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.

Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, La Perla

This morning we again met at the Portico for a visit to Abraham Lincoln Elementary School (above)in La Perla. The route took us along the Atlantic Ocean, which is just across the street from the school. Since school was not starting until the following week, we were able to speak with some of the teachers who were in preparing their rooms and plans for when school starts, just like we'll be doing when we get home next week.



The handmade sign to the left is difficult to read in this picture, but when enlarged, it says "educacion especial" or in English, special education. The special ed teacher, Ms. Zaida Guzman, told us that her class was composed of pre-school autistic students. The teachers told us they had a lot of the same concerns that we deal with: having students finish work, especially writing assignments. One interesting story involved a student requesting that they have a dramatization of what winter would be like with snow. Snow is something they only see on TV, movies, or pictures. This reminded me of living in Los Angeles where Santa Claus walked around in shorts. You don't realize the differences in culture until you actually experience it.

Below are some pictures of the school, inside and out. The school literally faces the Atlantic Ocean. There's the school, the road, then the ocean. It serves a wide range of economic levels. There are children from well to do families, middle class families, and the children who live in the more economically depressed area of La Perla itself. There were not a lot of books in the library compared to some of the schools around here.
























Looking from the front of the Abraham Lincoln Elementary School across the street towards the Atlantic Ocean.