Sunday Funday

By: Kelley Davis

Sleeping in today was definitely a treat! After reading both textbooks for the class, we went to Casa Vieja for lunch. This restaurant sat in the middle of “downtown” San German. The city itself is very old, with much character. With cobblestone and brick narrow roads and houses and building that sit on hills and in valleys, the city is much different from Ponce. The houses on average are quite a bit smaller than in Ponce. The biggest house in the town is a good size house, but I would not consider it to be huge.
Café Vieja was so bright and vibrant inside and out on the patio. The patio was so cute and quaint with a small bar located outside as well. It seemed that the restaurant was family owned and operated. I picture them living upstairs above the restaurant. The nice lady that owned the restaurant was very gracious towards us. She passed out a flyer to all of us about their specials including “Ladies Night” and “Pasta and Martini Night”. I first noticed after sitting down at the long table the artwork on the walls. The artwork mainly focused on houses on the beach. Gabriela Cristina is the artist. The food was really good and we had some excellent eye candy (the waiter) during lunch.
I noticed while walking on the streets of San German that it was not nearly as humid as Ponce. Also, the air was not as polluted. The air had more of a clean smell and didn’t feel as thick on my face. I am assuming that the Universidad is a big portion of the population in San German.
After lunch, we headed back to the Universidad and I noticed a beautiful yellow church located in the town square. We also passed the tourist center and many other interesting buildings in the town square. We went into a market that had very fresh fruit. I bought bananas and pears, which were both so wonderful. The pear was my favorite because it was one of the juiciest pears I had ever eaten. Class was interesting today because as a class we are all gaining a better understanding of what travel writing is.
I am really enjoying staying in the dorms because it has forced me to use what little Spanish I know with the local students who live here. It has been interesting to watch the students interact with each other and I try so hard to pick up Spanish words by listening to conversations around me. Sitting in the courtyard checking my email has been a great way for me to talk to the Puerto Rican students. San German is a neat and unique town of Puerto Rico.
Sitting around the fountain in the courtyard is my favorite place in the dorms. One of the students needed help with Spanish homework, so Lauren willingly offered her services. José, another student who barely speaks any English sat by me while I emailed my parents and tried his best to read the email. I helped him with some English words and in return he helped me form some sentences in Spanish. I really enjoyed talking to José. He is a biology major here and runs track. Almost every male student athlete is a biology major and in excellent condition.