Our First days in Puerto Rico

Why hello there.  This is Carmela.  For those who follow our blog but don’t know me personally, I am neither one of the students, nor am I one of the staff at the Robert J. Lister Academy; nonetheless I love this school and the work they are doing!  As suspected, I am not only connected and bonded to the school because Bryan, the teacher of this Sustainable Ed class also happens to be my husband, but am drawn to the school because of the students.  Over the course of the year I have watched these students work hard, struggle, fall down (both literally and figuratively), pick themselves up (again both literally and figuratively), support each other when rising seemed too difficult on their own and finally achieve their goal… and here we are, in beautiful Puerto Rico!  We did it!

I suppose if we were to measure the impact of this experience by the number of laughs, the number of bruises and the level of us getting dirty … then I would say, this experience has been beyond HUGE (and it’s only been 3 days)!

Just to give a sampling of what we’ve been doing to keep us busy in our short time here, we:

• -          Explored in and around the amazing Cueva Clara (a beautiful cave in Del Rio Camuy)
• -          Stepped back in time hundreds of years at the Parque Ceremonial Indigena de Caguana (a sacred meeting place of the original inhabitants of Puerto Rico)
• -          Learned about and saw the world’s largest single dish radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory
• -          Went horseback riding at Hacienda Carabali Ranch – a sprawling 600 acres of diverse terrain at the base of El Yunque National Rain Forrest.  Where we walked, trotted, cantered and some of us even galloped the horses – which was all the more impressive as at least half of the group had never been on a horse before.  A personal favorite was getting a chance to ride ahead and turn around to watch the rest of the group trot/canter up the path with each rider wearing the same ‘Holy smokes I’m running a horse!’-perma-grin-expression on their faces.  It was spectacular!  As an added bonus we rode to a river site and dismounted for half an hour to play in the water and have our faces painted with the mineral clay from the river banks.
• -          Finally, we explored the El Yunque rain forest where highlights included seeing the Cascada La Coca waterfall, climbing the stairs of the Yokahu Tower to see breath-taking views from the top and lastly going extreme-hand-over–foot hiking into the woods with our amazing guide, Mario, to a remote waterfall .  Admittedly, I had not intended to see the falls up close and personal, but after a spectacularly graceless slip into the water, I joined the others and am really grateful I got drawn into the fun.

For years Bryan has talked about the power of travelling with students and I thought I understood what he meant when he shared his experiences and stories.  It wasn’t until now that I realized I had no idea or true appreciation for the profound impact this kind of experiential learning can have.  As if I wasn’t already impressed with the students (and staff – Bryan and Ellen rock!) with everything they did to get here, seeing the students experience everything that is new, inspiring, sometimes scary and awe-inducing AND being part of it with them, is life changing.  I am looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead and can’t wait to see even more growth in the days to follow.  Here’s to embracing the mantra: ‘Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.’