The 5 teams that have been stationed in San Juan decided to orchestrate a trip to the beach. With the help of a local contact and translator we rented a bus and had the trip all planned out. We were told it was a 2 hour trip to the 
beach. We rolled out of the city at about 8 am. An hour or so later the bus rolls to a stop at what looks like a depressing, trashy, site that is so called a ¨beach¨. There was water, but there was absolutely no sand and there were trash heaps everywhere. We were all extremely disappointed and with the help of the translator tried to figure out what the issue was. There either was some kind of miscommunication or some kind of scamming going on. Either way we convinced the driver to take us to a better beach.
It took another hour and a half but we did finally end up at a pretty decent beach, although there was still a lot of trash around. (That seems to be the norm in this country…trash cans and dumpsters don´t seem to serve much purpose here.) There was blue water, palm trees, sand, seashells, and starfish! I definitely enjoyed my 
day at the beach. I loved being able to walk up and down the coast looking for interesting shells and enjoying the solitude away from my group. There weren´t many others at the beach that day and so I felt safe walking alone. I haven´t been able to do much of that it this country! My introverted personality and need for alone time is in desperate need of a change!
