Tyrone is a native of Puerto Rico. He currently lives in Luquillo and is a high school ESL teacher. This will be Tyrone’s sixth year with Global Works. He believes in the enlightenment of young minds by helping his own community while also helping GW participants understand his culture. 
Sarah has been and avid traveler from the start! She has been traveling to Mexico with her family since she was in Kindergarten. When the decision came to choose a focus for her college education, the choice was simple: Spanish! 
Betsy is excited to return for her fourth summer as a GW leader with experience in Fiji and Puerto Rico. She works during the school year as a music teacher and an oil painter and fills her free time with yoga meditation, playing in a band 
Emily has been living in Vieques, Puerto Rico for four and a half years and has fallen in love with Puerto Rico. She loves to explore the Rainforests and snorkel and scuba dive in the coral reefs and ride her horse on the beach. Welcome Global Works travelers, parents and friends. We are excited to share with you trip updates from around the world. As our main office receives updates from the trips we will update the page as we receive news from the field.
The Puerto Rico Group has arrived safely and their trip is off to a great start! We will be posting in the next few days with further updates and photos. Stay tuned…
Update #1:
Buenos dias from Puerto Rico! What a fantastic adventure this trip has been so far. Our students are some of the most hard-working, open-minded participants we’ve ever met. Check out some of the stories from the first few days of bonding and work that we’ve had:
Day 1– AIRPORT DAY!
Day 2– “I don’t think any of us realized that by day 2 we would already have experienced HARDCORE bonding, exploring caves in sporting helmets, seeing the world’s cutest Puerto Rican children, and finishing it with one of the best meals we’ve ever had. I looked around and all 20 of us were staring at the landscape in front of us, taking it all in—we couldn’t believe how lucky we were. When we visited the community we would be working with, what struck me was the two youngest kids’ giant smiles, constantly laughing and playing, and the clear determination from Tita [one of the women in the village who's house we are working on]. These people deserve G.W.’s service and I can’t wait to start working with them tomorrow.”
Day 3– “We spent all day actually laying cement and making the floor for Tito and Yashira’s house. It was such hard work, full of sweat and lots of bonding. It was such a great feeling to look at our hard work paying off. Then we had a hardcore meeting where we learned all about the history of Puerto Rico. I feel like I was really able to connect better with the people now that I can understand their situation better. Can’t wait to make more cement tomorrow!”
Day 4– “…After a strenuous triple load of cement, one of our leaders taught us several yoga moves to help keep our backs healthy. Once we got through the other batches (thanks to teamwork) we returned to the Finca [our lodging] to enjoy a relaxing dip in the pool”
Day 5– “Everyone gets along well and it’s so fun making new friends. We are all tired from our hard work so we will sleep well tonight!”
Update #2:
Day 6 — Today we broke up into groups to accomplish different tasks. “Today was pretty cool. We got to help Julio dig the foundation for his new home…Julio told us many stories about his life…” and about how he needed a new home for him and his three children. “After that we came home to the Finca and went to sleep. We were so tired and exhaused from the work but the exhaustion felt good because we knew that we were doing something helpful.”
Day 7 – Today we had a chance to spend time on the beach with some of the community members we have been working to help all week. “I had a blast playing in the water and the sand with Julio’s son, Julito!” It was so great to feel like we not only made friends but that we made such a big difference in their lives. I know they will never forget us and that we will always remember them!
Day 8 — Today we left the Finca with sadness yet with excitement to move on down the road to our next destination. We spent the day in Old San Juan were we visited El Morro, “the most beautiful historic landmark in Puerto Rico,” as it was named by Colin. The old walls of the fort held turets were we could stand in and look out at the beautiful Atlantic and only wonder what it was like to be a Spanish soldier back in the 1500′s. In the afternoon we had a taste of culture with a Salsa lesson taught by a professional dancer. We reached our new home for the next few days up in the rainforest and were welcomed by the overwhelming sound of the coqui frogs. What a difference from the city!
Day 9– When we woke up this morning we realized that we were surrounded by trees. The air is fresher and the temperature is much cooler up here. We planted some different plants along their ethnobotanical trail and learned about some different types of trees and plants. We also saw some terraces the Global Works groups made last summer. Later on after a great dinner we watched a presentation about Las Casas and about sustainable forestry, which helped us understand why we are doing community service way up here in the mountains.
Day 10 – Today we worked some more in the forest digging and planting plants. It was hard work digging in the wet rainforest mud, but we were helping them fight erosion so it was worth it. In the afternoon “we went to a beautiful creek in the mountains where we had a chance to teach Puerto Rican teenagers English and exercise our new Spanish skills. Language was anything but a barrier because we all had a chance to share laughs.” It is July 4th and it seems that lots of people here were also celebrating by enjoying the outdoors. We do miss fireworks, but tonight we will have live music back at the homestead!
Photos coming soon…
Photo Update:
Photos:
Update #3:
Day 11- Today was a more “laid back day” in the rainforest. Some of us went on a nature walk on which we learned about the different types of trees including mahogany and species native to Puerto Rico as well as how to identify them and their leaves. We got a chance to embrace the rainforest…the weather was warm and when it got to hot a cooling rain fell on our shoulders. We finally stepped through a curtain of leaves and climbed down the unbeaten path to the huge ceiba tree. It was huge and its roots stretched out. Its trunk was covered with thorns…and afterwards we went to the Bamboo Palace which was a huge cluster of bamboo trees that we were able to stand in.
Day 12- Today we woke up in Las Casas de las Selva, packed and cleaned up and left for Luquillo Beach. After we arrived at our hotel we then went to El Yunque National Park. We drove down the road deeper into the park to the see a waterfall. We then went to a beautiful viewing area where we could look out at the mountains and the ocean. We could look down on the town that were were staying in the next few days. Later on we had a fun dinner at a Mexican Restaurant and went home for a nice night of sleep to the sound of waves.
Day 13- It was amazing to wake up on day 13 in a giant comfy bed and right on the beach ready to relax. We spent all day at the beach having so much fun. Wave jumping, swimming, boogie boarding, and laughing were high points of the times we weren’t surfing. It was hilarious to watch all of my new friends hittin the waves and getting up on the surf boards! Two of the guys even rode backwards and did dances on the boards as they rode the waves. Later on we had an amazing dinner at a local pasta joint. We then went kayaking to the Bio Bay and it was an amazing and beautiful experience. A powerful memory for sure. One of the best trip days so far without a doubt!
Day 14- Today was our last day of our fantastic Puerto Rico trip. We started it off with a leisurely pancake breakfast and then took a drive to a local river. We cooled our sunburns in the chilly river water and played amongst the rocks. We then drove to a local restaurant for a lunch of fresh fish and rice and beans. Early evening we hopped on a beautiful catamaran for a sail to an island where we snorkeled and sunbathed. The conch call beckoned us back to the boat and we climbed back in only to sail back with the sunset behind us. Back at the hotel we had some deep conversation over pizza and a few teary pictures before we got packed for our flights tomorrow.