When I think about traveling, I want it to be more moral (Puerto Rico)

(but I am a broke-ass anyway so would I feel that way if I could afford to go more places?)

[This was originally written about a trip to Puerto Rico in June 2023. I visited the same friends again in Jan 2025, one who grew up in Aguadilla, and one person not from the island who dates him. On the second trip the tension between “yankees” (as you see in the graffiti all over San Juan) and islanders is palpably more intense. I do remember even on the first trip the uber driver put in her profile, “my family can’t afford to stay here.” As I talked to her longer, she was actually friends with our friend who lived there. Tourism has filled the place with airbnbs, and meanwhile people who grew up there cannot. I wonder, now that Bad Bunny got as big as one can go, (bless his gorgeous queer heart) will people with dodgy intentions go even more? I hope you will tread lightly. Below is my original IG photoessay. In its normal sloppy form with very few corrections.]

Complicated feelings post. I have felt such a rush of joy and appreciation for the people of Puerto Rico. There is this combination of say-what-you-mean bluntness with openness & respect and kindness. One of the most important adults in my life growing up was Sonia, a lifetime best friend's mom. She was from Puerto Rico as many people from my hometown Allentown are. She was one of the only people I knew who had a beautiful garden (except for my Grandpa's small vegetable garden).

I feel the grief of how poorly my hometown and the US treated these people. This story has something to do with my body, though it is not at all mine. I had a lot of wild dreams about animals and wonderful conversations about language. I saw lots of elders sitting in the steps. I want them to stay. I felt the very fair glares from people trying to live there. People I know and met there mostly must stay with family if they can stay. [Earlier this year I quit teaching a class because I was so angry about how language was presented in a curriculum I couldn't choose. Language is important, English was greatly bullied upon the Puerto Rican people in schools, as the book I am citing outlines.]

I tried to ask questions to help me continue learning Spanish while taking uber rides if the drivers seemed interested, and tried to offer some learning of English if it was flowing. Only one driver seemed totally uninterested. I left her alone.

This a beautiful example of the kind of interactions I want, so much mutual learning, I hope. Not that I am not conscious of my place and privilege. My driver to the airport was from the town next to mine in Pennsylvania. His family, he said, was happy there now. Is this the place to be reflective? I don't know.

Book referenced in photos is War against all Puerto Ricans by Nelson Antonio Denis. From a digital reader (my first!) gifted by friend Matt, thx!