The Coqui

This tiny little frog is called the coqui or el coqui. As you can see it is no larger that the face of my watch and yet it makes a very loud sound which sounds like someone is whistling or saying cookie. The first time I came to Puerto Rico I had a hard time sleeping because of all the noise they make at night. I would have to close my windows to muffle the sound. I was on the phone with Karen one night when she asked me what all the noise was in the background. It was the coquis. If it rains during the night, they are even louder.

Today we worked up until about 3:00 PM before heading off to the beach. I washed a couple of cars and helped Jim grout the shower wall he has been working on since we got here. I had the all-important job of rinsing out the sponges as Jim wiped the excess grout from the tile. The new tile turned out very nice. Jim did an excellent job. We went to blue beach, which is the one in the photograph in the header of my blog. The water seemed a little warmer and there are some waves at blue beach.

We have picked up two new people at the school over the weekend. Jerry and Sharon Martin are from Canada and here for two weeks. Jerry worked at the school years ago before hurricane Hugo blew through and destroyed the school. He helped rebuild the school and has returned most every year since to work and be with the children. They will be joined later this week by Sharon's three sisters and their husbands and a brother-in-law I think and his wife. Jim and I will be moving into one small room this weekend when the last of the group arrives. Should be loads of fun as the Canadians are such fun to tease.

We have also been visited by a snowbird by the name of Margaret Upperman. She is a 91 year old black woman from New Jersey. She sure looks great for her age. We got her talking about her growing up in South Carolina and going to all black schools, riding in the back of the bus, and being afraid to go out at night because of KKK members on horseback. What stories she can tell. She has a wonderful spirit and has no hatred in her heart. Her eyes were just so full of live!!

The second photo posted is from our horseback ride on the beach yesterday. As you can see it was a beautiful day and the beach looked great.