Meridian Academy Puerto Rico
April 6, 2024
Each prolific geniuses of their generation. Specializing in a plethora of different fields such as art, biology, and psychology, the combination of their skill sets allowed them to create a truly wonderful and unique blog post 🙂
Wake up. 4:00 am. Time to rise and grind. However, my grind was delayed by a chronological gap. By the time 4:30 am arrived, I was fully on my grind, prepared to embark on my expedition to Puerto Rico. At 6:00 am I set out to Logan airport, the first stop in my adventure. Logan surpassed all expectations in a positive way. TSA was incredibly officiant per usual. I was flabbergasted by their implementation of the Patriot Act. Swiftly traversing through the mountains of seats and passageways, we eventually made it to our destination: the scenic gate 17. Immediately we engaged in a plethora of fun with comrades. Including, but not limited to: Uno, a game simply referred to as Hacian cards, Go fish, and Archery- in the videogame sense. After a series of disturbances regarding the arrival of our flight, our flight was postponed. We were forced to move to the notably less scenic gate 16. Finally, after a long and hard battle, we boarded the plane. This plane ride was smooth and relaxing for all the people. Everyone decided to use the technology provided to them from the Delta Airlines (ie: UNO, solitaire, and Angry Birds). The aisle of the plane was left empty, creating a divide between the relationships the students have made with one another. Once the plane had landed, the lonely and isolated feelings had been lifted off everyone’s chest. After collecting together after the plane ride, we waited for our drivers to arrive, not knowing that these drivers would forever change our lives. In their infinite wisdom, they escorted us to a hidden cove full of the greatest foods, wildlife, and landscape that any person would be lucky to experience. There we ordered our first meal in Puerto Rico. While eating and gazing out into the sunset, we truly found ourselves experiencing the pinnacle of human evolution. As I stared into the sunset I contemplated the anthropocene. Sometimes, it feels like almost every natural element is under the control of humans, and yet as I looked at the sunset, something so beautiful that was not under the control of the anthropocene, it rocked my world, it shook me to my core. Boarding the literal van of wisdom once again, we found ourselves on the crossroad between cultures, with our lives in Boston inside of the van and the lives of Puerto Ricans outside. There, in that van, we further experienced what enlightenment philosophers in Europe could only dream of. We heard a mix of Latin music selected by our peers in order to better orient ourselves with the surrounding culture, some by prominent Puerto Rican artists like Bad Bunny or Daddy Yankee. Finally, we arrived at the Big Yellow House, our homestead for the coming week. We were oriented by our hosts, and shown to our plentiful rooms. We received time to prepare our dormitory areas. Inside those small yet cozy rooms, we knew that we would truly experience bonding on another level. Finishing setting up our beddings, we were then introduced to each other with several introductory games, as well as a discussion about what it meant to be a part of our community, work together, and live among the locals. Finally, we were given time to contact our loving families using our cellular devices, socialize with each other, prepare for bed, write up this blog post, and go to sleep. A nourishing, inspiring first day of what will clearly be an educational and joyful voyage for all of us. ¡Wepa! (Leisa addition.)
By Akeakamai, Thomas, Ollie, and Grace
April 7, 2024
Our personal rooster, Leisa, kindly woke us up at 6 am on the dot. Some of us slept good while others felt like they slept on rocks… However, breakfast made up for it! We had french toast, oatmeal, sausage, fruit, yogurt, home fries, and cheesesticks, delicious! That prepared us for our day with Alvin a.k.a our Puerto Rican man in charge, but we were uncomfortable with the heat (there was a heat warning 🫠). He led us on a wondrous journey through Old San Juan and its monuments. One monument that touched our hearts was the story of Paseo De La Princesa (the story of the name of the area with crazy large walls, we’re talking like 60 ft tall with cats sitting on top, crazy 🤯). The story helped us really connect and understand what we were looking at as we traversed the land, with Alvin. We felt he was the best person to give us the tour, not only because of his vibes and energy, but because of his bright and earnest child, who tagged along too! He informed us on the history of how Puerto Rico used to be called San Juan and we had trivia questions about it at lunch. El restaurante se llama “El Jibarito”. The food was so amazing “I fell in love with meat again” (Audrey, 9:47 pm). Alvin then “forced” us to go shopping (oh no!), some people splurged. Some stumbled upon piña coladas (where it was first created, allegedly!) that really gave us a chance to continue our adventures as well as cool down after all the heat🥵. The cobblestone, that which we walked on, was a deep connection to the 300 year old Puerto Rican street history. It was made out of cobalt which faded into all sorts of blues, which we found super cool (I wish we were cool like them 🥶). Shout out to Global Works, Lauren, Nahely, Leisa, Susanne, Laura, and of course, SHOUT OUT OUR MAN FERNANDO who’s been graciously driving us. We arrived quickly to the BYH and then made it to the beach!!! Unfortunately, due to the rain, we only stayed for 15 minutos, but Uno (the game) made up for it. Then dinner made its way to our gastrointestinal tract, with meat, plantains, bread, and salad. To finish off the sweltering hot night, we watched a documentary about Puerto Rico just before Hurricane Maria, and ended up knees deep in a discussion of Puerto Rican politics, history, food, colonization, Hawaii, and appreciation. It really sealed off the day with something to chew in our dreams 😋. Hope you all (and us) have sweet dreams!
