Welcome to Puerto Rico!

 

Christopher Columbus discovered the beautiful island of Puerto Rico on his second voyage in 1493.  Spain was quick to colonize it and drive out the native Indians using brute force and leaving none to survive.  Puerto Rico continued to be under Spanish occupancy until 1898.  The loss of the Spanish American War forced Spain to give Puerto Rico to America along with sacrificing the countries of Guam, the Philippines and Cuba.  Puerto Rico has been a territory under the United States of America ever since the American victory.

Although not much has changed as drastically as it did when Spain took over the country.  If you were to go to Puerto Rico, you will see many different regions all on this one island.  There are both a desert and a rainforest. The Atlantic beaches are choppy and ready for surfers, while, the Caribbean stands ready to be viewed with its beautiful rock structures and calm, clear waters.

Those who travel by car in Puerto Rico are in for the surprise of their life!  The roads are very narrow.  Also, parking is defined as: “wherever you find a spot on the side of the road.”  This makes the roads extra small to fit all of the cars.  Many of the Puerto Rican people are laid back by nature, so be prepared for them to stop to talk to their neighbor in the car going the other direction!  Cars have been known to back up for a half hour because friends decided to sit in their cars and chat in the middle of the road, blocking all who are behind them on both sides.

Puerto Ricans use many conversions within their own country.  Kilometers are posted as distances, while speed limit is in miles per hour. While driving on the street, you will see many animals.  Chickens and dogs are not uncommon.  But the more exotic animals include Cebu (which are like skinny cows), monkeys (which are wild and not very friendly), and Coqui frogs.  These are tree frogs about the size of a thumbnail but are louder than a human.  The Indians used to draw them as their special mascot all throughout Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico is the major throughway from South America and the States for drugs. Often police know about it, but are unable to even stop it.  Countless souls are falling into an eternity without Christ and it seems, even though it is an American territory it is so easily overlooked.

The people of Puerto Rico have long been submersed in Catholicism.  You will not find a town of any size on the Island that does not have an ornate Catholic cathedral in the center of the town square.  Although almost all Puerto Ricans have been baptized in the Catholic Church, few attend regularly.  The people are tired of the same, old, dead religion. Older people have seen their religion let them down over and over again; teens are hungry to learn what their parents’ religion was lacking, and the children have no idea that there was a Saviour born to die for them.