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Does anyone have a town that they would recommend in PR that is safe or pretty safe? If anyone from the US has moved to a spanish speaking county for a short time, I would love to hear about your experience.
My wife and I packed up and moved from the States (NJ) to PR about 5 years ago. Initially, we lived (rented) in the mountains of Caguas for 2 years. We finally bought a place up in the mountains at the edge of the rain forest (El Yunque) in Rio Grande, we we live now. It's a rural area ... not a gated community (urbanación) or anything like that.
In all that time, we have never had a single incident in which we felt "unsafe".
They HATE the Spanish, their fathers and grandfathers were killed by the Spanish
Also, while some Catalan nationalists can be real *******s, I've never seen anyone go as far as speaking French in the rest of the country, mostly because most of them don't speak French anyway.
Yes, you are exactly right, I meant a spanish speaking country and a culture that is different from my own. We are very interested in safety and want to go to a place with a relatively stable governement, a place that probably won't have a State Department travel warning, and a place that had decent air service in case we had to get back for some reason.
Another post stated that crime was a big problem in PR, but it appears to be concentrated in San Juan. We would want to live in a much smaller town/village.
Does anyone have a town that they would recommend in PR that is safe or pretty safe? If anyone from the US has moved to a spanish speaking county for a short time, I would love to hear about your experience.
Hi!
Im a born and raised puertorrican, I agree with you about wanting to come here but be away from San Juan. I lived most of my life in Bayamon (very close to San Juan), and for the past 7 months I've been living in Luquillo, and I LOVE it! Luquillo is a small town @ the east side of the Island, you're about 50 mins away from San Juan but far enough to notice the difference. I live 5 mins away from the beach, and the rainforest el Yunque, actually my house has a view of both!
If you do decide to come here, check out magazines such as quepasa.com, you'll see that we have festivals and activies going on all year round.
The good thing about PR is that you'll use the same currency, no need for visas or passports, and anywhere you go, you'll find someone who speaks some english.
Well, I hope this information helps you out a little bit, and if you have further questions, please feel free to ask!
My PR friend in High School failed Spanish. To give you an idea of the language that's spoken here, China, pronounced cheena, means orange(the fruit) WTF?
Our family is looking for a short term relocation in the next few years - during the summer for about 2 months. We want to live in a spanish culture and learn spanish. We are white, a family of 3, my daughter is 7, and we do not speak spanish at this moment. Because safety is a big concern to us, I thought that Puerto Rico may be a better option than sEl Salvador, Guatamala or some others. We are looking for a smaller town, not a large city. Has anyone done this in PR or elsewhere that could offer advice?
Why not come to Miami. You have the best of both worlds.
It is a slice of spanish culture right here in the USA.
There is so much latin culture here, its amazing.
A lot of folks are bilingual and will help you along if you make the effort to speak.
Who knows, you may like it here so much that you might not want to leave
My PR friend in High School failed Spanish. To give you an idea of the language that's spoken here, China, pronounced cheena, means orange(the fruit) WTF?
Shortly after I moved to Florida from New Jersey, I read a letter in the local newspaper from people complaining about the city leaving too many fronds in their swales !?!?!?!? WTF??? (Translation: dead palm tree branches/fronds in the large roadside ditches/swales designed to carry off huge amounts of rainfall during the sudden tropical storms).
Correct Spanish is correct Spanish, period. Regionalisms are OK, too, and every country has them. In fact, mastering these regionalisms gives a great sense of accomplishment. Funny story- My PR wife sent me to the store to buy yautia and I wound up in a NJ Cuban vegetable store where I asked for yautia. The owner said he didn't have any, but he had malanga. I said I wanted yautia and he repeated that he didn't have any yautia, but that he had malanga. This went on for a minute or two until someone told me that malanga is what Cubans call yautia. He was teasing me and I didn't get the joke. 20 cents in PR is 20 chavos- Cubans say 20 kilos. Poquitito=poquitiko, mi pana=mi socio(friend) and the list goes on. And let's not forget the ever popular bregar/luchar. Como estas? Pues, en la brega(PR) vs en la lucha (Cuban). Small stuff, but great fun to learn on top of your correct Spanish. My ex-boss had reservations about hiring my PR wife (an honors graduate of the UPR) because most of our clients were Cuban and he thought they wouldn't understand each other. He was a dumb uninformed man!!! IMO correct Spanish is understood universally by all Spanish speakers, although different strong regional accents can take time to become used to, if your ear is unaccustumed. Just like a northerner talking to someone from the deep south, but this is diminished as educational levels increase. If you notice, as you travel around the country almost all radio announcers sound the same-they usually speak a neutral English that does not mimic the regional pronunciation. I personnally like Colombian Spanish pronunciation and enjoy listening to Shakira for that reason. Also Olga Tanon sounds good. God, I'm ranting. Sorry...I should give someone else a chance to disagree with me!!!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!
Last edited by Augie; 11-28-2008 at 06:11 AM..
Reason: forgot something
Augie, off topic but related to your comment. I traveled by a bit around the good old USA. Supposedly we all speak English (or the American English and not the _proper English_), however asking for directions in the off-the-beaten-path places was very entertaining as people had very strong and colorful local dialects.
If you're willing to consider Mexico, I can recommend two cities: Guanajuato and Oaxaca.
Guanajuato is an old silver mining town, lots of language schools, amazing street life, a few hours from Mexico City. I spent 5 weeks there this year studying Spanish and really enjoyed it. You can see my photos here:
Oaxaca isn't as beautiful of a city as Guanajuato but there's a lot more going on culturally so it may be a better option. When I was there this year, there was a parade or concert or dance performance just about every evening. Many were free and the most expensive was about $5. Oaxaca also has several language schools. Photos are here:
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I meant a spanish speaking country and a culture that is different from my own. We are very interested in safety and want to go to a place with a relatively stable governement, a place that probably won't have a State Department travel warning, and a place that had decent air service in case we had to get back for some reason. 
LOL funny
consider Miami
