[wind howling]
[Zac Efron] Imagine a huge disaster hit.
[birds squawking]
It destroyed everything that you depended on.
[man] Marker!
[Zac] Where would you go?
What are you gonna eat?
[Zac] Very lemony.
[woman] It's also a pesticide.
[coughing]
[Zac] What would you drink?
Is this your signal to drink the milk?
[laughing]
[bleating]
[Zac] What are you going to do for power?
So we have here a total of 30 solar panels that we can supply
to all our neighbors' extension cords.
[Zac] How would you survive?
To find out, we're going to visit a small island in the Caribbean.
This island is a brilliant case study for sustainability
because it's such a microcosm.
Food, water and energy are all the main staples for modern life
and here all three are under constant threat
due to increased hurricane activity caused by global climate change.
We're here to learn from the survivors...
-[woman laughing] -[Zac] Thank you.
[Zac] ...and to see how everyone is planning for the future.
This is Puerto Rico.
[Zac] That's why I got started in all this.
I was like, "What's enough?" I felt like I was just on a...
-[man] Treadmill. -Yeah, I was on the treadmill.
It was like, "What am I doing?"
[Zac] Let me start at the beginning.
A few years ago, I met Darin.
-I can't feel my feet or my hands. -I'm proud of you, bro.
Yeah.
[Zac] He's a guru of healthy living and superfoods.
Yes, great. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
[Zac] You could say he wrote the book on the subject. Literally.
[Darin] A healthy lifestyle, solid principles.
[Zac] Darin and I are traveling around the world
to find some new perspectives on some very old problems.
[Darin] That's Mother Earth, bro.
[Zac] Searching for healthy, sustainable living solutions for the planet...
[Zac] Wow.
...and all who live on it.
Woo-hoo!
Ignore the crazy white guy.
-[Zac] And hey, you gotta eat too, right? -[Darin] You don't have to eat it.
-How does it move like that? -[woman] Oh, my God.
[Zac] It's time to get... Down to Earth.
[theme music]
Trippy.
[Zac] As we start our journey here in the port of Old San Juan,
we are instantly hit with the warm salt air and a fresh feeling of...
Check, check.
...what are we getting ourselves into?
Whoa, dude. This setup's money. Look at that!
[Latin music plays]
-Oh, my God, so great! -[chuckling]
Nice to meet you! Happy birthday.
[Zac] Here in Old San Juan, there's music and art everywhere.
You could feel the rich history in every step you take.
Some of the streets are lined with the original cobblestones from the 1800s.
That's old.
-[Darin] Dude! -[Zac] Whoa!
-[Darin] Look at that! -[Zac] Sick.
Do you guys see this? Just look at that!
[Zac] There's a lot to do and our stay is short,
so we're splitting up.
While Darin scouts for some of the local food sources
through area co-ops, markets, and restaurants,
I'm headed a little inland to meet somebody
who has recently become a familiar face in the story of Puerto Rico.
Look, you can't visit Puerto Rico now without realizing
what was going on here almost a year ago to the day.
And that brings me to why I'm here, standing all alone in this stadium:
Hurricane Maria.
[woman] Hi, there.
-[woman] How are you? -Madam Mayor.
[Zac] This is Carmen Yulin Cruz,
the polarizing and controversial mayor of the city of San Juan.
And unknown to most of the world
until the spotlight of the hurricane shined upon her
as she fought for federal attention
to this U.S. territory's disaster.
We have a very different view from September 20th.
I'm kind of in here, like, feeling the vibe.
I saw some of the photos.
[shouts in Spanish]
[Carmen] The world thinks of Maria, but we had Irma 15 days before. So...
[Zac] The calm before the storm, but it's a storm before the storm.
We had no electricity at that point.
-Still from Irma? -Still from Irma.
[Carmen] Just imagine you have 685 people sleeping here.
For about three days, nobody could get out.
So it was really rough.
And where were you during this?
Just over there. Through those doors. That's where myself and my staff stayed.
We lived here for three months.
We... will never be the same.
We'll never be the... I'm not the same person
that I was on September 20th.
I saw things that nobody should see...
-[Zac] Mm-hmm. -...in times of "peace."
This we call the Wall of Hope.
