Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, that is good that it is very different! I wish i were in your shoes. One year in a different environment. A great chance to learn Spanish and live in a fantastic home!
Downsides, people are poor!! People don't want to be new york or south carolina or alabama or kansas. They want to be Puerto Ricans with their own proud history and future. However, there are many who despise the poverty of PR and you can easily get into a "oh they are so backwards type people, type conversation."
Personlally I would love to be in your shoes!!
p.s. You forgot to mention that you are a woman. So, being a woman is never a problem. You will have at least half of the population very interested in you.
This is interesting. I too am entertaining the idea of moving to PR and under very similar circumstances. I'm currently living in the San Francisco bay area and just came back from a 2 week trip from PR. The guy that I've been recently dating is there in the coast guard and really wants me to move there. He's leaving PR in about a year and wants me to come live there with him.
My experience of PR so far is pretty close to the above quote.
It's very different from what I'm used to, I feel very much out of my element there and was (embarassed to say) surprised at how run down alot of the areas were.
On the plus side, I want to learn Spanish, It's a beautiful island, and it's for a set amount of time (one year). Plus I don't want to fear a place because it's unfamiliar or "dirtier" than what I'm used to.
I'm going back for a month to feel it out before I make the decision. Btw, does anyone know of any social networking sites for recent newcomers to PR? Craigslist?
This is interesting. I too am entertaining the idea of moving to PR and under very similar circumstances. I'm currently living in the San Francisco bay area and just came back from a 2 week trip from PR. The guy that I've been recently dating is there in the coast guard and really wants me to move there. He's leaving PR in about a year and wants me to come live there with him.
My experience of PR so far is pretty close to the above quote.
It's very different from what I'm used to, I feel very much out of my element there and was (embarassed to say) surprised at how run down alot of the areas were.
On the plus side, I want to learn Spanish, It's a beautiful island, and it's for a set amount of time (one year). Plus I don't want to fear a place because it's unfamiliar or "dirtier" than what I'm used to.
I'm going back for a month to feel it out before I make the decision. Btw, does anyone know of any social networking sites for recent newcomers to PR? Craigslist?
An important consideration over the economy and lifestyle of Puerto Rico is that more ricans live in the USA than their home island, if Puerto Rico was a state it would be ranked dead last, 10,000 dollars per year less than Mississippi!
I have been researching both Costa Rica (The Real Costa Rica. Everything you want or need to know about Costa Rica is the best site I have found) and Puerto Rico. Haven't found such good stuff on Puerto Rico. These last posts were in 2009. From what research I have done, I understand the poverty rate in PR right now is over 40 percent, and the unemployment rate over 13 percent. My fiance and I are looking to relocate to a Spanish speaking culture for at least a year, within the next 12 to 18 months. And we will definitely visit before we move, and stay in a local area, not the touristy kind. Spanish was one of my minors in college and I look forward to becoming bilingual. If anyone in PR can help me out, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks in advance for the blessings of your experience and wisdom. Gracias & Amor. Namaste, Laura
Been there, done that... and I wouldn't recommend it, unfortunately. If you have some sort of job in the U.S. like maybe an online business, your money simply won't stretch like it would in just about any foreign country in Latin America. If you're saving a lot of money and hoping to live off of that until you find work, but you may easily just blow through it all and find nothing. Teaching English is much more complicated also, as being a "gringo" is not a hot commodity because many Puerto Ricans who lived in the U.S. speak just as well as you do, and are totally bilingual to boot.
Plenty of people on the island will make absolutely no effort to speak to you in Spanish. Sometimes this will even come after you politely say that you want to practice and improve and learn from them and that they'd be helping you out more by speaking in Spanish. I to this day don't understand why this is, but it is. I certainly learned Spanish there, having arrived with none, but I hit the ceiling at a very low level of fluency because people just wouldn't let me advance-- or not fast enough, like full immersion situations in most other countries. Costa Rica isn't great in this regard either.
I would recommend Ecuador or Guatemala (but not Guatemala City) because of the clear Spanish spoken and the low cost of living. Nicaragua, though very poor, is definitely up and coming, and Panama is amazing, but the dialects of Spanish there are a little more flavored and not so neutral. Most people love Argentina also.
If you're dead set on living in the Caribbean, I'd go with the Dominican Republic before Puerto Rico.
