Day Four: LD and Julian

The day started very early with a 6:15 am departure towards Hacienda la Esperanza, a mangrove farm in Manatí. We got there at 7:30, ready to learn and work on the farm. The first task they gave us was to remove the weeds from the young trees’ pots. After a short break, we filled some small organic bags with soil for a future batch of plants and re-seeded plants that were without a bag of soil. A positive initiative was done by the farm in the past couple of years: The organization is committed to giving four of these small bags to every family in Puerto Rico desiring to plant them every year. This shows that the production of the farm is big enough to sustain the surrounding areas in trees which can be seriously damaged during hurricanes. 

Next, we took a visit to the small museum they had in the main casa. We looked at the many different machetes that were used by slaves on the plantation. The machates were all very different, the materials used varied from metal, wood, plastic and even bones. Slaves were given short and dull machetes, they were given worse tools because the masters of these plantations wanted to avoid giving them weapons, limiting their ability to retaliate or revolt. Masters would work alongside their slaves, but still did not see them as equals even though they worked with them, and would have more details on their handles. 

In the little museum was also a 4’ by 8’ sized complaint written by a group of slaves on a large piece of fabric. This complaint talked about the many different mishaps happening at the time, some with treatment from the masters of the plantation or even religious conflicts. This complaint was made out of some sort of cotton blanket with pieces plucked out in order to make the words. The size of the complaint was no mistake, the complaint was made as big as the main door of the house. Size metaphorically represents the gravity of the complaints, by making it so large they show how big of a deal the complaints truly are. 

Julian: Today the history behind the plantation best suited my research of African history and influence. There are certainly similarities between American slavery and slavery on the island there are also their differences. The biggest one being the willingness to hear out complaints from the slaves. This small gesture, even if they followed through with the complaints, is the biggest difference between the two systems. This simple aspect brings up the idea that masters did not just view their slaves as property, and opens up the idea that they were humans in their eyes. I'm excited to see more about Africa’s impact and history on Puerto Rico. 

We ate in a Puerto Rican version of Applebees for lunch before heading to the mountains. It suddenly started to pour, but it only lasted about 30 minutes. We drove on the tiny zigzagging roads near cliffs.  Cars had to honk before hitting a turn to alert a potential incoming car. A lot of times, two cars couldn’t cross each other in the turns. It suddenThe view was beautiful throughout the trip with high points of views and a lot of forest. We could see a huge difference in wealth between the mountain community and the city. There was a lot of trash and junk in the backyard of houses. Some houses were just completely destroyed or abandoned. There wasn’t any kind of business along that road. The terrain was prone to mudslides because the land was so steep, and in some places, deprived of vegetation.

(LD) On the car ride, I noticed that some houses had water tanks on the roofs, directly on the concrete. They are placed there to collect the rain water, heat this water, and then use it in the house. This is a way that houses can reduce their need for energy. Indeed, gravity functions as a pump, and the sun functions as the water heater. 

At the end of the trek through the jungle we reached a museum covering the history of Puerto Rico’s natives, the Taínos. There is little history concerning the Taínos since they became extinct due to European and Spaniard interaction on the island. Europeans and Spaniards historically have taken advantage of native people’s humbleness and willingness to cooperate, they brought diseases like syphilis and their outright genocide lead to their extinction. The few artifacts that were recovered by archaeologists are all in a room, but aren’t given an exact use or purpose as it is unknown what they might be. Taínos were known for their rock carving skills which we were able to see through the variety of tools that were found. Unfortunately, the museum doesn’t have as much artifacts as bigger museums in New York and in Spain. 

We finally got to this fabulous hotel where we will spend two nights. The view is gorgeous and each room has a balcony.