Hi everyone, I decided to post and get some feedback on my specific situation. I noticed that on this forum most people do give thorough responses with real information backing both their positive or negative comments and I hope to achieve the same to my post.
With that said, here's my story. I'm a Puerto Rican, that moved at 19 to Baltimore,MD for school. Now at almost 31 and with my 3 child on the way I've been seriously considering to "take a sabbatical" of sorts from life in the States and living in Puerto Rico for about 2 years in order to give my children (3,2 and 5 months in the belly) a taste of my culture, family and hopefully they will grasp the language more than from just having me alone speaking to them in Spanish. My situation is different from most in that I speak the language, have family with houses there where I could stay for a few months until I get something for my family as I know I couldn't stand living that close to my parents for too long. I understand the job situation in the island and definitely working towards securing a job before the move, I'm giving myself till the September/October of 2013 for the move to happen unless I were to get a great job opportunity. My wife is from here and speaks no English, but she will most likely stay at home with the baby for a few months when we get there and then look for some part-time job in retail or some tourist area.
So any real advice on how to go about the move? Areas to live in the long term that are not San Juan or OSJ for that matter. I'm from Barrio Obrero and even though that's where we would stay at the beginning, I definitely do not want to stay in that area too long. I would like to be able to have a house with some yard space for the kids to be able to run and enjoy the outdoors unlike the way we live here in the states. How's the Health Insurance there if you do not have it through an employer? I can ask lots of advice from my family there, but I want the perspective from people that have made the move from outside of the culture.
Thanks!
Miguel
Should I move back home?
Hi Miguel & welcome to Expat.com!
Hope that other members will soon share their experience with you.
Harmonie.
Thank you Harmonie! I look forward to them.
Have a great day!
Miguel
Miguel, I guess it all depends on what you are willing to accept. Since you are Puerto Rican and speak Spanish, getting a job will be easier. The best way to get a job would be using the contacts that your family have - as you know if you know somebody (who knows somebody) it's a lot easier to get things done here on the island.
Most likely you will have to settle for a lot less money than you would make in a similar job on the mainland unless you are in the lucky position that you can work for a US based or international company that would really need somebody with your qualifications.
A nice place to live would be easier to find out in the country. You can rent a house in 'el campo" starting at 5, 600 bucks. Nothing special of course for that money.
There are two big disadvantages though:
1. The chance that there are English speaking neighbors around (for your wife) are slim.
2. Most likely you will have to commute to the metro area and that sucks.
Medical insurance is much more affordable than in the US. Check Triple-S: https://www.ssspr.com/SSSPortal
If I were in your place my main concern would be my wife. It's going to be a culture shock for her. She'd have to learn Spanish ASAP and get used to a completely different life style. She will be pretty lonely in the first months..
Gary,
Thank you for the response. I was just talking to my wife this morning about the job issue, and well even though it might be hard I can see the use of contacts will be useful. As far as she goes, it will be a very big shock, but she is willing to the move (even pushing me more than just dreaming) because of our kids and the wanting them to experience the language and family now that they're young and wouldn't be as much problem with the move.
We've visited almost every year for a month at a time, and it's gotten easier for her although I do agree it will be very frustrating and rough for a while specially on her. I actually started liking the idea of living in el campo lately from reading posts here and blogs from mainland folks moving to PR. I think in a way that is something that I crave after having city life and rush for so long. Any suggestions on places to take Spanish down there, or maybe groups/meetups where she could meet other English speaking people for friends?
Gary thank you for the link to Triple S. I see that you are in Juncos, how did you end up in that area? Which towns do you all recommend for living that would be close to mayor areas that might have worth schools. Even if there's some commute is something I wouldn't mind contemplating. I know of people that commute from Ponce to Hato Rey for work so it could be doable.
Miguel, commuting is doable - thousands of people do it on a daily basis. As long as you are prepared to spend the extra time in el tapón you'd be doing what a lot of others do 5 days per week. 
Living in El Campo is great, at least for me it is. We are in a small barrio up in the hills/mountains with a great view over the valley. Every morning after I wake up and put on a pair of shorts I start the coffee machine and have my first cup on the porch, enjoying the great view and the nice temperatures. Nothing can beat that!.
My (Puerto Rican) wife's family is from this area and we own a lot and a house here in the barrio.
Depending on the kind of work you're doing you might be able to find a job in one of the smaller towns like f.i. Ponce, Caguas, Humacao or Mayagüez. Commuting there from a place in el campo is easier than having to go to the metro area.
The UPR in Rio Piedras offers courses in conversational Spanish: http://daarrp.uprrp.edu/daa/daai/cursos … ngles.html
The newcomers club of San Juan would be nice for your wife: http://www.newcomerspr.com/
Of course these are in the metro area and your wife will have to drive there if you are going to live in the country.
The commute is a downside but at the moment something I could live with, I'll let you know after 3 months of doing it and specially when it rains. I remember how bad it was and back then I didn't really had a job.
