it's about the people

by Emily Nicholls, a.k.a. Coco

Ahh Puerto Rico...the breathtaking scenery, the fabulous weather, the great moods we were all in (other than me when I didn't have a phone). I miss it so much! Thankfully Norman was a steamy 55 degrees when we stepped off the plane, so there was only a 40 degree difference in temperature for me to deal with instead of the 80 we had expected.

I never expected to do all the cool things we did while in Puerto Rico, and I certainly didn't anticipate making the friends I did. I'd never been to Juana Diaz for the Three Kings Day Festival, but getting to go after having my grandmother tell me that when she was a child she was one of the little kids that dressed up was really special. I'd never been to Loiza, the African center of the island, but the art of Samuel Lind and the bomba dancing seemed to let us experience some of the island's magic. In Ponce I got to meet family friends who turned into family, including one very difficult to impress five year old, and reunite with my grandma and even be the first in my immediate family who meet her boyfriend! Vieques was interesting to say the least, but the hotel fiasco and the millions of bug bites we got brought us closer together as a group. I mean, you know you're close when people don't have a problem entering your bedroom to cook breakfast for everyone else, especially when the only other people who have the guts to wake me up in the morning gave life to me. As special as the Bioluminescent Bay in Fajardo was, I wouldn't have appreciated it as much if Kali and I didn't take 18 years in the mangrove channel to reach the group in the bay. The food afterwards was delicious, but I'll always remember the jokes from Jose and Paola about selling my phone number to the guys at the bar who were apparently quite taken with my Spanish-speaking skills.

As cool as everything we did was, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if I did it by myself. All the new people, no, friends I met made this experience special : Kiki, Lola & our buddy Eugene, the class crew, the French guys, the man who owned the island, the Dominican bartender, Wanda and her family, Jose and Evelyn and their kids and many many more. So salud, mis amigos y Puerto Rico, nos vemos pronto.