Sorry to put the island down, but it's economic/political/cultural status makes the kind of experience you want not so feasible I think.
Moving to a Caribbean island is very nice and can be a rewarding experience. Just plan to do a lengthy visit first and see how you fair. The best way to know if you'd be comfortable living here is to visit for more than two weeks if possible. Being Anglo and English speaking should not be a problem as long as you stay in the more frequented towns. I would recommend Cabo Rojo as it will have a lot of English speaking individuals from the States and PR alike, and it is more quiet and way more safe than the San Juan metro area. Dorado is also another good choice. Living in the city of San Juan will not feel like being on a tropical island in the Caribbean, so I would not recommend it if you are looking for a more quiet retreat for a few years.
I love it here!!! But, I would not live in the metro San Juan area due to the level of violence and crowdedness that is prevalent there. There are much nicer areas just a few miles out of San Juan. Again, Cabo Rojo would be at the top of my list as a recommendation. I also would only recommend a gated community for added security due to the economic instabilities that plague us in these times. I also recommend setting yourself up with a car...that way you can travel and see all that PR has to offer to a visitor. It's a great place to live if you can maintain a certain calibre of lifestyle that is comfortable for you.
I would not recommend another Spanish speaking island, such as DR as it's just nicer to have some of the comforts of home (the US) and still be able to dive into a very distinct Latin culture as well. The more you speak Spanish, the more others will speak Spanish to you...many PR are of european descent, so even if you look super Anglo, that should not be any problem at all. If you find PR speaking to you in English, simply respond in Spanish and keep the conversation on your part in Spanish...more likely than not, they will switch to Spanish as you will demonstrate your unwillingness to use your native tongue.
I find PR a very, very nice place to live as long as you understand that you are coming to a relatively small island...not as small as the Virgin Islands, but small nonetheless. PR is great if you take your time and really figure out what you are doing, need, where to live, etc. I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted to how things turn out for you.
Last edited by boricuarosa; 11-02-2013 at 07:29 PM..
Puerto Rico is great to find a job and live.......just dandy!.....lol
If I'm able to afford private schooling for my kids, I'd move back. But, see, I was born and raised there. I know how the game is played down there. For Americans from the mainland, even ones who are "ethnically Puerto Rican" but are from the States, don't have a clue. Plus, many people from Puerto Rico can practically sense if you are from there or not. Yes, that includes if you are a pasty looking boricua that looks like they are from Ireland
If I'm able to afford private schooling for my kids, I'd move back. But, see, I was born and raised there. I know how the game is played down there. For Americans from the mainland, even ones who are "ethnically Puerto Rican" but are from the States, don't have a clue. Plus, many people from Puerto Rico can practically sense if you are from there or not. Yes, that includes if you are a pasty looking boricua that looks like they are from Ireland
I was born there and lived there for a little while so I also know how the game is played down there.
unless you have a good paying job in the private sector that can pay private school for your kids and live in a private community (which is not cheap) the odds are against you. There are not a lot of good paying jobs down there.
you need political connections (pala) or know someone who knows someone and so on to make it down there.....forget your education and experience credentials, it doesn't matter much down there, its who you know, what political party you belong to or how well you can kiss behinds.
3 main reasons I don't move back there.......high crime, high taxes for the producers (working man) and lack of good paying jobs in the private sector. The list is longer but you get the picture.
Thank you all very much for your responses and the information you have provided. Nothing is set in stone yet as far as where we will be moving and when. I believe our next step will be a visit to PR in March. Unfortunately we will likely not be able to stay more than a week right now, but it's a place to start. I will definitely check out Cabo Rojo - thank you for that suggestion, Boricuraosa.
One more question...as we are wanting to stay outside of San Juan...(this is presuming we may like what we see when we visit)...due to the nature of our work, we will need to be relatively close to where I can rent conference space (hotel, etc.) and possibly something like a spa (my fiance is a massage therapist.) So probably not far from touristy areas but not in the high crime areas either. Yes, in an ideal world, in other words.
So, I will continue to take any more suggestions you may have as we prepare for a visit in March so we have a better idea of what to focus on checking out while we are there. (BTW, neither one of us have children so education is not an issue. We have both been married once before. Although I have two cats, so where we live will need to be pet friendly.)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Living in Puerto Rico
Thanks in advance for the blessings of your experience and wisdom. Gracias & Amor. Namaste, Laura
