Do you ever get used to "Island Time"? (Puerto Rico) (apartment, home)
U.S. TerritoriesPuerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, etc.
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I moved out here about a month ago and experiencing what Island Time is all about. It's difficult. I work online, and it's been 3 weeks of arguing with many non-English speakers at Claro, and I'm hoping to finally get internet in the next 3-5 days (financially hoping so hard).
I had no idea things would take so long. What things? Everything. I start school at the UPR in mid-August, and just found out my financial aid money won't come in till October "maybe" according to the financial aid dept. I filed for financial aid in April. Never heard of it taking so long. So basically, I've been a sitting duck for the past month. It took me 4 hours to figure out the whole laundry system in my apartment building (4 sets of "tokens" for 4 different machines, each costing different amounts for each token in an office only open 2 hours a day.
I needed a tetnis shot, spent 9 hours going to 6 different hospitals and clinics around San Juan and still wasn't able to get one.
I know everyone is on island time, and that's very nice if you haven't just moved here. I would actually love to be on island time, but I have a hard time doing that mentally. I guess maybe it's because everything is expensive in San Juan and it's been impossible to work....
So I guess what I'm saying is I'm going through culture shock. Not really the Puerto Rican culture, but the time it takes for everything to get done. Any tips for handling this? Do you get used to it? I guess I wouldn't care if I had 20,000 dollars in the bank and nothing important to do.
Any advice you could give me will be great.
Cheers,
-MJ
PS: It took 35 minutes to get a Whopper Value Meal at Burger King today...there were only 3 people in front of me in line.
Well, the set up phase is the worst. Once you get established and have your utilities set up and your driver's license and other papers you won't have to deal with it as much. Unfortunately, medical results, routine repairs, etc., will still involve long delays. I think coming from the states, I was raised with a "your word is your bond" mentality and it seemed dishonest when people would say they would do something or be somewhere at a certain time and then not follow through. I just had to learn to accept that it is a different culture and that people did not mean any harm and did not consider it deceptive.
I used to live in the Caribbean and either you get used to island time and accept it for what it is or it will eat you alive and you will become a very angry person and then island time gets even slower. I've seen it happen. People who have lived there for their entire lives will slow down even more if they see you're an impatient person.
Yup, that's PR all right. You will have to get used to it. I've lived here all my life and still hate this trend. When I move out the culture shock will be the other way around. Everything will move too fast!!
EDIT: Oh yeah, do NOT eat the whopper. That thing is made differently here.
EDIT: Oh yeah, do NOT eat the whopper. That thing is made differently here.
Several people have mentioned this. Honestly I must say that the Whopper tastes exactly the same to me. What is different to me is the onion rings - now they are made differently. Oh and they serve Pepsi instead of the CocaCola Freestyle at mainland Burger Kings (the computerized soda machine with 100+ choices).
Taco Bell also has a slightly different menu in Puerto Rico. The Pizza Hut section of the menu has a "Meatlovers Pizza" instead of the "Supreme Pizza" offered on the mainland - it's just as well since I like the Meatlovers Pizza better anyways. I make it a point to visit a Taco Bell every trip so I can get this.
Location: The Circle City. Sometimes NE of Bagdad.
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[quote=WIHS2006;25122093]The Pizza Hut section of the menu has a "Meatlovers Pizza" instead of the "Supreme Pizza" offered on the mainland - it's just as well since I like the Meatlovers Pizza/QUOTE]
Glad you mentioned this, pizza in PR in Pizza Hut. The Ponce location was GREAT. Never have been matchched in in the CONUS.
It can eat you alive or you can embrace it. When I lived down there it actually made me much more industrious in the sense that I had to give myself more time to do everything. Everything? Everything. This even involves the drivers, you better give yourself way more time than you expect to get somewhere. Something will slow you down unexpectedly. Obviously you must be patient, or you will go crazy. Once you get settled and adapt to these changes you will better appreciate when you are in the mainland and things move more quickly. I got used to the slower pace but I couldn't adapt to the government bureaucracy which exists, where saying and meaning are not the same thing and red tape is overwhelming...so I got out. But you should be able to get used to it down there, I mean I will forever miss certain aspects of life on the island.
It was really a combination of things...the governor has been making it dreadfully hard to be a teacher there...I know most every state has been tightening up and whatnot, but in PR they will move you from school to school every few semesters, switching the grades you teach and the municipality where you work. That to me is absurd. How do you perfect your lesson plans or get in touch with the community if your settings constantly change? Let's not get into the pay, I know teachers don't go into the field trying to get rich but to me at least in a low-cost place in say, the South of the US things such as a new car or owning a home might be within reach on a teacher's salary...in PR? Doubt it.
PR seems to be really into itself in the sense that people who maybe lived in the Northeast or a rough part of South or Central Florida have in their minds that folks on the island are sooo nice, so much nicer than Americans. Well automatic, mindless friendliness like saying "a la orden" to you (even when their services sucked) or "buen provecho" walking out of a restaurant doesn't amount to fulfilling personal committments and actually making and sustaining personal and long-lasting friendships. There is something wrong with me making more friends on a 3 week vacation to Colombia this summer than I did the entire 20 months I lived in PR. And I am a very friendly person who learned the language and culture and never came off as one of "those" Americans.
Finally, and most importantly, the sense of hope has been sucked out long ago. Staying in the beautiful town of San German as a college graduate is social suicide; young people essentially have two choices when they finish school-- San Juan or the United States. No one seems to think anything will get any better, and since the island seems to constantly be held to the American standard in terms of development and quality of life, people just feel down about how things are going because they aren't being compared to their neighbors at all. I am planning on moving to Colombia in a few months, and while that country suffers from a host of problems, people just seem more positive about the future. They have a serious drive to improve on their own rather than waiting on a handout or being content to scrape by with minimal effort. That alone is reason enough for me to move there. I'd rather be in the 3rd world with a vision for how to improve than in the 2nd? 1 1/2? world with total stagnation and indifference. So it's not because I hate the latin culture and wanted to get back to the States, it was about getting out of PR...which is a heavy disappointment if you are familiar with my posts of long ago.
As so many said, it's a great place to visit....
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