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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. We drove through the small town of Adjuntas, to get to the farm. We saw Tato’s wife, Georgina, waving at us as we approached the farm. Georgina is hearing, but also very supportive of her Deaf husband, Tato. She was so proud of being married to him for 35 years with 3 grown-up children.

Tato walked down the hill from the piece of land where he had set up 3 areas for his children’s new homes. He showed me around his farmland. It was so big, and impossible to see everywhere due to the rough terrain. Tato said that the coffee trees would not be ready until August. I was disappointed because I was hoping to witness him picking the coffee beans, and maybe even have a cup of fresh coffee. Peak season for the many coffee farms in the Latin American region tend to fall in between January and March. I asked him about Puerto Rico. He explained that Puerto Rico is in a different geographical location, with different weather.

He showed me his banana plant. He also produces two different types of oranges; mandarins and valencias. I ate a Mandarin orange but it had lots of seeds. He cut off the top of a valencia orange, and gave it to me to try. I just squeezed it like as if I was making some orange juice from it. I told him that it’s so fresh, and also sour. He laughed, and mentioned that it was a little too early to take the oranges out but they were still great to eat or drink. I discussed with him and Georgina about their farm business. They were hard workers for businesses and the government the past 30 years, and they used to sell almost 1,000 pounds of coffee beans every year to the government. Georgina used to work for a government office, and both of them are now retired. They just grow their own fruit, coffee beans and vegetables, and rarely sell their produce to the public. Georgina reminded me to come back and help them harvest the coffee beans. I told her that it’s a must for me!

Tato surprised us with a bag of fresh orange, as a farewell gift. I couldn’t absolutely say no! Then Jorge got a text message from the San Gabriel Deaf School that some of the Deaf teachers would like to meet me. I said let’s go! It took two hours of driving from Adjuntas to San Juan. We drove through Ponce, which is the southern Coastal Plain region of the island. I felt so hot, and noticed a big difference between the northern and southern parts of Puerto Rico. There were less trees and open areas in the south than it was up in the north. Jorge noticed it too! He admitted that he noticed many things when he started learning sign language 3 years ago. He didn’t realize that he and his other hearing friends always depend on their hearing but not notice any details through their eyes.

As we went over the mountains again, I felt much cooler. There was a big and steep road going down on my way south. There was a great deal of heavy traffic when we approached San Juan City. I pointed out to Jorge how peaceful the south of the island was, especially with less traffic. We finally arrived at the San Gabriel Deaf School, anxious to get out and meet new people. A friendly nun was outside and waiting for us, all ready to show us around. We saw some students leaving the campus, because the school closes at 2pm. All of them were in uniforms.

There are 3 Deaf teachers working at the school: Juan Jose, Liznelly and Ivelisse. We discussed the Deaf School as we, both in America and Puerto Rico, faced big issues with the decreasing enrollment of Deaf students and the lack of support from government. Liznelly got her Bachelor of Arts degree at Puerto Rico University. She had difficulties with the interpreting service there. One terrible example, she explained, came when the interpreter told her that she wasn’t getting paid so she wouldn’t be coming to help Liznelly. Liznelly couldn’t believe it because she had paid the tuition fee. She had no choice but to depend on a friendly classmate who was willing to do the note taking. She made it through.

Juan Jose added that he never had an interpreter through his two Bachelor of Arts degrees. Looking back, he admitted that he wished that he had used the interpreting service. Ivelisse said that Puerto Rico is trying to train more interpreters, and she noticed that there are more new interpreters but now the Video Relay Services companies took them away from the community. The Deaf School closed the residence program a few years ago because they were concerned that many of the families wouldn’t be able to afford to send their Deaf children to San Juan. The government won’t pay for their transportation for a better education instead of sending them to local school where they don’t even have any interpreters.

They do hope that they will see more Deaf teachers at the Deaf school and help get a better education for the Deaf children in Puerto Rico. It was amazing to find them using American Sign Language even though they can speak in Spanish and write/read in Spanish, too. They had to learn English because Puerto Rico requires both languages for business, education, and so on. The western part of Puerto Rico still uses the old Puerto Rico sign language, however. They were so excited about coming to our San Juan DeafNation Expo, which will take place on June 13, 2009. I praised them for doing their best to teach the Puerto Rican Deaf children, because they are a part of our next generation!

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