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Apparently this slobooger is unable to read well or thoroughly. The hate is by those who like to call others nasty names. Did you not read this in all the posts? Whew!!!
Go ahead and ask your questions. They will get discussed as they should, but you will get called a gringo Yankee colonial imperialist by a few bad eggs. Your choice to take this and accept it.
BTW. I love. PR and its people and defend it. Many think it to be an exclusive club.
"We did enjoy our 3 month visit and would return in a heartbeat, given the right opportunity...but we know what to expect and would modify our needs/lifestyle accordingly."
You seem to be an adventurous soul that knows how to live life to its fullest.
You are absolutely right, not everything in PR is bad. I was born and raise there and I learned how to cope with the day to day nuisance, but due to the job situation I had to move to the US.
Puerto Rico have as many problem as any other places in the world. Drugs, crime, traffic and the like. but its up to each person to decide whether to stay and learn how to deal with these issues or leave and move on to another place with a set of different issues and problems as well.
I was fortunate enough to have lived in Asia and Europe. At first I was so happy to be in another country, but after a while my excitement wore off and I was ready to come back to the US in a beat. There is no place like home.
Recently I was selected to work with Custom and border agency in San Juan and I'm looking forward to go back to my island again and enjoy every bit of what PR has to offer to me.
You know, I've moved between states and granted, Puerto Rico is different because of its history and culture and 'possession' status, but never in another state have I encountered such a stark 'US verus THEM' mentality.
Sure I don't speak Spanish (yet), and yes I guess I am a gringo, but we're all US citizens. I am already a contributing member of Puerto Rican society. I am paying taxes, rent, utilities, buying groceries, shopping, etc. Why does it have to be 'US versus THEM'?
I guess I'm somewhat late on this topic; however, I just want to share my view. I don't think it is a matter of "US versus THEM". At least I hope it isn't. I would say it's more a matter of having shared experiences, memories. I would say it's comparable to a couple who has been married quite a long time: they have a shared history, they know each other to the point that sometimes, no verbal communication is needed; they have their private jokes that only they understand. I don't know if this comparison makes sense. For example, I am married to someone from South America, and I am Puerto Rican. We live in Puerto Rico. Though he has lived here for more than 20 years, and has taken care to read/learn about Puerto Rico, to this day there are references, historical tidbits, comments that are lost to him. The same happens to me (to a larger degree) when we visit his country.
The fact is that Americans and Puerto Ricans are different. Neither one is better than the other; just different. And as I said before, I hope it doesn't translate generally into an "US versus THEM" mentality. And, let us remember, as I'm sure you are aware, that someone from, say, New England is different from someone native to Oklahoma or California.
The conflict of US vs. THEM is a conflict as old as humanity. Does it have to be like this?, NO! However comparing American states with one another is misleading because they all share a history from the Mayflower, The American Revolution, The Founding Fathers, the Civil War, The civil Rights movement and so on and so on. Although Puerto Rico is a new comer to all these historical incidents we never quite accepted them as ours, or lets say only just a few Statehooders have, those that want to re write our history.
How do we notice US vs. THEM conflicts? Check out the Olympic games which are basically a explosion of nationalism, teams, flags etc. When Puerto Rico competed with the the US in 2004 and won their dream team, who did we root for, yelling curses and independentist slogons? Certainly not for the American team!That is why the Statehooders MUST do away with our independent sports representation, Why? Its an incubator of nationalism! We also must do away with men drinking beers on Friday nights which is also a US, vs Puerto Rican beer fest, LOL. I didn't invent this, but this is how the world still works. Did you check out Americans in the recent World Cup Soccar games? Who were they rooting for? Certainly not for Canada. Sports are the truest way of expressing nationalistic feelings, they always have been.
Of course Puerto Rico is unique, as is any society of humans living in a political entity. Being an island it was quite isolated for much of its history since the European invasion. In modern times it has become for all of its individuality an integral and accepted part of the United States. This does not mean that all parts of a polygot nation such as the US totally understands each other perfectly. Depending upon where you live, the perspective is different, but the union is not necessarily a totality of "shared" history. Rather, the union is retained because the government provides acceptable services, protections, and needs of the people. The historical basis for the US is only academic, and it has no pertinant relationship to the here and now. Of course schools operated by government present a not - too - accurate interpretation of this past history.
A great majority of US citizens have no connexion with the US of the 18th and 19th centuries, let alone the English colonial period--myself included. It is only of academic interest to a very few of the population, notwithstanding government types making reference to it. It is also untrue that each state in the present configuration of the US shares a totality of the common history.
Regarding sports, when you look at the total population the numbers of radical adherents are actually a real minority. These adherents are hardly all politically minded, and they scream and fight for city teams as violently as they do for national representations. The whole phenomena is hardly indicative of anything rather than a primordial need to "let loose" and foster competition.
