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| This is what they call Equal (the stuff you put in your coffee) in Puerto Rico |
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| That metal thing up there is a Puerto Rican water heater. Let's have tape on the electrical wire there to help make it extra dangerous. |
I was seriously looking forward to today because we were
visiting my youngest cousin Diana. She’s
only 22, her mother’s last child had 10 years after her closest sibling. My aunt Gesela was 45 when she had her. I was 16, and I knew Gesela was desperately
poor. My mother and I discussed adopting
this baby to help Gesela, who had three other children she had difficulty
supporting. Bringing this baby to the
mainland would have seriously increased her life prospects. My aunt Yamila put this plan to bed pretty
quick. If anyone was going to have
custody of that child it was her. She
won custody of her twelve years later and raised her into adulthood.
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| Another street scene |
I met her when she was a little girl 12 years ago. The ten year old was kind and adorable, and
so amazed she had all these white relatives she never knew about. My brother had come with us on that visit and
was enchanted by her. We all put a lot
of hope into that little girl
When Diana’s older sister was murdered her mother had a
breakdown and Yamila got custody, as she always wanted. Diana went from desperately poor to middle
class. She prospered. I bought her a laptop when she graduated high
school to assist her in Dental Hygienist school. The school didn’t work out, but Diana did.
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| Diana's House. Her rent is $300/month!! |
I met my now 22 year old cousin who shares a house rental
with Yamila’s husband’s granddaughter.
They’re doing great! My little
cousin speaks Internet, works at a good paying job, has her own beautiful home
with her once removed step-cousin, and is extremely active in her church. She adopted the Jehova’s Witness faith with a
vengeance when she lived with Yamila, who has been a devout JW for
decades. Her roommate is also a JW who
speaks perfect English.
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| Diana's bedroom |
Diana speaks English too!!
For the first time I was able to have a clear conversation with one of
my relatives. ;_; Diana is SO KIND! She’s thin and beautiful, an independent
go-getter. I’m so proud of her!
Keep in mind, her older sister and mother were never capable
of holding jobs. Her older brother is
working, but still living at home. (He’s
another story. From the gossip it
doesn’t seem he’s helping his poor mother that much. I’m sad he doesn’t step up.)
Diana took us to a café in the mountains where coffee is
grown. Coffee is one of the major
industries of Puerto Rico…or it used to be. I’m not sure what the state of that industry
is now, but at that café I had the best cup of coffee I ever had in my
life. It was so smooth! My mother and I were both enraptured.
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| Coffee Fruit |
The views and antique coffee machines were neat, too, but
the best thing was my cousin.
Healthy. Thin. Beautiful.
THRIVING! She broke the cycle of
her family, and I’m so glad. I hope to
have a lifelong friendship with her.
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| Antique Coffee machine |
Diana, like most of the Abraham females, is not
romantic. She’s not looking for a
boyfriend or husband. This is so like
us. We’re not man-chasers.
Yamila was feuding with Diana, and my cousin only agreed to
the visit to see us. She didn’t want to
fight with her aunt anymore. Her aunt,
in turn, packed up all the stuff Diana had left at her house and loaded it into
our SUV. It was a move done in anger,
and she didn’t tell her she was doing it.
Fortunately, Diana was overjoyed to have all her old stuff. And, also fortunately, her and Yamila made up
during our visit. At first Yamila
wouldn’t eat her food, but the talked and talked alone in the kitchen while her
roommate conversed with me and my mom.
When Yamila came out of the kitchen she asked for a plate. Then everyone spoke in happy boisterous
tones. When we said goodbye Yamila
hugged her and kissed her cheek. (They
hadn’t hugged when they greeted each other).
Her roommate works at home as a translater. I thought that was so cool. Diana makes me want to move to Puerto
Rico and see the life she lives first hand. I love her mountain city best out of all the
places we’ve been so far.
Puerto Rico is an amazing place. Yamila wants us to live with her. We have rooms. Her husband considers us family. We would be great caretakers of them both, as
they are both declining and Alejo may not be able to see well enough to drive
very soon. We could also do so much with
their fertile land. Sometimes I daydream
about just giving up everything in the USA
and staying here.
