Fort Island

Fort Island

By: Laura Pope

After a 40-minute ferry ride, I stepped off the three-story ferry today I initially looked around and took in my surroundings. Naturally, my eyes were drawn to the furthest points left, right and above me. I had arrived in Vieques the island is covered with open green areas. A few small colorful concrete buildings and homes make up the island of Vieques.

On the top of the mountain closest to the ferry terminal stands the Fortin Conde de Mirasol. The fort is a Spanish establishment that has stood since the 1840s. Rob Rabin gave us a short history lesson of the islands 4000-year-old history. Robert Rabin came to Vieques 30 years ago has a graduate student from the University of Massachusetts. Rabin never returned to his studies in Massachusetts. Since the 1980s Rabin has taken a personal interests in the well being of Vieques. Rabin was a part of the fight against the United States to seize use of the island for routine explosive practice. In 2003 the Navy seized all use of explosives on the island of Vieques.

Vieques was not an extremely sanitary island. Horse manure lined the streets giving the city an unpleasant odor. The horse manure did not give me a positive impression of the island. Although the island holds an immense history on behalf of Puerto Rico, the scenery of the island resembles the mainland of Puerto Rico in my opinion. From the fort I could not see noticeable physical damages to the island from the Navy explosives. I felt that the island was an accurate depiction of the mainland of Puerto Rico.