On Friday, we went to the beach houses we were staying at..they're art Caba Roja, about an hour and 20 minutes away, on the south part of the island. It was POURING rain when we got there..fun unloading the car and trying not to get everything soaked :P (of course it lessened when we were finished haha). Of the 20 some cabins, our group had 18 of them! (Ours was cabin 16, how lucky!) There was Jo's family, friends, friends of friends..Jo didn't even know everyone haha. I really like his niece, Camilla..she is so nice! We can't really speak to each other because of the language barrier, but smiling and waving at me says a lot too! Mom, Jo, Ryan and I got our bathing suits on and took a walk on the beach. I was VERY uncomfortable, because I'm used to covering everything in Alaska lol. The water was pretty warm! We went in the woods some and saw some crabs! I tried touching one and it showed me its claw, like it was saying "don't you dare" LOL. Because of the rain, the evening was very pleasant, the coolest I'd felt here! There were some feral cats around too, aww. We had dinner, hung out some, and then went to bed because we were all tired. Everyone else was still outside playing and listening to music and stuff..hooray, we're the Introvert Cabin! LOL. The beds weren't too bad actually, though I got sand in it haha

Yesterday we had breakfast..even at 9 or 10 something, it's really hot!! It was a beautiful sunny day though, the best we've had so far! Ryan looked 100% miserable..he hates being around people, being too hot, sand..I felt bad for him. Someone gave Jo a book, and when he walked to Ryan he showed him the weed edible gummies the person hid in the book..I tried a piece of one too, because why not? (I just read recreational marijuana is illegal in Puerto Rico..oops. D:) The aftertaste was gross though. I felt a little shaky, but pretty happy haha. Mom, Jo and I went swimming..yay I've been in the Caribbean Sea! There was literally an underwater path leading to a swimming hole (it was shallow a long way out!). The water was so warm! Other people were there, and some people spoke English, so it was cool talking to more of Jo's family (both his siblings speak English because they went to the same school, but Jo is the most fluent since he lives in the US). Throughout the day, we'd go back to shore to eat lunch or something, then go back out (too hot not to!). It was fun jumping right as a wave was breaking! Someone brought snacks, so we had a picnic in the middle of the sea haha. At lunch, Ryan seemed happier, and Jo said he took him to get coffee (he didn't used to like coffee, but it seems he can't live without it now :P). He even went swimming after that! It started raining and mom was like "oh no, we're getting wet!!" LOL. I put on sunscreen, but got sunburned on the places I missed..it's not too bad though

Eventually we got tired of being in the water, and hung out and had dinner and stuff. I guess every weekend they have karaoke and partying and stuff at the nearby town, so a bunch of us went to check it out. A lot of people had Halloween costumes or accessories on, which was fun to see..I saw Mirabel from Encanto, t-rexes, a drag queen dressed as a sexy angel haha, a phoenix, etc. There were a lot of feral cats begging for food..they would just walk in a restaurant and sit by a table, hoping to get a treat. We watched the karaoke for awhile..the angel absolutely slayed that haha. I didn't know any of the songs, but it was a nice festive atmosphere, though too loud for me to speak much. Not my normal scene, but it's alright once in awhile. After that we headed back to the cabin and went to bed..it still felt like I was swaying in the sea haha. It stormed and rained pretty much all night

Today we had breakfast at a little place at the nearby town..my orange juice was freshly squeezed, and the potato/onion/pepper mix was SOO good. Then we went back to pack up..there were dead cockroaches outside. D: On the drive back I saw feral cats, loose chickens..interesting place lol. Our core group had lunch at a restaurant by the ocean, and then drove back to Ponce. It's interesting..people here leave "s" off the end of their words, so they say "gracia" instead of "gracias" (like saying "goin'" instead of "going" in English). I very easily adopt people's sayings, so now I'm doing it haha (it's super hard for me to say thank you in English, but somehow can easily say it in Spanish). I'm definitely tired now, but it was a fun weekend!

( beach pics!! )

28 – International Animation Day: What is your favourite animated film or TV series? The Hunchback of Notre Dame, How to Train Your Dragon, etc

29 – Internet Day and Cyber-security Awareness Month: Today is both national Internet day and Cyber-security Awareness Month. Are you, or do you try to be, fairly vigilant about how you use the internet, and keeping yourself safe online? Do you tend to use the same password across most sites? Have you ever suffered a malware infection? I try, though I do like to use similar passwords I can remember. Yes, but not much anymore since using Macs

Yesterday wasn't very exciting..just going to the beach, the pool, hanging out, getting my period..BAH. At least it waited for me to get some swimming in..

Today after breakfast we drove to Kona (30 or so minutes away) and went to their used bookstore. :D It was pretty big! I obviously can't go overboard so I just got three books. My bookstore is still better..their books are clean, don't smell musty, etc. I'm spoiled. :P After that we drove to a nearby beach. The road to get there was SUPER bumpy and rocky and stuff..it was painful. D: The beach was really nice though..the sand was really white and soft and the water was so clear! Here are some pics. I saw wild goats too! Aww..weird though seeing them on the beach. :P It was pretty hot..it felt like Texas. After the beach we drove back to the hotel..Ryan and mom are swimming and I'm up on the terrace by the fire. The sunset is GORGEOUS..wow! I wonder what we're gonna do for dinner..