Day 3: Internship Orientation & Downtown Mayaguez Tour

Day 3 in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.



At 8:00 this morning we were greeted by our guides Luis, Abner and Jessica. Once all the interns were up and about we left for downtown Mayaguez at the Escuela el Munoz Rivera(school of law building) where we met with the program coordinators Dr. Angel Gonzalez, Dr. Gladys Gonzalez and Prof. Sally Gonzalez (I dont think they are related). The purpose of todays meeting was basically orientation.


Dr. Gladys Gonzalez, Dr Angel Gonzalez and Prof. Sally Gonzalez


Abner and Luis


Jessica

First Dr Gladys gave us a presentation about Puerto Rico and UPRM and the College of Agriculture. She also shared with us the general information and current state of Agriculture in Puerto Rico.

It was interesting to find out that the Agriculture sector in Puerto Rico has been declining over the past 50 years. According to Dr. Gladys the reasons behind this are both economic and social. In the late 1940s Puerto Rico shifted from an Agricultural based economy to a manufacturing one through a series of projects called Operation Bootstrap (more on that here). Also on the social side many people in Puerto Rico saw Agricultural as lower class sector and related it to slavery and low income. Because of this there arent that many who want to go in to Agriculture. Overall I found it hard to believe all this. While economically it might not profitable you still have to think about the future and possible problems that could arise. If there were ever a crisis in Puerto Rico they would only be able to survive one week without imports (Dr. Gladys). We saw how bad things got in Haiti with the earthquake. The same thing could happen in Puerto Rico (probably Guam too).

At the same time, there was something good happening with Agriculture in Puerto Rico. Over the past few years they have been seeing an increase in enrollment in Agriculture programs at the colleges and an increase in Agriculture graduates. This is great news because it means that the next generation will be more educated on the importance of Agriculture and hopefully they will work to change the current state of it.

After Dr. Gladys report Professor Sally gave us brief summary of what we would be doing over the next month. After hearing the logistic, expectations and activities planned ahead I have to admit that it looks like its gonna be fun.

Once the orientation was over Jessica and Luis gave us a tour around downtown Mayaguez. We were able to see the town center and visit some of the historic building and learn about them. It was really cool seeing all the sites especially the Spanish-era buildings. We also were able to see some locals enjoying a game of dominoes (really popular with the older ones), a few of the monuments and statues, and even an old lady feeding the pigeons in the town square in the center of downtown. After touring downtown we headed to the entrance of UPRM campus where we were able to learn more about the ongoing student strike going on and see the universities bulldog mascot that was moved to the front gate during the strike. It seems that our guides along with the majority of the island are in favor of this strike. I would be too after reading about it. Hopefully the students get what they want and the strike ends before we leave so we can actually enter the campus and visit all the facilities before we leave :D


Center Courtyard and Columbus Statue


Town Hall


Theater


Inside Theater


Selling Lottery Tickets(very popular in Spanish countries)


Lady feeding pigeons


One pigeon, two pigeon

After the campus visit we had lunch, headed back home and concluded our day. (Oh yeah, also when I got back to the housing I saw some parrots on a tree outside!! Got a few shots of them that were okay!!!) Tommorow we will be visiting an organic farm in Rincon (Puerte Ricos North Shore!!! :D) Im praying that we finish early and are able to visit some of the beaches and check out the surf!!!


Awesome Graffiti on the way back home


Parrot at housing