Adios hermanos y hermanas (good-bye brothers and sisters),

We said our good-byes yesterday to all those that we had the pleasure of working alongside, many memories were created, laughter was abundant, and our great LORD was evident in everything that took place throughout the week.

As exhausted as we were this morning, our team made it out of bed.  As the saying goes, “El camarón que se duerme, se llevara por el curriente.” This is a dicho, or saying, that translates as “The shrimp that sleeps will get carried away by the current.”  These shrimps wanted to go to San Juan so we wanted to avoid getting carried away by the current!

Our final day of the trip consisted of sight-seeing in the historic part of Old San Juan. When we arrived we said goodbye to Bill, who had planned on remaining in Puerto Rico a few extra days for personal exploration. The rest of us all split up, and had our own adventures. Some of us went to a beautiful historic church, some of us browsed the street vendors for momentos, and some of us viewed the ruins of the castle entitled El Castillo de San Felipe de Los Morros. We all soaked up our last day in Puerto Rico. One gesture which displayed the characteristic generosity of the Puerto Rican people was a blessing Cheyenne and Kelly received from 2 strangers. They had started a conversation with a friendly couple, and after chatting for a while, the couple offered to walk with Cheyenne and Kelly to show them the way to the castle. Not only did they act as a guide, but they treated the girls to refreshing limbres, which are kind of like coconut popsicles in a cup. This deed was representative of the grateful, gracious, and welcoming attitude of all of those we had met throughout the week. We received only thanks from the Puerto Rican’s we had encountered, even as tension and bitterness could’ve been understandably present. In addition to coming away with a sense of community and mutual brotherly love, we are coming away with many random talents, including: driving on impossibly narrow roads without clipping an oncoming vehicle, inventing Spanglish, dressing up with pajama pants and cheap jewelry (sorry you missed this), Olympic tarp-folding (this is totally going to be a sport in the upcoming Olympics), and speed-painting as it thunders.

 

We want to say a special thanks to Joey our host extraordinaire!  We thank you Joey for your hospitality.

Also our sweet Nicole who translated for us throughout the week.  Thank you for all that you did to help us learn more about the rich culture of Puerto Rico.

On our way to the airport we had mixed feelings about leaving.  We were all grateful for the opportunity this week however we were looking forward to seeing our family and friends and to share what we learned on this amazing island.  We hope to return one day, and we pray that you may also join a trip to Puerto Rico as well, where the sun shines brightly, the food is delicious, hospitality is abundant and most importantly where you have the opportunity to learn more about yourself than you ever thought was possible as GOD awaits you so that HE may show you more.  Que DIOS te bendiga!

Kelly