After 34 hrs in transit & over 24 hrs in flight I arrived safely last night & am settling in to my new home in Puerto Rico. I know already it will be hard to leave here when the time comes..I already feel completely in love with the place! I landed at 10.30 last night and it was still around 27 degrees. The entire plane of passengers applauded as we landed which is apparently customary when the pilot achieves a safe & steady landing. So something new culturally already. Also I only had to pick up my bags & walk out the door when I got here..no customs! I was told that's because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the US and my flight from Dallas was considered a domestic flight. Arriving in Dallas was like arriving in Fort Knox though. Belt, shoes had to be removed & xrayed as well as going through a body scanner in an arms up feet spread position..sheez. Going through the customs queue to transit I would've been in a queue of over a thousand that was like a league of nations. The airport was so big that I had to take a skyshuttle to one of several separate terminals to catch my connecting plane. View upon landing was pretty spectacular, city lights stretched for miles, Obviously the capital San Juan is bigger than I gave it credit for. Some wonderful people were there to meet me when I arrived & helped me to settle into the apartment I am sharing with a couple of educational researchers. One from Macedonia & the other from Chile. They are doing an animation project with the students of Caguas & are multi-lingual so will be invaluable in helping me to pick up Spanish quickly. Its raining here at the moment. I hope to spend the day reading my book: "Learn Spanish in 30 Days". Didn't get to read much of it on the plane as I slept most of the way. Just finished my first meal here of poached eggs on toast for breakfast. Once school is underway both breakfast & lunch are provided at school so I am curious to see what the locals eat. I was given a jar of marmite before I left NZ with the intention of taking it along for the students here to sample what kiwi kids have on toast for breakfast.. I was over the moon to get it ..and gutted when customs took it off me in Sydney..I said to them it was probably the last jar of it left in NZ & any kiwi would prob pay $100s for it..apparently any smearable product over 100mls cannot be carried in onboard luggage as it could be used to make a bomb. One of the customs guys suggested I just buy some vegemite from the Aussie dutyfree shops upstairs and tell the Puerto Ricons its the same thing..as if!...I said that would be like calling the Wallabies the All Blacks!! Anyway I didn't want to risk making a scene & getting arrested so kept it jovial. Little native tree frogs chirped away serenading me throughout the night. They are the iconic animal of Puero Rico & I look forward to seeing one up close. I watched some gecko type creature from my bedroom window this morning but am yet to find out what it is called. The new school year starts here in 2 weeks. I will be going to school to meet some of the staff tomorrow. Once I get sorted I will begin uploading a video journal soon. Am heading for a cool shower now. Pretty humid here.
Arohanui
Un abrazo (A hug)
Tania :-)x
PS National beverage here is rum. I will be sure to sample some for friends & whanau..in the name of educational research of course!!
Arohanui
Un abrazo (A hug)
Tania :-)x
PS National beverage here is rum. I will be sure to sample some for friends & whanau..in the name of educational research of course!!