But paradise isn’t perfect.
We were eaten by bugs when we walked around Yamila’s yard. One of the members of Diana’s church has
Zika, and we hope we won’t catch it while we’re here. The crime is another concern. It’s not a matter of if we’ll be robbed, but
when. Yamila’s house was broken into and
their gold stolen. She’s had chickens
and rabbits stolen from her yard so often she refuses to keep anymore. One day her and her husband returned home to
find all of a certain kind of tuber dug up and stolen from their yard. Without any remaining plants the tuber no longer
grows for them.
When I was in the mall I noticed all the women had their
purse straps swung over their heads so a purse-snatcher can’t yank it off their
shoulders. My uncle was robbed at
gunpoint in broad daylight in a super market parking lot. Everywhere there are signs of high
crime. I’ve yet to drive through a
neighborhood that didn’t have decorative bars on the doors and windows. Every parking lot has ‘Not liable for stolen
items’ signs. The news is filled with
carjackings and murders in the towns we’d been visiting. And, as I said, we never go anywhere after
dark.
The government is corrupt in an even more amplified way than
the USA
government. Every politician is the son
or daughter of someone else in office, like little dynasties. We passed a windfarm when we were with Norma
and commented on how nice it is that they’re using alternative energy. That’s when I was informed the giant wind
turbines aren’t powering anything. The
Electric company lobby shut the project down.
The politicians claimed they had to stop it because wind turbines are
bad for the environment. This is after
they were already built!
Puerto Ricans are very politically active and virulently
protest the corruption. The nightly news
shames them, like saying a politician hired his friends as ‘consultants’ and
gave them all $80k/year salaries. They
gave his phone number and told people to call him and complain. They did the same 12 years ago. It isn’t working.
When I first visited the island there were ‘publicos’ or
mini-buses run by people with vans that would pick people up and take them where
they needed to go. I rode on one with my
mom, and that’s how we first tracked down Yamila’s husband’s brother and were
able to reconnect with the family after she hadn’t heard or seen from them for
20 years. Publicos were the main form of
public transportation. So many poor
people relied on them to get them where they needed to go. They were safe—as safe as any taxi. The taxi or bus lobby decided to shut this
down, for their benefit. No Puerto Rican
who wasn’t a taxi or bus employee could have possibly wanted this. Thousands of Puerto Ricans were devastated by
them being shut down. But the
politicians pushed it through all the same.
They were beholden to who lined their pockets, not the people.
The police are useless from all I’ve heard. The murderer of my cousin was caught, but
never charged, never investigated. The
case just fizzled into nothing and nothing happened to him. One of my uncles was a homeless man who lived
under a bridge for many years. Someone
ran him down with their car. Not an
accident. He told the police he hated
homeless people. He was never
charged. I don’t know what the hell the
police do here. Do they need to be
bribed or something?
All of this crap doesn’t mean this is a bad island. Puerto Rico is
amazing, and if I didn’t have the RV I would truly consider just dropping
everything and moving here. Even with
the crime. Seriously. Crime is a concern, but not like bombing in Syria. You’re not in constant danger everywhere you
go. You’re more likely to find kind
friendly people than criminals. Every
time we stood in line the person in front of us would turn around to smile and
join in our conversations. If you ask
anyone for help they drop everything and go help you above and beyond what
you’d ever expect.
All the cars I’ve seen in PR look new. All the homes are well kept and the same cute
little boxes. Diana pays $300/month to
rent her sweet two bedroom house. How
cool is that? And her neighbors all know
her. The neighborhoods look out for each
other. Woe unto any criminal who dares
come to start shit.
I never felt in danger.
I want to think that if I keep alert I may never be a victim, but
frankly, that may not be the case.
Despite the once in a life-time mugging or carjacking I might have to endure
I would still live and visit here.
Puerto Rico is not declining. It’s not deteriorating. The people are thriving. This is just such a wonderful island!
But I'm really glad to be back...
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| A view from the coffee mountain |
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