Exploring Puerto Rico!

Charlotte Nelson '23   ~   January 2023

This Winter Experience, I had the opportunity to go to Puerto Rico. We were able to participate in so many different activities that offered us cultural immersion and bonding with our classmates. For me, the highlights of the trip were touring Old San Juan, going to Hacienda 8A, the kayak tour, ziplining, and most impactfully, being able to use Spanish for the first time outside of the classroom. 

The first day we spent time in Old San Juan, which is the central historical region of the island. We saw incredible pieces of living history like El Morro, an old fortification site, which is included in the San Juan National Historic Site. We later walked the area and saw various other monuments like churches, the former city walls, and the capitol building. We ended the day at Platos restaurant enjoying beans and rice and either chicken or carne asada with flan as dessert. We were so tired from our first very exciting day that we went straight to bed at our wonderful hotel. 

The next day we woke up refreshed for the new day of engaging activities. We woke up bright and early to travel to Hacienda 8A, a ranch run by the Roig and Ochoa family and Noelle, Pedro, Sara, and Estefania were our leaders that day. First, we met their horses, many of which were Puerto Rican Paso Finos. This breed of horses has been in Puerto Rico since they were imported from Spain during colonization. Estefania and Pedro taught us about the different ways to ride horses and we helped clean them. I was able to speak with Pedro about the history of their ranch. We were talking about food and I brought up that I was vegetarian and I learned he was vegan. He shared that Hacienda 8A originated as a dairy farm, but they shifted to a horse ranch because he felt that if he is eating this way to reduce his impact on the environment, then how could he be a part of an industry that contributes so many emissions. After, we took a break and had a snack of sorullitos de maiz, corn fritters. Next, Sara spoke to us about agriculture in Puerto Rico and the different products like coconuts, avocados and plantains that are prominent in the industry. We learned that a lot of the agriculture industry has been affected by hurricanes, specifically the remaining repercussions of Hurricane Maria. We ended our time there with a lunch of rice, beans, and potatoes, which are staples in Puerto Rican cooking. 

The next day, we ended the day with our kayak tour. The tour guides were both fun and incredibly knowledgeable about the mangroves we were kayaking through and the science behind what we were about to see. We were able to hear and see the mangrove ecosystem come alive at night as we traveled toward our destination, Laguna Grande. There we observed the bioluminescent microscopic plankton that glowed in the water. It was incredible to have an opportunity to see that rare natural phenomenon. As we made our way back to the beach, one of our tour guides, coincidentally also named Pedro, spoke to us more about the mangrove. He shared with us how the mangrove trees serve an important role in the stability of the habitat, as well as holding medicinal value. We could see that the ecosystem was still in the process of coming back to life as many trees were still down from past hurricanes that plagued the island. As the night went on, we also heard the singing of the native coquí frogs, which have become a symbol of Puerto Rican culture. We ended our trip with some snacks and headed back to our hotel to get some rest for our final day of activities. 

Our final adventure was ziplining. Many of us, including myself, were a little apprehensive about facing our fears of heights, but the staff informed us about the extensive safety features and walked us through how to best approach each sky bridge and zipline. Besides the aspect of heights, I was so excited to be hiking and climbing through the forest as we moved through each zipline. When we were ziplining, we witnessed incredible views of dense forest, valleys, and the landscape of El Yunque, the vast rainforest of Puerto Rico. With each zipline, we had more fun as we became more comfortable with the ziplining system and focused on the natural beauty that we were able to experience. We ended our time there with some non-alcoholic piña coladas and headed back to our hotel for one last night in San Juan. 

I have always loved learning Spanish in school, but this immersion experience greatly motivated me to keep working toward my journey of becoming bilingual. When I go back, which I definitely plan on doing, I will come back as a fluent Spanish speaker so that I can keep learning and growing through encountering diverse perspectives and stories. 

Photo 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9: Erin Puntoriero

Photo 8: Angelo Berrios