We joined up with a few other groups on a trip to do hurricane relief work in Puerto Rico last week. There's a lot still to be done! We worked Mon, Tue, Thu, and Fri, and had some free time otherwise. Our beachfront resort was really an abandoned school right on the southeast coast. Seventy of us bunked in two classrooms - no A/C but a nice sea breeze most of the time. We ate on the field out back with a delightful Caribbean view!
About 20 of us spent work days cleaning up a yard and repainting a house about 20 minutes away. We moved old cars and engines (the husband had been a mechanic before Maria and health issues ended his career), trimmed vegetation, and scraped, washed, and painted the exterior. The cars had been there before Maria - the entire yard and home had flooded 1-2 feet deep - and the owners didn't want them back.
We spent Wednesday in the El Yunque national forest and at a beach on the north shore, east of San Juan, followed by a drive through Old San Juan and dinner in (newer) San Juan - the evening the Governor resigned. Lots of police and protestor presence, but nothing really worrisome to us when we were there.
The trip was both exhausting and a blast. The wife of the mechanic was so appreciative! Here are
too many pictures for anyone curious.
-jk