Yeah, I'm lazy...so I'm referring you to Jon's blog for this one. Essentially I would be writing on the same material; and Jon put a lot of time into getting all the names, details, locations, people, etc. correct for his readers (and now for my readers as well).
This will hopefully give you a better idea of our work in Caguas at Centro Buen Pastor. Keep in mind that our role in the Cantera project is completely separate. Also keep in mind that Jon isn't as creative as your's truly, and he's very business-oriented which you will be able to get a feel for as you read his blog.
(If you didn't figure this out already, you have to click the big title in dark green that says "Jon's Update about Buen Pastor" and that should take you to his page.)
Today the plumber came and used the electronic snake to dig up a Bob Marley-looking clump of hair that the girls living here before us so graciously left. If you girls are reading this right now, I'm sorry to call you out for this but honestly a $1.99 shower drain cover would have been a worthwhile investment...for yourselves as well as future tenants.
So this afternoon we went for a Cinderella-on-steroids cleaning operation, and came out successful...I no longer feel dirtier coming out of the bathroom than I had going in.
So when all three of us had to shower tonight we obviously chose the...outdoor shower from a lofted garden hose! It's amazing and I'm never going back haha. Tonight there was even a complimentary heat lightning storm show we were each able to enjoy. It's like I'm one with nature when I'm out there on the rooftop. Now shower curtains seem so restricting for some reason.
More meaningful posts to come later. "Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe..." Those of you that can finish that quote, my applause is yours. Those of you that can't need to watch the Departed. As they pronounce it, The Depahhhted.
For the past 2 week Jon, Dan and I have been going to Starbucks for their free internet (and scrumtrelescent pastries)...but tonight I've had about enough of the blaring opera they've played for the last 45 minutes. Just sayin.
I'd love to hear from some of you, so let's work on that....make some posts, send snail mail (nobody actually does that it's just something you say for formality's sake), make a comment under a post, check one of those boxes I put under there, email me at stephenbeach09@gmail.com.....just do one of those and let me know what you've been up to and how you feel about this blog.
The barista we've become buddies with was born in Puerto Rico lived in Germany and then in 30 US states. Chevere.
I apologize in advance for the poor video quality. So now I'm sure you want to go ahead and press that play button.
Also, I just realized that later in the video I refer to the beach as Troquillo or something like that. Troquillo is a made up word/city name so just don't pay attention to that part of the dialogue.
Today we completed the absolute beasting of an old building on the property of Centro Buen Pastor in the hopes that it will soon provide for our new Siempre Verde office. Confused? You should be. But that's what I'm here in Starbuck's for. As I enjoy my Tazo I plan on cluing you all in, bit by bit.
We've taken in a lot of information over the last week and a half, and to explain it all would take me about 44 tazo teas' worth. Here goes. Myself, Jon Kearney, and Dan Frank (Danimal as he calls himself on Facebook) are all living in Santurce and working together on the city limits of Guaynabo. Surprisingly it's only about a 15-20 minute commute. 15 minutes if Jon or I drives and 20 minutes if Danimal drives.
Anyways, the organization we volunteer for is called the Puerto Rican Center for Social Concerns (PRCSC). 2 years ago we started a project they decided to call Siempre Verde (Always/Forever Green for those of you who are mono-lingual...if that's the right term for it?) in collaboration with a group called INCICO (Instituto para la Conservacion de Puerto Rico) and the Salesian Sisters who run the Centro Buen Pastor. This place is not only a retreat center capable of hosting grade school groups, families, etc.- but so much more. Like the breeding grounds of projects like Siempre Verde.
Let it absorb. Reread the above paragraph if you must.
The 4 focus areas of this project: 1. socio-economic 2. protection and conservation of natural resources 3. psychological effects of the ecosystem (studying the use nature as a means of therapy) 4. education and the training "nature guides" who are essentially young adults that have an opportunity to earn a job as a tour guide to take people through the nature trails of Centro Buen Pastor's 18 acres
Sooooo today we finished the gutting of a small building that we are hoping to completely renovate in one day with the help of $ and labor from United Way. I think this is going to happen sometime in early September.
