Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast

The Captain of the San Juan Base presented Ryan and 2 other guys from his boat with this "Challenge Coin" for their courageous efforts of saving 4 Cuban immigrants. The coin promotes individual strength and courage and it inspires teamwork and camaraderie. Im so proud of him :)

Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Dominican Republic navy crews interdicted two Dominican suspected smugglers, rescued four Cubans and recovered 11 other Cuban survivors and one deceased Cuban from Mona Island and Monito Island, Puerto Rico, following a maritime pursuit of a migrant-smuggling vessel Thursday in the Mona Passage.

"These smugglers showed their ruthlessness and a complete disregard towards the lives, well being and safety of the people they were transporting illegally to Puerto Rico," said Capt. Drew Pearson, U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan commander. “The excellent coordination and response between Caribbean Border Interagency Group partner agencies and the Dominican Republic navy resulted in four lives being saved and the successful interdiction of the smugglers.”

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Puerto Rico is seeking the extradition of the two smugglers from the Dominican Republic, who are currently in the custody of Dominican Republic authorities.

Upon noticing the presence of law enforcement authorities in the area, the smugglers proceeded to cover the migrant vessel with a blue tarp in an attempt to avoid detection and continued to transit towards Monito Island, where several Cubans jumped into the water and were trapped below the island’s cliff waterline unable to reach safety.

The migrant vessel proceeded to transit rapidly towards Mona Island, where the remaining migrants jumped into the water and began swimming towards shore. Immediately thereafter, the suspected smugglers proceeded to flee the scene and head back towards the Dominican Republic with the CBP surveillance aircraft in aerial pursuit.

Meanwhile, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Cushing arrived to Monito Island, deployed their response boat and combined efforts with the crew of a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter to rescue the four migrants from the cliffside. The helicopter’s rescue swimmer was able to reach the four endangered migrants and pull them to safety, one at a time. The crew of the rescue helicopter hoisted one of the survivors onboard, who required immediate medical attention, and transported him to Good Samaritan Hospital in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The crew of the Cushing embarked the three other survivors from the cutter’s small boat.

The Cushing transported the three other survivors to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, where they were turned over to awaiting Ramey Sector Border Patrol agents. The Cushing is a 110-foot patrol boat home ported in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

http://www.d7.uscgnews.com/go/doc/586/1317939/ (entire article)

Bella's First Trip to the Beach

Bella had a blast at the beach! She rolled in the sand and chased after waves.

Sandy nose.

The wind would catch her ears and blow them out. lol She had a good time.

Arecibo, PR

Arecibo is the largest city in geographical size on the island. Its about 45 mins away from our home. There are beaches in San Juan, but they get filled with tourist and get crowded. So for us it was worth the drive. There are two large rocks near this beach and as the waves crash against them it shoots the water in the air. The waves break really good here and there were a lot of surfers and I enjoyed watching them. Ryan didn't surf, but he did boogie board and had a blast.

 Enjoying the sun and the beach!

 Ryan found some glasses while boogie boarding...

This is a little lagoon made by the rocks. It looks kinda crowded, but on either side of the rocks there was hardly anyone. There was also a lighthouse up on a hill beside the beach too. When the water hit the rocks it would make a loud BOOM.

Fun Facts

1. The world's largest single-dish radio telescope is located in Puerto Rico.
2. Puerto Rico is roughly the size of Connecticut.
3. El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. National Forest System.
4. Puerto Rico was "discovered" by Christopher Columbus.
5. More than 70% of the rum sold in the U.S. comes from Puerto Rico.
6. San Juan is the second largest cruise port in the western hemisphere.
7. Two of the oldest churches in the Americas lie in Old San Juan.
8. Puerto Rico has over 270 miles of beaches.
9.  The legal drinking age in Puerto Rico is 18. No matter what your age is, you can't drink on the street in Old San Juan.
10. Given the number of casinos on the island, this may not be a real surprise, but gambling is legal all over the island. However, only hotels are allowed to have casinos.
11. For some reason, gas is sold by the liter, but distance is measured in kilometers. To make things even more confusing, speed is measured in miles per hour.
12. There is no Daylight Savings Time in Puerto Rico, which is always on Atlantic Standard Time.

