As a student I find things easier to understand and pay attention too if I am interested. So, for this booth I think it is important that we do our best too spark the interest of our visitors.  That is what I have tried to do with my video, I want to draw the viewer in with an explanation of our fun adventures and then follow up with the main topic of our trip: agriculture. With this in mind I want to explain how I want the booth to be set up.  First of all I want big Puerto Rican and University of Illinois flags hanging above our booth and carnival barkers spread out in front of the booth attracting visitors.  Once we have visitors I envision the booth being a three part tour. The first two sections being virtual tours of our adventures in El Yunque and our snorkeling trip. I want to use all the footage we have of our trip and monitors to make it seem as though they were on the trip with us.  The final part of the booth is a crash course of Illinois and Puerto Rican agriculture.  We are going to use pictures and facts we learned from the different farms and have a little quiz game at the end of the booth to give the participants a chance to win a small prize.  I plan to make this booth a huge success and hope that people of all ages can enjoy.

Throughout my life I have found myself privileged enough to travel many different places and view nature from various aspects. Whether it was here in the United States or in Eastern Europe where I traveled last year. I can definitely say that the nature, climate, and landscapes of Puerto Rico are far from what I have ever visited before.

Every year I visit our family cabin in Northern Michigan which lies on the bank or the AuSable River surrounded by dense forestry. You are woken up every morning by a beautiful view of the river and the wildlife.  I truly did not think there was a view that I could ever find better than this one. This is where Puerto Rico proved me wrong.  The nature and beauty of this island was something I could have never imagined. While I have been in Puerto Rico I have been able to experience almost every aspect of its nature.  I have climbed cliffs and waterfalls of the El Yunque National Rainforest. I have snorkeled in the coral reefs of the Caribbean Sea and visited the prettiest beaches I have ever seen in my life.  All of these things are truly what surprised me about Puerto Rico. I knew this was going to be a beautiful place, but quite frankly it has blown my expectations out of the water.  I knew that coming from a Midwestern state, that things would be different but truly not to this extent.  I have not spent long in the state of Illinois but I know from my life in Ohio that much of the extreme and beautiful nature is merely forestry, the occasional cliff, and the gorgeous hundred acre farms where you can look out and see for miles.  This trip has allowed me to leave the norm for what I think nature is and I could not be happier that I have gotten to experience a trip like this.

After roughly two weeks in Puerto Rico I have noticed many things about the people and culture.  Some things being more surprising than others.  The people here are amazing.  The hospitality and generosity of every single person I have encountered has been unreal.  Throughout the trip we have traveled to various locations across the territory and every plantation, business, or university member we have come across has been more than helpful. I knew coming to Puerto Rico that a majority of the citizens spoke English but I have been completely blown away by everyone.  Although I took 4 years of Spanish in high school I was far from a fluent speaker. The natives are very patient with my slow speaking Spanish and are always helpful by communicating in English. It has made the trip so much easier and enjoyable.

The past few days we have spent time at the University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez and it has been unreal.  Every professor, student, and faculty member has been more than helpful an incredibly interested in our work/trip.  We even got the chance to sit down and speak with the Dean of the Department of Agriculture.  It would be nearly impossible to pick up and have a meeting with a Dean at the University of Illinois.  I am more than grateful for every experience I have had the last two weeks and I cannot wait to get home and share and express what I have experienced.  I can honestly say that I have never been more excited about a project and have such an interest for agriculture. I have experienced so much about the culture, agriculture, and nature of Puerto Rico that I could talk for days.  It is unlike anything I have ever done before and I am excited to share at Engineering Open House.

The whole gang and the University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez

A view of from the top of Playa Sucia

When signing up for this class I really had no idea what to expect of the country of Puerto Rico, my knowledge of agriculture, or even the overall purpose of this course.  In a matter of just a week in this country almost all of these uncertainties have become clear to me.  When I arrived in this country eight days ago I was expected to be greeted by a beautiful rainforest right away, this was not the case due to a mere 2:30 delay.  The morning of the 5^th came and I was awoken with view that I could not have dreamed of in the States.  This is where the journey began and everything became clear to me.

What came with this view was the somewhat impoverished way of living and the hidden beauties behind it all.  I knew this country was having its issues with its economy, but coming from a suburb in North East Ohio where each house has a yard and a long driveway, it was far from what I expected. Also, the agriculture was completely different than what I was used too in both Illinois and Ohio.

Coming to this country and visiting both small scale production coffee farms and the large industry sized fruit production plants has really opened my eyes.  The meticulous methods in both types of plantations was very interesting. The care and technique the Café Grand Bate plantation used was unreal to me. I never would have guess there would be that many steps to get a bean ready to roast. This coming from the guy who didn’t know what a coffee bean looked 3 days ago.  The production and post harvest methods were not difficult to understand, but plantation supervisor Daniel was clearly very knowledgable of his trade and made sure we were aware of all the technicalities and sciences that went along with growing, harvesting, and processing the coffee bean. Whether it was make sure the trees were pruned when they need to be, the beans are in the right temperature and moisture for drying, and even the 12% moisture of the bean when it is roasted.  On a small farm like this it is essential every bit of the coffee plant is used.  Even at the larger Martex farms was incredible about making sure that everything grown was used, even if it was just the unappealing mangos that aren’t sold being used as feed for cattle.  This post harvest use is something I think we can improve on in farms in Illinois.

Something I have noticed while visiting farms here in Puerto Rico is that there is a huge variability of crops. Unlike Illinois which has two main crops of soy bean and corn. In just one farm visit at the Martex Farms we were introduced to plantains, bananas, mangos, papaya, and Spanish lime.  At the coffee plantations we were introduced Arecibo Coffee and Valencia Oranges.  Corn and Soybeans of Illinois are huge exports, unlike the crops produced in Puerto Rico.  Mangos are the main export out of the country while only a small quantity of each of the smaller crops is exported to the United States, Canada, and Europe. The majority is sold locally in Puerto Rico. The selling of locally grown crops in the United States is something that is being stressed recently. Since being in Puerto Rico my knowledge of agriculture has increased greatly. It has allowed me to see how farms function in a tropical climate and learn about crops unfamiliar to the United States. I am hoping the past week visiting farms in Puerto Rico will help me spark an even greater interest in agriculture that I can apply to my education back in Illinois.

A view of Valencia Orange Trees and Coffee Trees at the Cafe Grand Bate plantation.

Coffee beans drying in the greenhouse at Cafe Grand Bate. One of the many stages of the coffee productions.

What’s up everyone, I am Brady and this my first post! I am a member of a group of students traveling in Puerto Rico for a class project. Enjoy!

As a member of this group for our trip to Puerto Rico I am going to multi-task and be flexible with whatever is best for the group. Whether it is researching, putting together the poster board or gathering and collecting any data.  We have not decided a topic yet but, I will contribute my opinion on the topic.  I feel that I am well rounded with my skills and easy to work with in order to create the best project possible.  Also, I have brought a camera with me so I will use this in order to help take pictures that are relevant to the project and poster topic we choose. I am excited to begin working on the project here in Puerto Rico and get involved in everything that can make this project successful.