January 2015
I spent the first days of 2015 packing up for my interim stay in Puerto Rico and setting up a blog to share my experiences while there. My hosts are the Montanez family - Laura (my age) María and Nelson (her parents). They live in San Juan, the largest city on the island of Puerto Rico and one of the oldest colonial cities that lies on US territory. I will be going to school with Laura at Commonwealth-Parkville School and sightseeing as well. I did a little reading about San Juan which is one of the busiest seaports in the world at the mouth of the San Juan Bay. I’m looking forward to seeing Old San Juan whose cobblestone streets are lined with museums, churches, and military forts dating back to the 16th century. Freshman year I read Esmeralda Santiago’s memoirs When I Was Puerto Rican and I am looking forward to seeing some of the sights of her childhood island.
After a long, 4 hour flight from Houston, I spotted the island of Puerto Rico in the middle of the blue Caribbean Ocean from the jet window and shortly after, landed in San Juan. My host family, the Montanez, welcomed me at the airport. After trying to speak only Spanish with my family, it was a relief to find out that their daughter, Laura, as well as many other young people on the island speak "spanglish" which is a lifesaver. We loaded my bag in the car and drove straight to Old San Juan which was picture perfect; all the buildings were brightly colored with balconies overlooking the narrow cobble stone streets. After a typical Puerto Rican dinner including "plantanos" and "tembleque", we went to the Montanez home and they showed me to my room for the next weeks. I called Houston (because PR is a US territory there is no need for an international phone plan which is great, though there is a 2 hour time difference to be aware of!) Thursday morning came early and after breakfast, we headed off to school. The school is called Commonwealth-Parkville School. It is divided into two parts, lower and upper. The upper school campus which I am attending is called the "Commonwealth." And I think this comes from the fact the official name for Puerto Rico is the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The architecture of the school is a mix of colonial and modern, and they have beautiful courtyards and open air hallways. This gives the school a tropical and relaxed feel. The climate of Puerto Rico is tropical and the temperature is in the 80s, but there are easterly winds that blow steady making it very pleasant outdoors which is reflected in the architecture all around you. Here is a birdseye view of San Juan, some pictures of Old San Juan and the Commonwealth-Parkville School. Hasta luego!
I participate fully in all of Laura's classes at Commonwealth. Her history class is lively and despite PR's small size, Puerto Ricans seem to have a great interest in world history. Also, though not an independent nation, they have a unique form of cultural nationalism. After driving to the Eastern part of the island to a resort, it is easy to see why they have such a great sense of pride in their island. On the way there we passed through El Yunque (the rainforest) and arrived for sunset at the resort. Today, I enjoyed swimming in the resort's many pools and being welcomed by the parrots in their cage saying "Hola". The resort property is beautifully designed- all the rooms are up high on a hill with views of the water. You go through a jungle on the way to the marina and from there you can take an eight minute ferry to a private island called Palomino Island which has white sand beaches with calm, clear waters... perfect for swimming. In the afternoon, we rented a catamaran and I taught Laura and her sister Cristina to sail.
On Sunday, on the way home form the resort in the Eastern part of the island, we stopped at the Luquillo kiosks which are a long strip of open air buildings that look out at the beach. There are over 50 different kiosks and they are either named or numbered. Some sell souvenirs or local goods, but most sell food and drinks which is what we stopped for. I order a cocount (literally I drank it fresh from the shell through a straw). I also had an arepa which is fried flour with coconut and a pionono which is a fried plantain with meat. Although Puerto Rican food is similar to other Latin American and Spanish countries I’ve visited, you can also see the African influence on it (this is seen in the use of coconut in many foods). The Kiosks were not fancy but were authentic and really gave me a true taste of Puerto Rican flavors/cuisine. On Monday, it was back to school though as I said before, its a pleasure to go to Commonwealth with its outdoor courtyards and small class size. In Spanish class, we are reading Cervantes’ Don Quijote. I’ve seen the ballet and have a picture book so I know the story which is a good thing because it is difficult to read it with native Spanish speakers. The class discussions are challenging but also lively. I think reading it in Spanish (the language Cervantes wrote it in) helps maintain the feel of the language and I find it very funny and clever. I am happy for something to immerse myself in as I am beginning to miss my family a little more this week and chasing windmills with Don Quijote keeps me occupied!
I read a happiness poll that said that Latin Americans are amongst the happiest people in the world. After being in Puerto Rico for a week, I think this could be true. I’m not sure what makes Puerto Ricans so happy, but they just are. On Wednesday, Laura had a soccer game at Commonwealth’s rival school, Baldwin. While Laura was playing, the younger players from the JV team came over and introduced themselves to me and started asking me questions. They were very warm, spontaneous and generous and we ended up talking about Texas (and life in Houston), my experiences since I’ve been in PR and everything in between. The students in all my classes are also very positive and their focus is on friends and family; they love their culture and want to share it with you and make sure you are experiencing the very best of it. I wonder if it is because they are surrounded by natural beauty that they focus on the positive and are so warm and kind? I do think that they take the time to appreciate beauty and have a great eye for art and are very creative. In my art classes at Commonwealth, we are learning about and designing mosaics. Everyone in my class is very expressive and uses warm and vibrant colors in their designs. I think that Latin Americans in general and the Caribbean people specifically, love to celebrate, to eat well and live well. And because of this they are generally a very happy and loving people.
