saturday

ultimo dia!

just wanted to get in some more reflections from this amazing trip. to start, i will add a few more photos.

this is lynne, val, and myself taking notes and discussing information in our literature class. the class was taught by Doctora Helena Lázaro Platón whom we got to know very well over the course of the week. The class was taught entirely in Puerto Rican Spanish- a great learning experience for the four of us (Bonita is here too; not shown in pic). The topics covered by Dra. Helena were all very interesting and she made the two-hour sessions go fairly quickly. She gave us a thorough perspective on Puerto Rican literature in just a week. We also had time to talk about Spanish that is unique to Puerto Rico such as their dialect and slang and what is "acceptable" on the streets among Puerto Rican youth; words that would not have been acceptable vocabulary fifteen years ago. We had a lot of good times laughing with Helena and soaking up her knowledge of her field. One special memory I have of this class and Helena is when Val's eye was bothering her (turned out to be pink eye), Helena drove us all to the pharmacy and then dropped us off at the dinner venue where we were supposed to meet up later. It was extremely kind of her to go out of her way. When we were dropping Val off outside the door, I remember we had to keep circling around because there was no parking, and it was during those "vueltas" that Lynne and I learned a lot about Helena's personal life. It was neat to have a professor do that kind of thing for us in the first place let alone open up about her own life and struggles in Puerto Rico.

That night we had a very special culminating dinner with the whole team and some of Dixie's family. We were having great times bonding with everyone - we didn't even notice that the food was taking rather long. The service was still excellent and everyone seemed to enjoy the fare. Mine tasted rather amazing... I had a vegetarian plate with avocados (healthy!) and some "local cerveza." The waiter seemed pleased we were all supporting the local drink, Medalla. Can't get it anywhere else!


On Friday we had the opportunity to visit El Moro a little closer. El Moro is the big fortress at the edge of the city past Old San Juan that was build during colonization to protect the land.

Inside, we learned a lot - much more than anticipated - about Puerto Rican culture AND national pride. I really loved all aspects of this visit. The view was grand, the history, our professor and tour guide Ignacio, and the gift shop with all the Puerto Rican trinkets you could imagine to represent their nationality. Going there with the group on this last day was fun and bittersweet at the same time! This next picture I have to show you is one of my favorites. I think it's rather artistic the way everyone is walking towards knowledge...


With Professor Ignacio in the middle talking to the group, answering informal questions and imparting his formal knowledge on us all, everyone with their satchels and capris, the wind blowing as we are nearing the sea; this helps me remember my week in Puerto Rico as a learning experience I will forever take with me as one of the best things of Summer 2009. The unity of our team and everyone's eagerness to learn was a big encouragement to me. I think because of our blogs, the conversation we started in Puerto Rico will have a chance to continue. I am grateful for these learning opportunities that will help us become better educators in our diverse classrooms. There is so much we will take with us- and we can't wait to present some of that information to you, even as we are still tweaking our blogs for the world to see. Thank you for joining us!





(This is Ronald from across the street from the university, eating a fried plantain for breakfast... reminding us to peace out.)