There was a time in my life when I was considering moving to Puerto Rico. Seriously. It was an actual consideration at the time. Everything has it's pros and cons, but, I figured that there were a lot worse places for me to move to at the time. I was pretty sure that I could find some good things about the weather, beaches, and music of Puerto Rico.
At the time, I didn't know much about Puerto Rico at all. Now that I'm on a cruise ship that docks in San Juan once a week, I know…well…only slightly more. So far, I've only visited San Juan. I haven't taken the time to rent a car and drive around at all to see the rest of the country. Maybe I'll do that in the future sometime. For now, I've had experiences with 2 areas in San Juan: Old San Juan and New San Juan.
The two locations couldn't be more different. Each has it's merits and my preference for one over the other hinges on my various moods and needs while in port.
"New" San Juan (not sure it's actually called this, but, it's the opposite of Old so it works here) is basically a combination of most of the aspects of commercialized modern America. The main attraction is a HUGE mall that features all of your favorite American franchise stores. Church's Chicken, Burger King, and Chili's in the food court (among others) and Abercrombie and Fitch, Old Navy, and Sears just to name a few. There's a huge movie theater showing American movies (subtitled in Spanish) and plenty of mall standard kiosks hawking everything from sunglasses to flying toy helicopters to Dish Network TV. Across the street from the mall is a Best Buy, K-Mart and other big box stores eager to take your American currency in exchange for goods and services. It's basically the USA. Everyone speaks English. Everything and everyone is encased in a recycled air conditioned environment. It's a dry walled paradise. There are big crowds, long lines, and no shortage of mall walking shoppers. Like I said before, everything has pros and cons, New San Juan included. It's great if you need to go to GNC or Radio Shack, but, bad if you want some quiet time and sunshine.
Old San Juan is basically the complete opposite of it's counterpart. Old San Juan is charming with brick streets where homes and buildings featuring dated architecture seem to crowd in over and around you when you are strolling on the sidewalk. The entire place is adorned with flowers and palm trees that provide shade as well as a pleasing aesthetic. Street musicians mix in with tourists and locals almost seamlessly. It seems like there is an antique shop on every corner. Everything seems to move at a slower pace here. All kinds of food is available and I took advantage of that by stopping in a small local cafe. I sat down and asked the waiter to order for me. I ended up eating mofongo, a traditional Puerto Rican dish that features mashed plantains covered in meat and various sauces. I had lightly fried pork with garlic sauce as the waiter recommended the "pork with a good beer."
Both of these areas of San Juan have their merits. There seems to be more history and culture associated with Old San Juan so I'll have to check that out in the future. For instance, there are a couple of historic landmarks that feature military forts or castles of some sort. I'll be taking a tour of those very soon.
Like I said before, I still don't know much about the history of Puerto Rico. My impression of it's people (all judgments garnered from observing vacationers onboard Adventure of the Seas…caveats apply, naturally) is that they are nationalistic, passionate, and music lovers. I do know that I like it here. Every time I get in a cab or hear a local radio station I hear salsa music. It almost always features trombone (gotta love that). I think I could've been very happy living in Puerto Rico. The weather is beautiful. American currency is used everywhere and almost everyone I've come in contact with is bilingual, courteous, and welcoming. I never ended up living in Puerto Rico. Life dealt me a different hand that took me to Indianapolis, a place that I enjoyed living very much for two years, but, I'm glad that my ship life has given me the opportunity to visit a place where I could've have moved to about five years ago.
Pictures from Old San Juan:
Mofongo!
I bought a CD of these guys. Nice to hear authentic Bomba.
