Semester at Sea – Spring 2007 (Alex Song) On a ship, traveling around the world, at 20 miles an hour

Scheduled time of arrival in San Juan, Puerto Rico is 0800 on Wednesday, Feb 7. What I’ve got planned:

My first trip is actually one required by my World Civ I: 3000 BC to 1600 AD class. For 1030 – 1430. Description (copied/pasted straight from the field guide):

We will visit the Afro-Caribbean town of Loiza Aldea (commonly known as Loiza) and meet local artists and mask makers. In the 16th century, Loiza was the slave-trading center of the island, and it retains much of the African heritage. Local bomba music has more purely African rhythms than elsewhere on the island, and the local church, the Iglesia de San Patricio, uses drumming in its Catholic services. The town is also famous for its annual festival in which participants wear masks and recreate the battles between Christians and Muslims that took place in Spain during the Middle Ages. We will visit the town, including a visit to the studio of a well-known Afro-Caribbean artist, Samuel Lind, then we will visit the neighboring Ayala family’s yard and shop that sells African masks. Loiza still serves African-style cuisine, such as Yucca with coconut and cassava bread, and we will sample this as we have lunch in the town at your own expense.

Then I get 5 hours to bum around, leading to the welcome reception taking place 1930-2300. We’ll be meeting local university students and hanging out with them, getting the ‘inside scoop’ on things to do and perhaps convincing them to act as guides for the duration of our stay in port. A lot of SAS students are choosing to attend this field trip, and as such, 4 receptions will be held concurrently on different university campuses as none of them are large enough to hold all of us at the same time. Apparently there’s also a welcome/intro to the university and some form of entertainment like a musical performance. Sweet.

Nine hours of sleep (hopefully!) later, from 0800-1200, I’ll get to explore San Juan by mountain biking around. It’s an 8 mile journey the starts off at a boardwalk that goes through the largest mangrove forest in PR. We’ll be taking some time here to learn about the local flora/fauna and check out the birds and reptiles (tree iguanas!). The trail eventually leads to the coast where we can ride along and check out the beaches and the crashing surf on the cliffs. We’ll finally end up at a white sand beach with calm water where we’ll be chilling out and swimming/beach games/whatever.

I got a few more hours to bum around, for at 1745 begins yet another trip. We’ll be picked up, bussed an hour northeast from port, and begin our kayaking adventure! We will be going kayaking to the bioluminescent lagoon in Fajardo at Las Cabezas de San Juan Reserve. Guys…this is a GLOWING LAGOON. Micro-organisms in the water glow blue-green when agitated. They get bright enough to read a book! Yes, we’ll be able to swim in this, which is freakin awesome. We’ll be treated to pina coladas once we return to shore, and after the bus ride back we should be back at port around 2300. Where I will immediately collapse on my bed.

I haven no planned field trips for our last day in port. I’m gonna try to get a group together to take a tour of the Bacardi factory (complementary rum drinks at the end!), check out the local markets for food and souvenirs, and do some more photography. We’re required to be on the ship by 2100, so for the last couple hours I’ll be partying it up at Senor Frog’s. And there ends Puerto Rico!

P.S. Hello to other SAS parents reading the blog! According to the last time I checked the GPS a few hours ago, we were halfway between Nassau and San Juan traveling at a rate of around 10 knots/hr. Nothing to be worried about….until port.