My father was born on the island and when he was a kid moved to the Bronx with my Abuela. My family later moved down to New Jersey where he met my mother and I was shortly after created. When I was a baby, supposedly I had been to PR for the first time, but I certainly did not remember it. So this was my big coming home moment to the land of my heritage.
It was a very interesting trip. For one, I don’t speak that much Spanish even though I am Puerto Rican. Due to the fact I never grew up with my father and only connected with him in a meaningful way during high school and more so in college. Also.. I only eat plants, and the island is filled with pork and meet meals in the current day even though the natives their would have probably eaten more plants and fish diets lol.
My one Tio Alberto organized all the boys and planned a cool family trip for his brothers and their sons. I was excited to see some family I had only met briefly in NJ whenever they would travel up, but also connect with my Abuelo who I had never met before since he didn’t leave the island much. It was a really great time overall, and probably the last solid memory I’ll have with my father or older brother as I would cut them both out of my life some years later unfortunately.
The island was so beautiful and alive. Seeing how lush it was really just made me so happy. It was so fun driving in the mountains to our family houses and seeing the simple living that everyone adopted. Everyone was so welcoming and happy to see us, even some cousins offered us their place while they were out of town. We stayed sometimes in the mountains (more rural), sometimes in the valleys (more city like), or took day trips to the beach. We traveled through the center of the island down to Ponce, stopping at family houses and sights along the way. It was really cool to see how effortless everyone was to coordinate and mobilize! Maybe because we were all men and agreed to let Berto take the lead since he was the eldest, and he likes that kind of thing anyways.
I’m not the biggest beach bum, even though I grew up visiting the shore often in NJ. What really energized me was the Yunque, a huge national jungle. So thick with plants that you can’t even see certain trails or roads on the sides of the mountains, and it’s said if you ever get off the trails or lost it would be almost impossible for someone to see YOU. But how alive it was, I could really feel the energy of the island singing there and feeling very happy despite the crazy and violent history.
One story worth retelling is of the Taino chief Hatuey. In 1511 he fled from Haiti to warn the other Tainos in Cuba of the coming Spaniard invaders (the same year Agüeybaná of Borinquen lead a rebellion and got defeated in Ponce). He had been living in Haiti for the first 15 years of colonization. When he reached Cuba he showed them a basket filled with gold and gems, and said there are people coming to conquer you - and this is their God. The other chiefs did not believe him, and soon came the Spaniards. They captured Hatuey and tied him to a tamarind tree to burn him. A priest said if he would accept Jesus as his lord, he could still go to Heaven. Hatuey asked if there were Spaniards in Heaven, to which the priest happily said yes! Hatuey said he would never want to go to Heaven, because the Spaniards were the most evil people he has ever met. Then they burned him.
We spent some time in a cave after a very pleasant mountain hike. An amazing opening out to the valley below showed how picturesque just a hole in broken rock could be. It is said that to this day some Tainos still live and have been in hiding all this time, but the government refuses to acknowledge them because they would have to give them back the island. With all of this in mind as I travelled I was very happy to feel the island smiling with me still and alive in the mountains and rivers. I’ll definitely be returning some day to explore more and connect with my family and the rich history.
