St. Stephen’s St. Agnes Group #2 2022

May 4, 2022

We boarded our plane at Ronald Reagan Airport about 8:10am and before we knew it we were off to Puerto Rico! The plane ride felt super short because we were all excited to get there. Once we arrived, we met our trip leaders at baggage claim and ate delicious pizza before headed to El Yunque National Rainforest. We walked through the beautiful Angelito trail to great water hole where everyone jumped in and had fun. After the trail, we then went to dinner at Los Kioskos where we had yummy Puerto Rican cuisine. In front of the restaurant was the Luquillo beach, where we enjoyed the views of the sunset & even got to get in more water. Our last activity was kayaking to Bio Bay, where we looked at all the stars and seen cool Bioluminiscente organisms. After we headed to the Big Yellow House to settle in, it was late but we all had fun!

-Olivia A. and Caroline M.

May 5, 2022

Today, we had French toast and frittata for breakfast. It was delicious! Then we headed to San Juan for a tour. We saw churches, Juan Ponce de Leon’s house, and El Morro fort. We then had lunch at a little restaurant in Old San Juan. It was spectacular! We then went shopping for souvenirs and got iced coffee! We then took the bus back to the Big Yellow House and went to the beach. Some people looked for sea glass, some people swam, and some people relaxed! We then came back to the Big Yellow House, took showers, and had fabulous dinner. We then got to hang out and do a meeting with the group leaders! Tomorrow, group 2 is doing service.

-Sam B.

May 6, 2022

Today was such an amazing day!!! We started off with a great breakfast of pancakes, yogurt, and fruit, and shortly after we left for Villa del Rio. At Villa del Rio we got to do a ton of service! First we had an assembly line where we passed cinder blocks down from one place to another to help out the next group of volunteers coming. Then for the rest of the time we helped make a rebar frame using bits of rebar that we had bent or broke, and then we got to tie it together with wire and make something that looks like a trellis, but will end up helping create the foundation of a house. After that we got to go to Angel and Maria’s house. (Maria and Angel are two community leaders who were instructing us what to do at the project site.) And, Maria and her daughter made us lunch!!! It was so delicious!

After that we came back to the big yellow house and we got to go to the beach for a while. Then we  came back again to the big yellow house for showers and dinner, which was pasta with either tomato or Alfredo sauce. Then at the end of the day we were taught how to Salsa and everyone joined in! Even some of the teachers! Finally after all of that we got to go to bed! Today was so much fun and I can’t believe to tomorrow is our last day here!

-Ali R.