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| The Esplanade in Esperanza / El Malecón en Esperanza |
Oh yes, and I should probably introduce myself. Hey everyone! (Or anyone, because I'm totally new to blogging and am not sure if anyone will actually read this.) I'm Helena, the intern this summer at the VCHT. I'm British-Canadian, though I have been living in the U.S. since first grade. I just finished my sophomore year of college, where I study Biology, Environmental Studies, y un poco Español.
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| That's me. / Este es yo. |
Before I begin, I already cannot say thank you enough to:
- the trust (VCHT), which has offered me the internship of a lifetime
- the local Viequenses, who have welcomed me here to share their slice of paradise for the summer
- Wellesley College, which has connected me with an incredible organization and has prepared me with many of the tools I will need to be useful here, or at least the open mind to learn how to be useful.
I'm afraid I would sound silly if I tried to translate all of this into Spanish, but for now I'll at least start with bilingual captions. Also, I believe the list of weekly blog posts will show up to the right. Just over there, if you scroll up a bit. --->
On May 29, 2014, I set sail from Portland, Maine to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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| The Voyage / La Travesía |
Okay, so I didn't actually sail to Puerto Rico, though my friend who builds sailboats would have been very impressed if I had. Instead I took a very nice airplane that did not go direct like the picture above suggests. But that would have been nice, too.
I couldn't see Vieques from the sky, but the sight of turquoise waters and white sands of mainland Puerto Rico was no disappointment.
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| First sight of Puerto Rico from the plane / La primera vista de Puerto Rico desde el avión |
When I arrived in San Juan, I met up with my BFF Annie and we spent three fabulous days together eating local food like empanadas and mofongo (yum), visiting art and history museums, and exploring the forts built by the Spaniards back in the 1500s.
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| Annie the history buff jumping for joy at the sight of old forts / Annie, la estudiante de historia, emocionada por las fortalezas antiguas |
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| Helena the tree-hugger equally as excited about making friends with iguanas / Helena, la ecologista, emocionada conocer a las iguanas |
The morning of June 1st, we packed our bags and said goodbye--Annie was leaving for an internship at El Museo de Arte de Ponce on the southern coast of Puerto Rico, and I was of course leaving for my internship with the VCHT in Vieques. We took in the view of Old San Juan one more time, and took off for the next chapter of our adventures.
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| Old San Juan / Viejo San Juan |
About an hour later I arrived in Fajardo, the eastern port town from where the ferry to Vieques leaves. I paid my $2 ticket, and hopped on the ferry to Vieques. I was beyond excited. I could hardly keep myself from hanging onto the railings at the front of the boat like a tourist looking out to sea until I saw the island. Well, actually, I suppose that's exactly what I did.
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| Vieques? Is that you? / Vieques? Eres tú allí? |
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| Ahh, not quite. There she is, "La Isla Nena." / Ahh, allí está la Isla Nena. |
Unfortunately, the day after I arrived when I was supposed to start work, I had to leave again to get a vaccination on the mainland at the unexpected and urgent request of my doctor back home. My boss, Mark Martin, was very good about it and basically told me it was no problem, to do what I had to do. Not exactly how I wanted to start off the next 10 weeks of the internship, but after a day of calling and visiting doctors and the local hospital in Vieques, I finally found the answer to all my troubles...
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| Wallgreens / Wallgreens |
Yay! They had access to the vaccination and could administer it the next day. But before I left, I just had to stop by the trust to say hello and introduce myself to everyone. I was welcomed instantly, and already had a really good feeling about working there.
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| My first time at the trust / Mi primera vez en el fideicomiso |
So June 3rd became my second trip to Fajardo instead of my second day of work. The ferry was experiencing serious delays, so to be on the safe side, I took the $35 jumper flight from Vieques to Fajardo. It took 15 minutes and was quite exciting in itself.
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| Our little plane / Nuestro avión chiquito |
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| A snapchat from the backseat...a little nervous / Un mensaje a mis amigos...un poco nerviosa |
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| I'll be right back, Vieques! / Regresaré pronto, Vieques! |
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| Phew. Touchdown. / Uf. Tierra. |
I don't have a cool pic of getting my vaccine, but nevermind. I enjoyed another ferry ride back to Vieques, and Mark picked me up that evening for the very first task of the internship...to be continued!
