Adventures Around the World - Semester at Sea Spring 2007: 02/07/07

Click here for current times in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the East Coast of the U.S.

Click here for weather in San Juan, Puerto Rico

(note: this is one of my pre-scheduled posts set to appear at 5:00am EST each morning I am in a port city. I will post follow-up information about each trip once I am able to get back on the computer.)

The ship is scheduled to arrive at 0800 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
We will be in Puerto Rico for the next 3 days.

These are the trips I will be going on today...

City Orientation: Old and New San Juan (Time: 0930 - 1230)

Description:
Visit Old San Juan to view the massive, ancient fortresses and the great stone walls that have protected the capital since the conquistadors built them in the 16th century. Stop at San Cristobal's Fortress, built in 1634. Driving through the Old City, see such landmarks as San Jose Church, the second oldest church in the western hemisphere; the famous Cristo Chapel; the stately governor's mansion; and the many restored buildings that give San Juan its Spanish Colonial flavor. Then travel to the Condado section of New San Juan to view the modern metropolitan area A photo stop will be made at one of the lovely beaches along the way. View the Capitol Building and other historical sites en route to the ship. (PRICE: $23.00)

El Yunque Rain Forest (Time: 1300 - 1800)

Description:
The Caribbean National Forest is the only tropical forest managed by the U.S. National Forest System. The forest covers 28,000 acres with some 240 tree species, waterfalls, rare birds and over 100 billion gallons of annual rainfall. Enjoy a leisurely drive ot the northeastern area of the island for sightseeing at El Yunque Rain Forest, whih is part of the Caribbean National Forest. El Yunque is located on the Luquillo range of mountains. The tropical vegetation includes wild orchids and giant ferns as well as typical hardwoods. Stops will be made at Coca Falls, at the Natural Pool, at one of the observation towers and at the Tourist Recreation Center. Stops will also be made for handicrafts, local produce and restrooms. You will be dropped off at the Palo Colorado Information Area for a hike along La Mina Trail, with its many waterfalls, to La Mina Falls. Continue along Big Tree Interpretive Trail to Big Tree Parking Lot where the bus will be waiting. This hike takes approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours. (PRICE: $44.00)

Welcome Reception (Time: 1930 - 2300)
(I got assigned to be one of the "trip leaders" for this trip so luckily I will get this event paid for. If you get picked to be the trip leader and the trip is under $50, you get that full amount paid for. If the trip is between $50-$100, you get up to $50 back. If the trip is over $100, a faculty member gets 50% paid for. Trip leaders essentially are responsible for acting as a liaision with the tour operator leading the trip and for keeping students on schedule. It is up to the trip leader to keep track of which students are late and, if necessary, to make the decision to leave without them if they do not follow the schedule. Students get penalized with "dock time" in the next port if they aren't back to the ship or if they cause the group to be delayed.)

Description:
Here is a great chance to meet local uniersity students on your first night in Puerto Rico. Interacting with these students will be an excellent opportunity for you to learn the 'inside scoop' on what to see and do in the San Juan area. In addition, your new friends might act as 'volunteer guides' for the remainder of your port stay. You will attend one of three or four receptions being held concurrently on different uniersity campuses, as no facility is large enough to host our entire Semester at Sea community. The program will be basically the same at each venue. In addition to meeting Puerto Rican students and faculty, there will be a welcome/introduction to the university and some form of entertainment, such as a musical performance. Time for conversation and musica for dancing (salsa, meringue, etc.) will follow the programmed entertainment. Soft drinks and snacks will be served. Dress is casual. This is a wonderful introduction to Puerto Rico - an event that should not be missed! (PRICE: $38.00)

Some links relating to today's trips...

Update:

I woke up around 7:30 am and we had apparently already docked. After going to breakfast I went to my cabin and just kind of waited to hear any announcements about what was going to go on. We were told last night that customs officials would be boarding the ship and that it could take up to two hours to get everyone through the whole process. We were also waiting for Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, the governor of Puerto Rico, to arrive.

