Abierto

Old San Juan

This post is going to be all over the place, you have been warned :)

Distribution point today

Today was long, but satisfying. We went up into Corozal, which is a community that has not received supplies since FEMA did an air drop a while back. It makes sense that FEMA did an air drop because the community is at the tippy top of a mountain. The challenge today was the weather; and though we got out in a timely manner (around 11am), and we were told it should only take us about 45mins to get there, when you factor in rain on mountain roads, and a broken down truck, I don't think we were actually unloading until around 2pm.

These are pallets of snacks and meals

Distribution point two days ago

A couple days ago we had a ton (10 truck loads) of water pallets come in, which is great because people really need water. When we opened up our two trucks we discovered 8 pallets of 1 liter packs of water, and all of us just sorta groaned. Neither of the trucks had a working lift, nor a pallet jack so everything today was by hand. I would show you a picture of my bruised forearms but I sorta have a rule about no injury pictures until I am safe at home, so I don't freak anyone out. 8 pallets of water (each 2,000 lbs or so), 2 pallets of trail mix, 2 pallets of FEMA meals, 2 pallets of rubbermaid coolers, and 8 large boxes of 100 small milk boxes later and we were done. We were distributing at a church, and though we initially thought we were going to have to do a second drop, people continued to trickle in until all of the supplies were gone. It is really wonderful when this happens, because these items are specifically designated for this community and going to a second place might mean that you are leaving one barrio to find a distribution spot in another.

Mind you, the entire time this was going on it was fluctuating between heavy rain, light rain and no rain, so that was fun. Didn't have issues getting back, other than the bridge being out (easy enough to go around) and I got to have a salad for dinner...which means I'm winning.

San Francisco St., Old San
Juan

I had the day off yesterday which was great. Interviewed with Family
Tree Clinic in St. Paul and thought it went pretty well (send good thoughts!), grabbed some lunch with Camilla and Marty (two new friends), and then wandered around Old San Juan with Camilla for the rest of the afternoon. It was also raining on and off yesterday which meant the plans to go to the beach didn't happen, but strolling around the city was a ton of fun and they re-opened the fort which meant I got to get my history geek on. We grabbed an Uber back to campus just before it really opened up, and then went out with a few folks for some drinks in a swankier area of town. After dinner we did get to walk along the beach, and I realized that, as much as I love what I'm doing down here, being on an island in the middle of the ocean sorta freaks me out. How the hell do you run away on an island?

My daily commute

A lot of folks have been asking me what the conditions are like on the island, and I suspect, give them a bit more of an on the ground perspective than they are getting from the media. It is a hard thing to explain, especially since I'm trying to be conscious of my bias. San Juan seems to be doing alright, but I know there are still large parts of the city without electricity. The communities I have been going to (I would say 2/3 at this point) are without water and electricity, and we are seeing FEMA tarps on a lot of roofs. There are a ton of downed power lines, and the ecosystem is just starting to recover. I'm not really going to post pictures of this at the moment. Disaster pictures can be educational, but much like injury pictures, tend to freak my loved ones at home out. Generally speaking, the mountain areas are in rough condition, the south too since that is where both hurricanes made landfall. The cities are getting more resources and the really remote areas in the interior are not.

Trees that have some new growth after
the hurricanes stripped them bare (I
call them poodle trees.)

Spirits seem to be generally high, and everyone is looking forward to Three Kings, and Christmas down here (though I have been told that Maria has been banned from the Nativity scene until 2018.) We passed a pile of debris today that was decorated with bows and tinsel, and I couldn't help but laugh. We pass a lot of "Abierto" signs on the road, because people want folks to know they are open and doing business, even if it is cash only. The first wave of cruise ships since Maria came to the island yesterday, and they are hoping for more. Old San Juan is having a city wide celebration of tourists and folks around the island by offering discounted food and drinks for the next couple of weeks. As I have been telling people it is hopeful and heartbreaking, exhausting and inspiring, and generally a bit of a roller coaster down here. Don't believe everything in the media, especially since there are so many unknowns still, and if you are able try and get a hold of articles that are written by Puerto Ricans.

Puerto Rico Se Levanta!

Old San Juan (view from Fort)

Claire

Those semi circles are tracks for artillery from WWII

Look out post at the fort!