[Zac] Oh, wow.
So, everybody that's come here to help,
or that has cared enough to come to see us signs.
Fat Joe signed over here, Spike Lee signed, uh...
-[Zac] "Brooklyn in da house, Spike Lee." -[Carmen] Yeah.
-Bernie Sanders signed somewhere else. -Really?
This is from the unions. The unions were extraordinary.
The AFL-CIO brought 327 workers, so...
We want you to sign.
-Me? Really? [laughs] -Yes.
-Oh, my gosh. -So you have to sign.
I think you can... If you want, you can sign over here.
Um...
A lot of these people here contributed in a major way to the effort.
Are you sure you want me to sign the wall?
I do, and I'll tell you why.
-It's good to keep the word out... -[Zac] Absolutely.
...first of all about climate change and that it really,
-uh, impacts people's lives. -Mm-hmm.
And secondly, about the need that we still have in Puerto Rico
of some major transformation.
And your voice is an important voice, so it's gonna help us all over the world.
Well, thank you. I will take that and your message
as far as I possibly can, 'cause that is the truth.
-Climate change is 100% real. -So, here you go.
Oh, right there.
[Zac] This more than just writing my name on a wall.
I realize that this is a promise, and one that I intend to keep.
I wanna give back to Puerto Rico.
I wanna be worthy of this honor and earn my spot here.
[chuckling] Only question is, how am I gonna do that?
[Carmen] You're an official advocate for the Puerto Rican people.
[Zac] I'm very proud of that.
We're going to one of the communities in Encanta, which is called Cantera.
They spent 14 days with water up to their hip.
-Oh, my God. -This was underwater.
-[Zac] Wow. -The devastation was so unparalleled.
[Carmen] This has never been about the rebuilding of buildings.
It's been about the rebuilding and transformation of human lives.
[Zac] I think that message resonates now more than ever.
[Carmen] It does.
You know, governments sometimes fail,
but people find a way to help each other.
[Carmen] Let me show you something. You see all those blue roofs?
-[Zac] Yes. -[Carmen] Those are just tarps.
So that means that if another hurricane hits,
they'll be totally exposed.
[Zac] Wow.
And...
you know, there's...
There's this issue about the deaths. The number of dead.
We heard the other day the total was adjusted.
Initially, it was 64
because they'd only counted the people that died as a direct result
of the storm hitting.
But a Harvard study puts it more around 4,645.
-[Zac] Really? -So, thousands of people died.
SOS WE NEED WATER / FOOD!
[Zac] It wasn't just the actual hurricane that did the most damage,
but rather the lack of a recovery effort that really raised the death toll.
In a way, it can be looked at as a man-made disaster
just as much as it can a natural one.
[Carmen] The lessons learned here should be really taken to heart,
so that it doesn't happen anywhere in the world now.
-You're on the same level. -We are.
I'm happy we're talking right now, because I think
Puerto Rico to me represents a microcosm of the whole world,
on a certain scale.
I mean, what's gonna happen when this hits New York City?
Mm-hmm. Because, you know, global warming is real.
-Hurricanes are gonna happen. -Absolutely.
I say, "Let's not rebuild, let's transform."
[Zac] The more devastation I see,
the harder it is for me to believe that this is a U.S. territory.
Somehow I just feel negligent.
Seems like everyone that we meet here is caught
between trying to survive day by day,
while at the very same time preparing for an imminent storm.
[speaking Spanish]
Zac, Maria.
Hola, Maria.
[Zac] Mayor Cruz has worked hard to change the way people live in Puerto Rico
by rethinking her community's traditional infrastructure.
[speaking Spanish]
[Zac] The local government has been fighting to restore the electrical grid
with a more weather-resistant model...
[Maria speaking Spanish]
[Carmen kisses]
[Zac] ...adding solar solutions wherever possible...
and building community shelters for the most vulnerable areas.
[Carmen] So this is her house, really.
But she had to move to this house.
The pastor in our church did the roof.
[speaking Spanish] This to me is a paradise, because I've seen worse cases.
[Zac] Seeing her level of gratitude,
considering all that she has lost and gone through,is humbling.
Maria and her husband are practically camping
directly across from a pile of rubble that was once their home...
where they raised their four children.
