After exhausting travel the day before, our early morning wake up was challenging, but powered by coffee, peanut butter, and excitement for the day of volunteering, we were ready. The day started with a great introduction to the program from our volunteer coordinator Estefi. Estefi has lived in Puerto Rico her entire life and took some time to talk to us about the impact of Hurricane Maria. Following the hurricane, people were without power for months, unable to tell if their family members even a few miles away were okay with cell phones down and roads blocked. Thousands of homes were destroyed, people are still living without roofs years later, and the normally lush island was stripped of much of its greenery. Government aid was slow to arrive and lacking when it did, so the island is incredibly welcoming to volunteers willing to do anything to help.

Motivated by Estefi’s stories, we departed for our volunteer site for the day. We spent the day working at Casa Providencia, a rehabilitation home for women struggling with addiction. We were warmly welcomed there and taught about the rich history of the home. We were introduced to the residents of the home and then began our task for the day, repainting the walls of the courtyard. Louis, one of the employees at the home, went off to get us some supplies while we began scraping off some of the old paint. After a bit of a slow start and a slight derailment in the middle by some unexpected rain, we were able to make solid progress and left the courtyard looking much better than before.

Casa Providencia was located right in the heart of Old San Juan so after we finished working we began exploring the city. We first stopped at one of Estefi’s favorites, Cafeteria Mallorca where we were all able to try the wonderful Mallorca pastry. After that we walked along the coast and were able to explore El Morro, a historic fort built in the 16th century. Old San Juan was beautiful and historic and we enjoyed it very much.

After a busy, tiring day, we decided to stay close to the hostel for dinner and went to a small restaurant self proclaimed as the mofongo king. The portion sizes were generous and it was a battle to complete my towering pile of mofongo and carne frita. Sam and Grace went with the king crab but what came out was closer in taste and texture to pineapple. It was a great first day and we went to bed with our stomachs full of fried meat and imitation crab.

On Thursday our team started the morning off early with a trip inland back to Para La Naturaleza to do some more environmental volunteering. To start off the day the team split up into two groups, one team was in charge of working with newer plants whereas the other team focused on plants closer to being planted. The team focusing on younger plants worked on moving trees from burlap sacks that are great at supporting early seed development, to a pot that will carry the plant until it is finally planted at one of the environmental conservation sites. While these trees were being planted, the second team focused on weeding and caring for the trees that were already potted but were not yet mature enough to be planted at a conservation site. While working we were able to bond with some of the Para La Naturaleza team (especially the three black cats they had running around), learning more about Puerto Rico and some of the activities that they enjoy on the island. To make sure everyone could try out both roles and meet all of the people, the teams switched a few hours into the day of volunteering. Once all of the young plants were transferred to pots, our team ventured to a nearby cafe that was recommended by the Para La Naturaleza team to enjoy some well earned ice cream. Tuckered out from all of the volunteering, kayaking, and hiking we had done over the past few days, the Puerto Rico team decided to spend one of our last afternoons at a beach to swim, read, and relax. The beach was beautiful, and we had an excellent time swimming.