Starting the day out, I met up with Jose Javier, a well-known Deaf surfer in Puerto Rico. As we got to know each other, some heavy rain started pouring down. I said to him, “Oh, no – will I miss my chance to surf with you?” He wasn’t easily cowed, instead suggesting that we come over to see some big waves a few miles from the San Juan airport.

The drive down to El Yunque National Forest, from San Juan, took about 45-60 minutes. I could see some big clouds up around the peaks of the El Yunque Mountains from a distance. The El Yunque National Forest is the only rainforest in the U.S. national park system, and has hundreds of small animals species that don’t exist elsewhere in the world.

I woke up to a beautiful morning in the Adjuntas Valley. There was a light breeze, and some fog moving through. It was definitely the perfect weather to begin the day with. Jorge tried to find a local Deaf farmer through the hotel manager and other locals, but then the vocational rehabilitation office found the farmer and we were off to see him.

I was pretty anxious about visiting the Arecibo Observatory (www.naic.edu), the world’s largest radio telescope. The observatory is used for a variety of things, including astronomy and atmospheric studies.

I had to return to reality eventually, leaving Vieques Island behind. Vieques was incredibly relaxing, and I decided that it would be a great place to take a vacation. All the residents there really took their time with no clocks around.

The Ceiba to Vieques flight was my shortest commercial flight ever. It lasted only ten minutes, and the plane didn’t have much in the way of passengers, having only 9 passengers along.

A good place to start my tour of Puerto Rico was in Old San Juan, so I met up with several Deaf natives of the island. I had the chance to meet Dr. Yolanda Rodriguez-Fraticelli, who was the first Deaf Puerto Rican ever to receive a PH.D.

Why am I going to Puerto Rico? We will be hosting the San Juan DeafNation Expo on June 13, 2009, so to me it’s a great chance to meet more Deaf people and see what Puerto Rico can offer to travelers and Expo attendees.