[Zac inhales deeply]
[Carmen] It's Hugo, it's Georges, it's Irma, it's Maria. I mean, how much...
how much can people take of losing and losing and losing?
I mean... This is clearly debris, remnants of the house.
Why is this still here?
[Carmen] Since her husband is disabled, she couldn't get it all out.
[Zac] She literally had to do that by herself?
-They all did. We all did. -[Zac] OK.
We picked up 283 million pounds.
-283 million pounds of debris? -[Carmen] In four months.
-In San Juan, two hundred-- -[Zac] In San Juan alone?
Alone.
[Zac] It would be my honor and pleasure to help you move some of this out.
We can go organize, and I can grab some of my crew members.
Would she like that?
-Good? Sí? -Sí!
OK, good. All right, good. [laughing]
[Zac] No foundation, no red tape, no waiting.
[chuckles] I just need Darin...
-[Zac] He's here! -[cheering]
...the crew, and a pickup truck.
-Hey. -[Maria speaking Spanish]
[Zac] One of the best ways to get out of your own head is to help others.
Darin lives for this kind of call to action.
[Zac] First things first, let's clean up this debris. Ready?
-Nails right there. -Oh, yeah.
[Zac] Gnarly.
[laughing]
[Carmen] Just imagine doing this street after street after street,
-community after community. -[Zac] I can't.
Yeah? Oh, nice.
[Zac speaking Spanish, laughing]
-There's no more room in the truck. -[laughter]
She said that she's happy because you kept your word.
[Zac] Say it's our pleasure.
-Gracias, amigo. -Gracias.
-[man laughing] -[Maria speaking Spanish]
Thank you so much.
-Gracias. -Gracias a ustedes.
[Zac] Sometimes we don't realize how even our smallest efforts
can make a tremendous difference.
Our work here today was just a dent,
but now my eyes are opened to how...
I don't know, how big this problem really is.
One of the basic necessities of life is a roof over our heads.
But we also need sustenance.
Puerto Rico imports about 85% of their food.
After the hurricane, that number grew even higher,
as many of the farms and their crops were wiped out completely.
Hey, hey, hey.
[Zac] Humanitarian, bestselling author,
award-winning chef,
and Michelin-starred restaurateur
are just a few of the things that describe Chef Jose Andrés.
[Jose speaking Spanish]
[Zac] Shortly after the storm,
Chef Andrés stepped in when the system had failed.
He and members of his organization, World Central Kitchen,
worked tirelessly in all available kitchens,
all over the island,
to serve 150,000 meals a day.
To date, Chef Andrés and his 19,000 volunteers
have served 3.6 million meals,
reaching every single municipality in Puerto Rico.
But serving meals was just the beginning.
World Central Kitchen is investing in Puerto Rico's future
by building grants to help their local farmers.
[Zac] I'm very excited to hear about all this.
[Darin] Yeah, and what they're doing now to ensure the betterment of the community
and create sustainable food.
[Zac] As the climate changes, so must Puerto Rico,
and that's especially true of the farming community.
-Whoa. -[Darin] Look at that.
[Zac] Frutos del Guacabo is a 50-farm cooperative
run by husband-and-wife team Effron Robles and Angeline Martinez.
Also there to meet us was Griselle Via, from World Central Kitchen.
So everything that I'm gonna show you has two or three purposes
'cause it has to be as sustainable as possible.
For example, we're so close to the water,
so we have to use passion fruit to cover up.
So passion fruit is acting as a little bit of a barrier to the wind.
This is amaranth, and we use it for pest control.
You're gonna see it all over the farm.
[Darin] The bugs go after that?
[Effron] We don't use any pesticides in this facility,
so we have to use nature.
Besides that, it's a very helpful grain.
[Zac] What does it compare to? Quinoa?
-[Effron] It's like quinoa, yeah. -Wow!
There's great protein value to it, and antioxidants.
The fact that it has these other benefits to the farm is fantastic.
[Effron] And this is passion fruit.
-[Darin] Look at that. You want some? -[Zac] Absolutely.
-[Zac] Have you always been a farmer? -No, actually I'm a mechanic
and my wife is a chemist,
but we understand how to follow a process, and that's the key.
