On Friday morning, our team arose for our last full day in Puerto Rico, and again, we were happy to enjoy the day primarily as tourists.

After a cheery breakfast in the facility’s cafeteria which was followed by the morning’s devotion, our group boarded the three vans and under sunny skies set out north again, headed back to Old San Juan the island.

Old San Juan is the home of El Morro, the Spanish fort we visited earlier in the week, and a quaint shopping district that is reminiscent of a European town, complete with narrow cobbled streets lined by multi-story buildings.  The fort and the town both contribute largely to make this island one of the chief tourist attractions in Puerto Rico.

The original plan was that we would park the vans on the mainland side and take a ferry across the thin strait to disembark on the little isle.  Upon arrival at the ferry lading, though, notices let us know that the ferry was not running, and we ended up en masse boarding local buses to zig zag through the waterfront district and then over a bridge to access the island.  We ended up being dropped off at a spot on the south side of the island where the shopping district seemed to start, and here our group broke into two main teams: those who wanted to wander their way around the island to take a tour of the fort, and those who wanted to shop.  While teams formed, our crew parked at some patio tables outside the Chicago Burger Bar, and a number of people needed to use the restroom, so while we waited, Scott and I decided to wander down the road a few- and there we ran into a Jack Sparrow look-alike arriving for work on the HMS Bounty, a tall sailing ship that was built in the 1960’s to star in the film “Mutiny on the Bounty”.  Captain Sparrow’s impersonator was pretty good, and  Scott and I were both impressed with him. He willingly played the part and let us snap a few photos with him before we left the him at the Bounty’s berth and rejoined our party.

Our group finally separated into the two parties, and I stayed with the band that went to El Morro. We made slow progress around the west side of the island, wandering beneath tall ramparts that climbed over the southern road, discovering where all of the cats in Puerto Rico were (running free on this island), and passing some expansive homes and compact vertical neighborhoods along the way. At one point, a cat adopted Jim and Kala Westfall and followed them some distance along the route, encouraged by Kala’s attention.

What had been consistent for us during the trip remained consistent for us this morning. No sooner had we began to round the west end of the island than the sun disappeared and gray clouds materialized, and sprinkling started. The sprinkling was tolerable and we thought little of it until we finished rounding the west walk and ascended the mount that fed the fort entrance. At this point, the sprinkling was turning into a drizzle, and we were happy to be inside, along with the multitude of other tourists who greeted us at the arched entrance.

The drizzle remained as we went and watched a film about the fort, and then walked through and around the structure.  Scott and I dallied at one point and took some silly/artsy pictures of each other, and then we caught up with the group.  The park exploration ended, and the group decided to head back into town, which meant walking across the long open field separating the two.

We left the fort and started walking toward the town- and the deluge started.  In jeans and tees and shorts, and mostly without raincoats, our group endured the roughly 120 yard walk being drenched by heavy rain and pushed by crosswinds. By the time we got to the first buildings in the town, we made a beeline for the (mostly) covered porch of a public building to join other tourists waiting out the rain there.  We were all soaked.  And the rain decided to hang around for a while.

Realizing the rain probably would not stop any time soon and that we were already sopped, after a short rest, we decided to continue on into town and find some lunch.  After a 10 minute hike up and around the town square, we ended up finding a Wendy’s near the town center.  Doused and cold, Scott and I saw that the restaurant appeared full and that the queue to the order counter was long, and we decided to stand under the overhang of a roof outside and watch people pass.  One of our teammates came out and told us we had the right idea- that the AC was running on high in the restaurant, and that it was freezing inside.

Well, finally the rain decided to stop for a spell, so we stood and sort of dried out for about 15 minutes before hunger won, and we went in ourselves to get food.  The line was short so we got our orders in pretty quickly, but, yeah, the restaurant was cold.  The rest of our group was finishing their food, so we ended up eating our meals pretty quickly once we got them.  I ended up getting a mocha with my lunch, which was the highlight of the break.

The sun decided to stay out for us after lunch was done, and we broke off into shopping parties.  Scott and I went to a large souvenir shop and found a lot of small items to take back for friends and family.  Once we finished there, we reattached ourselves to a pod of our group that was walking and window shopping for a spell. After a little while, I asked Scott if he would head back a few blocks up a street to visit a Walgreen’s I had seen.  I was still smarting in a few fingers and toes from the urchin splinters in them, and I wanted to get tweezers or nail clippers to help me remove them.  Scott joined me and we found the Walgreen’s and I got a clipper/tweezer set along with some junk food.  It was a nice Walgreen’s, and it was not cold inside.

The plan was to reconnect as a group around 4:30 at the Chicago Burger  joint patio.  We got back to the crew in plenty of time, and after a quick pit stop, the mob walked a short distance down the wharf to the ferry landing, and voila!- there was the ferry.  We got our ship ride across the bay.  We snapped a few pics, and after the short ride, we got back into our vans and headed back south to “home”, for rest, and for dinner.

In the break between dinner and our evening plans, I hopped into a van with Tiffany and a few other of our people to go check out a local grocery store.  Tiffany wanted to make sacked lunches for everyone to have the next when we were running from plane to plane in our short layover in Atlanta.  I just wanted to see what was in a local chain grocery store.  SuperMax it was.  My curiosity was settled.  It was a lot like a southwestern chain grocery store, except it had some box foods and fruits that were local preferences.  And there was more Spanish everywhere.  The good thing , though, is that I was able to grab a tub of Puerto Rican candies, and about 7 Monster drinks which were requested by members of the construction team.

For the evening, our group headed back to the Bayamón church for a celebration service and a reception afterwords.  We were overjoyed to have a good number of people from the church congregation come and meet with us for the evening.  We were given a short message by Pastor Ray, and then each member of the team was invited up front to receive a gift and a thank you and hug.  The service was a moving high moment for reflecting on our work over the week at the church.  Tired but satisfied at what we all had accomplished by coming to this church and giving it time, materials, some thought, sweat, and warmth, I think everyone on the team glowed with pleasure at what we all had experienced during the week. After the service, we were shared some snacks with attendees in the back of the sanctuary, and talked, and shared.

It was Friday night, and we knew we were heading back to familiar territory the next day.  After the service and reception, we headed back to the hostel.  We had a subdued sharing time, although it was light and filled with joy.  The order for the rest of the evening was to just hang out and be together.  We did that  by pulling some tables together in the entry/meeting hall of the center and played the dice game Farkle for a while.