but it was well worth it.

By Jack D. & Narayani

December 9, 2024

Today started off loud as Ms. O. banged a pot to wake us up. After this random awakening we ate a tasty, delicious, and mouth watering breakfast. After our amazing breakfast, we headed off to the worksite for the second time this week. We were there for a little more than three hours and accomplished a lot. Yesterday we made cement to pour on the floor to correct its imperfections. Today we did the same thing but just at a different house. First two people shoveled sand into buckets which were poured into a cement mixture at a precise ratio. Along with the sand, Eggy added cement powder and water to create the concrete. Secondly, another shoveler scooped the wet concrete mix into buckets which were carried along a fire line. These buckets were poured at the end of the fire line and were flattened and leveled by Angel and William. After our hard work at the construction site we headed back to the Big Yellow House. We changed and headed off to the beach for an hour to relax and cool off from our tremendous labor. Later, we came back to the Big Yellow House and had a delicious dinner which consisted of mofongo, breaded chicken, rice, and salad. After dinner, we had time to calm down in a gazebo in the yard of the Big Yellow House where we got closer to each other and bonded with a lot of laughter. Following our calming time, we had “Olympic Games”. These consisted of a team of Rock Paper Scissors, a Water Cup Race, (similar to sponge race) and assorted games like Jenga and Uno. Overall, we had an outstanding day. Some things that made today great were helping people rebuild their homes, the delicious food, and bonding opportunities with classmates.

By Jack Z., Braden, and Luca