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It seems like it worked out! Check out an administrator's reply to my thread. Let's make good use of it to be able to talk about anything else besides traveling to Puerto Rico...
Thanks again for your replies and information. I really appreciate it. Your responses were definitely what I was hoping to read. The only reason I had any concern is because of a short thread I had seen on another forum (it was from 2005) where someone else was asking about relocation to Puerto Rico and got a reply back from a resident of Puerto Rico part of which said "The basic Puerto Rico local is a nice person, helpful and appreciative, yet there is a lot of anti-american feeling coming to the surface more and more."
Obviously it's never a good idea to rely on just one random posting found on the internet - that's why I wanted to get input from others. So, thanks again. And if anyone else reads this and wants to add their comments, please do - especially if you have any ideas/suggestions/etc about relocating to the mountain/lake region. I think the biggest problem will be if we can manage to move there before retirement. To do that would require my wife to be able to find a job - the good news is that she already knows some Spanish but the bad news is there are hardly any jobs in her field (IT - Information Technology) within reasonable driving distance - e.g. Arecibo or Ponce. So, all of this could be years away but we'll hope for the best.
P.S. - It's really a shame they don't have a dedicated Puerto Rico forum on here like they do for each of the 50 states. If anyone knows any of the site staff or how to make that suggestion, that would be great. Considering Puerto Rico has a population larger than several states and there are a lot of people moving back and forth between there, I definitely think its own forum is justified.
Hey mythspell, we did it! Thank you for the input!! See you there!!!
Thanks for your replies. To both of you, if someone relocated to an inland area up in the mountains - such as Utuado/Arecibo - do you think they could get by in English during the first year until they had a chance to learn some Spanish? For example, typical stuff such as getting signed up for electricity/water/telephone/driver's license/etc. and common activities such as grocery shopping/post office/etc. I have no doubt this would not be an issue in San Juan or tourist areas along the coast but obviously I'm less sure about the area above. Also, do either of you have any experience in that area to know how receptive they are to mainlanders moving there? I only ask because I've read, for example, that in Hawaii there is a certain amount of hatred/discrimination by the native Hawaiians towards mainlanders who move there. Since Puerto Rico is also an island separated from the U.S. mainland by both distance and culture, I wanted to get a sense of whether there was anything like that there as well - especially after Purtex's comment that they are scared to speak English, which gives the impression that there is some discrimination or hatred against english-speakers.
Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer into what things might be like if relocating to the Utuado/Arecibo area.
Hello there!
I might be able to help you. I've lived my whole life in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Arecibo is not "up in the mountains" and Utuado does have mountains but is more located to the center of the island. I'm surprised to learn there are people still thinking in the PR of the 50's and here's why: People in PR do speak English for the most part, you will find people who doesn't but is has nothing to do with what part of the island the live at. I've never lived in the states, learned English at school. My sister, same story and she's been teaching English at Austin, Texas High School for 10 years now.
In Arecibo you won't find any discrimination. You can feel free to come and visit or stay. It's normal and legit to have fears when we visit a foreign country. I've visited the states and can relate to that. This island have more complicated issues than the English-language and bilingual people. If you like it here and decide to stay, eventually you'll learn some spanish.
You may find some people that doesn't speak the language, English is not our first language and is not a direct part of our culture and naturally some people hesitate to speak it but this island has evolved a lot and two out of four people without a doubt speaks the language not perfectly though.
We are a "freely associated commonwealth", we are part of the United States and born US citizens, we have a bond with the United States, there's no such thing as hate for English speakers, that I can assure you
It seems like it worked out! Check out an administrator's reply to my thread. Let's make good use of it to be able to talk about anything else besides traveling to Puerto Rico...
I might be able to help you. I've lived my whole life in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Arecibo is not "up in the mountains" and Utuado does have mountains but is more located to the center of the island. I'm surprised to learn there are people still thinking in the PR of the 50's and here's why: People in PR do speak English for the most part, you will find people who doesn't but is has nothing to do with what part of the island the live at. I've never lived in the states, learned English at school. My sister, same story and she's been teaching English at Austin, Texas High School for 10 years now.
In Arecibo you won't find any discrimination. You can feel free to come and visit or stay. It's normal and legit to have fears when we visit a foreign country. I've visited the states and can relate to that. This island have more complicated issues than the English-language and bilingual people. If you like it here and decide to stay, eventually you'll learn some spanish.
You may find some people that doesn't speak the language, English is not our first language and is not a direct part of our culture and naturally some people hesitate to speak it but this island has evolved a lot and two out of four people without a doubt speaks the language not perfectly though.
We are a "freely associated commonwealth", we are part of the United States and born US citizens, we have a bond with the United States, there's no such thing as hate for English speakers, that I can assure you
Thanks very much for your reply. I appreciate your comments and information. I do know that Arecibo is not "up in the mountains" but I was thinking of living more in the area in or around Utuado (mountain/lake region) and probably working in Arecibo. I know that as of the 2000 census, Arecibo had a population of a little over 100K. And I've also heard that there are quite a few large U.S. companies (mostly pharmaceuticals?) in the area. So I thought Arecibo would probably be the best bet for my wife to find a job in the I.T. field. If living in the middle of the island then Ponce would be a possibility in the other direction but even though it is a bigger city, I get the impression there are fewer tech jobs there. I don't know that for sure, it's just the initial impression I've gotten. If anyone has any comments or suggestions about any of this, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!!!
P.S. - Anyone spent any time up in the interior mountain area? I've heard the temperatures there are about 10-15 degrees cooler than elsewhere. Would you agree that's accurate?
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It was about time