[Zac] Wait, how recent was that switch? Were you a mechanic how many years ago?
-I'm still a mechanic. -You're still... [laughing]
[Zac] Passionate farmers like Effron
are changing the way that Puerto Rico produce and distribute food in big ways,
using multi-purpose crops in a chemical-free, natural environment.
This is amazing stuff.
This central distribution co-op works as a middle man,
connecting similar farms with Puerto Rico's restaurants,
markets, and consumers.
[Darin] So what was the inspiration of going hydroponic?
[Effron] You can control it a little better, I would say.
It's relatively cheap to do.
It's something that you can do in a very limited space.
If a storm comes, you can move it around, you know.
[Zac] It makes complete sense.
-What is this one? -[Effron] That's lemon basil.
[Zac] Very lemony.
-So cool. -[Griselle] It's also a pesticide.
-[coughing] -[Darin laughs]
Sorry, I didn't... Yeah.
[all laughing]
[Zac] All of these methods are being taught to the young farmers of tomorrow
to ensure a better level of sustainability for the future of Puerto Rico.
[Effron] Well, you know, we have to educate everybody.
It's imperative to do, so we have no choice.
[Zac] That's amazing.
[Effron] And we gather probably from about 80 farms.
[Zac] Is this where they come to see what you guys can make?
[Effron] Yeah. We work on a co-op base.
We try to make the economy as fair as possible for all ends.
Your philosophy is blowing my mind right now.
I wish that this was the way everything works.
It's really amazing.
It's... back to the basics, man.
[Zac] The basics. I mean, why complicate it?
Of course, this farm also has livestock,
like goats, which produce milk that they then use to make cheese.
So now we're gonna have a goat coming this way,
and we're gonna milk it, all right?
[speaking Spanish]
We're gonna what?
-[Effron] So that's your new baby, there. -[Zac] Whoa!
-[goat bleating] -[Effron] Meet Chimby.
-Oh, my gosh. -She's full.
[Zac laughing]
[Zac] I've always wanted... I've always... Not "wanted"... Never mind.
I'm kind of curious to see how this works.
[Effron] Sit down next to him, so you're...
Yeah, Darin, you sit this one out. Go ahead.
-Yeah, you're good. -OK, cool.
[Darin] Oh, how convenient for Darin to be a vegan at a moment like this.
-Any chance that I'm going to hurt her? -[man] No.
-[Zac] OK. -[man] You wanna pinch them,
and then you're gonna squeeze with this other finger.
Whoa. Wait, just let me see it one more time.
The technique there, the finesse.
All right. [laughing]
-[Zac] Here? -[man] These two fingers first.
-[Zac] There? -[man] Yeah.
Wow. Oh, first try! [laughing]
-[Darin] You're doing great. -Can we do this?
[Zac] No, it still feels really weird. I'm not gonna lie. Oh, man.
Hey, Zac, so this is, like, direct out of the source, buddy.
Aren't you feeling a little low on protein right now?
[Zac] Why?
Is this your signal to drink the milk?
-It is my signal. Yeah. -Is that what you're hinting at right now?
No, I'm just saying, drink the milk.
So, hold on, wait. You can't really just drink this milk, can you?
Yeah, you can drink it.
The goat's one of the animals that the milk comes pasteurized.
This is straight pasteurized milk.
-You can drink it. -[Griselle] You can.
-So I can drink this right out of here. -Yes.
Drink it! Drink it! [Griselle laughs]
-It doesn't taste any different. -YOLO.
-[Darin] See? She likes that. -Oh, man.
[clears throat]
[all laughing]
It's goat milk.
It's goat... You can... There's a...
In your nose...
-Yeah. -The nose of it's a goat.
-It's more in the nose than in the mouth. -Yeah.
-Yeah, the goat is. -Yeah.
So it feels like you're drinking a goat as opposed to just milk.
It smells like...
[all laughing]
It tastes...
Dude, come on. You gotta try this.
[Darin] I'm definitely... That's all you, buddy.
I mean, it's good.
If you don't breathe through your nose, it's really good.
-[laughter] -[goat bleating]
[Zac] It's just a little... It's warm.
So, like, and seeing it come out is pretty visceral.
