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LA CASA DE VIDA NATURAL
Location: Outside Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Host: Jyl Lawler
A map of Puerto Rico showing the island. The location of La Casa de Vida Natural is represented by a red pinpoint.
La Casa De Vida Natural is Located upon a hill/mountain top and is located right next to the EL Yuunque Rainforest, which is a national park.
La Casa De Vida used to be a health and wellness spa, but after it was hit by several hurricanes, the health and wellness spa was closed and the property was transformed into an air BNB. There are 6 individual air BNB rooms that guests can rent, which are called:
- Papaya Room
- Banana Room
- Blue Dome
- Pink Dome
- Yuca Yurt
- Lychee Room
As a volunteer, my main task was to help maintain these 6 air BNB rooms for guests, which included maitenence work, cleaning, helping the guests, etc.
One of the other big tasks I completed while at La Casa De Vida was repainting the patio floor.
After adding the initial coat of paint and letting it dry, I added a coat of varnish on top to seal it.
The floor here is halfway painted. You can clearly see the difference between the old coat, and the new coat I was in the middle of applying
The floor above is the completed version! Looks so much better, and shiny!
Another one of my tasks at La Casa De Vida was to repaint a few sections of the Yucca Yurt floor.
The Yucca Yurt floor is very uniquely painted, it is a compination of different artists graffiti and abstract work, I made sure to follow that same theme.
I repainted the light blue and pink sections of the floor, giving my creative flair. Hygge is a danish word for ultimate comfort and coziness.
I added the yellow and read sections of the floor paint, as well as the word Dream
I added the green and purple sections of the floor paint, as well as a random symbol and the words DO IT!
The last section I painted, I finished by experiementing with blending red, yellow, and green; visually I was trying to make the three colors look like they bled into the other. I also added the words Bliss and Mindful.
The picture to the right was from my first day of work at La Casa De Vida. The wooden bedframe here had its nails stripped in the frame, so the other volunteers and I had to drill new holes in there, add studs, measure the pieces, and then put it all back together.
Another new project I worked on was creating a stable cement platform for the propane tank.
Creating the platform took lots of precise digging, measuring with levels, creating a wood frame for the cement, mixing it, pouring it, and leveling it out again.
I learned how to put new springs on a trampoline and use a power washer on the concrete to scrape away the caked on dirt.
Things that are not pictured here that I also completed
- Clearing the driveway of leaves
- Walking the dog
- Feeding the cats, hens, roosters, ducks, and turkeys
- Helped fix a stripped curtain in the Banana Room
- Clearing paths
- Lots of power washing
- Dug a canal for water to drain through
- Added a stud to the chicken coop door so that is could shut!
- Cat proofed a screen door
- Helped fix a plumbing leak
- Cleaning the kitchen and the toolshed!
- Communal cooking
- I received a rabies shot after being bitten by a stray dog!
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