HAVERFORD, Pa. – Volleyball is getting ready for the 2014 season with a preseason trip to Puerto Rico. The team departed the United States on Wednesday, August 20 and is scheduled to return on Sunday, August 24. Junior Sara Rennert is writing about the team's experience. The Fords' daily activities will be updated throughout the trip on HaverfordAthletics.com.
Saturday, August 23
Puerto Rico Trip Photo Gallery (Courtesy of Meg O'Day and Sara Rennert)
On the final day of our trip to Puerto Rico the sun finally made a bright and welcome appearance. In the morning we went the Old San Juan to explore the beautiful city. We first stopped at an old military fort along the shore. The walls of the fort were beautifully decayed and a moat separated the fort wall from the rest of the land. The view of the shoreline was stunning and a group of people were doing yoga on the edge of one of the cliffs.
The city of Old San Juan is a labyrinth of pastel colored buildings with cobbled streets and very old walls surrounding the city. We first walked around these walls gazing at statues and the view across the bay. We then made our way into the city itself. The colors of the apartments and building in Old San Juan are painted every single color, from the deepest red to the lightest purple and every shade in between. We also saw the oldest church in North America which was pretty spectacular. Zoe Wong brought a Polaroid camera and much enjoyment came from taking photographs against the pretty buildings and old stairs. There are a lot of stray cats in Old San Juan and Elena Garcia probably petted every single one of them. She would walk up to them without a care and give them a good stroke or two on the back before continuing to walk along with the group. This is very impressive because I'm sure we saw one or two that looked either feral or sick.
The end of our trip was spent enjoying a lovely afternoon on the beach. The sun was shining, the water was light blue, and the waves were smooth and soothing. Everyone was excited for some time to relax in paradise. Some of the girls had a competition to see how many sand dollars they could find. I think they collectively collected over twenty. There couldn't be a better end to a trip.
We are now on the plane home. All a little tired, some a little burnt, but most importantly grateful for the experience. Thanks so much to Coach Benoit and Rachel for not only making this trip possible but for making it wholeheartedly worthwhile and special. We all had such an amazing time together. Thanks also to Peter for getting us around safely and showing us the best places to eat. And thanks to you if you've kept up with this blog, it means a lot to the team and I. Now it's time to put on some headphones and have Death Cab for Cutie sing me to sleep all the way back to Philadelphia.
Coming Soon:
- The rest of the season: watch this space to see how it all pans out and you know, come out and support us if you can.
- Return to Haverford's gym: Will we sweat less? Will we complain less? No one knows for sure.
- Nothing… This blog is over. Goodbye.
Previous Articles
Day 1: Travel Day
Day 2: Into the Rain Forest
Day 3: Revenge of the Wet Floor
Day 4: Game Day/A New Hope