What follows is a summary video of my experience in Puerto Rico. It is approximately 8 minutes in length. It was done on a MacBook notebook using IMovie 08 software. When it comes up, you may want to double click on it to get to You Tube. You can then enlarge it to full screen.
Thanks to Matt from State College and Suzanne from Penn State York for helping us edit and put this final video presentation together. There are some audio and video glitches, but that was the operator's (me) fault - not the hardware or software.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Friday, El Morro, the Museums, Walking tour of El Viejo San Juan
Drawbrige across the moat to the entrance to El Morro
The lighthouse at El Morro. Notice the black side facing the mainland, the light side facing the ocean.
I had mentioned earlier that a decision was made to see and spend more time in San Juan on Friday. I am glad that we did, because I got to wander around and see some of the fine architecture and historical sites. We also visited a muesuem where we saw a variety of artifacts. I will post some of the pictures here and will limit the text. The pictures may speak for themselves, or they might make you ask for further clarification. In my attempt to use this blog as an introductory education tool, this is my intent.
Empty "moat"
Usual gang of suspects. Ignacio addressing the crowd.
Armaments & cannon facing the sea.
The tri-colors: United States, Puerto Rico, Burgandy (Spain)
Access from the main part of the castle to military advantage points facing the sea. Extremly low and narrow tunnels. People were not very big at this time.
"Courtyard" at the Museum; a former military garrion building
Religious statue in the museum.
Primative weapons; including a crossbow
Part of an historical, chronological timeline
Some pottery artifacts
A mirimba (wooden)
A selection of carnival masks
Ceremonial ourfits (above)
Some more religious artworks: Wisemen on Donkeys & The Last Supper
Solid wood constructed boat
Leaving the museum: Courtyard and Architecture
Street name with the name of the saint in a portrait on the building
Some of the many types of flora
San Juan Gate
Plazuela de la Rogativa
I finally got batteries!
Walgreens
Mean movie lady
Relaxing by the water on Friday afternoon before the flight home tomorrow.
The lighthouse at El Morro. Notice the black side facing the mainland, the light side facing the ocean.
I had mentioned earlier that a decision was made to see and spend more time in San Juan on Friday. I am glad that we did, because I got to wander around and see some of the fine architecture and historical sites. We also visited a muesuem where we saw a variety of artifacts. I will post some of the pictures here and will limit the text. The pictures may speak for themselves, or they might make you ask for further clarification. In my attempt to use this blog as an introductory education tool, this is my intent.
Empty "moat"
Usual gang of suspects. Ignacio addressing the crowd.
Armaments & cannon facing the sea.
The tri-colors: United States, Puerto Rico, Burgandy (Spain)
Access from the main part of the castle to military advantage points facing the sea. Extremly low and narrow tunnels. People were not very big at this time. 
"Courtyard" at the Museum; a former military garrion building
Religious statue in the museum.
Primative weapons; including a crossbow
Part of an historical, chronological timeline Some pottery artifacts
A mirimba (wooden)
A selection of carnival masks
Ceremonial ourfits (above)
Some more religious artworks: Wisemen on Donkeys & The Last Supper
Solid wood constructed boat
Leaving the museum: Courtyard and Architecture
Street name with the name of the saint in a portrait on the building
Some of the many types of flora
San Juan Gate
Plazuela de la Rogativa
I finally got batteries!
Walgreens
Mean movie lady
Relaxing by the water on Friday afternoon before the flight home tomorrow.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
History of Education in Puerto Rico
After lunch we returned to campus and attended a 2 hour presentation on the history and current events in education in Puerto Rico. This was done by Dr. Naomi Vega (featured in the video.) Some of the more interesting facts from this class were that the entire island of Puerto Rico is only 3,500 square miles - 35 miles from north to south and 100 miles across west to east.
The population is approximately 3.4 million on the island and approximately another 5 million on the mainland. On the island, only about 20% of the population is fluent in English. This made it somewhat difficult to get around if you did not know Spanish. The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, and even Mexico were easier to get around with English than Puerto Rico was with no Spanish fluency. This is part of the cultural gap that in some places or instances, "real" Puerto Ricans do not speak English as the primary language, even though they are a territory of the United States - they speak Spanish. Even people of Puerto Rican descent who are born in the United States and who speak English may not be considered by some to be "real" Puerto Ricans. In fact, there is a term called "Nuyoricans" for those of mainland descent, especially New Yorkers. It may or may not be derogitive, depending on the context in which it is used. This was also true for some of the words and phrases we were exposed to in our Spanish classes.
Some interesting numbers Dr. Vega showed us were:
Public schools = 1,523
Students = 517,113
Teachers = 42, 979
Private schools = 987
Bi-lingual schools = 174
Students = 224, 164
She noted that a large majority of middle and upper class families have their children enrolled in private schools. Some of the more expensive schools are Robinson, Baldwin, and St. Johns, Condado.
One note that I took from this class is that the educational system is a highly charged political arena, not unlike what we have here on the mainland.