Like I said, bit by bit. So that's enough for now. I'll try to mix in the entertaining stuff with the work information as best I can. For example, when I stepped down off the ladder today I felt an old, rusty nail slide through the rubber on my New Balance shoes directly into my foot. Yes, it hurt like a bia bia. Then I smacked a light fixture on the follow through with the sledgehammer and got some small glass shards in my eye. Then I stepped on the humble abode of the meanest, hardest-biting ants I've ever seen. A guy we work with told us that if you put a lizard on their ant home, they would eat him (or her if the unfortunate party is a female lizard) in a matter of minutes.
If you thought that last part was entertaining, that's just sick. And don't worry I'm getting a tetanus shot tomorrow, the glass shards are rinsed out, and I lived through the fury of those little biting ants.
Enjoy the video. Although Jon provides the dialogue and it's not as entertaining as mine, there's still a lot of good information and it allows you all to see some of the Centro Buen Pastor's property.
Sign at the entrance to the house of 2 Notre Dame alumni who play an integral role in the success of PRCSC. They invited us over for the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Puerto Rico's send-off for the high school seniors who will be attending Notre Dame in the fall. They really did make us feel at home, opening their house (and pool) to us for the upcoming year.
The first night of showering in the rain. Megan is the girl in the middle and Tesia is on the right side. The girls are volunteering at Centro ALESPI in Orocovis, in the middle of the island. As far as I know so far, they teach English, Math, and other subjects to grade school kids.
We went to their casita a few days ago to drop them off and were welcomed by the nuns who live next door to them with kisses on the cheek and plenty of rice, chicken, and plantains.
Dan (on left) and Jon working to improve our drainage system for the new shower on the roof.
Tonight I came up with what is quite possibly the best idea I’ve ever had.After arriving in Puerto Rico on August 11th, and my fellow volunteers and I have been stymied by our clogged shower drain.After trying two bottles of Extra Strength Drano Gel, and finding ourselves equally unsuccessful with each one, we have been forced to resort to more creative modes of bathing.We started out slowly, literally jumping at the chance to use Mother Nature and the downpours she often provides during the rainy season here in Puerto Rico.It’s incredible how close to God you can feel when it’s just the great outdoors, a raggedy patio, dark skies, and a bottle of fragrant body wash.Three nights ago we were playing cards around 10 PM when we all heard thunder and some rain drops.We had been to the beach that day and were suffering from the lack of A/C in the apartment, so needless to say we all ran outside to get in a little scrub-a-dub.The biggest drawback to showering in the rain is the slow pace.After soaping and shampooing it takes a good 10 minutes of rain to build up enough water to rinse completely.After a couple of showers like that we started to think progressively…as in an empty two liter bottle of Coca Cola (sorry Uncle Phil, I still love Pepsi), and an empty milk jug.The 2 gallon shower was an improvement as well as an environmentally friendly option, but today I took our shower situation to the next level.An inconspicuously looking garden hose was laying on our terrace just outside our patio door, connected to a rusted pipe and looking like it hadn’t been touched in years (which it probably hadn’t).Ask and you shall receive, baby-that hose was flowing as if it knew we needed a source of running water to shower under.A cinder block later and we had it elevated on our rooftop.Showering outside with a garden hose never felt so good.
Random thoughts for the day:
Tesia’s drying her hair with the wall-mounted fan right now.
I’ve been perfecting my Mattew McConaghey (sp?) impression lately, it’s getting pretty good.
If I make grammatical errors (Mom, I know you hate that), I do apologize but I'm not planning on taking my time. I'd rather just keep the words flowing with no interruptions.
Hello all-thanks for checking this out, we're gonna try this blog thing and see if you all like it....
There’s something to be said for showering on an outdoor patio, rinsing with nothing more than a milk jug and an empty 2 Liter Coke bottle.For one, it has made me feel refreshed enough to begin writing to update you all.I’d like to thank you all for making it to the webpage, as that in itself is a huge first step.I would also appreciate it if you all could make it back to the web page every now and then just to check in and browse around the videos, pictures, creative writing posts, etc.I’m still working on some sort of catchy line or two that I’ll end each day/week’s post with…you know like a “Good Night, and Good Luck” sort of thing - but more relevant and creative.