I'm gonna put it down.
-[man] OK. -Cool. Yeah. Rock and roll, man.
-Wow. -Now you're connected.
[Zac laughing]
-[Darin] You shared a moment. -[Zac] Thank you for that. Cool!
Yo, thank you.
That was a new experience.
[kisses]
[bleating]
[Zac] Thank you, guys.
You want me to sign your case? Sweet. Rock and roll.
[Zac] Who was it that said,
"You haven't lived until you've milked a goat and drank it straight from the teat"?
Oh, that's right.
See you guys!
[Zac] Nobody.
[waves crashing]
The tourism industry is another important part of Puerto Rico's economy
that is still suffering from the hurricane.
Seated majestically on the beach, the historic Caribe Hilton
was the jewel of the Caribbean when it opened in 1949.
-[man] Everything was destroyed. Yeah. -[Darin] Destroyed.
[Zac] While the hotel's general manager, Pablo Torres,
oversees the $100 million reconstruction project,
he still seems haunted by the memory of the tragic storm.
The 150-mile-per-hour winds took a hefty toll on this beautiful, aging hotel.
[Darin] I look out here now and I see we have a good wind.
It's already choppy. And I can't imagine
having 160-mile-an-hour winds. Like, what... What was...
-What was that like? -I tell you, in my career,
I've been in nine hurricanes--
-Nine? -Yes.
And, um...
like Maria, I've never seen something like that.
I mean, it was... it was scary to see.
We actually had, like, 600 guests and...
-[Darin] Wow. -...probably like 80...
80 team members that were supporting us, and they--
How did you manage that? How did you manage getting in the food?
Our team are the real heroes.
I mean, I still remember the last guest.
They were leaving, you know? All the guests are safe, and we are done.
And I wanted to go inside the bus and just say, you know,
"Safe traveling, thank you for being here
and for your patience and everything."
And I couldn't hold it. I started crying like a little baby.
[Zac] A year after the storm,
even major corporate hotels like this one are still only in the rebuilding stage.
-I mean, this is gonna be beautiful. -Yeah.
The true heroes, I think, of all this mess,
is all the people that were behind, trying to support the local communities,
and trying to lift everyone up. So, that's an inspiration for me.
[Zac] A lot of what we heard from local Puerto Ricans
is that the magic was that the people really came together
and helped one another in those ways.
It's unfortunate, though, right? Because...
-[Darin] It has to be this-- -[Pablo] We as a human family,
you know, in this planet, we're supposed to do it every day,
but... we're human, right?
[Zac] One business owner in Old San Juan
had the foresight to build toward the future,
five years before Hurricane Maria hit the island.
After a 20-year career at the Caribe Hilton,
ending as the Environmental Sustainability Manager,
Eddie Ramirez took his vision of eco-friendly tourism
from the 650-room Hilton to his own five-room bed-and-breakfast,
aptly named Casa Sol.
[Eddie] So we have here a total of 30 solar panels.
We have another six in the back.
Our neighbor next door has another 20,
which, during the storm, we connected all 50 together.
And we were able to produce double the energy.
-So you guys interlinked and made... -Yeah, a micro-grid.
And now, our neighbor just installed another 30 himself, so...
we're gonna have them all set,
so we can actually connect them in case of another emergency
and we can supply to all our neighbors' extension cords.
Hey, and you also do some significant rain catchment.
We do rain catchment.
A good rain can probably do 300, 400 gallons.
So what you consume in a day, a good rainfall can just replace it right away.
We're, like, at this safe haven for people in this...
in the storm, and also now just for pure sustainability.
-Doing the right thing. -Yeah. That's it.
-That's awesome. -Doing the right thing.
[Zac] A safe haven is exactly what Casa Sol became.
We met members of the community who survived the aftermath of the hurricane
thanks partly to the clean water and solar power provided by Casa Sol.
Casa Sol was founded as a sustainable, environmental bed-and-breakfast.
It's our way of life, you know?
We just think sustainability is the way to go.
You know, Mother Earth is saying, "Save me." We...
She needs help.
Little did we know that, five years later,
you know, we would have these two hurricanes come through,
and they would come extremely handy.
