Latino Language, Pedagogy and Culture Immersion Institute in Puerto Rico

7/30/09

Wow! I am exhausted yet so alive. Today has been the most memorable day here to date. Every place we visited and experienced has left a Kodak moment in my heart. Today was the day I have been looking forward to most this week, and it exceeded my expectations. The day started early, but the excitement made it much easier to bear. The guide for the day took us to Cabo Rojo to a National Wildlife Refuge. Here we got up close and personal with sea monkeys and learned how sea salt is manufactured. It is amazing how smart animals are. For example, the sea monkeys flourish in the water with a tremendously high salinity, while the birds know not to go near it because it will dry up their legs.

Our next stop was the light house in Cabo Rojo. The scene was breath taking. We stood on cliffs above the crystal clear blue water, watching the waves crash against the rocks. I cannot express in words the serenity of the scenery. It is in the breath taking moments like this I lose myself in the true untamed beauty of nature.

The next destination was Las Lajas. After a short boat ride to the island of marine science, we were greeted by an unimaginable amount of iguanas. It was shocking to see so many of them everywhere! We loaded onto four boats, each with a masters or graduate student at the University as the captain. The boat ride there was exciting, and left me dripping from head to toe. It would be in a persons best interest to only wear a bathing suit for the ride, and to not bring anything that could potentially be ruined by water. Luckily my camera survived, and I was able to capture the drier moments.

Our first stop was off a coral reef. We were only able to access it because we were with the University. It is inaccessible to outside people. The guide discussed the reef, while his students were snorkeling around us. They were collecting specimens for us to see and the guide to talk about. The objects found were sea urchins, coral, sea stars, sea cucumbers, and a few others. Afterwards, we headed out to the reef to snorkel. I was not prepared for this trip because you do not have the opportunity to rent or buy snorkeling equipment here. I was lucky enough that the instructor allowed me to use his gear. Being a physical educator, I am highly active and explored every inch of the reef. I saw beautiful coral and tropical fish, all sizes. When it was time to return to the boat, I struggled to swim that far against the waves and without flippers. After a good exercise, I was back on the boat with a smile. The truth is my whole childhood; I aspired to be a marine biologist. And here I was, listening and learning from people pursuing their love for sea life. Could anyone say jealous a little, okay maybe a lot??

The second destination was canals with mangroves. Our student guide maneuvered us through very small channels. She told us that yesterday she had seen two manatees in the bay, so the whole time we were looking for them. Unfortunately, we did not see any. When we returned back to the marine biology island, our guide gave us fresh mangoes. The skin of the mango was very thick, and we watched the guide give some to the iguanas. A few brave souls, including myself, feed some of the mango to them. Before long, fifteen iguanas were surrounding us fighting over the little pieces. It was exciting to see, but they did get very close to us, which made me slightly anxious and nervous. We went back to the small town for dinner before returning again for our trip to the bio luminescent bay.

The bay is an area where microorganisms light up like fireflies in the ocean. When you are swimming with them in the water and you move around, your skin lights up! It was difficult to see directly in the moonlight because it was more than a half moon, but against the darkness of the ship, you could see the small speckles of light. It was truly amazing to experience such a natural phenomenon. It was very disheartening to hear that these bays are disappearing because of commercialization. Why can't we as humans respect and protect the boundaries of nature?

One of the main advantages so far here is that all of our tour guides have been extrememly interesting and very well informed. I have gained such a wide array of knowledge from this simply amazing trip. We have a free weekend starting tomorrow and I should be well rested, so it is time to leave the bar and enter dreamland. Buenos Noches!