Our main mission while here is to meet souls. find out more about the Taino culture, which is everywhere but not at the same time. The symbols, the statues and sparse literature all tell me there are signs of native perseverance but how deep does it go?
As we meet people. Talk to people. we are getting a better sense of the people and culture. For one. Old San Juan is so geared toward tourists. Whew. It's kind of disgusting considering all the real culture that exists, it almost seems made up. Our ferry ride to El Catano yesterday proved to be very educational, the front is all glamorous but the town is what it is: Living dwellings and not structures that drive them into debt. Some of the same hang ups we have, they have here.
The economy is sucking, mainly due to the fact that Puerto Rico has no main imports. Less people are traveling and spending money.
Juan Carlos, an aspiring actor, whom we met at La Perla gave us a tour of the cemetery. strange but very informational. The ocean at night is so surreal and moving... La Perla sits on the coast of the Caribbean Sea/Atlantic Ocean. We now have a friend in Juan Carlos!
As we meet people. Talk to people. we are getting a better sense of the people and culture. For one. Old San Juan is so geared toward tourists. Whew. It's kind of disgusting considering all the real culture that exists, it almost seems made up. Our ferry ride to El Catano yesterday proved to be very educational, the front is all glamorous but the town is what it is: Living dwellings and not structures that drive them into debt. Some of the same hang ups we have, they have here.
The economy is sucking, mainly due to the fact that Puerto Rico has no main imports. Less people are traveling and spending money.
Juan Carlos, an aspiring actor, whom we met at La Perla gave us a tour of the cemetery. strange but very informational. The ocean at night is so surreal and moving... La Perla sits on the coast of the Caribbean Sea/Atlantic Ocean. We now have a friend in Juan Carlos!
Manuel has been to more states in the U.S. than me and he had a few things to say about it. He wasn't black in Atlanta, he was Latino, he said. He didn't like that, how people were judging and didn't fully know his background. "What I'm not black, look at my skin, I am you!"
The homosexual community is slowly revealing itself. The people are oppressed, they are frowned upon and the more masculine girls hide during the day it seems. A guy stopped us on the street because we were holding hands and through our broken Spanish we found out that he was bisexual. But he seemed shy about it, there are more gay men here than there are open woman though. Hmz... what does that say.