Our community, La Perla, which got hit very hard,
we not only were able to keep in business,
but we were able to help the community firsthand.
Providing water, electricity to charge batteries.
Made ice in our freezers. Saved insulin for our neighbors.
Provide them drinking water.
-[Darin] Just on your own. -Yes, on our own,
we helped as much as we can. Because...
it wasn't fair or just, you know? A lot of people were suffering.
It was the right thing to do.
So, what was that like for you guys?
[speaking Spanish] Waking up one day, things that worked before...
nothing was working.
It was like starting at zero.
[speaking Spanish] The most important part that I can share
is that they had the opportunity to leave, and they stayed.
Are you surprised at all that you were the kind of main place
to do that in this area,
that more people didn't take more precaution?
Very.
Very. We were, I would say, probably the only one in all San Juan.
-The only one in all of San Juan? -[Eddie] I think the only ones.
[Zac] That's incredible.
[speaking Spanish]
He was saying that he woke up, and he was like, "Well, where I live,
there's a lot of elderly people that really need their coffee." Uh...
So what he did was he got on his bike and he started to spot what coffee shops,
what ATMs were functioning.
He would come back, and he would post that for everybody to see.
He became kind of the community, uh... newspaper.
-Newspaper. -Yeah.
That's smart. You actually put up signs.
[speaking Spanish]
He's like emergency coffee service.
[all laughing]
That's amazing. You're a legend. I'm gonna give you a high five for that.
Yeah, seriously.
[Zac] It's hard to imagine living in a world where your daily routine items,
basic creature comforts like a cup of coffee,
have all been wiped out.
I absolutely love how everyone in this community worked together
to keep their lives as normal as possible.
[Zac] Personally, I'm blown away on so many levels.
I think it's very brave what you did, and courageous,
and kind of crazy, but it worked.
Yeah.
[Eddie] There's no way we can be successful
if the community is not successful.
[Zac] Thank you so much for fostering this kind of love and care
into what you do, because you've created,
-now, a feeling that's in this room... -One big happy family.
Yeah, it's beautiful.
So much respect and admiration. You guys are angels.
-Thank you! -Thank you very much, guys. Seriously.
[Darin] Yeah!
Thank you very much, man, seriously. That was...
[Zac] Rai invited us to the marina
to see how another part of the Puerto Rican community is healing
and reinventing itself.
We're headed across the bay to a small coastal municipality
called Cataño.
After seeing the destruction the storm has caused to the land
and people of Puerto Rico,
I can't help but wonder what effect the hurricane had
on the coast and surrounding waters.
[ducks quacking]
One cause Darin and I are always into is saving the ocean.
Rai started the Conservación ConCiencia,
a nonprofit organization that works to protect the ecosystem
and maintain sustainability
and economic livelihood for the surrounding fisheries.
[Darin] So, what was the change from after Maria hit?
The hurricane itself caused such an impact on the sea floor,
a lot of the soft corals kind of were ripped out from the ground.
And that's loss of habitat
for many species that use soft corals in these areas, sea grasses as well.
It's their home.
[Zac] Nothing to catch.
An entire segment of the fishing industry wiped out,
and a major local resource of food completely eliminated.
How can this lost food source be restored, but in a sustainable way?
One of the good things about Puerto Rico is that, in Puerto Rican waters,
industrial fishing is pretty much banned.
You can't... longliners, they cannot fish in Puerto Rican waters.
I wish everyone did that.
[Rai] This is something that has been beneficial for the environment,
and also for commercial fishermen in Puerto Rico.
After Maria, it's also an issue of food security.
Are they fishing for other things, or what's the plan?
So, the first thing that we did was getting fishermen their gear,
so that they can start fishing again.
Second thing that we did was we removed derelict fishing gear.
So we've been diving in the water throughout Puerto Rico,
-finding these lost gear. -[Darin] Cleaning up trash in the water?
-[Rai] Cleaning trash that's killing fish. -[Darin] Right.
This is one of our main partners. Rodolfo Abrams.
-He is a fisherman from here in Cataño. -Hey, cómo estás?
Are you low-key like one of the best fisherman in town?
-Ah... -[Zac] Yeah? Are you being...
Is he being humble? Is he the best fisherman around?
