Our morning began at 8 a.m. with a drive to Old San Juan where we met with teachers and administration at the Abraham Lincoln Elementary School.
School begins tomorrow for grades PreK through 6th. The teachers, staff, and volunteers were still repairing, painting, and preparing the classrooms for their students. Almost every summer the building and classrooms need repairs and repainting. The teachers are responsible for painting their own classrooms. Wow, I can't imagine that happening at my school. Our school has a staff of custodians that care for our building with daily cleaning and repairs. During the summer the staff is increased and classroom and large group room (cafe, library, gym, etc) is thoroughly cleaned. The floors are stripped and rewaxed and the walls touched up or repainted. I was surprised the teachers at Abraham Lincoln were responsible for the painting.
It is interesting to note that Escuela Graduada Abraham Lincoln is a neighborhood school however children whose parents work in Old San Juan are permitted to attend A. L. From the disadvantaged students of La Perla to the students from other parts of San Juan all are learning and working together.
During our Q & A it was interesting to learn how the teachers are hired. Each teacher is assigned a "value" number based on their GPA, # years experience, and the type of degree held (BS, Masters, etc). How well they do their job, how good a teacher they might be does not matter. There are no interviews. This is definitely not how we hire teachers in the States.
Off to La Perla with Jorge Gomez the community leader of La Perla. Jorge is very proud of his community which is located outside of the city walls. Approximately 200 families still live in La Perla. At one time almost 2,000 families lived in La Perla but hurricanes and a tsunami have lowered the numbers.
La Perla is a disadvantaged area of San Juan. People live in square homes made of cement. Some homes are well kept while others are in disrepair but still occupied. Abandoned cars line the streets. As bad as parts of La Perla looks the residents seem to be happy, those that we saw. There really weren't many people in the streets.
While in La Perla we were able to meet the doctor in the free clinic and the new teacher at the Head Start Program who was preparing for her students. She recently changed jobs and was very excited to be in La Perla.
Cats, dogs, chickens (for eggs, dinner, and fighting) where everywhere. There was even a green iguana out for a walk. I saw more pets in La Perla than I did in Old San Juan, perhaps because Old San Juan has more traffic and the pets don't venture as far from home.
A new treat today was the canepa fruit we tried in La Perla. It is something of a cross between a grape and a peach. Very tasty. We have nothing like this in York. I'm going to check Price Rite, they might be available there.
The Governor's mansion was our next stop. We were treated to a tour of the second floor of La Fortaleza. Tours are usually restricted to the gardens. We were able to see the Kennedy Guest bedroom, the Hall of Mirrors, and the Governor's private library where there were photos of Governor Luis Fortuño and First Lady Luce Vela with President G. W. Bush and Laura Bush and President Barak Obama and Michelle Obama. La Fortaleza is very grand and impressive. Very much like a palace in Europe but on a smaller scale.
The gardens were amazing with orchids, mangos, hibiscus, and avocadoes.
Every fortress has a dungeon and we were able to walk into the dungeon in the lower levels of the Governor's mansion.
I was surprised to learn that San Juan has no rivers that can be used for drinking water. The people of San Juan have created underground tunnels and cisterns to collect rain water for drinking (good thing it rains most every day).
A leisurely lunch and more Puerto Rican food and then off to tour the Castillo San Felipe del Morro. This fort was begun in 1533 and was used to protect the island of Puerto Rico and the rest of the islands in the Caribbean. El Morro sits high on a hill surrounded by ocean on 3 sides. I enjoy touring National Historic Sites. Walking in the steps of those from centuries ago is an amazing thing to be able to do. It makes me realize that those people were real, not just on pages of history books. It surprised me that many people from San Juan came to visit their fortress. In the States it seems that we take our historical sites for granted and don't visit. I have lived in York for 30+ years and have yet to visit the Colonial York building in downtown York.
Shopping in Old San Juan gave us leisurely time to discover this city and dinner at Raices another opportunity to enjoy each other's company and sample more Puerto Rican food. Most ordered mofongo which was decided to be a fabulous dish. In honor of Kerri's birthday Denise ordered several desserts for us to share and the Raices staff sang "Feliz cumpleaños".
Is there such a thing as an Authentic Puerto Rican buffet? I would love to be able to sample different dishes without buying a full serving.
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