First Visitors

 We had our first visitors come last week, Ryan's sister Amanda and her husband Jean!! I was excited to show them around town, bring them our house, and of course meet Bella (Amanda fell in love with her). Ryan was underway most of the time they were here, but made it back in time to spend their last night with them. We went to dinner then walked around Old San Juan.  

 Brother and sister :)

Amanda showed me a setting on my camera that I didn't even know I had. It takes awesome pictures at night!

El Yunque Rainforest

 Amanda and I got to visit the El Yunque Rainforest while she was in town. Ryan wasn't able to come because he was underway on his boat. We went on a guided hiking tour and went on several trails through the forest. One of the trails follows the course of the La Mina River downward through tropical trees, shrubs and flowers to the La Mina waterfall (Cascada La Mina).

 

Snails on leaves.

 Along the way, it crosses and re-crosses the rushing river on many small bridges, passing tiny cascades and still pools filled with chilled mountain water, on its way to the falls.

The waterfall drops over 35 feet through a jumble of huge rocks into a pool where hikers can choose to swim in the cool refreshing water or just rest and enjoy the view.



The Castillo de San Cristóbal

The Castillo de San Cristóbal or St. Christopher Fort is a massive fort that was built by the Spanish in the city of San Juan. The fort was originally designed to guard San Juan but it is now just an interesting tourist site. Fort San Cristóbal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a U.S. National Park Service site. It was built (began in 1634 and completed in 1771) to protect the city. Built on San Cristobal Hill (hence the name), the fort is considered one of the largest Spanish fortifications in the New World. The structure extends across 27 acres of land. We went down into the dungeons and climbed up on top of the fort walls.

 Ryan's sister came into town for a week. We had fun spending time with them and exploring the island together.

At the top of one of the towers was slit that was a "look out" for the Spaniards. It was a beautiful panoramic view of the ocean.

It was such a beautiful day!!

This is me and Ryan, Amanda and Jean (Ryan sister and her husband), and Cecilia and Jason (Amanda's friends) at the top of the fort with Old San Juan in the background.



Bella

How did Bella go from a pound dog to Princess Bella in just a couple of weeks!?! I put her outside in the mornings so she can go to the bathroom. But the grass has a little bit of dew on it. So she balances on a 3 inch ledge so her paws won't get damp... really Bella?? lol At least I always know when she's finished going to the bathroom. Wonder where she got this princess attitude from...?

After bathroom, ledge balancing, breakfast, and play time she gets tired and takes a quick snooze. She is not a very modest sleeper.

When I sing to Bella she gives me this face. LOL

Ryan calls Bella an ankle bitter and says she looks like a hyena, but yet I catch him rolling on the floor loving and playing with her and kicking her back to give her a belly rub. He says all those things, but I know shes got him wrapped around her little paw!

I caught them taking a nap together on the couch. So sweet!! She's such a toot, but I think everything she does is so dang cute! She has my heart : )

Cockfights

There is a Cockfight Arena right by the airport in San Juan. Cockfighting has been legal in Puerto Rico since 1933. Louisiana was the last U.S. state to allow the sport, but its ban took effect in August 2008. Me being an animal lover this "sport" makes me cringe.

Calvary Chapel

I was so happy to find an English speaking church here in Puerto Rico and its only 5 minutes away! A couple of families in housing also go to Calvary Chapel and I carpool with them when Ryan in underway on his boat. It is so nice to be able to fellowship with families who are in the "same boat as us." (pun intended) haha

Guavate, Puerto Rico

We headed out to Guavate for lunch this past Sunday with another couple from our neighborhood. It was about 45 drive from our house. It is basically outdoor restaurants that specialize in seasoned whole-pig, slow roasted over an open fire. There are also various side dishes like rice and pigeon peas, cassava, breadfruit, sweet potato, blood sausage, and yellow or green plantains (I really like the plantains). Even Anthony Bourdain, of No Reservations on the TravelChannel, came to Guavate on his trip here to taste this specialty. Guavate offers very authentic food, cooler temperatures because its up in the mountains, and great live music.

