Lalo narrator in Simone pretends to be from Paraguay to avoid Puerto Rican associations. It reminds me that I pretended to be Canadian once when I was in England. You just don't want the associations thrown on you some times.
When I ask myself what the associations are, I think of my friend's girlfriend. She went to a prestigious college and said not everyone is poor from Puerto Rico. She was a social climber. I felt this attitude from many women in high school, so she felt right at home. Another social climber. I think that is universal in the world. People want status. She threw a drink into a woman's face at a perceived slight. I think everyone is insecure from everywhere in the world. I have often been told that I can be condescending, so I apologize to anyone who I've alienated that way, you have to know it comes from insecurity and other faults. Of course be offended by others stupidity, lack of really seeing you. I don't really judge Puerto Rico based on my friend's girlfriend.
I've read a lot of hispanic literature because my second wife was from Ecuador. I have explored many variations of hispanic identity. Who am I? As an American white man I feel ambivalent. On the one hand I feel like we have the whole world to choose from, no need to restrict it to one area (like the West Side of Madison Wisconsin, or the state of Wisconsin). Then again, I do feel good when I'm around other Sconies in New York City. So there's something to growing up and being connected to a place. I spent my summers with my grandparents in Newnan Georgia and Hayesville North Carolina, and I feel a connection with those places, though ultimately they don't define me. I lived for a few years in the East Village, and when I go back so much has changed, but I do feel a connection with the East Village. I could go on and on, I've lived for more than a year in over 30 places in America and England. So spending time in a place means something, but if you're transient like me, and love traveling the world...well, I feel like I draw from the world.
Puerto Rico has been small and dominated and not independent from European and then American influence. There has always been an outside country impressing them with a form of government. It has a certain kind of flavor to it. When you think of the Caribbean, Haiti is the bad ass who got independence. The world of colonization is complicated and simple.
If you look at the music video Despacito, you can see the artist embracing cliches.
Watching touristy videos of San Juan, people are people, they look normal. In touristy places people put on a cultural cliche to make money sometimes. Already I feel being a tourist is a weird kind of thing--going to obligatory tourist spots to say you have been there. I'm not really into that.
I'm not saying everyone is the same. Culture matters.
San Juan was originally called Puerto Rico, but then the island was called that, and they didn't want to be like New York, New York. Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico.
What are the newspapers? Primera Hoy. El Nuevo Dia. El Vocero. San Juan Daily Star. Indice.
I'm reading Simone by Eduardo Lalo. There are plenty of reviews:
Publishers Weekly
The Complete Review
Full Stop
Culture Trip
Necessary Fiction
Of course there are touristy videos you can watch with lots of ads.
New York Magazine has suggestions.
That led me to a podcast.
When I ask myself what the associations are, I think of my friend's girlfriend. She went to a prestigious college and said not everyone is poor from Puerto Rico. She was a social climber. I felt this attitude from many women in high school, so she felt right at home. Another social climber. I think that is universal in the world. People want status. She threw a drink into a woman's face at a perceived slight. I think everyone is insecure from everywhere in the world. I have often been told that I can be condescending, so I apologize to anyone who I've alienated that way, you have to know it comes from insecurity and other faults. Of course be offended by others stupidity, lack of really seeing you. I don't really judge Puerto Rico based on my friend's girlfriend.
I've read a lot of hispanic literature because my second wife was from Ecuador. I have explored many variations of hispanic identity. Who am I? As an American white man I feel ambivalent. On the one hand I feel like we have the whole world to choose from, no need to restrict it to one area (like the West Side of Madison Wisconsin, or the state of Wisconsin). Then again, I do feel good when I'm around other Sconies in New York City. So there's something to growing up and being connected to a place. I spent my summers with my grandparents in Newnan Georgia and Hayesville North Carolina, and I feel a connection with those places, though ultimately they don't define me. I lived for a few years in the East Village, and when I go back so much has changed, but I do feel a connection with the East Village. I could go on and on, I've lived for more than a year in over 30 places in America and England. So spending time in a place means something, but if you're transient like me, and love traveling the world...well, I feel like I draw from the world.
Puerto Rico has been small and dominated and not independent from European and then American influence. There has always been an outside country impressing them with a form of government. It has a certain kind of flavor to it. When you think of the Caribbean, Haiti is the bad ass who got independence. The world of colonization is complicated and simple.
If you look at the music video Despacito, you can see the artist embracing cliches.
Watching touristy videos of San Juan, people are people, they look normal. In touristy places people put on a cultural cliche to make money sometimes. Already I feel being a tourist is a weird kind of thing--going to obligatory tourist spots to say you have been there. I'm not really into that.
I'm not saying everyone is the same. Culture matters.
San Juan was originally called Puerto Rico, but then the island was called that, and they didn't want to be like New York, New York. Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico.
What are the newspapers? Primera Hoy. El Nuevo Dia. El Vocero. San Juan Daily Star. Indice.
I'm reading Simone by Eduardo Lalo. There are plenty of reviews:
Publishers Weekly
The Complete Review
Full Stop
Culture Trip
Necessary Fiction
Of course there are touristy videos you can watch with lots of ads.
New York Magazine has suggestions.
That led me to a podcast.
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