“On the first day, every clubhouse met up at Tiger Clubhouse. There we were all meeting the other members from other clubhouses and getting to know each other, just relax by either sleeping, or going to the gym to shoot around in basketball. During the early morning, we took the van to Newark International Airport to board our flight to San Juan International Airport. For some of us this is one of the only times we’ve ever left our home “The Bronx” and now we’re all the way in the Caribbean. After we arrived at San Juan we met our trip leader, Nahely. She took us to New Reef Restaurant where we ate lunch. After lunch, we went to explore Old San Juan and learned about the history of Puerto Rico. Traveling to a new place was already exciting but when we look at the architecture of San Juan, such as the cathedral, the prison, and the castle along the wall built to protect the people of Puerto Rico as its first line of defense from invasion it’s even better. After the tour and exploring the town, we got to go souvenir shopping.
Back at our lodging our leader took us to dinner where we ate pizza. After that, we had our little gathering and talked about tomorrow’s plans and what to expect on this trip. On top of this new experiences the people are something that make the trip all the worthwhile. For example, after getting to know everyone we got to hang out together and watch a movie giving us some fun memories together, something I can look back at a few years from now”.
By Ronald & Harrison
” Before we even touched down, we all had different ideas of what this trip would be. For some of us, like Ronald, the goal was to make friends and build bonds that would last long after we head home. For me, Kwame, I’m looking forward to positive, fun, and impactful experience that would ultimately help me grow and become a better person. Angel couldn’t wait to dive into Puerto Rico’s history, meet locals, and eat a ton of good food. Benji was mentally preparing for the hard work, expecting us to get a lot of exercise mixing cement and doing construction. And for Vinny, he kept his expectations on surviving: pass TSA, get fewer than 20 mosquito bites, zero tick bites, hit 160g of protein a day, and stay alive. This are our expectations for the rest of the trip.
Leaving New York is always a trip, but getting to spend this time exploring with friends has been amazing. Today we linked up with a local expert named Ramón for a paddle boarding session. We split into two groups and hit the water. Ronald really meant it when he wrote that traveling with like-minded people really unlocks your curiosity. It’s just been a really good vibe so far—Angel has already been making new friends, and getting out on the water was the perfect way to take in the island and experience something entirely new.
Ramón was an awesome teacher who knew everything about the land, and that really made this whole adventure great. We got a deep dive into the local ecosystems. We learned about the history of Puerto Rico and how its culture affects the local mangrove and wildlife. Angel took in a lot about San Juan’s capital history and island traditions. But one of the most surreal takeaways for me was finding out that the mangroves we were paddling through are actually over 100 years old. Being surrounded by living history like that was incredible.
If there is one thing we are all going to remember from today, it’s the wipeouts. Balancing your weight on a paddleboard was honestly one of the hardest things we had to do. Honestly when I got to the paddle and started paddling, I was afraid I was going to fall and drown but after a bit of trial and error I managed to get the hang of it, and you know what, it became really fun for me and this is a memory I am always going to remember and cherish. Many of us were not lucky with our balance and because of that most of us fell over during the session. It was scary and fun once you get the hand of it. On that note I want to shout out Benjamin for consistently trying to paddle board while standing up even though he fell off his board 5 times, it really shows how much fun everyone had getting to experience Puerto Rico”.
By Kwame & Ronald
“Today we commenced our project phase of the trip, helping the construction of a house in Villa del Río with the help of Angel, his son Eggy, his wife María who made our food, and William. Our day started with us moving out of the Surfing Turtle eating breakfast and going to Vega Alta, the place we will be residing in for the rest of the trip. We introduced ourselves to the crew that was already working when we got there, slapped on sunblock and prepared to sweat it off during our work. Angel had us prep molds so we can pour concrete into them the next day and we got to know him and Eggy very well.
Many of the members appreciated the translations that the staff and members did to lessen the language barrier and allowed us to get to know our foremen. The construction came easy to a lot of us and the music playing helped a lot with the sun that was trying to broil us all day along. Once done for the day, we regrouped at The Big Yellow House, with some members choosing to go out to the beach in order to cool off and take a well deserved break while the rest decided to stay and relax at the house. Then to top it off, we all had dinner outside at the table, talking about our experience at the worksite and what we all thought about it. Today was an interesting day as well as a learning experience for everyone and we hope to continue having moments like these to look back on and remember”.
By Angel & Benjamin
“We woke up at 7:50 a.m. and had breakfast at 8. We had eggs, sausage, fruit, and French toast. This was our first breakfast at the Big Yellow House. After breakfast, we had some time to rest, and at 8:45 we had a meeting. Around 9, we left for the worksite, where we worked with cement and concrete. Everyone did a great job and got to work in different roles. Some people were shoveling rocks, dirt, and cement into the mixer, while others were mixing, putting cement into buckets, passing the buckets, and pouring the cement into the walls. We worked until around 2 p.m. and were able to complete the project.
After the worksite, we went to Maria’s house for lunch. We had butter chicken with rice and salad. We came home around 3:45 and rested for a little bit before going to the beach. At the beach, we played Marco Polo and did some group activities at the shore. After the beach, everyone came home and took showers. At around 6:30, we had dinner. After dinner, we had a salsa class where our instructor taught us different dance moves and made sure everyone participated. Everyone tried their best, but we definitely did not dance as well as our instructor.
We ended the night by giving shout-outs to others and going over the schedule for Day 5. During free time, Bryson, Mr. Julian, Jaden, Mr. Jonathan, Harrison, and Christian played basketball until 9:30 p.m. and had some nice talks about basketball. After that, we were done for the day. Everyone turned the lights off at 10 p.m. and went to bed. Overall, it was a really good day, and we got a lot done while also having fun together”.
By Bryson & Jaden
“Today, we started by waking up at 7:30 to meet our breakfast deadline at 8:00. We ate sausage, eggs, fruit, pancakes, and more. Afterward, we took a drive to the community where we helped build a new structure. Today, however, we worked on taking down parts of the wood in the construction. Although it was more of a relaxing day, we were still hard at work. We worked as a team to take down boards and nails, and even though it rained a couple of times, we kept working.
I also learned about the hard work that construction workers endure and that it’s important to appreciate what you have. After we left, we stayed at the Big Yellow House until dinner with the people we worked with at the community. It was honestly an amazing time and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We can’t wait to try out more opportunities like this”.
By Ali & Christian