A Welcoming Experience

Latino Language, Pedagogy and Culture Immersion Institute in Puerto Rico

On Sunday morning we took a bus tour around Mayaguez to get better acquainted with the city. We stopped at the Brazo Gitano Franco shop where we were invited for a taste test of some brazos gitanos (jelly rolls), for which Franco is famous. They sell them in many different flavors, including standard flavors like creme and strawberry, and some others I wouldn't have thought of, such as guava and carrot. We also passed a large outdoor market where people were selling fruits and juices, among other things, from tents and truck beds. As we drove, our guide, Olga, pointed out various places around town where buildings have become piles of rubble. She said they are tearing down the old buildings in order to build new ones for the 2010 Caribbean Games that will be held in Mayaguez. It sounds like Mayaguez is getting a makeover for the special occasion. We also took a brief tour of the campus of the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, where we will be having our Spanish classes each morning. We didn't get to go inside the buildings since everything was closed for the weekend, but it was still good to get an introduction to the campus.

In the afternoon Olga took us to a beach at Cabo Rojo that was very family oriented and relaxed, with boats anchored close to the shore. We didn't mind when it started to rain (the daily afternoon rain of summer), but as soon as we heard thunder we scrambled out of the water. I was surprised to see that some of the locals stayed in the water even as we watched lightning strike the water off in the distance.

On the way back we stopped to get coconuts at a little place where you basically order through a hole in the wall and they chop the end off your coconut and stick a straw in it so you can drink the liquid inside. I always thought coconut milk was supposed to be white and sweet, but it just tasted like coconutty water. When you're done drinking you can take it back to have it cut in half so you can eat the meat inside by carving it out with a piece of the skin, which took a bit of skill.

In the evening we switched gears for a fabulous dinner at the house of the rector of the university (equivalent to the president of a university in the U.S.). As we entered, we were greeted with glasses of punch and trays of empanadillas before sitting down to a lovely meal of typical Puerto Rican foods out on the porch overlooking the campus. The rector was very welcoming and friendly, the kind of person who makes everyone he meets feel special. He had us each introduce ourselves one by one. We also got to meet the dean and the professors who would be our Spanish teachers, as well as the magnificent Annie, who put the whole evening together. I very much enjoyed chatting with her and hearing the details behind the scenes. It's amazing that even though the rector has a very busy schedule, he took the time to invite us into his home. We feel very welcome here!

posted by Jerika at 6:56 PM