Island tourism!

One of these nights, when it doesn't rain,
I am going to sleep up in the hammock!

Chris hung a hammock in between the two buildings
¡how cool!

The end of the semester has finally come, and we have been gearing up for vacation by doing some Saturday tourism:)  Since I have been living in Puerto Rico for 1 1/2 years now, I have started to get "island fever"-hahaha.  The easiest and most economical way to deal with this problem is to go to a different island every Saturday!

Two weeks ago we went to Gilligan's Island (no, sadly, it is not the real one that everyone knows about, but it was still fun!).  Gilligan's is off the cost of Puerto Rico in a town named Guanica.  To get there, we took a really scenic 3 hour drive and then a 15 minute boat ride.  When we arrived, we hiked through the forest and mangroves, found a patch of sand, and ditched our backpacks and cooler.  The next thing you know, I was in the water for my first snorkeling experience!  Overall, I enjoyed snorkeling around the island and through a little channel for an hour and a half and seeing all the fish and slimy things on the roots of the trees under water. The only thing that made it unenjoyable, was that I found it kind of hard to forget about the jellyfish and Baracudas that we saw while walking along the pier- eeeekkkkkk!

One day at work, a girl woke up from her nap and screamed, when I went over to see what was was happening, I found this bug on her rest mat!  What a unique and pretty color- WOW!

Last Wednesday, I was standing outside at the university while waiting for my computer class to start and I looked up and saw this- a palm tree, blue sky, a few light clouds, and the moon.  (it was much more beautiful in person)  Then  I started to think of how fortunate I am to be able to have this warm, tropical view on November 30th:)

Then the next Saturday, we were off to the island of Caja de Muertos. Literally this means "box of the dead"or CASKET ISLAND!   For this trip we were on the road at 5:30am SHARP! (I was a little tired after getting home from youth group at midnight, but it was worth it.  We had tons of fun playing "spoons" both the Canadian and the American ways).  It was a 2 hour drive to the city of Ponce and then  a 1/2 or 1 hour boat ride over to the island.

No, this is not a lake...

No, this is not a river...

It is fog winding through the valleys in the mountains!

The island was soooooo beautiful and sooooooo much fun! We started the morning with snorkeling, and then we had some lunch. After this, we walked over to a different beach and went snorkeling again. I opted out of snorkeling and decided to go for a hike up to the light house.
The view was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

Look at that blue water!!!!

Then, on the way home (up the mountain), the van started to put-put and the "check engine" light came on.  So, we all prayed our way up the mountain and made it home safely and smoothly.

When we were almost home we stopped at CVS to buy some moisturizing lotion to help prevent sunburns.  I was soooooo tired, so I was asleep in the van (I had my blanket and pillow and everything).  Then suddenly, I heard Christmas music and it sounded live.  I sat up to find out where it was and go listen to it (it doesn't matter how tired I am, if there is a live jazz band playing Christmas music, I will be there!).  Well, I couldn't locate the source of the music and then it went away, so I went back to sleep. Then this whole process repeated it's self three times.  The fourth time I heard the music, I noticed that it was inside the store.  ¡I jumped over two van seat, grabbed the camera, and ran into the store to take pictures and a video!  It was a Coca-Cola parranda or Christmas carling by Coca-cola employees- they go around the island a play carols at different places.   love Puerto Rico!

So, in between all the homework and final projects that come with the end of the semester, these have been my "rewards" and "fun days" filled with adventures.

We also went swimming and hiking in a river over Thanksgiving break. Pictures to come soon!