M and E Live by the Sea: More Visitors / Más Visitantes

Ethan and I have had a slew of visitors over the past few weeks. First, my PhD advisor was in San Juan for several days attending a conference. On one of her days off, we took her for a hike on our favorite trail, the El Yunque Trail, at El Yunque National Rainforest. It was a long 3.5 hour hike, but well worth it! This was the second time Ethan and I have hiked this trail, and on the first time, we missed the incredible view from the top because the clouds were passing over Los Picachos peak, one of the tallest peaks in the El Yunque Rainforest at 3,175 feet. But on this day, we lucked out. Check out these views!

View of Luquillo and Fajardo from Los Picachos peak

Another lovely view!

We had to take our photos quickly... the clouds were coming in fast!

Then, Ethan's sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew came to visit for a week at the end of April. We had so much fun with them! Ethan's sister planned so many fun activities... Check out some highlights, pictures courtesy of Ethan's sister:

Ethan and our nephew playing in the sand at the beach near our house.

Playing at the pool... Don't drown, Ethan!

Snorkeling at the Seven Seas

Enjoying lunch and the sunshine on the catamaran

Check out this snorkeling video I found online. This is footage from the same area we went snorkeling... and possibly from the same tour group in Fajardo. This was my second time snorkeling ever, and it was so much fun! The tour boat gave us bread to feed the fish and they got really close! There were so many of them and all different colors and sizes... I can't wait to go again!

Here are some photos of the Bio-Bay tour we did in Fajardo at La Laguna Grande (the Grand Lagoon). There are only 7 Bioluminescent bays in the world... and three of them are in Puerto Rico! Here is a post from one of our favorite blogs about fun things to do in Puerto Rico with more information on the Bio-Bays.

They had a food cart near the Bio-Bay that sold corn dogs wrapped in bacon!

Got our life jackets on, ready for some adventure!

Getting our stroke in sync

We took the early tour before the sun set so we could get a better view of the lagoon and the mangroves. You can't see the dinoflagellate during the day, so you have to wait until after the sun sets to see the action. I was a little weary of going kayaking around a lagoon in murky water, but it was an incredible experience. These little dinoflagellates light up so much in the dark! Every time we moved our hands or oars in the water, it would light up! Ethan said it was one of the coolest things he's EVER seen. So obviously, we are going back next time we have more visitors.

Ethan's Churrasco Mofongo entreé at La Estación after the Bio-Bay tour

On the last day of their visit, I gave them a tour of the lab. I also showed the kids some fun science stuff. Check out my niece's fascination with a human heart!

A future cardiologist?

She was in awe over this heart... much the same way I am in awe of the brain!
I also explained to them what we study in the lab and showed them some of our "subjects."

Overall, this was a really great visit with my new family. We packed in a lot of activities and I think they had a great time.

We had about a week and a half to recover from this fun visit before my mom and step-dad came to visit for Mother's day and my birthday. My mom arrived first to stay at our house for a few nights, then joined her husband at the Conrad hotel and resort, where they stayed the rest of the week. They wanted to mainly relax, so we spent most of the time hanging out at the pool or walking along the beaches. For Mother's day, Ethan and I made my mom some breakfast, then we headed out to Playa Mar Chiquita, my favorite beach in Puerto Rico. We also wanted to do a little shopping, but the Puerto Ricans like to close EVERYTHING on Mother's day (this is also the case for Father's day too! who would have thought?). While we are used to Mother's day sales on the mainland, the Puerto Ricans use Mother's Day as another excuse to celebrate and party!

For my birthday, Ethan brought my mom to the lab, and I gave her a quick tour and introduced her to all my fun lab mates. After lunch, the lab surprised me with a birthday cake! It was so yummy. Then we finally went shopping. They have the Premium Outlets here, just like Waterloo in upstate NY. For dinner, we ate at Silk, where I enjoyed some delicious sushi!

After my step-dad arrived, we gave them the usual tours of Old San Juan and El Yunque. This time, El Yunque was a little different. Because May is one of the rainiest months in Puerto Rico, the rivers and waterfalls were gushing at El Yunque!