Puerto Rico!

What an amazing start! Puerto Rico is so great and I have had a wonderful time exploring it so far. We arrived in San Juan at 0800 hours on Wednesday, February 7th. Kate and I woke up at 0600 to catch the sunrise and it was absolutely beautiful. The colors and the feel of the morning were breathtaking. We took a city tour of Old and New San Juan. There is a lot of history here…all very interesting. The forts and lighthouses are all very old and I believe that the lighthouses in San Juan are the oldest in the Caribbean. We had a special tour of the Capitol building and got to see the inside of the Chambers. I learned something new…that Puerto Ricans are considered US citizens however are unable to vote for the President. Interesting. The city is very lovely, very quaint. The scenery is gorgeous and the beaches amazing. Another interesting fact about Puerto Rico is that it is the main manufacturing of medicine and other pills such as Advil and even Viagra in the world. Always fun to learn random facts. Wednesday we were also able to go on an excursion in Bioluminescent Bay…and by FAR this is the most incredible experience. At 2000 hours (8pm) we left the ship on a bus to go towards the area. It took almost 2 hours to get there but was well worth the drive. It was absolutely pitch black and we went by kayaks. The water and air were warm and we started in a lagoon. We paddled through mangrove trees, spotted iguanas and bats, and even saw fish jump out of the water right next to us! Once we got through the lagoon we were in a bay…the sky was crystal clear and EVERY star could be seen. However the most fantastic sight was the Bioluminescence from the water. When I put my hand in the water as we paddled, it instantly started to glow a blue or perhaps a turquoise color. It was magnificent. We got to the center of the bay and tied the kayaks together. The guide told us that the glow came from single cell organisms that have pressure put on them emit lights as a defense. There are two enzymes that cause this and once they emit light they are unable to glow for 30 minutes. So there had to have been trillions of them. As soon as I got into the warm sea water, I began glowing all over my body. It was absolutely spectacular. I would extend my arms and legs to move and I felt like a bright light was shining on me. This really isn’t the best way to describe this experience for it is something to incredible to put into words. This has made Puerto Rico all the more better. And to top it off, we paddled back around 10:30 and the moon was just rising…it was huge and was the most vibrant yellow-orange color. All I can say is that there is more beauty in nature that I have ever imagined. I just can’t wait to see more!
Today, Thursday, we took an early morning hike to El Yunque Rainforest. It was a 2.5 hour hike in the most lush and lively environment. Lots of different kinds of trees, flowers, and plant life. The moment I saw the 85 foot waterfall though was the best of the whole hike. The water was very cold and clear. The pictures again do not do the sights justice as seeing it in person. It was a pretty challenging hike with lots of climbing and it was very warm and humid.
The rest of the afternoon and evening, Kate and I are going into San Juan to explore and enjoy a nice Puerto Rican meal. A lot of SAS students will meet at one of the clubs so we might find ourselves there as well! One more full day in Puerto Rico and we are all planning on going to one of the beautiful beaches and enjoying it before we have class again…but all in all, the semester has begun in fantastic style!