b and I are both of the opinion that if we're going to visit a different country (or in this sake, another U.S. territory), we want to experience the everyday culture that exists there outside of tourism. we chose to stay in an Airbnb that was a short drive outside of the city of San Juan but in a neighborhood that was still within walking distance from the beach, local grocery stores and restaurants.
before this trip we really new very little about the history of PR and it's connection to the U.S. but we took some time to watch some documentaries to get a better idea of things. it was settled and inhabited by Indians for generations until Christopher Columbus and the Spanish took over and colonized it in the the late 1400's. over the next 400 years it was a key part of the Spanish empire as they conquered the new world. much of the historic architecture and forts on the island have a strong Spanish flavor due to this and it wasn't until the Spanish-american war in the late 1800's that the u.s. obtained possession of Puerto Rico. since then, the locals have fought for independence many times because though the u.s. has allowed them to become citizens, it refuses to give them the voice and freedom of becoming an individual state. instead, it's left as a commonwealth of the u.s. and treated as the unwanted stepchild. we had several really good conversations with our uber drivers about this and it made us really sad for the Puerto Rican people. they are frustrated that they have no voice in the u.s. congress- PR is allowed to be represented there but by an individual who does not have a vote. how wrong is that? citizens also don't get to vote for the u.s. president even though he is their highest governing authority. their economy is based on the u.s. dollar but the median income is $20k which is $40k LESS than the median income in the states. gas is a little cheaper but groceries in general are the same cost or more than what we pay in the states since most things have to be imported. it's a beautiful country and the locals are incredibly kind! originally we had thought about doing a day trip to the rain forest and another part of the island but we ended up staying in the city the whole week.
i'm used to walking 8-10 miles a day in foreign cities so it was a struggle when i could barely get out 2-3 miles most days. we still enjoyed getting to explore the neighborhoods around us. from what we were told, most businesses along the coast have already bounced back from the hurricane so it was hard to tell if what was still in disrepair was from the storm or from the lack of a thriving economy.
there hasn't been a whole lot of new development in recent years outside of the tourist neighborhoods but every Puerto Rican we talked with said they are so grateful for people who choose to vacation there because tourism is their largest cash flow- especially since most of the coffee crops were destroyed by hurricane maria in 2017. there are murals and graffiti just about everywhere you go and we took one afternoon to look through the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico which gave us an even deeper look at the culture and history.
next I'll share images from the ocean park neighborhood near the beach & then images from our time in old San Juan!
