Kenia in the Middle

Hapoy Wednesday, I woke up in a rainstorm this morning! It’s funny because I thought it’d be pouring all day but by the time Yvette picked me up and we drove to the volunteering location it had already stopped. At least the plants got a little extra water though! Today we went back to the community from yesterday, but with a different and older group of kids. They all came for a school trip to help out and learn more about conservation. It was nice having an older group of kids today because we got a lot more work done around the area! We pruned a ton of trees in attempt to open up the view of the lagoon as it once was fully visible. They are currently trying to get a permit to knock down the trees fully and restore the rotting wood on the walkway. Now with me saying they want to knock the trees down that doesn’t mean they don’t like the trees, they have just become overgrown and are now obstructing not only the view but the wooden dock alongside the lagoon that was there for the community to enjoy prior to hurricane Maria. Once they fully clean up the area they hope to focus on planting more native species. So while one group was helping prune another was off working in their community garden! We helped compost and took out so many weeds. Lastly when people started getting tired they rotated into the group of people that were finishing up decorating and painting signs from yesterday. When we all finished up we took a walk through the community to get a local treat called a limber, I believe I mentioned what these were in an earlier post. An older woman living in the community was trying to sell as many as she could before they melted because her power went out. It’s pretty typical for that to happen in Puerto Rico sadly, due to the fact they only have one unreliable electrical company throughout the whole island. Everyone was so excited to try the limbers so she was happy we were all there to help out that day. She had, parcha, tamarind, soursop, cherry, and coconut flavors! I got the tamarind because they ran out of parcha, but it was still delicious. We headed back to the hostel and as always I got ready for the beach. At this point I’ve done everything exciting that you do when you come here for vacation so now it’s felt more like I’m living here and gotten into a routine. Which I do in fact love because if you know me you know I love my routines! I spent some time on the roof doing homework once I got back while I ate my dinner. I can not wait to get back to my beautiful kitchen at home! As much as I love it here I miss being able to cook more varieties of food. I worked out on the roof after dinner, went on a beautiful run, then went to bed around 11ish. We’re going back to the garden tomorrow for my last few days and can’t wait to see what we do!