Hurricane Dean and Dinner with Friends

  San Juan, Puerto Rico
Saturday, August 18, 2007

Hurricane Dean and Fort San Geronimo

DH and kids went to the beach while I watched the news about the hurricane, and then took a nap. It was SUPER windy outside because of Hurricane Dean. Blustery doesn't even come close to describing it. The gang had to come in from the beach when the rain started coming down and pelted them hard. This was the brunt of what we would get from Hurricane Dean.

Hurricane Dean Blowing the Palms

We then cleaned up and took a taxi to Plaza Las Americas, the biggest mall in the Caribbean. We had a coupon for a free bear at Build-a-Bear, so we got our bear, then walked around a little. It's a nice mall, but just that, a mall. But it gave us something to do during the bad weather. Then at 6 pm, DH's friend, W. came and picked us up.

Plaza Las Americas 2

He took us to his house where we hung out and had dinner with his family (his wife and 2 daughters). The house is lovely; the kitchen opens up to the lanai outside where we ate. The kids ate in the living room where they were playing games together.

We really enjoyed talking to our friends, and we learned much about PR. We talked about the transit system. The train system is relatively new (5-6 yrs), but really just goes to business centers; it's not set up for tourism, although, it is apparently going to be expanded. I also asked about public buses-I guess there are some, but only in certain places (I never saw any), and they also are not set up for tourists. To get around in San Juan you have to either take taxis, or rent a car (or walk).

We also talked about the school system a little. I was very interested in how the languages are taught. Advertisements and such tend to be in Spanish, although many signs are in English. And it seems that most people speak English, although some with difficulty. We were told that the public school system teaches mainly in Spanish, and only a little English, whereas the private schools teach both equally. The text books are in English, but the teacher teaches in Spanish. It's very interesting!

We had a great time with our friends!