Puerto Rico

Lorna taught us quite a bit about Puerto Rico when she visited our class on Thursday. She talked most about the tumultuous political scene within the country. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. Basically, this relationship means that Puerto Rico is subject to the bills that pass in Congress, while having no say themselves in the process. They do have their own government, and remain mostly autonomous, but Puerto Rico is ultimately still ruled by the U.S.

This relationship divides the country between those that approve of the relationship, and those who want Puerto Rican independence. She also spoke about how this can even divide families, and used her own family as an example. I had no idea that the relationship between the US and Puerto Rico was so divisive. This is both enlightening, and mildly disturbing, as it seems we are subjecting them to rule without representation, which is what the US was originally founded to avoid. But that's for another post.

On a lighter night, she spoke about what people do for fun in Puerto Rico. Since it is an island, there are beaches all around... so many people travel to the beach to soak up some sun. She also talked about Old San Juan, where there are apparently a lot of bars to get cheap beer. These bars like to rip off tourists, however -- so be careful.

As far as music goes, the most popular seems to be reggaeton, which is a blend of Reggae, hip hop, and multiple other genres of music. Other more traditional music, like salsa, is still listened to though.

Overall, Lorna's talk was genuinely informative. I really didn't know anything about Puerto Rico before... but now I want to visit.