September

Deric, Me, and Gercito
Deric, Andy, and Me
Waiting for the locksmith to come

Out with some friends at Doble Seis

Cool building in Boqueron
I think this pic looks like a postcard
La Pared (surfing beach) in Luquillo
Early morning in Luqillo (View from hotel)

Boating on Labor Day weekend near my house

On the boat with some friends
" Faculty meeting" People salsa dancing & drinking
Picture of the mountains with a cross on top
Street in Boqueron

In the past few weeks things have been settling down a bit more. I felt like the first month was very busy and crazy. I feel like I have been here for so long now. Time is going by pretty fast. I won't be seeing some of you for a very long time because I am not coming home for Christmas. I would like to, but tickets are expensive and it is going to be warm here. It will also be a great opportunity to travel around the island. We have also been thinking about going to Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. There is a boat that will take us there from Puerto Rico.

On Labor Day weekend we had a Faculty meeting at school on Friday. It was a great faculty meeting, which end with Puerto Rican food and wine and beer. I think that U.S. should have faculty meetings like this and maybe the teachers would be happier. We even had salsa music and the PR teachers danced for us. I want to learn how to salsa. Mr. Mendez is going to teach us whenever we want him to.

On Saturday I went boating with some friends from Puerto Rico in Pozuelo, a town near my house. We got on their boat and rode out to these mangrove islands. There were tons of other boats and Yachts parked out their too. It was kind of like being at the sanddunes in Kankakee, but way nicer. I brought my snorkel with me so I snorkeled around the islands. I saw a lot of beautiful fish. My most favorite so far is this small fish that is turquoise, blue, and black. The turquoise color on it is so pretty! I love it. It started raining later in the day, but it was fine because it was still warm and we were having a great time. We all planned on going out later that night, but we were all exhausted when we got home. I swear the beach wears me out and I don't even do anything there.

Sunday we decided to take a trip to the Northwest. Andy wanted to go surfing in Isabella, but I really did not want to go that far. I had my PR travel book with me, so I found a place while we were driving. It was in Cabo Rojo. In the book it said that the beach there was one of the nicest, however I did not think so. The beaches in Luquillo were way better. It was actually a cool place. The beach is called Boqueron. On the main street by the beach there was all kinds of outdoor shops and places to eat. It seemed like a good place to go to at night. I even tried a tiburon pincho (shark shishkabob), and it was so good. It tasted like chicken actually. The pinchos in PR are my favorite thing to eat besides the rice and beans. There is a man who has a pincho stand and bar on the way to a beach we go to. They are so good! His are made from chicken and he puts bbq sauce on them. HMMMM...He also makes really good pina colodas. Those are also one of my favorite things about PR. I now keep the ingredients in my house at all times. Plus the rum is cheap so it gives me an excuse to buy it.

Monday was Labor Day and I decided to stay home and relax. I went to Wal-Mart and bought paint for my bedroom. I got like a turquoise blue color. It was fun painting my boring white bedroom. I love the way it turned out. Looks like the ocean. I was definately not looking forward to school on Tuesday. I love being off from work. Although work is not too difficult here and the days go by super fast.

Okay so I am still catching you all up. Now to the next weekend...I took another trip to Luquillo. One of my favorite places so far. The beach is beautiful and the water is so clear. We went to a surfing beach on Saturday called La Pared. There is a surf shop close by called La Selva and I rented a surf board there. There were really good waves so that is why we decided to go. There were a lot of surfers out there. Some were really good and fun to watch. In the winter they have surf competitions on the West side of the island. I think it will be fun to watch the professionals surf the really big waves. I actually had so much fun doing it. I was able to get up on the board and stay up. There were a few surfers out there who helped me a little bit. They gave me some pointers, which was nice. I was wore out by the end of the day though. My arms, legs, and stomach was sore the next day. That night we stayed in a nice hotel on the beach. It was beautiful. The next day we went to the beach again, but I did not surf. We had to return the boards in the morning. The day was going great until about 2. I was talking with this guy on the beach who was with his dog. He wanted to take all of us to some place in the town. I went to go find my friend Andy, and thats when it went downhill. I found him and he was looking for his car keys. He had gone out to surf, and placed his keys in this pipe thing that was hollow inside. He thought they were safe there, but apparently not. When he went to get them, they were gone. So to make a long story short, we had to wait until 8 p.m. for a locksmith to come and make a key from his door lock. We did not get home until 11 p.m. and had school the next day. I was so tired on Monday. I came home and took a nap from 5-10. Plus being stranded on a beach in PR on a beautiful day is not so bad.