Gary, thank you for the links. I've been reading over them and they've been helpful. It's making the idea of a move more real while giving me concrete numbers to work with for this year in preparation to making the jump. If you don't mind me asking, how was your move? It seems that you did it for your wife, kinda my situation backwards. Did you find a job there or just moved to retire? With all the bad people say about the island, how come you've stayed so long?
Miguel, I never said I didn't like it here. I love the climate, most people are really nice.
Then again, I don't close my eyes for bad things either. The economy is in a bad shape; I make about 10% of what I used to make in Europe but money doesn't motivate me, that helps. 
Crime is high and the police is highly incompetent. Keeping the place nice and organized is no standard behavior and traffic is, ehm, let me put it this way: hectic..
I moved here because after my wife and me got together we checked a couple of countries in Europe and PR and we decided that PR would be where we would live. I still don't regret that decision after 11 years.
My move was simple and painless. I planned on retiring after selling my business in Germany but within a year here I had a small business running again (we own and run a computer service company. We install and maintain networks for companies, develop and host websites, stuff like that)
I guess I'm here to stay.
Miguel,
I say do it. You seem to have a pretty good social support system with your family here. Even if you couldn't find a job, at least you wouldn't go hungry or homeless. I think it would be a great place for your kids to experience something different than the states and also get to know a bit about their heritage which is super important. Plus, they would become bilingual, another important skill in this day and age.
I just moved here 7 weeks ago from Portland, Oregon, so I'm just learning how to navigate it all and by no means an expert. I speak fairly good spanish and am working as a doctor here. My husband was lucky enough to get a job (although not great pay) for the government because he had previous contacts through the departamento de salud. He works in SJ and it is a horrible commute (we are living in Humacao right now). That is probably the worst thing we are dealing with. It's especially bad in our eyes coming from a place like Portland which had no real traffic and we biked to work every day. Definitely not as progressive, green, and safe here. But we like it. We have met wonderful people. There are daily frustrations here, especially at first when trying to navigate the systems for setting up your life here, but all in all it's been great. It just takes stepping back and remembering that we can't expect it to be the same as in the states, and recalling all the good things that are different here than the states. It also doesn't hurt that every weekend we are overwhelmed with the choices for awesome activities - sufing, snorkeling, caving, rock climbing, hiking, biking, etc.
Your wife will be fine if she is an open and adventurous person. It might be a bit lonely at first, but it won't be too bad, especially since you have family here. She can also joing groups like the sierra club if she likes outdoor activities because there are always hikes and other activities that they organize. That would be a great way to meet people, and I plan to join soon.
Hope this helps.
Jessica
Hey Miguel,
Three years ago, we did just what you're contemplating, though it was I, the husband, who spoke no Spanish. Even with contacts, it took over a year for my wife to find a permanent job, half the salary, not really what she was doing in the US. We still live with my in-laws (though that's been great -- they're not unbearably intrusive and child care is never a problem anymore!).
There seems to be almost no resources for adults to learn Spanish, unlike where we came from in the US that had many TESOL resources. UPR Rios Piedras seemed to me to be a summer program for visiting college students. UPR Humacao seems to have a program, but I never drove out to check it out (electronic methods generally inadequate for such tasks). Pan American Language Institute had no group program but could accomodate me for $2000 per group of private sessions -- not doable when we had no employment. I've basically learned the little I know on the street and on the job. I've met fellow ex-pats here that after 20 years speak even less -- something that astounds me, but on the other hand I still remember how big an obstacle the embarrasment of murdering the language in public was for me the first 18 months or so. Now I just murder away!
For the children, there are little biligual academies all over the place -- we're on our third one since we got here. Our daughter who was six had significant adjustment to socializing in Spanish, but she's ended up learning it -- though her courses in Spanish are still a challenge; she's simply not at the level students her grade are at. The daughter who was three was too young to be traumatized, but now faces challenges in both languages, mixing the sounds and rules as she attempts to learn both simultaneously. We're working with a speech therapist for the Spanish part now. I think for her original language of English, ironically, she will always have a Puerto Rican accent, being influenced more now by her classmates than her parents. I have to correct her past tenses all the time now.
As for living "en el campo," it would definitely depend on the particular location. Our barrio was a sleepy hamlet surrounded by cane fields when the house was built. Now we're surrounded by warehouses, tire shops, bars, and an open air concert venue. I'm convinced there's no such thing as zoning here (outside the gated communities), so you never know when your neighbor will turn his back yard into an ad-hoc auto body shop (that's going UP our mountain). The gated communities at least provide some buffer, but I climbed to the top of our mountain the other day and could STILL hear the damn karaoke clearly.
I also recommend visiting a prospective neighborhood during morning rush on a school day. The road placements are generally at hazard, driven by easements across private land. In our case, there's been so much development on the one main road that it can take an hour to drive the one mile to the entrance to our barrio.
As for the out of doors, our personal experience has been that we don't hang out there as much as we did in the US. I think the intense sun, humidity, and mosquitoes are to blame -- the same factors that drove the first Spaniards out of the interior. Maybe way up in the mountains (I was impressed with Barranquitas) or on the coast with the Atlantic sea breeze.
Even with all the challenges, I have to say we've met our goal of having bicultural children is being well met. Best on your decision.
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