Found a new beach...

This is beach that we found. It is really pretty and there are not many people here.

Everything has been going great! I cannot believe how fast this year is going by. I am getting excited to go home for the summer and see everyone. I am also very excited for my brother's wedding in June. I know it is going to be so much fun. I got my bridesmaids dress and I like it a lot. I cannot wait to wear it. On Monday we did not have school, so I went to Old San Juan to meet my mother's best friend who came on a cruise ship. I have known Debbie for my whole life and she was with her husband, Dan, and his brothers and sisters. It was great seeing people I know. I got to be their tour guide and show them around the city. We had a great time and it was fun seeing them.

Me at the beach in Yabucoa. This is about 40 minutes from my house. The water was super rough and wavy today. We could not swim. There were many surfers there. The waves were huge. It was a beautiful day! I went with the Mudd's, Barbara, and Mandi. I got a little sunburnt too. I feel like I have not laid on the beach for hours like I did today. It was very nice and relaxing. Tomorrow is Alyssa's birthday, so we plan on going to this restaurant up in the mountains. I have been there once and the view is amazing. It is at the top of the mountain, and you can see the whole city below and the ocean.

cruise ship Debbie and Dan came in on

me at the beach

beach in Yabucoa

view from a restaurant we stopped at on the way home from the beach

Picture of Molina Mills in Guayma. This was used as a sugarcane mill when they still produced sugarcane in Puerto Rico. I believe the industry left here because there was competition from other islands so they were no longer making money from it. They do grow it here still, but not like they used too. You can see many old sugarcane mills around the island.

This is a picture from Charco Azul. It is a place I went to a couple of weeks ago with Mandi and Barb. It is really pretty. It is up towards the mountains. We went for a nice hike up a stream and then tried to swim in the pond. The water was so pretty and blue. It started raining so we did not swim long. The water was pretty cold.

I stole this picture from Alyssa because I love it. These iguana's are all over the island. This one was actually in there back yard. I have seen one in our yard as well. It is crazy because road kill in PR is usually these iguanas or stray dogs, not like Illinois. I think the iguanas are so cool and I love the color of them.

San Blas 09

This weekend we went to a festival in Coamo, which is a city less than thirty minutes from Guayama. Every year in February Coamo celebrates San Blás de Illescas Marathon, in honor to the founder of the town. International and local runners compete in a 13.1-mile half marathon. It's Puerto Rico's biggest race, and the crowds are always large. We left my house at 9:30 in the morning to get to Coamo because we knew the traffic would be bad. It took about 2 1/2 hours to get there. We went with Mr. Zayas, the computer teacher at school. We got to meet his family who lives in Coama. Then we walked down into the town, and there were hundreds of thousands of people. I do not think that most people cared about the race. They were more interested in drinking. The town was one big party. Even the gas stations were shut down and filled with bands and lots of people. I would have to say it was something I am glad I saw. The winner of the race was a guy from Kenya. I did not see any of the race. I was among the partyers, of course. Some of the other teachers did, and said it was pretty incredible. Barbara said the finish was amazing and when the PR guy finished, the crown went crazy. He finished 8th I believe.

Mandi, Me, and some guy we met. He was so funny though. He is in the Army and is totally obsessed with it too. He kept saying how bad he wanted to go to Iraq. He kept saying, "I am a warrior," and "I want to fight for your freedom." I was like no! He was like "Yes! I am fighting for you, America, your freedom." Wow! Pretty crazy.

Our group
Notice we are all just hanging out at a gas station. They had a band playing here all day. Almost every store or gas station had a party going on. People were smoking and I kept thinking, "Hmmmm....I do not know if that is safe at a gas station."

Some friends...Orlando, Mandi, Me, and Gercito

"The Americans"

John, Mandi, Alyssa, Me, and Barb

I love these trees so much. The color and flowers are so beautiful.

First bonfire on the beach

Last weekend we decided to have a bonfire on the beach. It was such a good idea. I have always wanted to do this. A bunch of teachers from school went to a beach nearby and had so much fun. We even brought smores and taught the Puerto Ricans how to make them. They loved them too! We ended up staying until 2 a.m. It was a really fun night and I cannot wait to do it again.

We found this really cool bamboo stick, and thought it would make a great limbo stick. I don't remember who won...Might have something to do with the cup in my hand:)

Alyssa, John, Mendez, and Tom standing around the fire

Me, Vicki, Alyssa, and Mandi

Co-workers Birthday Party

On Monday it was Ms. Fuentes' birthday. She is the one of the other sixth grade teachers who teaches next to me. She is a very wonderful lady. Her two daughters put together a little surprise party for her. It was really nice and she was very surprised. She did not know her daughter, who lives in San Juan, would be there or her 95 year old mother too.

Teachers from Guamani. Rendon, Fuentes, Pomales, Miss Rosa, Mandi, Me
Miss Fuentes' Daughters and mother

Surprise!!!!

Me and Mr. Mendez

Loving the winter time in Puerto Rico

A couple of weekends ago we went to the San Sebastian Street Festival in Old San Juan. It is one of the biggest festivals in Puerto Rico. We ended up driving to Guaynabo, a city near San Juan, and leaving our car at a friends house. We heard we would not be able to drive into OSJ, so we were going to take the train. We went to the train station and the line was VERY long. We ended up finding a cab driver who offered to take a bunch of us. We did that and it was quicker, and he even stopped to get us beers!


When we got to OSJ there were A LOT of people everywhere. The festival is basically music and beer. The streets are filled with people shoulder to shoulder. We stopped in a couple of the bars along the streets. Then we walked around and enjoyed the music.

Me, Juan, And Mandi @ the Old Harbor Brewery in Old San Juan

This is my roommate passed out around 5 in the morning. The public transportation doesn't start until around 5 in the morning so we had to wait...We wanted to leave the festival around 4 but then we found out we couldn't so we found a bunch and waited. There were hundreds of people all over doing the same thing. It was kind of fun actually. The crazy thing was when the bus came. Everyone wanting to get on and it was a mess. It was stupid though because there were lots of buses coming. We were one of the first people in line, but one of the last on. It was along night, and after the bus we had to take a train. We ended up getting home around 7. It was a very fun and interesting night.

I took a picture of this sign because the neighborhood I live in is called "Costa Azul."

Me dancing at the Neurican Cafe in Old San Juan. I love this place because they have the best live salsa music.

One of the streets in OSJ. So many people...

Some friends we ran into at the festival

Mandi, Juan, Me, Gercito, and his wife