The population is approximately 3.4 million on the island and approximately another 5 million on the mainland. On the island, only about 20% of the population is fluent in English. This made it somewhat difficult to get around if you did not know Spanish. The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, and even Mexico were easier to get around with English than Puerto Rico was with no Spanish fluency. This is part of the cultural gap that in some places or instances, "real" Puerto Ricans do not speak English as the primary language, even though they are a territory of the United States - they speak Spanish. Even people of Puerto Rican descent who are born in the United States and who speak English may not be considered by some to be "real" Puerto Ricans. In fact, there is a term called "Nuyoricans" for those of mainland descent, especially New Yorkers. It may or may not be derogitive, depending on the context in which it is used. This was also true for some of the words and phrases we were exposed to in our Spanish classes.
Some interesting numbers Dr. Vega showed us were:
Public schools = 1,523
Students = 517,113
Teachers = 42, 979
Private schools = 987
Bi-lingual schools = 174
Students = 224, 164
She noted that a large majority of middle and upper class families have their children enrolled in private schools. Some of the more expensive schools are Robinson, Baldwin, and St. Johns, Condado.
One note that I took from this class is that the educational system is a highly charged political arena, not unlike what we have here on the mainland.
The Community of La Perla
B-ball on the beach. 
During our visit to La Perla, Jorge, the community leader met us at the school and took us on an escorted visit to the community down and behind the fortress walls the face the ocean. The are two major points here: had we not been escorted, we would not be welcome in the community, second, the land the community sits on is prime real estate that at some point will most likely be involved in a local political battle for resort development. The name "Trump" was mentioned, but I have no supporting evidence to back it up.
Below are some pictures of our group descending into La Perla as well as some shots of Jorge's Head Start and medical center. I mentioned that this is an economically distressed area and the people are very protective of their property and community. Had it not been for Jorge, this trip could have turned out differently, as I was to find out the next day.
Jorge holding an aeiral view of La Perla and a more perspective view of it. You should be able to see why this land would be so valuable to any developer. Location, location, location!
I'm not sure if this guy is a pet or a future dinner.
After leaving La Perla, we walked a couple of blocks and had lunch at a small, local restarurant called El Jibarito (pictured below, the green building). I was to find out later that this is a local hangout where locals flock for food their mothers used to make. Frommer's portable Puerto Rico guide describes the restaurant as " set within a residential section of Old San Juan that's a few blocks removed from the showcase-style tourist haunts, this is a bustling local restaurant that's known to virtually everyone in the Old City for its avid loyalty to the kind of cuisine that many sanjuaneros remember from their childhoods." This was confirmed by sitting next to a table with 2 rangers from the National Park Service who work at El Morro.
Later that evening, we had an extended team meeting at another El Viejo San Juan restaurant. It was decided, and voted upon, that we switch out our Friday trip to Ponce, on the southern end of the island, and spend some more time in El Viejo San Juan. This would allow us to actually enter El Morro instead of just viewing it from afar. Below is a picture of the meeting as well as some of the biggest bananas (right off the tree) that I have ever seen. They were in the hallway of the restaurant.
During our visit to La Perla, Jorge, the community leader met us at the school and took us on an escorted visit to the community down and behind the fortress walls the face the ocean. The are two major points here: had we not been escorted, we would not be welcome in the community, second, the land the community sits on is prime real estate that at some point will most likely be involved in a local political battle for resort development. The name "Trump" was mentioned, but I have no supporting evidence to back it up.
Below are some pictures of our group descending into La Perla as well as some shots of Jorge's Head Start and medical center. I mentioned that this is an economically distressed area and the people are very protective of their property and community. Had it not been for Jorge, this trip could have turned out differently, as I was to find out the next day.
Jorge holding an aeiral view of La Perla and a more perspective view of it. You should be able to see why this land would be so valuable to any developer. Location, location, location!
I'm not sure if this guy is a pet or a future dinner.
After leaving La Perla, we walked a couple of blocks and had lunch at a small, local restarurant called El Jibarito (pictured below, the green building). I was to find out later that this is a local hangout where locals flock for food their mothers used to make. Frommer's portable Puerto Rico guide describes the restaurant as " set within a residential section of Old San Juan that's a few blocks removed from the showcase-style tourist haunts, this is a bustling local restaurant that's known to virtually everyone in the Old City for its avid loyalty to the kind of cuisine that many sanjuaneros remember from their childhoods." This was confirmed by sitting next to a table with 2 rangers from the National Park Service who work at El Morro.
Later that evening, we had an extended team meeting at another El Viejo San Juan restaurant. It was decided, and voted upon, that we switch out our Friday trip to Ponce, on the southern end of the island, and spend some more time in El Viejo San Juan. This would allow us to actually enter El Morro instead of just viewing it from afar. Below is a picture of the meeting as well as some of the biggest bananas (right off the tree) that I have ever seen. They were in the hallway of the restaurant.
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