[Rai] He's one of the best.
[Zac] Rodolfo specializes in catching fish,
those that live in water away from shore but not on the bottom.
So he uses just a single rod and reel or spear.
This guy uses a spear!
[Zac] It's really authentic fishing, man. It's unreal.
[Rai] It's authentic, it's artisanal.
And we want that type of fishing to continue throughout Puerto Rico.
It fetches a good price.
And it's something that needs very little management
-to actually be sustainable. -One-hundred percent.
-So what did you catch today? -Mahis.
[Zac] Mahi?
-Wow. -[Rai] Beautiful.
[Darin] That's a successful day. Holy cow, look at that thing.
[Zac] Whoa, what is that?
[Rai laughing]
-[Rai] That's a big male mahi. -[Zac] Qué es este?
-[Zac] That's a mahi? -It's a bull.
-[Darin] Wow. -[Zac] That's what a mahi looks like, man.
Wow.
That's a big fish.
[Rai] One of the things that we're doing is connecting fishermen
with restaurant owners and chefs.
-[Zac] Speaking of chefs... -Martin.
-Martin, nice to meet you. -How are you?
-Hola, soy Zac. -Nice to meet you.
[Rai] Martin has launched an incredible application
to connect producers with restaurants.
[Zac] An app for local fishermen
to connect their daily catches with the local chefs.
It's like Tinder for fish.
Ooh, swipe right for that fish.
-[Darin] It's as fresh as it comes. -Yeah, the freshest.
All right!
It's beneficial for the consumer, who's getting local fresh catch.
It's beneficial for the restaurant, and it's beneficial for the fishermen.
And the money stays in the island.
-And the money stays in Puerto Rico. -The economy...
I mean, that's a great step in the right direction.
What are you planning on doing with... with this fish?
Ceviche, to eat it. Fresh and raw, it's perfect. Let's make it.
All right! Sounds good. Here's to that, man.
[both speaking Spanish]
KITCHEN
[Martin] With one fillet, we are going to make the ceviche.
[woman speaking Spanish]
Shh.
[whispering] No one sees it yet.
-[Darin] There's a seed. -[Zac] Look at that. There you go, chef.
[Zac] I'm still amazed by this process.
So, ceviche is both the name of the dish and the food preparation method.
There's no heat, and the fish isn't cooked.
Look at it, it's turning white.
[Zac] However, the citric acid from the fruit
chemically transforms the amino acids of the fish,
making it safe for human consumption.
My mouth's just watering uncontrollably right now.
[Zac] It makes almost no sense.
[Zac] Micro cilantro.
[Zac] But it is delicious.
[Zac] Beautiful.
100% authentic, homegrown,
locally-sourced, Puerto Rican ceviche.
-[Zac] So we can dig in? -Yeah.
-Well, you're gonna dig in, but... -Thank you, chef.
Yeah, you can sit this one out. I'm gonna... I can't help myself.
-Would you like to try some pineapple? -[Darin] I'd love to try some pineapple.
-[Zac] Your eyes just got so big. -[Darin] I smelled it over there.
[Zac] One of the coolest things
about this whole experience was seeing that fish come out of the water,
then be transported here, and see you turn it into this masterpiece.
-Yeah. -This is unbelievable.
[Zac] So good.
-Great work, guys, thank you. -Thank you very much.
-Gracias.
[birds chirping]
[Zac] Our last stop was up in the more rural part of San Juan...
like, the jungle,
where Mayor Cruz had one more rebuilding success story.
And also a glimpse into the future of Puerto Rico.
[Carmen] So, there's this kid that is literally genius,
his IQ is that high.
Jose is ten.
And he knows English perfectly, he knows Spanish. He's learning German.
He takes classes at the university.
-He's nine or ten? -Ten years old.
His parents, they lost everything.
[Zac] Jose was identified early on as an exceptional child
with a natural thirst for knowledge.
His teachers brought him to the attention of the mayor,
who connected his family to a non-profit that builds homes for those in need.
You see that shack? This is where they lived,
which got ripped apart by the hurricane.
And they rebuilt it with what was left.
They lived in very dire conditions.
A company started doing prefab houses in Puerto Rico, so PVC and concrete.
