Day 2- March 15, 2008

Bienvenidos! Today was our first full day here in Puerto Rico, and what a busy one it was. We started off the morning with an early breakfast at 7:30am then headed straight to the Caguas gymnasium for our first practice on the island.

Immediately upon entering the gym we noticed a few details that were definitely different from the Sports Pavilion. For instance, the courts were in bright hues of pink, orange and blue, we had quite a few spectators around to watch, and no air conditioning in humid and sticky 85 degree weather! Needless to say we started off practice with a PT (physical training) session with our strength coach Sarah Wiley.

After practice, we enjoyed a tasty lunch of yellow rice, stewed chicken, macaroni salad and bread pudding which we ate at the gym.

Once we returned to the hotel we were all pretty tired already from practice, but instead of resting in our rooms most of us opted to lounge by the pool for a few hours and catch some sun before our next activity. Even though the weather was a bit downcast, we stayed out anyway just to enjoy the tropical climate around us. Next, we left the hotel to go shopping in downtown Caguas. The scenery on the way to the city was spectacular and we got a few good views of the terrain and mountains that surrounded us.

After our short shopping excursion we left from the hotel to eat dinner at the Macaroni Grill. The meal was delicious and a nice reprieve from the Latin cuisine we had had since arriving to the island. Next we visited the area known as Old San Juan for some more sightseeing.

The city of San Juan is the capital of Puerto Rico, and was one of the first cities founded by the Spanish explorers. The city is a diverse mix of old and new with antique stores and upscale restaurants to hip nightclubs and popular business chains. We even managed to find a Coldstone Creamery and all stopped for ice cream at the end of the night. Then we headed back to our hotel to rest up for another eventful day in Puerto Rico!