Dawson School Puerto Rico 2024
March 17, 2024
Today we learned about Puerto Rico through our tour guide, Julio, while exploring the town of old San Juan. We started off the day with breakfast on the patio, which consisted of omelets, toast, potatoes and pancakes with maple syrup! We then headed to Old San Juan to learn about its rich history and explore the town a bit. We visited an old military base, visited the garden of “La casa blanca” and had lunch at a delicious local restaurant. After, we went back to the hostel and had free time. The majority spent their time at the beach and while some went in the water, others played soccer. After our free time we had dinner at the hostel. We then had a discussion on Puerto Rico and reflected on how our day went and what we learned.
Aiden, Nate, and Eddie
March 18, 2024
Today we drove to the construction site first thing after breakfast. We met Willy, who guided us in Spanish in starting construction on a cement reinforced room for his house. We shaped and placed rods, hammered planks into place, shoveled rocks and overall got completely yoked and drenched in sweat. We enjoyed a lunch that Maria prepared for us in her home, then returned to the construction site to secure and shape more rods and do more landscaping. We headed back to Luquillo around 3, went to the beach to swim and play soccer, and met a polite crab we named Horatio. After dinner we went out to get popsicles and played games on the roof. Overall solid day, sweaty and ready for tomorrow.
Ellie, Vivi and Sage
March 19, 2024
Today after a brilliant breakfast we headed to the construction site once again. Today our task was to install a few more pillars, and create and reinforce the molds that will hold the cement of the walls. We worked hard until lunch when we headed to Maria’s house for some spaghetti and meatballs. After that we bid farewell to our hosts and returned back to the Surfing Turtle. Following dinner we put our dancing shoes on as we learned the traditional dance of salsa. We ended the night with card games and ice cream. Overall today was un día divertido.
Sean, Josten and Dawson
March 20, 2024
Today, after another brilliant breakfast, we went to the construction site for the last time. We were finally ready for the most exciting part of the job: making concrete. We formed a (relatively) organized line. Sand, rocks, cement, and water, with the loud voices created by the mixing machines, we were ready to fill up the last part of our work. We completed our part of Willy’s home. After a delicious lunch of chicken wings, Willy, Maria, and all the other wonderful workers said goodbye to us and gave each one of us a bracelet as souvenir. We then journeyed back to the Surfing Turtle for free time and finished off with dinner. A very rewarding day.
Giselle and Sondra
March 21, 2024
Today we slept in 20 minutes later than previous days and we went to breakfast at our usual joint. Then we went to the rainforest, shorter drive than usual, and went to the river and it was #awesome; there were rocks and cliffs and caves and we swam a lot. We drove to a town with a strip mall where we got lunch, then we shopped on the strip, and went swimming. We drove back, packed our rooms, and got ice cream. We went to the beach again and caught some massive waves. After eating pizza, we had a meeting to wrap up our time in Puerto Rico, and we kayaked to a bioluminescent bay. It was amazing!
Love, Maddie and Grace
