Port 1

---

---

Well my first stop in Puerto Rico was amazing.

Day 1.
We docked at 800am on Monday morning. Puerto Rico's Secretary of State came onto our ship and made a presentation which was pretty cool. We all had to go through immigration before we could leave the ship so we didn't get off until like 1030. We walked from the dock to Old San Juan which was about a 20 minute walk. It was really hot. We spent pretty much all day there, wandering the streets. We saw Casa Blanca and the Forts of Old San Juan which was very cool. Then late afternoon we went to the Bacardi distilling factory. It was $1 for a ferry to this island and then $6 for taxi to the factory. Complimentary two free drinks. Tour was free. It was pretty sweet because it's the largest Bacardi factory in the world. There was crazy history there and it was really interesting. We got back to the ship around 600pm and ate a quick dinner. Changed and went to a welcome reception hosted by Carribean University. It was amazing. They were so excited to have us and were really cool people. They preformed and we danced salsa and it was just a lot of fun.

Day 2.
Woke up late and went to the beach. East Verde. It was windy but very pretty. We stayed there for at least four hours. I was burnt to a crisp. We ate at a local place and had Mofungo. It's plantain (type of banana) with meat of choice... fried... it's really pretty good. Then we took a taxi back to the ship. I got my "cabinmate" to walk to Old San Juan with me because I needed some stuff. So we did that and then came back and got ready. A bunch of us went back out to Old San Juan. A lot of people were going to a place called Nuevo Rico. It was a $5 cover so we decided not to do that. We went to this square in the middle of town. There was a liquor store so we bought some bottles and just made a little party in the street. It was awesome. Then we found this hole-in-the-wall bar called Brickhouse. They were just about to close but they stayed open for us. They had kareoke. We sang. We danced. We met Puerto Ricans. We met Jamaicans. Some people left but some of us (including me) stayed. We, along with our new Puerto Rican friends, went to a different bar and stayed til 300am. Got back to the ship and was asleep by 400.

Day 3.
Woke up at 800am. Met friends for the El Yunque Rain Forest tour. It really wasn't that cool. You hear rain forest and you think, wildlife, waterfalls... but it wasn't like that. It was okay though. Afterwards we went to this amazing beach. It was way out of the way and absolutely beautiful. I want to move there. We swam a lot and layed out - it was a good time. Left and got back to the ship around 400pm. We showered and then walked to Old San Juan again. Got some stuff for the voyage ahead and then came back and ate dinner.

Leaving at 1100pm tonight! 2300 hours (ship time). Will be in Salvador, Brazil in about a week.

---