Puerto Rico - Day 2-Day 4

I started my Puerto Rico blog quite optimistically - labeling Day 1 as if I would need to note each day of posting because there would be so many. In my head I had grand ideas of jealousy-inspiring pictures of beaches and tropical scenes. Instead, this was the most frequent view I had for a majority of the trip:



Puerto Rico is not a big island. I can say this confidently, because I have seen all of it. From the window of this van, of which I spent at least half of my trip in. A big part of our our visit was spent visiting the damaged areas and seeing first hand what the survivors experienced.

Overall, Puerto Rico was absolutely lovely. The people were more hospitable and generous than anywhere I've visited. However, I had very little opportunity to explore and enjoy the island (outside of the van) because we worked long hours and it was very intense. We were all completely exhausted by the end of the day. It was interesting, yes; insightful, yes; but incredibly tiring as well.

I definitely left with the feeling I need to return again.

Puerto Rico - Day 1

Yay! I'm finally in Puerto Rico. I'm here for work, on a site visit for a program following some severe storms and flooding back in September. I never thought I'd make it. I left my house at 4 something this morning, and didn't get into my hotel until after 5 pm. Yikes. I spent a majority of the day in the Ft. Lauderdale airport, a place I would list as awful. Seriously. I was in a terminal with about 10 gates, and wasn't able to leave to get food (weird). That left me with a hot dog stand and a dunkin donuts that offered old sandwiches. How do I know they were old? Because I ate one during my 3 hour delay.

Today was a good reality check for me that maybe the east coast is getting to me more than I realized. I found myself on several occasions getting very impatient by how slow people were - this included in any line, boarding a plane, etc. I really think I've gotten used to the faster pace that seems the norm in DC. I mean - even at starbucks. DC may have horrendously long lines but they know how to move people through.

I'm excited to see how the rest of this visit goes. Last observation - Ft. Lauderale was overrun by rhinestone watches. Who knew?