San Juan, Puerto Rico

March 21, 2007

Week 2

Settling In

It’s been a week since we arrived on the island, and yet it feels like a lifetime. There are a million things happening at once; between project work, exploring the island, and settling in to our new two-month home, I’ve been so busy that my head is spinning. It all becomes worth it, however, during those times when we just lie on the beach staring out to sea and forget about the noise and bustle of the city behind us.

Living in San Juan is difficult at times. We’ve learned a lot over the past week exploring the city. For example, most of us are now able to walk to the grocery store without getting lost, negotiate fare for a taxi, and find the best local restaurants and bars. We’ve even managed to figure out the bus system, which is far less reliable than the trains. We were late to work for the first few days due to mishaps when we took the wrong bus (or worse, when we take the correct bus in the wrong direction). Because we are here for longer than a typical tourist would come for vacation, I like to think of myself as a resident now and not a visitor, but since we live in the tourist-y section of San Juan, Condado, it’s difficult to shake the stereotype that we are normal tourists here to sunbathe and spend lots of money, and we s till get lots of looks walking around the city as a gaggle of American kids.

Our condos are amazing, however, and it’s nice living with all of the WPI students in the same building. We have wireless internet access downstairs in the lobby, a security guard downstairs, and easy access to the pool and to the gym located on the other side of the building. The only real issue is internet access, which is available only on the first floor, but once we get access at work, this is a non-issue. I didn’t come to San Juan to play on my computer all day…

The Project Begins

On our first day of project work, we ventured to the Department of Natural Resources building in Cupey, a building which houses the DNER and also other agencies and groups involved in the environmental management of Puerto Rico. Upon arriving at the correct office, we introduced ourselves to our liaison and to all the biologists, and they were thrilled to see us. We settled in to our conference room office and began to set our due dates for the term. Initially, things were very confusing as we tried to explain our goals for the project in broken Spanish. One of the causes for confusion was the atypical nature of the WPI IQP. Some of the sponsors for IQPs do not understand the difference between academic project work and an internship, which are often far more tedious exercises with far less academic value. WPI IQP students do not travel to perform data entry or be file clerks, and we made sure that our sponsor understood this.

Things really started to pick up a few days later, once we had our meeting with all of our liaisons at DNER and the professors. We hadn’t realized how important the disposition protocol was to our sponsor until we heard him tell the professors how excited he was. Their main issue at the Cambalache State Forest is the lack of a standard protocol for processing the animals that they are sent. Once they have a standard protocol in effect, the government can update the Cambalache center and create a new database for exotic species tracking, which establishes a “chain of evidence” record for the movements of the animal.

During this phase of the IQP, we are collecting information, learning about the specific needs of our sponsor, and planning the remainder of the term. Our final presentation is April 30, and we have no time to waste…

Yesterday we interviewed the Ranger at the Cambalache center, and he explained his frustration at their lack of internet access and the process that he has to go through to find places to send new animals. He would prefer to only keep the animals in the state forest for a handful of days. His largest wish is that all the exotics which enter the country could be processed through the Cambalache center and entered into a government database before they are transported elsewhere on the island.

We also discussed the possibility of creating a standard pool of animals that could be used for educational purposes. While we were at the state forest, a bus full of students showed up to tour the facility. The ranger explained to us that schools sometimes request animals from the center, and they arrange to have the animals transported to and from the schools. With a specified pool of animals for this purpose, they could maximize the educational value of these visits and they would not have to worry about which species are available for these trips.

The last order of business was to ask the ranger for information on any contacts that might be useful to us, and we also grabbed copies of some of the forms that need to be renovated for the center as part of the disposition protocol.

Coming Up

For the rest of this week and for next week, we are continuing to follow our schedule of interviews that we had previously planned out. Tomorrow we are journeying to the west coast of the island to the Juan A. Rivero Zoo, located in Mayaguez. Once we arrive, we will interview the on-site veterinarian who also works with the Cambalache center on other DNER project. On the way home, we are stopping at El Arque de Noá, a smaller zoo that also sometimes receives animals from Cambalache, for yet another interview.

My next entry will be about the side trips we are taking on the weekends. So far, I’ve been to the Bacardi Rum factory, the Museum of Art in Ponce, and a Taino Village, in the upcoming weeks I’ll have even more trips to write about... I can’t wait!

-Justin