Fiesty Cab Drivers TO THE EXTREME

SO, I was in San Juan, Puerto Rico from Wednesday to Friday! We arrived in SJ right on time at 8am. I was one of the first ones to get off the ship because I had a walking tour of the city scheduled for early that morning. The whole process was very, very efficient even though we had to show our passport face to face with customs officials. The island was similar to how I remembered it from being there 3 years ago for just one night. Everyone else was fairly excited about our first part but because I had already been there, I was just kind of like, okaaaaay.

First, we went to El Morro, an historic fort that we saw as we were coming into port. The vistas were beautiful and we could even see the bad neighborhood, La Perla, that we were warned not to venture into. Then we found ourselves walking through the gorgeous architecture of Old San Juan. So many bright colors, fountains, and statues! It was truly breathtaking and just the beginning of my newfound appreciation for Puerto Rico.

Our tour guide told us that we then only had 45 minutes to find lunch somewhere so myself and 4 other kids decided to go off on our own. We ended up wandering into Barra China, apparently the birthplace of the pina coladas, where we got free samples and then ordered our own. Lunch was fantastic though there were like 3 other tables full of SAS students there. It's just because SJ is small so I doubt it will be the same once we hit Brazil on Saturday! Then, we ran into a Starbucks and I, of course, had to have my picture taken in front of it. It's my goal to have my picture taken at a Starbucks in every country we go to so that is numero uno.

I relaxed for a bit once we walked all the way back to the ship before meeting up with a bunch of new friends to go to the welcome reception at Sacred Heart University. When we rolled up on the bus, the Puerto Rican students were dancing, singing, and playing music. There was even this guy dancing around on these crazy stilts. They led us to a few stations and they served us homemade pina coladas though I didn't really taste the pina part of the drink. We went upstairs to their student center where one of their deans talked. They performed some modern hip-hop and traditional dances before giving us a salsa lesson. I feel like such a nerd but I'm extremely giddy that I now know how to freaking salsa dance! We tried some local dishes and then watched a dance contest between our fellow SAS shipmates which was quite hilarious!

Thursday morning, I journeyed to te El Yunque rainforest on another part of the island. It wasn't too, too hot and it was more exotic that I expected. We were definitely up in the hilly areas. Our tour guide knew a lot about the forest and showed us many trees and butteflies. I even spotted a tiny lizard-thank god, I did not run into any snakes! I went swimming in a waterfall-so, so cold, I'm not even kidding! But I must go to beddie now. We're losing another hour tonight once again. More about my adventures in Puerto Rico tomorrow though for shizzle!