| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
|
 Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:27 am Post subject: Puerto Rico |
 |
|
Has anybody here been to Puerto Rico? If so, what was it like?
R |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
VirginIslander
Joined: 24 May 2006
Location: Busan
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 3:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I woke to Puerto Rico every morning for a a year...but I was on a nearby island. I only went there once. To generalize, its like anywhere in the caribbean: paradise for a few but hell for many more. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Okibum
Joined: 28 Jul 2006
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 3:31 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Being from Puerto Rico, I would have to agree with the Virgin Islander. It is beautiful for a few days but I could never stand to live there again. There is so much crime there. When I told my grandmother that I was moving to Korea this summer, she was so worried with the North Korea stuff going on. I looked in the paper that day in July and Puerto Rico had had their 400th murder that month for the year. Hmmm...400 murders in 7 months on a tiny island? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 3:51 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Okibum wrote: |
| Being from Puerto Rico, I would have to agree with the Virgin Islander. It is beautiful for a few days but I could never stand to live there again. There is so much crime there. When I told my grandmother that I was moving to Korea this summer, she was so worried with the North Korea stuff going on. I looked in the paper that day in July and Puerto Rico had had their 400th murder that month for the year. Hmmm...400 murders in 7 months on a tiny island? |
That is an unreal number of murders for an island with about 4 million people.
What's the food like? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
heydelores
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:17 am Post subject: |
|
|
I have Puerto Rican relatives and have been there to visit them. I love the place, love the food, love the people, but I might feel differently if I didn't have the family connection.
Roch, you ask about the food. It's great. Not spicy. Very flavorful. I grew up eating arroz con pollo (chicken and rice), tostones (fried plantains), beans and rice, seafood dishes. Search the web for "puerto rican recipes" and you'll get a good idea. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cruisemonkey
Joined: 04 Jul 2005
Location: Hopefully, the same place as my luggage.
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I've been to Puerto Rico and I love Old San Juan - the food, the architecture and the 'history' (forts) El Morro etc. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Okibum
Joined: 28 Jul 2006
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 3:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I can't find the article. There are about 5 murders a week mostly due to drugs. Here's a quote from the San Juan star "Puerto Rico has the fifth-highest rate of felony crimes in the world according to Interpol data"
This is not the article I was talking about but it works:
| Quote: |
With The Highest Murder Rate In The U.S., Puerto Rico Needs Immediate Solutions
By TAINA ROSA
Detaining Crime In Puerto Rico
January 20, 2005 - With 60% of murders linked to illegal drugs, the answer to reducing crime lies in improving police education and technology and improving social deficiencies leading to drug traffic and use.
If you asked anyone in Puerto Rico what the No. 1 problem on the island is, they more than likely would respond without hesitation, crime. The fact is more murders occur in Puerto Rico than anywhere in the mainland U.S., according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Once again, Puerto Rico�with a population of 4 million�ended the year with an alarming homicide rate, higher than the three-largest cities in the mainland U.S. With 790 murders reported during 2004, the island had a higher murder rate than New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
For the third-consecutive year, the number of murders in New York City (total population 8 million) has been under 600, ending 2004 with 571 murders, 25 less than in 2003. Los Angeles (total population 4 million) reported 511 murders and, for the first time in four decades, Chicago�s (total population 3 million) homicide rate fell below 500 to 445, a 25% decrease compared to 2003.
Puerto Rico�s mean homicide rate is three times that of the total U.S. mainland and four times that of Europe. More than 60% of homicides on the island are linked to drug trafficking although sources within the Puerto Rico Police Department say the percentage may be as high as 75%.
Puerto Rico�s high murder rate is just one of the challenges newly designated Police Chief Pedro Toledo must address now that he has returned to head the Police Department, following a four-year absence during which the Sila Calder�n administration changed police chiefs four times in four years.
Toledo also must address the increasing illegal drug problem and the crises among the men in blue, who demand higher salaries and better working conditions. Local police officers earn an average of $25,200 a year. The average police officer� salary in the mainland U.S. is $38,000. Commonwealth budgetary problems, however, make salary increases for police officers unlikely in the near future. Toledo said he supports raising police officers� salaries, but left it up to the Management & Budget Office to find a source for the funds needed to make the raise effective.
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
VirginIslander
Joined: 24 May 2006
Location: Busan
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
A copy from another thread in the Caribbean section:
Hi! I'm going to be starting a MA in TESL at universidad interamericana de puerto rico. it's in san german, PR and it sounds like a good program, but i haven't actually visited the campus. has anyone heard of it? have any good advice?? i've been teaching overseas in japan and south korea, so i figured this was the next step. thank you for any info you can give me. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Okibum
Joined: 28 Jul 2006
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 9:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| That program is awesome. San German is far enough away from San Juan. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
BS.Dos.
Joined: 29 Mar 2007
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I was out there about 12 years ago pretty much to the day as I can remember all the youngsters cruising down Ashford Drive till the early hours after the Easter celebrations.
I flew in from O'Hare for a week with some friends from Chicago and had a blinding time. The marijuana, the flake, the sexy hookers (admired from a distance of course) were all first-class. In fact, by far and away the best thing about Puerto Rico is the women, who are without a doubt the prettiest and sexiest on earth - beautiful eyes and really dazzling complexions etc. I was rather hoping to bag myself one, but as it was still early spring, I was still supporting a rather luminous milk-bottle tan and scared most of them away.
Could never understand why Puerto Ricans are given a US passport at birth but don't qualify for any other state benefits, lord knows most on the Island need it.
I'd move there in a flash if it wasn't so full of fat and obnoxious Americans chucking their bloated wallets about.
Great place. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
esetters21
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 5:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I agree with the other posters about PR. It's a typical carribean island in the sense of the beaches and weather. I went to San Juan several years ago. I had a decent time, but would not have wanted to stay there for longer than my short visit. I am from Orlando, FL, and if you want to experience PR without actually going there just go to Orlando. j/k  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
