Tags
Borinquen, Caribbean, Jibaro, Louisa Aldea, people, Puerto Rico, Santiago Apostal, Scranton, Sea shore, Vijigantes
There was a load of coal headed up and down the gravity railroad. Then it was to be loaded on to barges for the canal heading to Kingston, New York. One of the fellows on the railroad told me the coal was destined for a coal tender headed to Puerto Rico.
Of course I wondered “Why Puerto Rico? It isn’t cold there and they must have plenty of wood and sugar cane remnants for any industrial fires they need to burn.”
So I asked Bogdan Yelcovich if he knew what the coal was for.
“Haven’t you heard?” he said. “We are going to have a war with Spain. We are sending ships to Cuba and Puerto Rico to carry the troops, their horses and canons. They will need plenty of coal to keep the engines turning on all those troop ships.”
I told him I had no idea what was going on in the Caribbean.
“Or the South Sea” he responded.
“You mean the Southern Pacific Ocean?” I asked.
“No, no, no. I mean the Caribbean. It was once referred too as the South Sea” said Bogdan.
Well, if Bogdan said something then you knew it was true. He never lied and always seemed to know things. Of course – – – out came one of his favorite monthly newsprint magazines.
And so the war was engaged; and we won Puerto Rico without a fight – – – not like in Cuba.
The Puerto Rican people had been promised their freedom from Spain in 1896. Maybe Spain saw the handwriting on the wall.
~
And because I can see the past and the future, I was able to see Puerto Rico after the war and fifty years later.
No much had changed in those fifty years. The people remained poor and proud.
The Jibaros (country folk) still loved their music; a mixture of Spanish and Arabic with a touch of Gypsy laments.
The easy going mixture of Spanish, Yoruban, and Native Taino cultures still exists in the community called Louisa Aldea.
So why wouldn’t my heart be captured by such a place?
Just great! I think my history teacher could learn a lot how to make history interesting.
ooooooh I loved this! I will be there on Thursday!! Wonderful place!
Are you really going to Puerto Rico on Thursday? If so please leave San Juan and visit the south western corner of the commonwealth. Or drive through the center if you have time. A trip on the Autopista (autobahn) will take only a short time but it is dangerous and distracting.
Take a trip on the country roads. It will take five times as long but you will see the real people. Aibonito and Llara are pretty small villages along the way.
My wife’s home town is San German. It has the oldest church in the western hemisphere and the people are very nice. I can’t say much for the hotels though.
ENJOY (and you are breaking my heart again with these nice trips)
Wally
Cindy,
I don’t know if you have read this story of mine before but it gives a picture of the poverty that was prevalent in Puerto Rico back in the 1940s.
Then they built the San Juan airport and that chased all these people into deeper misery (because the government needed their miserable home-sites for large runways).
http://adirondackmountains.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/the-plank/
Wally
Reblogged this on The Geographist and commented:
Puerto Rico, United States
Oh I love Puerto Rico….and yes going back soon for more time. Your story is well written and so sad and typical…..
También aprecio los lamentos de los Jíbaros. Gracias, Amigo mío.
Usted es la bienvenida O la huella del oso.
🙂 🙂 OsaImpresiónDePata