Puerto Rico and Politics

I really enjoyed our substitute teacher on Thursday. She was so cute and very animated. I learned a lot about Puerto Rico that I did not know before, especially about the heated political debate that takes place every day there. We began by asking her basic questions such as "what is your favorite food" to which she responded mofongo- a veggie you fry with pork/lobster/shrimp/etc. She said you peel it and smash it with garlic. SHe also said she liked fried puntans. Her favorite place to go is Old San Juan which is apparently a lot like Europe with its colonial architecture. Her favorite celebration is Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastian which is a big party in January in old San Juan on the streets. She said bands come and perform and there is tons of food and other celebration. She also discussed her least favorite part of PR, which is politics. SHe said her dad is very involved in politics so it especially bothers her since she grew up listening to it. I did not know how much lower the average family income was ($30,000) in PR and that everything is still just as expensive, so in essence the purchasing power is what is so skewed. I also did not realize that all of the decisions Congress makes are automatically applied to PR, and they have little say in it. She said that the only people the citizens of PR can vote for is their own governor. I was definitely interested to learn all of this, and i feel more knowledgable about her culture and some of the US foreign policy with PR.