Farming, Surfing, Painting, and tons of fun!

After leaving Vieques we headed across the northern coast to Utuado, where we are staying at a family owned organic farm, Samnyasin. We spent the first three days exploring the farm, picking fruit, planting flowers on the pathway to the gorgeous river and playing and leading activities for the local youth. We also went out into a neighboring community for a morning where we helped clean up the yard of an Elderly Community Center. On Friday, after enjoying three lovely days sleeping in beds and eating elaborate Puerto Rican cuisine, we piled in the van and made our way to Aguadilla for a weekend full of surfing with Tupi. Everyone stood up on the first day of surfing and was able to hone their skills over the two days. Tupi gave us all a safety talk about what to look for when you decided to rent a board and go surfing in the future. We have no doubt that everyone will be tearing it up on the northeast waves later this summer.

On Sunday, July 11 we watched the world cup at Tupi’s house, complete with musical instruments for cheering, snacks for half time and lots of high emotions. The group was basically split down the middle as to which team they were cheering for. After the game we drove back to Samnyasin, where we will be running our summer camp this week. Samnyasin has asked us to paint a mural on the wall of their yoga studio which faces the road. The students came up with an excellent environmentally themed design which follows the history of a piece of fruit, from the tree to the table to the compost to a new tree. They will be helping the local community youth paint the mural while also filling the mornings with plenty of fun group games! We are all very excited for the camp!

Jeremy looked like a pro on his surf board. He learned to stand up quickly and was hanging ten in no time. He is doing a great job communicating with the local kids and his enthusiasm during the activities is contagious. He has been helping everyone with their Spanish and we all love his crushable hat.

Dylan has really been stepping it up this week. He has always been ready to lend an extra hand, whether packing the van, doing dishes, grabbing something from another room, or having a lexicon knife for the peanut butter in a pinch. He had a great time surfing, by the second day he was out in the big waves.

Charlie is a ball of positive energy; he keeps us laughing and amazes us with his knowledge of Man vs. Food. Charlie’s enthusiasm for surfing was contagious—despite being sore, he kept going with a huge smile on his face. He has been busting out his Spanish skills with the local youth, and stepping up to explain games or get people more involved.

Emory had a great first day surfing. He was carving across the waves by the second session and sitting on his board looking for waves as if he was a pro. Emory had a great time getting to know the local youth and leading them in exciting games of capture the flag and octopus tag. He is excited to learn more Spanish so that he can communicate better with the local youth.

Emily can surf! Despite being really nervous about being in the ocean with waves and a surf board, she stood up on basically every wave. By the second day she relaxed a little bit and began to be more independent, catching waves by herself. Emily has been really great about making the local youth, who are a bit nervous, feel more comfortable. She seeks them out and really gets to know them and encourages them to get involved.

Tia has been enjoying getting to share her knowledge of tropical Caribbean cuisine. She harvested a huge jackfruit that the group is excited to devour and she has been helping out a lot in the kitchen, preparing amazing meals! Tia was consistently standing up by the end of her first surf session, balancing on her board like a seasoned surfer girl.

Lili was really excited to try surfing for a second time. On her first day she was able to get right up, and she stuck it out through the first session of the second day when she was struggling to get back up. By the end of the second day she was back to popping right up and riding the waves. We’re pretty sure that Lili is still riding the emotional high of watching España win the Copa Mundial!

Sinika is really excited to be eating all of the amazing food at the farm. She had a smile on her face the whole time she was surfing. The first day she was able to get up a few times, but by the end of the second days she had stood up on 7 waves! She has also discovered that she loves doing dishes and is now an enthusiastic member of the cleanup crew.

Silvana helped design the mural that we are painting at the farm with the local youth. She created an excellent sketch of the design and has done a great job helping to make the drawings come alive. She has been really excited about getting to use her Spanish with the local youth and has already made a handful of friends. She did a great job surfing, and after only a few pushes by Tupi, our surf instructor, she was paddling to catch her own waves with her very strong swimmer’s arms.