As I stepped off the plane, the warm tropical hues encased my body and sent a jolt of energy through my heart like I had just taken over 20 espresso shots. The first feeling I remember as I took my first steps onto the ground was comfort. I was home, the motherland, Puerto Rico. Excitement stirred in my mind and a feeling of peculiar longing for a place I did not grow up in and did not remember was oddly satisfied. My parents smiled like they were seeing a lover coming back from war, and that feeling was as contagious as the black plague. The island fever had entered my system and I was infected, the treatment was simply to take everything in and don’t hold back. I remember being nervous, waiting to meet these strange people who were …show more content…
They acted like lazy soldiers who followed their leader into battle against a beer on the beach or a nap on the couch. I knew this lazy look at life could not be a constant repetition day after I day. I was right. Life was being lived to the fullest all around me. People were biking and surfing and running and dancing and being active. The same cousins who were taking naps on the beach were riding horses and playing basketball and driving ATV’s and jumping off waterfalls. They did not back down from anything. They had no fear. When I was around them I felt the same way. When I was back home, the rules my parents place were cemented in my mind but when I was in my island mode, those rules quickly faded into the sky like thin dainty cirrus clouds. I felt free. The aura of the land hypnotized me and changed my …show more content…
An average night in New Jersey was most likely spent vegging out on the couch watching a movie or show on the television. An average night in Puerto Rico was filled with wonder and excitement. Couples shuffled across the dance floor brushing shoulders but not colliding with perfect grace. Their hips swayed back and forth like a rocking chair and their feet moved quicker than the speed of light. The music never stopped, the recurrent salsa or merengue rhythm flowed through every house and was heard all over the island. For the quieter moments, bachata eased the tension and cooled the fire for a short time. The air was salty and humid from all the sweat and passion, but what better to fill the air with than the smell of an authentic Puerto Rican dinner. The smoky, rich smell of pernil in the smoker or the delectable honeyed aroma of maduros frying in the pan. The food was so good it almost consumed your very soul and controlled you every time you ate it. The food spoke to you, it persuaded you to keep eating. To keep enjoying. To keep indulging. The food can not be simply, described, it must be experienced, it must be appreciated. The food must be loved. Every night was a feast, the joyous cackles of drunk men and flirtatious laughs of tipsy women filled the night air with life. The spirit of the island never slept. The coals of the passionate fire of Puerto Rico never died down completely and
Imagine a teenage boy who is isolated on a faraway island, without food or water. The hot and sticky weather is intolerable, but the rampaging storms are worse. He quickly develops malaria and diarrhea, and on top of that, blood-sucking insects and menacing reptiles lurch beneath his feet. He has no idea what is coming, but he needs to survive. This is the story of a young boy who has to travel to the other side of the world to realize that everything can’t go his way.
#1.The thesis in “A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood” by Judith Ortiz Cofer is that because of the stories her grandmother told every afternoon when she was a child, her writing was heavily influenced and she learned what it was like to be a ‘Puerto Rican woman’. The thesis of the selection is stated in the first and last sentence of the second paragraph: “It was on these rockers that my mother, her sisters, and my grandmother sat on these afternoons of my childhood to tell their stories, teaching each other, and my cousin and me, what it was like to be a woman, more specifically, a Puerto Rican woman . . . And they told cuentos, the morality and cautionary tales told by the women in our family for generations: stories that became
The second idea of the island archetype is that isolation reduces humans to their most basic tendencies. The absence of law, structure, and order either leads to complete serenity, insight, and innocence, or the opposite: destruction, chaos, and confusion. In both of the stories, the latter is what occurred. One example of this from Lord of the Flies is shown in the quote “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (181). One way this shows complete chaos is how they kil...
The debate on Puerto Rican Identity is a hot bed of controversy, especially in today’s society where American colonialism dominates most of the island’s governmental and economic policies. The country wrestles with the strong influence of its present day colonizers, while it adamantly tries to retain aspects of the legacy of Spanish colonialism. Despite America’s presence, Puerto Ricans maintain what is arguably their own cultural identity which seems largely based on the influence of Spain mixed with customs that might have developed locally.
In the histories of Colonial Latin America there is one common aspect and that is the importation of slaves as a labor force. The resulting consequences for the territory are vital if we are to understand the development of the society. In Puerto Rico these consequences deal mainly with African influence on the peasantry, the corrective measures taken thereafter to negate the African influence, and the results of these corrective measures.
