NOTES ON SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

 

We will be in San Juan during the summertime so it is bound to be hot.  Here are the temperatures for June-July: Average High: 88°F, Average Low: 71 °F, Mean: 80 °F, Aeverage Rainfall: 6.7-7 inches, Record High: 95 °F (1995), Record Low: 55 °F (1994). While the hotel is, of course, air conditioned and there will be a breeze off the ocean, you may find it more comfortable to leave your dark wool suits at home and adopt the Caribbean dress code. I, as Program Chair, am going to take the initiative and recommend that everyone follow Barbara Bush's admonitions when she invites people to a semi-casual dinner: "please, no ties, no pantyhose"; that is, leave your formal, dark suits and ties at home! Bring "semi-casual Friday clothes"; that is, chinos, short-sleeved shirts or polo shirts, a light sports jacket for the evening (men may want bring a tie if you have a fancy dinner engagement in old San Juan).

 

Also, bring a bathing suit. The hotel has several swimming pools and you will want to take advantage of them. You may enjoy seeing photos of the Caribe Hilton, which I took during our Board meeting in mid-March. They are on the OFOTO website at:

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=14641726303&n=1858203664

To view the pictures, copy and paste this address into your internet browser.  When you get to the home page of OFOTO, for the log-in, put: "aib2002@tamu.edu" and the password as "caribe". You do not need to buy any of the photos! You can right-click on any of them and save them to your desktop if you want copies.

 

The University of Puerto Rico has a website on the conference at: http://aib2002.uprrp.edu/ . The website includes photos, maps, practical travel information, and lists of things to do. See:

 http://aib2002.uprrp.edu/Website/thingstodo_main.htm

 

Some time ago, I also assembled a list of websites with information on Puerto Rico that you might find it useful to peruse before your trip. They are up on the AIB 2002 website at:

 http://www.aibworld.net/events/2002/prinfo.htm

 

UPR has arranged, through a local travel company, for some side-trips during and after the conference. You can find information on these in the draft Final Program, which is up on the web at: http://www.aibworld.net/events/2002/tourinfo.pdf . You can schedule tours outside of these times by emailing ahead of time to npadilla@destinationpuertorico.com . If you, for example, decide to go to see El Yunque (the rainforest), remember to bring closed toe shoes suitable for getting wet, sunscreen and a hat (particularly if you are not used to the tropical sun). 

Lorraine Eden, 2002 Program Chair