Ponce, Puerto Rico Day 3

Today was my last day in Puerto Rico. I am really sad to be leaving, but I'm so glad that I got to come! Today we celebrated two holidays. A Puerto Rican holiday, "El Dia de los Emancipacion". It's a holiday that celebrates the day that slavery was abolished. It happened March 22nd, 1873. March 22nd also happens to be my birthday, so we had twice the celebration. The whole family was there and we had a roast pig dish called "Lechon". It was probably the most delicious thing I have had on this whole trip-- it was irresistible! Here is a recipe for Lechon. http://www.bigoven.com/43570-Roast-Pork-(Lechon)-recipe.html They had the day off from school, so we decided to go see some landmarks in between meals.

We spent the day at the Ponce Cathedral. Juan

and Tina told me all about its history. It was built in 1670, and it was supposed to just be a chapel, but in

1692 it was turned into a parish, which is like a local church. But the building kept getting damaged from earth quakes in the 18th century so they replaced the old building with a new one. Then that one got destroyed from one really bad earthquake, and so in 1839 they replaced it with an even bigger building, and in 1924, it was declared a cathedral. A lot has happened within that piece of land! The building is so nice, the outside is a pure white which just makes it look even nicer in the bright sun. This is a picture of the cathedral. It was a great last day!

-Regan