When I stepped out of the hot, airless plane into the bright, dazzling sunlight beaming down across the burning concreate, I felt excited and nervous. Holding my beach bag in my hand and slipping my Ray Ban sunglasses on with my other, I flip-flopped down the airspace. Overhead I heard the screams of gulls and the chatter of the small fluffy birds. I suddenly realized I had arrived to Hawaii. This trip was such an unforgettable vacation for me because I got to witness the beauty of nature that Hawaii has to offer.
Do you think Puerto Rico should become the 51st state? 61% of Puerto Ricans say yes. Puerto Rico as a state of the United States could benefits both the US and PR. Through fixing both crime rate, to bringing more economic success. Although both the US and PR had their own pros and cons on whether Puerto Rico become the 51st state or not. Puerto Rico has been a commonwealth of the United States for over many years. Many Americans and Puerto Ricans think that Puerto Rico should not be the 51st state because it has their advantages and disadvantage. So, Should Puerto Rico become the 51 state of the US or stay as they are, as a commonwealth.
When Puerto Ricans migrated to the United States they did it in two major waves. The first wave of emigration occurred in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The second wave occurred from the 1940s to the present. The workings of Bernando Vega and Jose Cruz deal with the different generations of Puerto Ricans that these two waves brought to the United States. While Vega discusses the early emigration of Puerto Ricans to New York City, Cruz discusses the later emigration of Puerto Ricans to Connecticut. Each author describes a different Puerto Rican experience in the United States. The experiences differed in most aspects; from the context in which each wave of emigration occurred to the type of politics that was practiced.
In this story, the reader can see exactly how, many Puerto Ricans feel when living on other grounds. Throughout this time, the boy that Rodriguez presents us realizes he has his culture and that he wants to preserve it as much as he can. “Because I’m Puerto Rican”. I ain’t no American. And I’m not a Yankee flag-waver”
Music, in the history of Puerto Rico, has played a role of great significance as a means of cultural expression. The five centuries of musical activity shows that Puerto Ricans have created, developed and promoted a variety of genres ranging from folk music, concert music and new genres. The Puerto Rican music and native musicians have shaped and enriched the identity of the Puerto Rican people and their roots.
which is a predominantly Hispanic area of the city. I myself am also a Roman
Puerto Rico is a small island in the Caribbean that holds a vast, and rich culture. Due to its accessible geographical location, it is often called the key to the Caribbean. Puerto Rico enriched its people with one of the most innate and unique culture different from the rest of the world. The colonization of Spaniards left us not only with myriad architectural heritage, but also with language and cultural traditions that beholds Hispanic imagery and representations. Our music, our love of dancing and festivities, as well as our practice of Catholic beliefs represents
In order to understand the current situation of Puerto Ricans one must look at their history and retrace the sequence of events that led to the current formation of the Puerto Rican people. An important component of this history is the time Puerto Rico spent under Spanish rule. Studying this portion of Puerto Rican history forces us to acknowledge the contribution the Spaniards, European immigrants, and African slaves had on Puerto Rican identity as we consider it today. This also addresses contemporary debates on Puerto Rican identity. An example of this is evident in an essay written by Jose Luis Gonzales entitled "Puerto Rico : Th Four Storied Country". In the article Gonzales points out what he feels is a disregard toward the African contribution to the Puerto Rican identity. He argues that the first Puerto Ricans were black , based on his interpretation that Africans were the first group to come to Puerto Rico and reproduce who did not have ties to a "motherland" because they were slaves. This is unlike the Spaniard elites and Criolles that demonstrated their commitment and loyalty to Spain. Since they had no other place to go, Puerto Rico was their motherland. Gonzalez also points out that the culture of a region is always the culture of the elite, not the popular culture.
The Dominican Republic is a nation located in the Caribbean Sea and shares the land with Haiti, and the whole island is called Hispaniola as it was named when Christopher Columbus discovered it during his first voyage in the year 1492. The country has proved to be one of the leading Caribbean countries with accessible healthcare to its citizens and even expats. However, the country has a multinational population with low-to-medium incomes and multi-level access to healthcare based on income. Despite this, improvements to healthcare system can lead to better medical outcomes to all the citizens and even to the suffering citizens of the Haiti. Because the Dominican Republic is an immediate neighbor to struggling Haiti, it is the moral obligation of the Dominican to provide Haitians with access to healthcare.
Every day , Puerto Rico is slowly adapting into the American way of life and is gradually losing what is left of their culture. Perhaps this is because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. The poem “ Coca Cola and Coco Frio” by Martin Espada is a great example of someone who encounters the Americanized culture of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is struggling to preserve their own identity.