Back in PR

We have made it back to Puerto Rico. We arrived back on the island on the 29th of July. Our flights went well and we actually ended up with all of our bags when it was all said and done. First time for everything. Upon returning to our house, we found it just as we had left it. Well, there was a pretty thick layer of dust over everything, a couple cockroaches, a dead mouse in the middle of the living room and a couple lizards that had started to move into the guest room… but that is normal. A couple days later, Jaylyn (my cousin) and Ted, her fiancé, flew into San Juan. Right away we took them to the rainforest to stay in our favorite cabin owned by our friends the Haits. The cabin was wonderful, but the secret waterfall that we took Jay and Ted to was what they enjoyed the most. Other times that Jon and I have been there we haven’t really been able to swim, but this time we took advantage. We climbed to the top and found a great Jacuzzi in the waterfall. It was definitely a highlights. The next day we went to the “touristy” side of El Yunque and to a waterfall there. That was packed with Puerto Ricans, but still refreshing in the hot sun. We did many things with Jaylyn and Ted and enjoyed having them here. They did get to experience a bit of the real life as the car did overheat for them in San Juan. And since then we have taken the car in 5 times to get it looked at and more parts repaired. Now I understand why people just buy new cars.

We have had an excellent start to our school year this year. Jon is in a brand new classroom with great stadium seating for the kids and a huge Smart Board with a very high quality projector. The kids are enthralled. His class sizes are very low this year, I think his biggest is 19, as he is teaching 3/5 advanced classes, so he is very spoiled and has nothing to complain about. I am in my old room still, and we are pretty packed in there with 2 classes of 29 kids. But I like my kids this year and have already taught 3/5 of them before, so we have a good relationship and I think that they will be easy to work with. But then again, it is only the first week of school…. Next week could be an entirely different story!!

Virgin Islands

Pictures are backwards....so you are just going to have to figure it out! Enjoy!

Jon and I and Barbara, one of the American teachers that we teach with, headed to the Virgin Islands for Spring Break 2009. It was a vacation to remember! We arrived on a ferry in St. Thomas on Saturday. From there we got on another ferry and rode it to St. Johns. Cinnamon Bay was our destination were we had our camping site reserved for the next 6 days. We were amazed at the ocean. Sadly, we don’t have that color off the beaches in Puerto Rico. The blue was amazing. Really amazing. Visibility had to be over 100 feet.

Sunday morning was Easter and we had a small service outside by the beach. A young boy was in charge from “Missionaries in the National Parks” program. It was very nice. He had his guitar and everyone appreciated it I think.

For the rest of the week we hiked around the island, went snorkeling nearly every day, enjoyed playing cards and lounging in our hammocks at camp, playing the guitar on the beach, and well… finishing more than a couple of books in the sun. It was a success to say the least.
Instead of staying the 7th night camping as well, Jon and I took the ferry back to St. Thomas and stayed at the Frenchman’s Reef Marriot Resort. It was a great time and such a treat after a week of sleeping in a tent. We had wonderful food, a king size bed, our own bath robes, great live music on the beach, and cable TV! It was so much fun!

We made it back on the ferry to Puerto Rico on Saturday and were back in Fajardo by 6:30pm. Unluckily, when we got to our parked car – our front grill of our car had been broken off and the battery stolen out from under our hood. So, that wasn’t a very nice homecoming surprise. We luckily got a ride from a boy to the nearest Pep Boys, and bought a new battery. Luckily, that was the only thing that they had decided to steal from the car. So, all ended up okay in the end even though there were some tense moments there for a bit!

My Birthday and Surfing Competition

Last weekend, Andrea, Mandi, Jon and I drove to Rincon on the west side of the island and attended the surfing competition. It was a very fun time and the surfers were great to watch. Doing 360's and jumps and such.... well, besides them just being "surfers".

27 years old. Hard to believe. Jon baked me a cake and we went to a new restaurant in the mountains with some friends. Around the table - Max, the Russian Mailman we hang out with sometimes, Tom - another american teacher, Andrea - the tan one, Mandi - next to me, and Barbara on the end. It was a great time. The band dedicated a song to me and everyone - the entire restaurant - sang "Happy Birthday" to me, in Spanish of course.

Jon is having some "Jon time". And loving it.

Cabo Rojo and Guanica Dry Forest

Here are Jon and I hugging the 120 year old tree in Guanica, the dry forest on the west of the island. We went hiking there with Barbara a couple weekends ago.

After our long hike we cooled off on the sunny beached of Cabo Rojo - Playa Santa. We are on the very South-West tip of Puerto Rico here with a lighthouse (this picture is for you Libby) over looking the coast.

The water was breathtakingly beautiful and we had a great time.

Here we are on Valentines Night having dinner on El Combate beach with Barbara. She was our date for the weekend. :)

Weekend on the West

We headed out to Cabo Rojo on the west side of the island for the Valentine's Weekend. We went with Barbara and hiked in Guanica Dry Forest, stayed in Freddie's Cabanas on the beach, - our camping plan fell through - and hung out at a "mini Culebra" beach on Sunday. It was great to explore a new area. We saw the salt flats and the highlight .... 2 MONKEYS! I didn't get pictures of them... but there could possibly be a video coming. Wild monkeys in the trees. Cool.

Bonfire on the Beach

We found a new favorite thing to do on a Friday night - bonfire on the beach with s'mores, some limbo dancing with a piece of bamboo and friends. There were about 25 of us who showed up in Posuelo after dinner last Friday night. Most of the Puerto Ricans didn't know about s'mores, so we all gave them a lesson. Jon and I actually were not the first ones to leave the gathering this time and actually ended up staying until the wee-hours of the morning. Everyone was shocked. It was a great way to start the weekend.