What Does Being Puerto Rican Mean to You?

SALINAS, Puerto Rico — In every Puerto Rican municipal or town, there is the same set up: a plaza, a Catholic church and the city hall building, according to Samuel González Rodríguez, a Puerto Rican architect and mosaic painter.

Salinas had a tan, cobblestone plaza with some stone benches placed directly in the Puerto Rican sun, while others sought shelter in the shade underneath the green trees. Going into the town, there’s one main road, with all of the cars moving single file. The colors on the buildings and canopies seemed so vibrant, despite being exposed to the sun all day. Birds could be heard chirping and the occasional crow of a rooster.

Something that made Puerto Rico so different from the United States mainland was the people. There was always someone to talk to and someone who was willing to conversate. The conversations had substance, not just little small talk to pass the time. On each road, there were cars with trunks open, and people sitting with boards of tickets, Loteria tickets.

Maria Espada is one of these people. A former municipal legislator for the Popular Democratic Party, Espada sat with kind eyes and a brilliant smile. She was chatting with some of the other ticket sellers who had come to the plaza that morning.

Prior to arriving to Puerto Rico, Rodríguez volunteered to act as a guide/interpreter. At first, there seemed to be a slight language barrier, but Rodríguez was eager to help the two of us communicate. Espada began to discuss the amount of distrust between Puerto Rican citizens and their government.

“The mangroves have been here a long time, but with more evidence of infiltration, it is difficult to not be aware [of the mistrust]. This is where the controversy started,” said Espada.

Espada then went on to discuss the two types of residents over near the mangroves: trailers that had been taken out when the controversy heated up and homeowners who had built homes from the ground up that needed to be demolished, according to her.

As the conversation came to a close, Espada seemed like she had more to say.

“Maria, what does it mean to you to be Puerto Rican?”

Her eyes immediately lit up, and she let out a chuckle.

“Everything!” said Espada. “Puerto Rico is everything to me. No country. No territory. No place is quite like it.”

Espada’s response was one that will stick with me forever, and it ignited a discussion that I was eager to have with other Puerto Ricans across the island. When Espada responded in such a passionate way, it was similar to how Harry Santiago, a member of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Milwaukee, talked about being Puerto Rican.

Santiago wears a bracelet with all black beads and one colored bead of the Puerto Rican flag. When his daughter graduated from Oak Creek High School, he surprised her by waving the Puerto Rican flag as she walked across the stage.  

“People were freaking out, in a good way!” said Santiago. “That’s because I’m proud of her, and I want everyone to know where she comes from.” 

After Salinas, Rodríguez led the trip to Yauco, home of one of his murals. Yauco used to be a dangerous town, according to Rodríguez. The people of Yauco used to hear about murders taking place in the town and drug trafficking. This image was transformed due to Rodríguez’s project. He had one goal: Use art to unite.

In Yauco, among the brightly painted mosaic-houses, there was a jewelry stand. The man behind the stand stood laughing with a woman next to him, occasionally talking to customers and adjusting the stands on his table. His name was Edrick Pagan. Walking over to Pagan I was greeted with a smile. He knew the group came with Rodríguez, and Rodríguez brought a great thing to Yauco.

“Edrick, what does being Puerto Rican mean to you? What sets Puerto Rico apart from other places in this world?”

“Special people, very intense people, where everything is from the heart.” said Pagan. “Most [importantly we take] quality over everything, [what] we do is we try our best.”

On the second and final day of the trip, the first city to be explored was San Juan. While walking on the cobblestone streets of San Juan, surrounded by pale pink, baby blue and white cement buildings, a gourmet paletas shop, ZipPops, was on the path.

Inside, Joan Ramos was preparing for another day of business. The sun was beating hard that day, and San Juan was full of tourists who were eager to try the gourmet treat. As Ramos prepared the shop, she began talking about how the loss of electricity post-Hurricane Maria could affect the business. According to her, the shop had to close down for a couple days when the power was out.

Ramos was much younger than the previous people encountered on the trip. She’s from Puerto Rico, but her family moved to Orlando for a little while. It wasn’t long before she found herself back on the tropical island.

“What separates Puerto Rico from other places?”

“We have all different races and we come from many different places.” said Ramos. “We have a lot of other cultures influenced into ours.”

Day two of the trip came and went, but at the end it was clear: the people of Puerto Rico is what really sets it apart from anywhere else in the world. Almost every person was willing to help and proudly talk about the beautiful place they’re able to call home.