I love meat, but I just don't want to see the face of the meat im eating!! I makes me sad/ grossed out : ( But it was fun watching as they hack up the pork with a machete. The cutting boards are all concave from years of hacking and it was very reasonably priced. You get a plateful for about $6.

I wasn't excepting it to be so quaint, with nice pavillions and a natural spring running through the middle.

This is what Ryan looks like after he eats too much...lol! He had to kick back for a few minutes before we walked around.

I have never seen this before till I moved here. Its a gambling toy horse game called "Pica." You bet on a horse (every horse as a number) and if it lands on yours you win. It kind of reminds me of roulette.

Bff's

Bella and Harley (chocolate lab) are best friends. Harley's owners are from Houston and we take them on walks together a couple of times a week.

They are the same age (a little over a year) and love to chase each other.

Around the House

I was walking Bella around our neighborhood and this wicker coffee table was sitting by the dumpster. I remembered seeing coffee tables turned into benches on pinterest, so I thought I would give it a try. I made Ryan come pick it up for me. And he thought I had gone crazy!

Ryan ripped off the wicker and replaced it with a piece of plywood, foam, and fabric.

Its not fancy, but cheap and fun to make and goes great in a entryway. 

We have really tall ceilings in our living room and both bedrooms. I have been on the hunt for 108 inch curtains, but I hadn't found any that I liked for a decent price. Plaza Las Americas is a mall about 15 mins from our house and is also the Caribbean's largest shopping center (I'd say it is equivalent to the Galleria.). We found a store called West Elm. They had exact curtains I had been looking for and for an amazing price! I LOVE a good deal!

I'm very happy the way they turned out. It really makes our room feel a lot bigger!

Ryan built these frames for wall decor to go in our living room.

   

He helped me drape fabric over them to make it look like a canvas.

The good thing with these all you have to do is change the fabric and you have a whole different look!

Batey Zipline Cont'd...

Here is me coming down on the zipline! You only have about 2 or 3 steps to stop yourself. But after a few "zips" you get the hang of it.

Here's Ryan coming down!! At the beginning of this video you can see the instructor throw out the foam break. It helped us slow down when we got closer to the end.

Iguana

I walked outside to bring Bella to potty and this iguana is just chillen in the driveway! I was in shock for a second and then fumbled for my phone to snap a quick pic before it ran off. Then Bella and I both took off inside the house cause we were both scared of it! O the joy of living in the Caribbean lol.

Batey Zipline

 We took the "Batey Zipline Tour" which was located in Utuado, about an hour and a half away from our home. It included a visit to a cave , rappelling a 70 foot cliff (which I opted out of), six different ziplines (three of them over the Tanamá Rivera) and a long walk through interpretative paths for approximately 45 minutes. It took about 4 1/2 hours for our group of eight people to complete. This is a picture of me and Ryan about to walk over this extremely wobbly bridge after a 45 minute hike into the forest. The bottom part of the bridge looked like chicken wire held up by thin rope, but our tour guides promised me it was very strong and safe. Only 2 people at a time could walk on the bridge. I'm smiling in this picture, but I cried and scream the whole time I was on it!!!

After a few ziplines and more hiking we were up in the mountains. It was so beautiful! The higher we got the cooler the temperature. Behind us is the drop off for the rappel portion of the tour. I gave it one look and said "hell no" and they showed us a path we could walk down and meet them at the bottom. Ryan insisted that he didn't want to do it either, but I know he really did (what a good husband).

This is the second strongest bamboo in the world. This is our tour guide in the corner of the picture telling us all about it. It grows 18 inches a day and gets about 100 feet tall. The roots grow out as far as the bamboo is tall. It also has huge thorns that you can see in this picture.

Ryan and I are about to hop in the boat and head into the cave!

This is a limestone cave that is about 2,000 feet long and cuts through a mountains.

Heading in!! I got a little nervous at this point.

They gave us head lights to put on our helmets. It was pitch black inside and we could hear bats squeaking all around us. They gave us strict instructions not to squeal and scream because it would irritate the bats.

Coming out of the cave.

Finally making it out of the cave! We had so much fun and I was proud of myself for not being a big baby. We will definitely be doing more ziplines in Puerto Rico before we leave!