I’m back home now. I was sick the last few days, and then I was lazy, but my Puerto Rico trip needs a conclusion.

I look forward to visiting Puerto Rico again. I feel as though I barely scratched the surface as I stayed every night in the San Juan area. I am eager to explore more of Puerto Rico and learn more about the different places and cultures.

Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States of America. We passed a billboard encouraging people to vote to make Puerto Rico the 51st state. It seems like some people are interested in that idea, but most want to keep Puerto Rico a territory and not a state. Puerto Ricans are citizens, and they have US Passports, but they don’t get to vote for the President of the United States of America. But there are benefits to not being a state. They get to maintain more of their autonomy and identity.

My last morning in San Juan, my parents left for a flight to the Dominican Republic, and I wandered around Old San Juan saying “Buenos Dias” to all the locals I passed.

I finally ordered a piragua (shaved ice), from the man selling it near the plaza. I ordered fully in Spanish, and although I definitely used the wrong word here and there, we were communicating!

He carved the piragua from this big block of ice.

I asked him “¿Cuál sabor es mejor?” (which flavor is the best?” Obviously it is personal preference and I was overwhelmed with the options. He responded with “mango y frambuesa” (mango and raspberry). It was yummy!

I wandered into a local artist’s gallery and was entranced by the level of detail and storytelling in his art. His family is from Ponce, in the southwest part of Puerto Rico.

To the left of the doorframe in this picture is a family portrait of his family.

Here is the actual portrait of his family.

Outside on the streets, I saw an older man protesting something. At first I thought he was protesting tourism, but he gestured me over for a conversation, and explained to me that this sign was not for the tourists. This sign was for the locals who are driving their cars around Old San Juan. His sign had writing on both sides.

The first side, I took through the lens of Google Translate. It says “!EN PUERTO RICO: NI UNA CUERDA MAS AL HORMIGóN Y ASFALTO!” which translates to “IN PUERTO RICO: NOT ONE MORE ROPE FOR CONCRETE AND ASPHALT!”

The second side, I took through the lens of my camera. It says “SI LA CALDERóN (2022): ‘ESTE GOBIERNO (P. ROSSELLO) NOS HA LLENADO LA ISLA DE CEMENT Y VARILLA Y EL CORAZóN DE LOS PUERTORRIQUEñOS ESTA TRISTE’” which translates to “SI LA CALDERóN (2000): ‘THIS GOVERNMENT (P. ROSELLO) HAS FILLED OUR ISLAND WITH CEMENT AND REBAR, AND THE HEARTS OF PUERTO RICANS ARE SAD’”

Puerto Ricans like to protest things a lot. I greatly respect that. I was glad to witness some of it.

It was time for lunch. I heard that Puerto Rico has delicious Chinese food and I wanted to try. I was part of the lunch rush and queued up at this place that had larger portions. I debated on ordering the fried shrimp because that is delicious, but I opted for the sesame chicken because I saw it posted twice on the sign so it must be the favorite!

There was some self serve chili oil that was very good. While waiting for my food, I spilt my tiny cup of oil all over my hands and a lady gave me her last tissue. I was embarrassed and thankful. I took my food to-go and enjoyed it in the park. A bunch of birds circled me so I shooed them away between every bite of food. It was good, but I had higher hopes, as some have called Chinese food in Puerto Rico as “life changing”. I will try again.

Here’s a view of PR from the plane.

I heard so much good music during my trip. Here’s a playlist of all the music that I enjoyed. Listen to it, and maybe you will feel like you are in Puerto Rico.

¡Gracias por leer! (Thanks for reading!)