And it was delicious.

Yesterday our flight was supposed to depart at 10:40 am, but thanks to the Nor’easter, we were delayed until 12:40 pm (Nor’easter: 1 Us: 0). Once our flight attendants made it at 1:45, we were ready for takeoff at 3:00 pm. It was an event. After we were finally in the air, it was smoothing sailing… I mean flying. We arrived right around 8:00 pm, checked in and had dinner and called it a night.

Although our morning was welcomed with rain, it quickly cleared in time for a short presentation on the history of Puerto Rico and Amizade’s partner organization, Caras. We also got to meet the Amizade site director in Puerto Rico, Michael. After our presentations we had a walking tour of the murals of Santurce. In an area still recovering in the wake of disaster, the murals paint the community with vibrance and life.

At the end of the morning, we found ourselves at Café del Meson. Enter the dynamite Cuban sandwich. It was the most majestic sandwich in the world. Too bad I forgot to get a picture. Whoopsies.

Our afternoon was meant to be a boat tour around the lagoon, but instead we had our first lesson in flexibility! With waters being too choppy in the aftermath of the Nor’easter (Nor’easter: 2 Us: 0) we had to reschedule. Instead, our tour of Old San Juan was moved up to this afternoon. Parked next to the main port of San Juan, we got to see two large cruise ships about to set sail. We walked along the brick sidewalks up and down the many hills of Old San Juan, taking in the views of the pastel painted buildings and the sounds of the open door bars.

We stopped for a while at Castillo San Felipe del Morro, a citadel built to protect Puerto Rico’s main harbor and regulate the traffic of merchant ships and war ships. El Morro was the perfect spot to take in the beautiful scenery offered by Old San Juan.

Oh, you were taking a picture? I didn’t notice.

We had a little time to shop in Old San Juan, although at 6:00 pm on a Sunday, it was time for much of the city to start sleeping. Luckily the piña colada stand was still open for a quick treat before we headed back to Santurce for dinner.

(Don’t worry mom, there’s no alcohol!)

Tomorrow we start our service projects with Caras. Until then, buenos noches, all!