Sanse!

1.20.19

We slept in again today, which is starting to make us feel lazy.  But today was our day to go to the Festival of San Sebastian in Old San Juan. So, in the morning, Jesse and Shawny made a run to get supplies for our “workshops” with the kids of San Isidro this week.  The rest of us stayed home to get breakfast ready, but soon discovered that the power was out throughout our community.  

We experienced in a very small dose what it is like to reach for the switch and not have it respond. And we realized that we had to manage opening the refrigerator door more carefully than ever, as we didn’t know when the power would return and we wanted to avoid losing food if we could. One of our bathrooms is pretty dark when the lights aren’t on, even in the daytime.  Of course, we are aware that many Puerto Ricans, including those in our surrounding community, went without power for many months, so we knew we had no grounds for complaint.

Eventually, one of the neighbors fired up a generator and then stretched a cord over to our place so we could keep on going as if things were normal until the public power came back online.  We were gone most of the day so we aren’t sure how long it was out.  

We left after lunch (mmmm! tilapia!) and began our long journey to Old San Juan.  Our journey was made longer than it might have been due to the massive traffic related to the festival.  We took the bus we rode all last week to a huge bus stop in the city, then got into a line that stretched around a building, down a sidewalk, across a parking lot, and then through a switchback maze until we could finally pay for tickets for another bus that would take us to the festival itself.  Even though a lot of steps were involved in getting ourselves on that bus, the whole thing moved surprisingly quickly and we managed to stick together all the way into town. 

Once we got to Old San Juan, we were impressed to see some of the buildings that we had read about in our historical overviews of Puerto Rico, including the capitol, the fort, and city hall. We walked along the waterfront and found ourselves in a huge crowd of people filling the city’s streets.  We all walked to the place that would become our rally spot (near city hall), so that we could arrange to return there periodically to check our status (Are we having fun? Are we getting tired? Is everyone okay? Does anyone need translation help?).  The streets were filled with music and art (and, as we mentioned above, people). Some of the music was organized on a series of stages like a music festival but some of it was only semi-formal as roving performing groups gathered in the streets, sometimes marching, sometimes dancing, always having a total blast.  

We organized ourselves into clusters so that we could all do what we wanted to do while also keeping an eye on each other.  We were surprised at how totally safe and non-threatening the whole festival felt, as there were people EVERYWHERE but they were all just minding their business and having fun.  

Some of us shopped for souvenirs (maybe for you?).  Some of us sampled Puerto Rican cuisine.  Some of us opted for more mainland fare (like Burger King and Wendy’s).  Some of us checked out the art. And by the end, almost all of us danced.  The music was so captivating that it would have been hard not to dance and most of us felt the call.  

We found ourselves all the way in the front of the crowd at one of the stages, and as time went by, more and more of us (even Shawny and Jesse) found our way there eventually. There were broadcast quality cameras on the stage and they frequently focused on us, shooting our image onto big screens that towered over the audience.  We danced together and with lots of different locals, sometimes getting pulled into the middle of a circle to do a featured dance.  Lindsay (a dance major) was particularly adept at this assignment, and was a popular partner for many of the people in the crowd.  She would always graciously take her turn, but then pull in another person (probably a Puerto Rican rather than one of us).

We turned into quite a force at the front of the crowd, jumping up and down and chanting “DIRT, DIRT, DIRT!” Lots of people joined in with us, which only increased our fun. Our final rally time sadly arrived, and we gathered at the appropriate spot. Once there, we decided to bestow not one but TWO purple bikes: to Grayson and Lindsay.  

Grayson was technically the winner of the purple bike on Friday, especially because of the clear depth of his relationship with the project leaders at his SBP house.  They came with him and his work group to our house that day and their affection for Grayson was quite obvious.  Besides his affection for the project leaders on his site, Grayson also shares a lot of love with us, his classmates.  Different ones of us spoke up to gush about how wonderful an addition he has been to our lives.  And he’s a hard worker too!

Lindsay got the second purple bike, particularly for her achievements in the dance circles tonight. She made what might have been a popularity contest into an elegant display of inclusion.  And in doing so, she brought great love and happiness to a range of dancers: young and old, skilled and mediocre, Puerto Rican and otherwise.  This way of being is typical for Lindsay, whom we always say “leads with love.” She finds something great about everyone she meets, latches onto that positive attribute, and builds a friendship that feels utterly special with everyone she meets.  Many of us publicly expressed our appreciation for Lindsay and many members of the crowd joined us in celebrating her.  

Our night ended VERY late, when we finally called it quits on the total lunar eclipse after 1am our time. It changed very little during the last 40 minutes or so, but a few of us waited it out if only to say that we had. We read that it was a “red super wolf” moon, which we cannot explain.  We saw the redness once the shadow was complete but the other parts remain a mystery.  Still, it felt like a perfect magical ending to our day of love, joy, and celebration. 

We get back to work in the community of San Isidro tomorrow.  We’ll let you know more about it as soon as we can!

As we were walking down to the festival venue we saw the governor’s building

San Sebastian (or as they call it SanSe) was a filled with a sea of people. If you look at the center of the picture you can see Paul standing at ease within the crowd

Another beautiful view that we got to see while attending the San Sebastian Festival

Molly, Sophia and Angel watched the beautiful sunset as music was blasting in the background. 

Opposite the governor’s building was the beach. It was hard to ignore the beautiful deep blue and turquoise colors of the sea. 

Hope and Madi on the bus heading to the festival!

The schedule for the San Sebastian Festival!

Madi, Hope, and Kresha with Victor the Project Leader at the festival!

Madi, Josh, and Grayson hanging out at the festival.