San Juan, Puerto Rico

I am having an amazing time in Puerto Rico, and this is only the first port!

Saturday:
We arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, very early Saturday morning. A few of us ventured around Old San Juan and got a feel for the city; it’s interesting because the buildings are very old but many things have been Americanized. There are a few McDonalds and Starbucks (which are flooded with Semester at Sea students because they offer free internet). We ventured around and window-shopped for awhile before stopping at a hole-in-the-wall café for $3 mojitos.
After, I had to head back to the ship to take off for a rainforest hike organized by Semester at Sea. After an hour-long winding bus ride through the mountains, we headed into the woods and hiked for an hour or so until we reached a waterfall. Most of the students went swimming but I didn’t have my bathing suit so I just took pictures.
After we went back in to town I went to dinner with four of my new friends at a little restaurant call Lupi’s. Most students went out to the salsa bars but I retired to my room pretty early and went to sleep.

Sunday:
I woke up early and went to the beach with a bunch of SASers. We lounged around and then I went shopping at a few of the boutiques. I bought a bathing suit, which I desperately needed because my bathing suits were in my lost luggage. We hung out at the beach most of the afternoon, and then went into Old San Juan that night to find a salsa bar. I had a great time learning how to salsa and talking to some of the locals. We were out until about 1 a.m. and I was absolutely exhausted when I got home.

Monday:
I woke up a little later today and went to the mall with a bunch of girls. We wanted to buy a few things for the ship – I bought a pillow, some snacks, and a couple of inexpensive dresses to wear around the ship on nice days. We then came in to Old San Juan again and tracked down a café that had free wireless internet, which is where I am now. We depart for Salvador, Brazil, tonight at 11:30 p.m. and we’ll be sailing for six days. It’s crazy to think that we’re just getting started – I already feel like we’ve been going for weeks.

I miss everyone and I’ll upload more pictures as soon as I can.
-E