It's amazing how some people think we all live in a vacuum. A mass of people ( un reguerete de gente) without a purpose, a history, a language worth preserving, shared experiences through out 500 years of history and a sense of commonality that we call Puerto Rican. The United States is a nation with its particular history and a shared Anglo Saxon culture shared and adopted by all who come as immigrants to form one people, + English! The United States has figured that Puerto Rico is different from any experiment it's had in the last 250 years as a nation. It keeps us at bay, trying to figure out what to do with us. We are not Hawaiians who didn't keep much of their culture and language and were over run by Mainlanders and immigrants from Asia wanting to shed their past. We are more like Cataluña, Quebec and Many other nationalities that are always restive, wanting more autonomy from the controlling power.
The commonwealth seems to be reaching its end, but it may also have a second wind, but I doubt it. Most Puerto Ricans prefer statehood, not for patriotic reasons but because we have been inundated with so much welfare that it's impossible to think we can't live without it.
It's already too late to think we will vote for self sufficiency, more than half of the population doesn't work! . The only ones that will have to talk clear to us is Congress. Once Congress defines what it's willing to accept of a Puerto Rican State then we should vote. Will congress accept a state like no other, with the majority speaking Spanish, ripping off the American taxpayer, and thinking it can keep its Olympic teams separate from the U.S.? Talk to many statehooders and they'll tell we can and get much more.
In the meantime it seems there will be negotiations and what may come out May not be to the liking of Puerto Ricans. After all Americans have to look out for their interests not ours.
Congress can agree on nothing, and I would suspect that any issue even statehood would be of little interest to these jaded persons. Our status is up to us--the people who live on this island, but there are very few credible options. The US is itself in a crisis of how to rule itself effectively and for the good of the people. That does not mean, however, that Puerto Rico is apart from the national situation. Our dependence on the federal government is not unique when you look at other parts if the nation. Consequently, perhaps the best thing is to do nothing. The Commonwealth is really not all that bad given the options. We are a tiny piece of land with a huge population much of it dependant. As such being a part of a larger nation is very important and superceeds any perceived differences. Spanish/English is not important--the languages are alive and well. Some parts of mainland US are as Spanish-speaking as PR.
History? I was an history teacher, so I know how unimportant it is to the vast majority of disinterested people. The here and now is what drives most people anywhere.
Apparently this slobooger is unable to read well or thoroughly. The hate is by those who like to call others nasty names. Did you not read this in all the posts? Whew!!!
Go ahead and ask your questions. They will get discussed as they should, but you will get called a gringo Yankee colonial imperialist by a few bad eggs. Your choice to take this and accept it.
BTW. I love. PR and its people and defend it. Many think it to be an exclusive club.
The few bad eggs, while your post makes it sound like are LARGE portion of people talk nasty of you.
You can attempt to infer that I have an inferior education, the point stands. Americans call everything but standard white by something, Maybe Chinese-American, African-American, Irish-American.... but when the American is somewhere and referred to as an American.... you get all bent out of shape and go on a complete CRUSADE against the few that would use that word.
You make it sound like a country of Anti-American RACISTS. You dont show any love of PR or its people in your posts.
You likely wont listen, since as you stated above, I dont read no to good. ;-)
Have a nice life in PR surrounded by these supposed boogieman biggots and racists that are all over calling you "Racist" names.... which is funny, cause they didnt call you the "N" word, or "CRACKER" or "SPOOK" or any other racist word I have ever heard used against a race..... they said the Gringo over there.... Just like I would point to someone and say "The Mixican over there" or "the Black Guy over there".
It is used to POINT YOU OUT, and unless they are using it in a rude manner "LA PINCE GRINGO" you are fine. "Sticks and Stones" oh, and I guess words too. ;-)
Im going to go try to learn how to read a book now.
Don't move to puerto rico. The economy is at it's lowest point ever. Locals are leaving to the u.s in record numbers. Look it up for your own piece of mind. I lived there 20 years ago and I'm even thinking if I should go on vacation. Don't listen to anyone telling you the opposite.
I wanted to give an almost-1-year update. My wife and I moved to Puerto Rico in the middle of May-2014. I went to work for a small hedge fund that is taking advantage of Act's 20 and 22 to offer significant tax advantages to both firms and employees (when paid under a certain structure). We applied for and were granted Act-22 status by the PR gov't.
Moving was hard. My wife and I were apart for over a month while she finished up loose ends in Houston and I was already working down in PR. Our stuff didn't show up on time. Or for months. Luckily we had a furnished apartment.
My views of PR have swung widely at times. Initially I was taken aback at some of the feelings or perceptions I felt. Later I got more used to things. My wife's opinion has generally been consistently positive once she got down here. She has been learning Spanish and she can communicate at a very basic level and get us out of certain situations when English isn't working. She's learned the neighborhood and made a few local friends.
Every morning I can see the ocean, be it from my condo or from the office I work at. That's something really unique and special. My parents just made their first visit to see us and we went to all the local places plus Culebra which was awesome. My wife and I still have lots of exploring left to do here in PR. Overall, we are both happy here, and that's what matters.
Sometimes the path less-traveled is the one to choose...
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reassuring words