In my cabin, I tried to get together all the things I would to throw into my backpack for a day out and then an announcement came on the P.A. system that said the governor of Puerto Rico would be make a short welcome address to everyone in the Union in two minutes. I took my time and when I got up to the Union they said we would probably have a better view of his speech if we went to one of the satellite classrooms and watched the closed circuit television there. I went to the Piano Bar area of the ship on deck 6 and watched as the screen was filled with what appeared to be local press who boarded the ship to cover the governor's remarks. It looked like a mini-press conference with all the professional photographers on the stage waiting for the governor to enter through the back of the room.

students in the Piano Bar area of the ship watching the Governor of Puerto Rico's address to the ship

video of the Governor of Puerto Rico addressing to the ship in San Juan, Puerto Rico

(click here for bigger version of the video)

video of the Governor of Puerto Rico, addressing the ship in San Juan, Puerto Rico

(click here for bigger version of the video)

The governor eventually walked in, made a few welcome remarks and one of the students on the ship who is from Puerto Rico (and apparently has never been off the island before this trip) made a short thank you speech to the governor for coming to the ship. We waited some more after all this was over and then we could see a swarm of photographers walking backwards toward the Piano Bar area with the governor walking forward...he was apparently seeing the rest of the ship and photographers were getting his every move. As he walked by, I was near the walkway and he was shaking people's hands...so I got to shake his hand as he passed by. Desmond Tutu was following behind him and that was about the third time I've seen him on the ship (surprisingly, he hasn't made any type of remarks to the shipboard community yet and seems somewhat elusive in general).

An announcement was made following all this that all faculty and staff (and their dependents on board) should go up to the faculty/staff lounge to pick up their passports (passports are held on the ship all in one place) and to go through the customs procedures. Essentially, you get your passport, go to another table set up with about eight customs officers. You get directed to one of them and they just stamp your passport. We are also given a photocopy of our passport to hold on to and we keep that with us and then turn our actual passport back over to the ship after it's stamped by the customs people.

Next, they announced that any students who were going on one of the early field trips would be allowed to go through customs next. After I went through the process, I headed down to Deck 2 to join the line of people who were ready and cleared to disembark the ship.

I went on the first field trip (the tour of Old and New San Juan) and was kind of underwhelmed by it. Our bus guide had a thick accent and was difficult to understand at times. We got off at the San Cristobal Fortress and were allowed to walk around for 45 minutes and then we drove to the Old San Juan area and were allowed to walk around there for about an hour.

San Cristobal Fortress in San Juan, Puerto Rico

view from San Cristobal Fortress in San Juan, Puerto Rico

at San Cristobal Fortress in San Juan, Puerto Rico

me at San Cristobal Fortress in San Juan Puerto Rico

at San Cristobal Fortress in San Juan, Puerto Rico

streets of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

view from the bus - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Some of the students on the trip (and I) were worried we weren't going to be able to get back for our next trip (the hike through El Yunque rainforest) and some people were thinking about taking a cab back to the ship. Our guide told us that he would have us back by 12:45 though so people stayed with the trip. We got back to the ship at 12:50 and at that point I made the decision to skip the rainforest hike. I was already exhausted from being so busy already this past week and knew that if I was going to have any energy for the Welcome Reception event tonight, I should get some sleep. I also have two activities I'm going on tomorrow as well so I made the decision to skip the hike and get about five hours of sleep.

I woke up around 6:30, ate dinner and then went down to get off the ship for the 7:30 meeting time to depart for the Welcome Reception. Essentially, eight different buses (with about 50 students on each bus) were "led" by eight different trip leaders (I was one of them). Two buses went to one university, two more to another, etc. My bus was one of two buses that went to Universidad Interamericana. It was about 10 minutes away from the ship. As a trip leader, I just had to make the announcement that everyone had to sign the sign-in sheet and that if anyone was going to leave on their own, that was okay, but they had to make sure they told me they were leaving. About 10 students decided to eventually do this (not sure if they headed back to the ship on their own or if they went out in town again...probably the latter). At any rate, at the university, local students played music, some students were salsa dancing and they also had a buffet line where they were serving some food.

at the Welcome Reception at Universidad Interamericana in San Juan, Puerto Rico

at the Welcome Reception at Universidad Interamericana in San Juan, Puerto Rico

some longer video I took of the Welcome Reception at the Universidad Interamericana in San Juan, Puerto Rico

(click here for bigger version of the video)