Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
First post of the year. I have been here in Puerto Rico for 3 weeks now. I've been busy and haven't had time to post till now.
I decided to come to Puerto Rico because I'm waiting to hear back on some seasonal jobs and figured I could wait around in a tropical climate. Also I wanted to get away from the depressing state of affairs happening on the mainland. I had been thinking about traveling here for awhile and it was one of 4 places I had in mind. I eventually chose PR due to the cheap plane ticket, the fact that it was like a different country but still technically the U.S. (PR is a U.S. Commonwealth). They use the dollar here and people speak English and Spanish. So I figured it would have the comfort of being like the U.S. but have their own unique culture and warm weather. Once I bought my plane ticket I looked into wwoofing (willing workers on organic farms) and workaway jobs. The way those work is that you contact a farm/host to work for them in exchange for room and board. I ended up registering with workaway.info because it was a cheaper membership than wwoofusaorg. Workaway also has a lot more options other than farms, such as working in hostels and with families. I contacted two places on workaway and heard back from one. I contacted the host and made plans for my stay and it was that easy. My plan was to work for 2-3 weeks and then rent a car and explore the island afterwards. (Here’s a workaway invite)
At this point, I have spent my time working and am now going around on my own exploring the island before I head back to the states.
My workaway gig far exceeded my expectations and I feel extremely lucky that this was my first workaway/wwoofing experience. I worked on a property where Jyl was the caretaker for the owner who lives and works in NYC. It will be a holistic retreat/resort. It was in operation many years ago but hurricanes and time had run it down. I was there with the caretaker Jyl, her friend Dave, and two other wwoofers Dylan and Seth. Jyl's mom was there as well for the first couple days I was there. We had a full house!
Day to day varied but the schedule was relaxed and we started our day later than I usually do. We had breakfast together and then worked off a jobs list or whatever was priority to do that day. I started working anywhere from 9:30-11. We would have a late lunch and continue working till 4-5. On average we worked about 5 hours a day. I wasn't expecting to have every meal provided for but I was grateful for all the vegetarian organic meals. Over the course of ~2&1/2 weeks, I weeded, devined plants/trees, pressure washed, cleared areas, and just did general cleaning of areas. My last day I even made a mosaic stepping stone. I enjoyed seeing the difference I was making and became invested in the project and the property. I also learned a lot about the local trees, plants, and fruits.
Banana Field
Dave showing us how to climb a coconut tree
Learning how to open a coconut
We harvested some puma rosas
Centipede - you don’t want to get bit by one
Kitties in PR play with lizards
After cracking open a coconut
Me & Jyl making stepping stones
The cottage on the property
Hammock Time
Other than work we had a full schedule of activities. Monday's we would join Jyl's neighbors and friends for potluck. In that way I was able to see other properties and how they lived. One friend had an off-grid shipping container home and the other had a large property with goats, chickens, and pigs. One of the friends had wwoofers for her own farm so we were able to meet others and socialize. Tuesday's and Thursday's we would gather again for yoga in the morning. Wednesday was ladies night at the movie theater. We all got together a couple of times and went to a nearby horse track to play games in the dark such as ghosts in the graveyard. I felt like part of a community and enjoyed going around and seeing the area. Some weekend afternoons we went nearby to El Yunque rainforest, the river, or into San Juan. We even went to a nearby island for a couple of days, which I will share in another blog post.
Afternoon to nearby El Yunque National Forest
Playing in the waterfall
Waterfall sittin’
The group in El Yunque
View of El Yunque from neighbor’s hosue
Jyl and Dave walking along the river
Around the neighborhood
My time there flew by. This experience has definitely made me want to continue this kind of traveling. It's a good way to travel and live cheaply while also helping others and giving your time for a good cause. It's a great way to meet other people and get a closer look into a place rather than traveling as a tourist and missing the local scenes.
Much more to come in next blog posts...