Yours truly,
Audrey, Kayla, and Jameelah ’10
April 8, 2024
April 9, 2024
On today’s episode of Meridian “The Sorcery” Academy’s shenanigans, our day was full of hard work and no play. Lowkey we were grinding and locking in! (Staying focused). Parts of the clan were rather bombastic, moving cement in buckets similar to what we had been doing the day before. We all felt like the Hulk, launching buckets of wet cement through the sky, almost taking out several small children.
It was pleasantly raining atop nuestras cabezas. The dirt transformed into a quagmire of mud so we had to wear rubber boots while outside. If we stood too long on the ground, we would get stuck, and it would be difficult to get out, but still possible. This mirrors the socioeconomic situation of Puerto Rico, weighed down by external forces but ultimately able to overcome them with enough dedication.
The whole clan was powered up from Maria’s amazing food. Whatever she put in the food gave us the strength and motivation to finish topping the second floor of the house in scrumptious cement. After playing Minecraft in real life, we refilled our hunger bars, fought the Ender Dragon, and returned to the Big Yellow House. The clan expressed their riveting disappointment that we would not be able to go to the beach, as the clouds were lightly sprinkling on us, and many clan members were tired from a hard day of work. We concluded the day with a very productive and interesting reflection about being productive as a group, as well as our role in helping Puerto Rican communities. We not only helped Maria, Angel, William, and Eggy rebuild their house, but we also engaged with them on a more personal level. Our help felt very accomplishing compared to various community service organizations in Boston, in which you can’t see the aid you’re giving as tangible or directly.
April 10, 2024
The day began with a wake up call at 6:15. After the daily period of rapid scrambling that precedes breakfast, we sat down to a nice meal of french toast, sausage (or potatoes for our vegetarian friends), and fresh fruit. Afterwards, we quickly got on the road, as we had a hour and a half long drive ahead of us. Our destination: the rainforest.
Once we all arrived at Casas de la Selva/Tropic Ventures, we went through a quick introduction and safety briefing about the projects ahead. Some of the group went to build a drainage ditch while the majority of us stayed and worked in the nursery (the plant kind). The nursery was looking a little worse from wear – filled with moss and rusty tables – after time and hurricane Fiona had left their mark.
We also left our mark on the nursery, as it was looking quite clean, organized, and filled with vibrant life when we left. The process was long and hard, but we were motivated to continue this project by the wonderfully cool breeze and fresh air. Joking along as we went, groups of people cut weeds, raked leaves, and potted plants. Afterwards, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch surrounded by green foliage on two sides and the beautiful, natural scent of dirt. After lunch, we enjoyed a dessert of rich brownies, alongside a similarly rich discussion about the events of the day and the differences we made and can make in our daily lives. Overall, this was a rewarding experience that left us feeling fatigued but jubilant. Back at the BYH we had dinner, journaled and played Fish Bowl. It’s a game similar to Charades in which we got to put our Spanish into practice with words and phrases from our days in Puerto Rico.
April 12, 2024
After a very sleepful night at the Big Yellow House, we entered a state of frenzied panic as we attempted to finalize our packing within a very restrictive time frame, as well as making sure our rooms were ✨spotless✨. Awaiting us was a veritable cornucopia fit for the gods: eggs, pancakes, fruits, and a platter of cookies.
We then embarked on our journey, riding our guaguas, expertly driven through harsh terrain by our drivers, Daniel and Fernando, to reach a place of incredible religious significance to the Puerto Rican people: El Yunque National Rainforest. Seeing the mountain, topped with a crown made from the finest of rain clouds, while peering through the windows of our vans was a spectacular experience. In all seriousness, this was a huge honor for us all: being in such a beautiful place that is so special for so many people and swimming in its waters was a truly unforgettable experience for the group.
Back to joking—after a treacherous path among Puerto Rico’s highways, we arrived at Terruño Rest. for lunch. The food was quite possibly even better than the food from this morning! After valiantly defending our meal from a group of changos (a black bird related to a crow), we were let out to the Kioskos. There, we managed to waste copious amounts of negotiable American currency 🦅on tchotchkes or food.
After spending more money, we returned to the vans to embark on our journey to Luquillo. Once there, we arrived at two beautiful hostels known as Surfing Turtle and Casa Coral. We swam in the cool water of the Las Paylas river for approximately 7 minutes and 28 seconds before God (our Global Works leaders: Lauren and Nahely) said “Nuh-uh” (Retorts 13:4) and we had to return to the hostel because of the rain, safety first. After games of dominoes and Minecraft UNO were able to lift our spirits, we all left for the bioluminescent bay, where wading through the sea to our kayaks through strong winds and rains reminded us of an opening cutscene to a video game. Despite this, the rain made the experience more enjoyable, as the drops lit up the bay upon impact. We were able to see schools of fishes zipping around below the water, lit up by the microorganisms that release the same chemicals as fireflies. Overall, this day was an amazing experience and we are going to miss this place very very much. This trip has meant so much to us all and the people we interacted with, and we are so thankful to Global Works to give us this opportunity. We would like to thank all of the staff who have taken care of us (Lauren, Nahely, Leisa, Laura, Suzanne, Fernando, Daniel, John, and Mario), the family we helped (Angel, Maria, and Eggy), William, for letting us help the family, Meridian, for providing us with this trip, and our families, for funding it. Thank you Puerto Rico!!!!!
By: Rey B., Eva G., and Divya S.
