Move to PR for 2 months for spanish culture? (rental car, rental)
U.S. TerritoriesPuerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, etc.
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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?
You won't get much Spanish culture in Puerto Rico or the other places you mentioned. You go to Puerto Rico, you'll face Puerto Rican culture, El Salvador for Salvadorian culture, etc. Your best bet is Spain for that Spanish cultural experience. You will learn Caribbean Spanish if you do decide to head out for PR instead.
Though initially Spanish, the Puerto Rican culture has been strongly influenced (historically) by the African and Taino cultures. More recently by US and "international" cultures.
You can see a bit of each in their music, dance, food, and language.
Puerto Rico has a (proud) culture unto itself, that is different than anything I've ever seen.
is unique and a blend of many social, economic, historic, geographic, and political factors. Were I to make a recommendation, I would suggest the Canary Islands (Spain). An incredible place, wonderful people, an island paradise, and a blend of Spain with resemblances to the new world. I lived there as a young man and still have friends there; a paradise!!!
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Originally Posted by 009
... Your best bet is Spain for that Spanish cultural experience. ...
just be sure you don't choose the Catalan or Basque region (if you want to speak Spanish in Spain). When living in Barcelona, my co-workers would not speak Spanish when we traveled into "Spain", they would only speak Catalan or French to our Spanish subcontractors. (They HATE the Spanish, their fathers and grandfathers were killed by the Spanish). They would not ride in my rental car because it had Madrid license plates.
Definitely go for the Canary Islands, your daughter will love it!
We lived in Asia and Europe when our kids were between ages of 5 and 10, They really had a great time. But also enjoyed living on a remote Island in Canada (BC), as it was quite adventurous too. + there was a whole tribe of kids to chum around and go canoeing with + of course playing "broom hockey" during the Stanley Cup. Give the kids plenty of 'culture'
just be sure you don't choose the Catalan or Basque region (if you want to speak Spanish in Spain). When living in Barcelona, my co-workers would not speak Spanish when we traveled into "Spain", they would only speak Catalan or French to our Spanish subcontractors. (They HATE the Spanish, their fathers and grandfathers were killed by the Spanish). They would not ride in my rental car because it had Madrid license plates.
Definitely go for the Canary Islands, your daughter will love it!
The anticatalanism aside, it's true that in Catalan speaking regions (Comunitat Valenciana, Balearic Islands, and Catalonia) you're more likely to hear Catalan than Spanish, but practically all of them also speak Spanish, and I actually noticed that the people there generally speak a pretty "neutral" Spanish.
I think the OP means moving to PR for immersion in a Spanish speaking country... and not exactly "Spanish Culture"
I think it's a good idea. You'll learn a lot about the culture of PR and learn Spanish for sure.
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.
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