Puerto Rico

I took a trip to Puerto Rico in 2012. My heart fell in love with Puerto Rico the minute I got there, and I am dying to go back. That sounds strange coming from a person who is Dominican, has a house over there and a ton of family living in the Dominican Republic. I think the similarities between Puerto Rico and New York City is what has me drawn to that tiny Island.

                I first stayed in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Just about everyone spoke English! Of course I was in a major tourist community, but that isn’t always the case when vacationing in other places. Not everyone will speak English. Not only did they speak proper English but many people I came in contact with moved back to Puerto Rico from the United States. I even met a man who once lived near the Yankee stadium, which isn’t too far from where I live now. I found that weird being that Puerto Ricans are the United States second largest Hispanic population (Mastropasqua, Kristina). That statistic doesn’t surprise me I know many Puerto Ricans.

                The night life was just as live as it is here in New York City. In Old San Juan there were a ton of night clubs. Many of the locals would go over there just to hang out. Like New York City, I didn’t have to be in a club to be around music. There was a huge sitting area behind the hotel I was staying at that people would hang out at, at night. They played music from speakers and people would dance.
                The food was amazing! My mouth waters at the thought of all the tasty foods I enjoyed over there. They had plantains everywhere. Being Dominican I eat of ton of plantains already so I didn’t have to change my diet because I was miles away from home. At restaurants I would see the plantain bunch still attached to the stem resting on a chair waiting to be peeled. One of our favorite restaurants while staying there was called El Jibatrito. Every time I went I ordered the same dish, mofongo con churrasco. Mofongo is a dish that consists of fried plantains that are mashed together with seasonings. Here I eat that all the time. El Jibarito made it with a twist. They would deep fry the whole thing after it was mashed together. That would give it a hard coat on the outside. Let face it, anything deep fried taste better.

Not all the similarities were good. Like in New York City, there is a ton of violence. I’ve seen robberies and fights all the time growing up here. I wasn’t expecting to see things like that when I was on vacation. According to the United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime, Puerto Rico’s murder rate is higher than the Dominican Republics, but not as bad as it is in the United States (O’Rielly, Andrew). I believe that has to do with the lack of police. I can’t remember seeing more than maybe two cops when I was over there. I once saw a man with his gun tucked into the back of his pants. One night out I saw a woman who was sitting on the floor. A man who looked homeless helped her up. I saw that she had left her camera on the ground. Unfortunately the man who helped her up saw the same thing and snatched it off the floor and tried walking away with it. My husband, brother-in-law and a few locals (including the guards from the hotel) went after him to try to get it back. When they came back they told me that the man pulled out a machete when they cornered him in an alley. The guards called authorities, but they never came. Needless to say they were unsuccessful in getting her camera back.    

 Although many similarities between Puerto Rico and New York City, home is where the heart is, but vacationing in Puerto Rico will always be great.

Work cited

Mastropasqua, Kristina. “Puerto Ricans in the United States: Research roundup”. Journalistsresource. July 2, 2013. Creative Commons Attribution. Web. March 5, 2014

O’Rielly, Andrew. “Plagued By Violence, Bad Economy, Puerto Rico Rings In 2014 With Bang; 13 Murders In 5 Days”. Latino.FoxNews. January 8, 2014. Fox News Network, LLC. Web. March 5, 2014