December
7 , 2007
As the beautiful Puerto Rican
sun was rising, the light hit my eyes and I awoke to a tropical
paradise. As my feet touched the sand and I started working towards
the Caribbean Sea and thanked god I wasn’t in five inches of snow.
The rest of the group joined me and we spent half the day, swimming,
tanning and most importantly looking at beautiful girls in bikinis.
After our day at the beach we had lunch and then prepared for the
nights performance. We boarded the bus at 1:30, what started out, as
a trip to the nations capital would soon become a very eventful
night.
Our
adventure into the night began with our bus ride to San Juan. As I
stared out my window I couldn’t believe how beautiful this country
was. We took the scenic route to our destination and it was one I
would never forget. The beautiful scenery of the sea and various
mountains made the three-hour bus ride seem very short.
Unfortunately, the sky began to turn dark grey and we could tell the
rain would come soon. Yet, we all held out hope for a successful
rain free performance in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico.
As
we arrived in San Juan, I quickly noticed that we were in a very
good neighborhood. The surrounding area could rival Miami and Los
Angeles with its upscale stores, hotels and restaurants. There was a
Gucci, Dolce & Gabanna and Louis Vuitton store. The area was
filled with American tourists, and I soon began a conversation with
a family from Illinois.
After
we arrived, our friendly Puerto Rican hosts provided us with a meal
before our performance. It is worthy to note, that the host Puerto
Rican group did everything it could to make sure we had a
successful, fun and productive festival.
The
scenery of the performance was magnificent. We were basically
performing at a “town square” that was situated right next to
the ocean. The crowd was gathering and ready to greet the many
groups. “Polonia” was waiting in the changing room while the
first Puerto Rican group began dancing. As we could see, Puerto
Rican dancing emphasized energy and color. Every dancer was smiling
and full of life. After watching the dance, I wanted to get up and
start dancing. Then all of a sudden, it started to rain like I have
never seen before and everyone began running for cover.
Unfortunately, the organizers decided to cancel the rest of the
performances because of the weather. After the rain stopped, the
Russian group decided to have their own improvised concert on the
sidewalk.
Because
our concert ended abruptly, we were given the chance of site seeing
the old town. We visited the famous fort, cemetery and various
important monuments and sculptures in the old town. San Juan is a
special because it combines the beautiful architecture of the past
with the bustle and nightlife of a modern city. We left San Juan at
around 1 am with everyone in awe of such a great experience. I
decided that I would definitely have to make a return trip to Puerto
Rico, particularly San Juan. We arrived at our resort at around 4 am
with everyone tired and ready for a good night of sleep.
Kamil
Czubacki and Jonathan Krysinski
next
day
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