Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Folks were initially a bit blasé about PR, but everyone I heard ended up really enjoying it there; a couple of the students even cried leaving. I too enjoyed it and felt it may be worth a return visit someday (I may end up saying that a lot).
PR is a bilingual city, but unlike those on the mainland, it is skewed toward Spanish – Spanish first. Our politicians should spend some time there for a bit of perspective.

I did two trips, first to the rainforest then a coastal bike ride. Now, the rainforest – pretty, much cooler than the city, which was in the mid-90s, but where was the rain? At least the Washington rainforests have the good sense to be rainy. It was tropical, as opposed to whatever we have, and just different. The greens were lighter, overall not quite as dense. Our walk was punctuated by a nice waterfall.

The bike ride took us through a coastal forest which had a lot of groundcover. There were coconuts (this whole area has green coconuts, not the brown we usually think of) lining the path. When we got to the beach, students cracked into one and we had a coconut snack. The beaches were beautiful, the water warm. Warm ocean water – what a concept. We didn’t think there was a bug problem, but we were attacked by chigger-ish, delayed reaction bites which still plague me two weeks later. Trouble in paradise! And I did see evidence of huge problem, that of plastic in the ocean. Plastic does not degrade, and causes all sorts of problems. There was a large amount of plastic on the beach, very distressing.

A bit of background. The core course of the voyage, Global Studies, is concentrating on both social justice and environmental issues for the countries we visit. So there is a lot of discussion of poverty, distribution of wealth, environmental racism, the economics and politics of both, policy, etc. So I too will notice and comment upon such things.

Back to touristy things. I walked to the Old Town of San Juan and looked at all the government buildings, shops, forts, etc. In the heart of the old city the streets are very narrow and cobbled, the buildings are right on the street, and painted very pretty pastel colors. I had a traditional mofongo which was a “bowl” of plantain, deep-fried and filled, in my case with pork. Yum. I was also able to hit a grocery, Pueblo, to stock up on snacks and a bit of chocolate. (The two visits to Ben and Jerry’s speak for themselves. I can find anything anywhere).

I love to see a grocery and also a mall wherever I go. So yes, I found a mall, an hour each way by freezing bus which stopped every block. I wanted some more cargo-type shorts; Old Navy to the rescue. It was very similar to a mainland mall, many of the same stores. After all, this is the United States! And Church’s Chicken – hadn’t had that in an age.

I think Puerto Rico was a good first stop. It got us used to rigorous Customs and Immigration, go figure. But it also let us ease into difference in a pretty supportive and safe environment. We were told to expect pretty much the opposite in Salvador, Brazil – and they were right.

BTW - who is PunkRawkMama? Am I dim and forgetful?