-[Darin] So it's sustainable housing. -It's sustainable.
And, on top of that, it will run 100% on solar energy.
They're also gonna be harvesting the rain.
And if something else happens...
their house has 600 points of anchorage on the roof.
[Zac] What that means is
that the roof is built to withstand up to 200-mile-per-hour winds,
so when the next hurricane comes through,
this house won't need one of those blue tarps that we saw earlier.
Permanent solutions, not Band-Aids.
Not just rebuilding, but reinventing.
-[Darin] This is the first time that... -That they're gonna go. Yeah.
-I have the keys. -I can't imagine.
-[Darin] Wow. -Man, let's do this.
-[Carmen speaking Spanish] -[woman speaking Spanish]
[Carmen] This is Jose.
[Zac] Jose happily shows us his family's current living situation,
having no idea how drastically that's about to change.
[Jose] Welcome to my house.
[Darin] During the hurricane you were here?
-[Jose] Yes. -[cock crowing]
[Jose] We were happy in this place, but when the hurricane stopped,
we were... we go outside and we see the house.
The house is... destroyed.
And before the hurricane, I got 74 books.
But then, after the hurricane, I got only eight.
So the hurricane blew away most of your books?
-Yeah. -[Zac] Wow, about what?
About astronomy...
Um...
geometry, math...
-[Zac] Really? Ten years old? -Yeah.
-[Zac] Wow, man... -You want to go into the new house?
-Yeah. -Take your sister.
Let's check it out.
[Zac] This is more than a house.
For this family, it's a chance at a new beginning.
As hard as they work,
it still would have taken years for Jose's family to have built a home like this.
It's an honor to get to see it for the first time through their eyes.
[all] ...tres, dos, uno.
[Carmen] Welcome home.
-[all cheering] -Wow!
Diantre!
[Jose speaking Spanish]
He's so fired up. [Zac laughs]
[Carmen] "Diantre" is like "Golly-gee!"
[Carmen] Ta-daa!
-[Darin] Hey, this is your room. -[Jose] This is cool.
Bookshelves. You need a whole room for your books.
That's the most excited he's been, looking like, "Whoa."
-[Zac] Yeah. -What do you wanna be when you grow up?
-[Jose] An astronomer. -Oh, really?
-NASA and then... -[Darin] He's going for NASA.
[Zac laughing]
[Carmen] Let's go see the rest of the house.
-So this is your new kitchen. -[Jose] It looks, like, fancy!
[Jose] This is from Operation Blessing.
[Darin] If you keep your hydration up,
your brain retains more information.
So every day, when you wake up, first thing to do, grab some fresh water
'cause you'll be smarter and you'll be able to read more books.
[Darin] Deal?
All right.
[Carmen speaking Spanish]
[woman speaking Spanish]
[Carmen] They're super happy.
[Zac] For Jose and his family, this new pad is a palace.
I'm reminded that in our world of consumption,
we don't need much to be truly happy.
[Carmen] My goal is to have... every house in this one road solar.
I know it's not enough... nearly enough.
You help one person, you help...
everyone he touches.
-[keys jingling] -[girl giggling]
-This is your house. -Thank you.
-[Darin] Hey... -[Carmen laughing]
-[Darin] Welcome to your new home. -All right.
Progress feels good.
[Zac] All of these hurricane stories have the same common thread:
the component to recovery is people...
coming together for the common good.
[salsa music]
[Zac] The process of rebuilding and repairing has come a long way,
but there's still so much more to do.
One thing's for sure: Puerto Rico's future looks better than ever.
But the climate is changing, and I can't ignore that fact.
It affects my choices every single day.
And while small efforts are being made to slow the effects,
large-scale weather disasters like hurricanes, floods, and fires
are becoming the new norm.
And, sooner or later, we'll all be affected.
San Juan can serve as a model for the rest of the world
in that we need to start rethinking how we consume everything,
from our food to our power.
Striving for sustainability is easier said than done,
and I know I have a long way to go.
But I feel grateful for the small lessons
that I've learned on this beautiful island.
I'm really proud that I got to sign my name on that wall.
But Puerto Rico left a way bigger mark on me.
♪ After the hell that you've been through What could I even say? ♪