Old San Juan Narrative

Morales talks about Puerto Rican cultures by explaining what Caribbean people like to do: eat, sing, how they have different ways to dance and enjoy different types of music. “I am Caribeña, island grown. Spanish is in my flesh, ripples from my tongue, lodge in my lodge in my hips; the language of garlic and mangoes, […] (Morales 1174). She associates with those specific tastes and her home culture. Food is an important element of cultural identity.

We tried to remain imperturbable, but we were overwhelmed with all the glorious architectures, festivities, and traditions of San Jose, Costa Rica. Later, we arrived to the periphery part of the city, where are new, utilitarian abode for the week awaited.

My process of enculturation into the Puerto Rican culture can be explained with the iceberg analogy, having in mind that the island itself has a high context background. Above water, the official language is Spanish, although English is taught mandatory on the education system since first grade. One of the things a tourist or anyone that starts assimilating the culture can experience first hand is the passion Puerto Ricans have to speak loudly and use many hand gestures during conversations. This passion is not only present during social interactions, but also on the way citizen’s carry out their beliefs. Even though, the island is a place recognized for its great night life activities and bars, the religion is 85% Catholic, therefore many people go to church on Sundays and tend to be very precocious of their actions because of their faith and religious thinking. Inside the water, on the aspect of feelings and values, Puerto Ricans are very traditional, nevertheless,

had been weathered. And then in 1986, Chris drove out to El Segundo, made the

The history of Mission San Juan Capistrano is similar to that of two other nearby missions in that it was relocated to the San Antonio area from East Texas in 1731. Its purpose was also similar to that of the other missions, namely to convert Native American groups to Christianity, assimilate them into Spanish society, and promote settlement in the region. In addition to its early history, the mission compound itself was constructed in a form typical of other San Antonio-area missions, including a church and plaza surrounded by a defensive wall formed from stone Indian quarters. The compound included other ancillary structures such as a granary, convent, workshops, and other storage facilities.

We walked through the hallways, visited the garden area where there are still in place steel pots, carpentry machinery, and lots of documents from the era. My favorite place is the Guadalupe church, which is a temple dedicated to the Catholic Lady of Guadalupe. It is a peaceful place where you can meditate and pray. I give emphasis to this place because I am devoted to her. Not because religion was implied to me by the Spanish regime, but because of my personal beliefs and experiences. As soonest I entered the church something magical happened! My knees bent and dropped on to the floor, I cried because I was so thankful for being there. I bought some souvenirs like rosaries, books, and special oils. I also entered the Blacksmith place where the carriages are made out of steel; there are several carriages on display. Some of them were used as transportation for the city majors, and fire department. The Mission also has a small room which was used as jail for those who committed minor crimes. This room only contained the prisoner stripped uniform and a bed. The area was surrounded by landmarks, water, and lots of animals like coyotes, eagles, and deer. Today, The fault of San Andres rides along El Camino Real where the Natives used to travel and the spanish used to built the different

Returning to Mexico after seventeen years of living in the United States gave me an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. Walking down the streets of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, had a familiar feel, like being home. San Cristobal de las Casas, which is a relatively small city in the highlands of Chiapas, is plagued with poverty rooted in its colonial history. Many streets bustle with people from all over the world near the zocalo, which is a public plaza in the center of the city filled with coffee shops, intellectuals, indigenous children, and adults. As you walk by you can overhear people speaking in unfamiliar languages. While sitting outside at a coffee shop I became

On Friday I had the honor to visit the historical Rancho Los Cerritos House; also known as Rancho Los Cerritos or Casa de los Cerritos, in Long Beach, California, it was the largest and most impressive adobe residence raised in southern California during the Mexican period. The structure of the house was built in 1844 by merchant Jonathan Temple, a Yankee pioneer who became a Mexican citizen. Los Cerritos means "the little hills" in English. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970. I wasn’t lucky enough to visit this phenomenal and historical place until I took advantage of my history assignment and I decided to visit Rancho Los Cerritos with the company of some of my friends. On a Friday morning we took the chance and we

Hello I am Catalina Juarez. I am involved in this case because I am Hernando Cortes wife. I have known him before his first expedition in 1519. We didn’t marry until 1522. Throughout our marriage I realized that he had a mental illness. Of course everyone, even I thought he was just flat out crazy but his condition along with his mental condition got worse and worse. He always said that it wasn’t him who killed them all it was a disease. Something in the air that got them. This all started to happen after his expedition and he always thought cuban police would come get him. He tried convincing me that we have to leave but I just thought he was crazy and then one day I woke up and some things he had was

What seemed like a normal Tuesday morning rapidly turned to panic and fear. It all started at noon, when the tribe was collecting essential materials and large, luxurious boats arrived carrying an astounding number of sailors; I counted at least fifty per boat. Who are these wan and unyielding characters and where do they come from? Questions flooded my mind seeing the people infesting our island. The people looked like we should address them with deference or our entire civilization will go extinct. The newcomers spoke a language that I couldn’t understand, but thankfully, Xylom, who had worked as a slave in Spain, could. “The newcomers are Spanish conquistadors in search of our precious minerals and raw materials to transform them to manufactured

I got off work and took the metro bus nineteen to the street Bay and California. The weather for this day was sunny, had a small breeze, and the temperature was about eighty something. In other words, it was a perfect time to begin the mobility ethnography. As I got off the bus, the first thing I noticed was a park sign called La Barranca Park. The sign was a gift to honor Italian-Americans who participated and nurtured Santa Cruz’s agriculture. There are facts about Italian families that worked in hard labor jobs, a brief history, and images of proud farm workers. After reading the sign, I noticed that there is a three-way stop intersection. It was very interesting since there were many cars, but no slow or jam of traffic despite the three-way stop. I turned around and saw that there was a small creek. However, there were two layers of barricade to prevent people from crossing or touching the creek: trees and chain-linked

We all lust after a new and unique cultural experience when visiting an unfamiliar country for the first time. While we temporarily leave our old lifestyle behind us and try to open-up to the new things surrounding us, it can be a challenge to absorb the environment we face due to cultural diffusion. Like in the poem, “Coca-Cola and Coco Frio” by Martin Espada, our speaker, fresh out of Brooklyn, is on a mission to discover a different aspect in Puerto Rico than what he is typically used to. Presented with the same commercial product found in the United States that is Coca-Cola, our speaker keeps searching for something new. At last, he finally bumps into a roadside stand near the beach where he discovers Coco-Frio and comes to realize how

Reading Craig Storti’s book, Figuring Foreigners Out, gives many new insights about my trip to Puerto Rico. In his book there are four categories that he covers that I will use to analyze and reflect upon my time in Puerto Rico. The four categories he uses are concept of self, personal vs. societal responsibility, concept of time, and locus of control. To begin I will examine Storti’s topic, concept of self.

Unlike the fitfully epic Don Juan , I’d like to begin in medias res , with the anger of Lord Byron. We join him thick in the struggle with a central concern of DJ’s composition: the perils of transmission:

The Mexican tile roofs jump out at your eyes, until the gorgeous iron gates of other estates snatch your attention. I can at times be overwhelmed with the feast before my eyes. My favorite structure by far is the towering ruins of the old sugar plantation. The words ruins, sugar, and plantation alone are enough to conjure up the most fascinating stories within ones imagination. I can see the bones of an age past; still standing before me to mourn, and dream about. I live in a grouping of villas where a restaurant and pool facilities are being constructed. I smell fresh sawn mahogany as the carpenters make bars, counters, and doors. I hear stone masons chipping at tiles, and the scraping sounds as they pull out the mortar to lay them.