In New Orleans they have Mardi Gras; in Rio they have Carnival; in Puerto Rica they have San Sebastián Festival or "SanSe.” We’ve been talking about this festival in my Pop art class and the students have been working on “vejigantes" which are huge, paper mâché masks of monster like creatures that are made up of the colors of black, red, white and yellow. Tomorrow, Laura and her family are taking me to the festival which is in Old San Juan where they say we will hear live music, see dance performances, parades of the vejigantes, sample food and shop at the many booths set up by artisans selling their work. San Sebastián (Saint Sebastian) was a Christian who was martyred for his faith and Calle San Sebastian is a street in Old San Juan named in his honor. San Se was traditionally celebrated on San Sebastian’s feast day which is January 20th, but it has become a full weekend of parades and parties with a sea of people filling the streets and on balconies along the parade route…just like Mardi Gras!
My Pop Art teacher, who everyone calls Cruz, was born and grew up in Brooklyn. He is a "Nuyorican” which is what Puerto Ricans in and around New York are called. Puerto Ricans have been immigrating to the United States since the 19th century and New York is home to the largest community of Puerto Ricans. He is very fun (you can tell as he wanted to take a picture with a mask on), and he is always telling us stories about his "hippy days" when he hitchhiked from Brooklyn to California with his friends.
This weekend I experienced a variety of things: a tour of "El Morro", SanSe, a hike up to a cave used by the Taíno Indians and a climb up to an ocean cliff. Throughout these experiences and throughout my entire time here in Puerto Rico, I have been noticing the various influences on Puerto Rican culture: the indigenous Taíno, the colonial Spanish, and the African slaves. I think this can be seen in the pictures below:
The island of Puerto Rico is small (35 miles wide by 100 miles long... less than half the size of Texas), but it has always been an important military prize because of its location in the Caribbean. Pictured here is "El Morro" which is a military fort built when PR was a Spanish colony. In 1898 PR became an unincorporated territory of the United States and now it is protected by the US military and citizens of PR can enlist in the US armed services.
SanSe was a lot of fun and a great celebration of Puerto Rican culture. Even though PR seems very Americanized at times (American brands, lots of Spanglish, etc.) I don't think they are in danger of loosing their unique culture.
Left: This is "Iglesia de San José" on San Sebastian Street. It is one of the only surviving examples of the Spanish Gothic styles in the New World. Construction for it started in 1532 after the Spaniards brought Catholicism to Puerto Rico. The festival of SanSe was started by this church as a fundraiser.
Middle: This is the view from the inside of a cave used by the Taíno Indians who were the original inhabitants of Puerto Rico.
Right: Here is Laura and me at the top of the ocean cliff, Cueva del Indio. It gets its name from the Taíno Indian petroglyphs which can still be seen on the walls.
This was my final weekend in PR and after dropping Cristina (my host family's oldest daughter) off at the airport last night for her flight back to the US for her spring semester of college, I realized how much I've become part of their family over the last 2 1/2 weeks. We've had every meal together, spent weekends exploring PR and had the best conversations. Doing a homestay is such a unique experience and the Montañez family has truly opened their home(s) and hearts to me. For MLK day, which was a holiday here too, we visited their second home in Palmas del Mar for a day at the beach. This is a resort area and the eastern part of the island and it felt very European. Laura gave me a golf cart tour of the Palmas del Mar Resort showing me her favorite spots including the yacht club and we talked about me coming back here for a regatta one day. But before that Laura has promised to come to visit me and my family in Houston. I have really enjoyed my exchange experience, and I hope to experience it from the other end. Though at times it has been challenging, I have grown a lot. Speaking Spanish with more fluency has been particularly hard; however, my Spanish has improved a lot. I have gained a lot of confidence when I speak; my vocabulary has grown, my understanding of the language has improved, and I have become more fluent and accurate when I speak. Another area where I have grown is in becoming more open to trying new things. I had to be open to coming here to begin with, and this has helped me to develop a more open mind in general. For example, I tried sushi here for the first time and I actually liked it. I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends in Houston soon but also happy to have a few more days in PR and I'm open to any new experiences that come my way this week.
Puerto Rico means “Rich Port.” My homestay here has come to an end and I’m ready to embark on my journey back home…from the “Rich Port” to the “Port of Houston.” Christopher Columbus who landed in Puerto Rico on his 2nd voyage to the New World said, “You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Initially I was anxious about coming here. I specifically chose PR over the Spain homestay because it was a little closer to home (not completely across the ocean), but I am really glad I did. From exploring caves, to studying “Don Quijote", to sailing on a Catamaran in the Caribbean, I received a great deal of inspiration from my time in the tropics. I trusted the process and learned a lot about the Puerto Rican people and culture and about myself. Staying with the Montanez family was a wonderful experience. To quote my host mom "There are things that a school can't teach; only family.” Thank you to my family- the Montanez family, Commonwealth School, and the all the Puerto Rican people I met who made this such a rich experience!
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