(links and pictures on my website)
Having plunged headfirst into life in Puerto Rico now for about a month now, I thought it would be worthwhile to take a break from furnishing our condo for a moment to document our initial impressions.
Driving: One of the first things everyone notices when they get here is that driving is VERY different than it is on the mainland. The best analogy I can think of is “leveling up” when playing a video game. Driving on the mainland is the easy level with wide streets, familiar rules, and predictable drivers for the most part. Driving in Puerto Rico is the highest difficulty level where the roads narrow considerably (often without a dividing line), bone-jarring potholes appear and must be dodged, the rules change (for example: pulling out into and BLOCKING traffic to take a left turn is perfectly fine), and drivers are unpredictable (they run the gamut from extremely aggressive to frustratingly slow and seeming oblivious). That said, I am getting more comfortable as I start to pick up on the “rules of the road” here. For example, if you see someone poking his front-end into traffic, you can flash your lights at them so they know that you are letting them go. This usually results in the driver giving you an appreciative wave which is definitely better than white-knuckling it past them, wondering if they are going to cut you off or not. 
Shopping: The stores are pretty well stocked considering we are on an island but definitely not to the extent they are in the states. As an example, the Sam's Club here doesn't stock coconut oil, coconut flour, almond flour, maple syrup, honey, or dark chocolate chips which are some of our staples. However, you can get most of the hard-to-find items you're looking for on Amazon and if they won't ship it for some reason, you can usually find someone on Ebay who will. Much to Holly's dismay, one thing we haven't been able to find locally OR get shipped is 85% dark chocolate. If you happen to know where we can get some here in Puerto Rico, please let us know! Somewhat related to shopping, I was struck by how busy and happening the Mayaguez Mall is. It certainly doesn't feel like the Puerto Rican economy is in depression when you go there!
Safety: Seeing the gas station cashiers behind bullet-proof glass doesn't do much to inspire confidence in my personal safety but I did notice some other things that did. For example, it was nice to see that Mayaguez Mall has manned security towers and a security vehicle patrolling the parking lot. The parking lot at Sam's Club/Home Depot in Mayaguez has the towers as well but I've never seen them manned. There is however, a security guard on a bike riding up and down the rows of the parking lot. Most stores also have security guards at the door, primarily to catch shoplifters I'm sure. We don't live in a gated compound or anything, but overall I've felt comfortable walking around where we live in Aguada and I've even felt comfortable with Holly going out and doing some shopping on her own. My hunch is you just need to stay aware of your surroundings at all times to prevent crimes of opportunity.
The People: The maintenance man for our building says the people are more laid-back and friendly on this side of the island than elsewhere. Having not spent much time elsewhere on the island I can't speak to that, but Holly and I have definitely been impressed by how nice the people are here. If you flash a smile and attempt to speak a little broken Spanish, almost everyone we have encountered has been incredibly warm and friendly.
Food: We haven't had the chance to try all of the Puerto Rican dishes yet, but I have had some of the best chicken of my life here: juicy, fall-off-the-bone roasted chicken. Enpanadas are great and I LOVE maduros, but one thing I didn't see much of in traditional Puerto Rican cuisine was fresh vegetables. After a week of eating out because we didn't have any kitchen appliances, we were really craving a huge chef salad! Another odd comment I want to make about the food here is concerning breakfast at McDonalds… it's much better than in the states! They use real fried eggs in their McGriddles and serve good Puerto Rican coffee.
Mosquitos: The mosquitos seem less numerous here than in Texas. For the first two weeks we slept with the windows wide open because we didn't have screens or air conditioners yet. Granted we are on the third floor and I did get plenty of mosquito bites, but I can't even imagine doing that in Texas. The mosquitos would swarm around our legs in our backyard. They would probably carry us away if we left the windows open!
There is probably no better way to rekindle childlike wonder than to travel (and move!) to a foreign land. I'm sure Puerto Rico will continue to surprise and amaze us for years to come.
David
First impressions of puerto rico
I agree, about childlike wonder in a new environment as everything is so different and much to learn and explore. I haven't checked out the Mayaguez Mall yet, hmm, I may need to do that.
davidtx wrote:Mosquitos: The mosquitos seem less numerous here than in Texas. For the first two weeks we slept with the windows wide open because we didn't have screens or air conditioners yet. Granted we are on the third floor and I did get plenty of mosquito bites, but I can't even imagine doing that in Texas. The mosquitos would swarm around our legs in our backyard. They would probably carry us away if we left the windows open!
David
Not sure why but the number of mosquitos in PR have gone down 10 or more folds since the 1970's. I guess the island may be doing some spraying and getting people to eliminate places where they breed. I think I got 1 bite in 8 days I was in the island.
I agree with ReyP. I lived in PR for a year and had absolutely no trouble with mosquitoes. Coincidentally, I heard very few Coquis at night where I lived in Moca which surprised me. There just may be a spraying campaign going on that we weren't aware of. However, I would still be very careful to avoid getting bitten. Their are a couple of nasty diseases going around that are mosquito related such as chickungunya an lately malaria. I'd err on the side of caution and stay well protected at all times.
GreggK wrote:I agree with ReyP. I lived in PR for a year and had absolutely no trouble with mosquitoes. Coincidentally, I heard very few Coquis at night where I lived in Moca which surprised me. There just may be a spraying campaign going on that we weren't aware of. However, I would still be very careful to avoid getting bitten. Their are a couple of nasty diseases going around that are mosquito related such as chickungunya an lately malaria. I'd err on the side of caution and stay well protected at all times.
Now that you mention it, in 2006 I was staying in Palmas del Mar Hotel and there was quite a serenade of Coqui and Crickets making a lot of noise. This last time July 2015 at the B&B in Fajardo there were maybe 5 or 6 Coqui singing and I heard no Cricket. SO something is going on, I think.
Wife always gets some mosquito bites, they find her sweet but she is not Puerto Rican, I don;t use any protection for mosquitos or the sun and rarely get a bite or sunburn. I guess I am not as sweet.
I think it has a lo to do with the drought as well, his last year has been dismal as most probably know. We had a couple of days of rain a few weeks ago and things almost went back to normal mosquito wise but what fell quickly evaporated again. I would think this would effect the coquis too, well, all wildlife really. Oh, btw mosquitos tend to prefer ppl with O+ blood types, are pregnant and/or heavy breathers. So if you're working out/gardening outside please take precautions, dengue, etc is no joke! And window screens are a must, be careful out there guys.
Karenqc wrote:I think it has a lo to do with the drought as well, his last year has been dismal as most probably know. We had a couple of days of rain a few weeks ago and things almost went back to normal mosquito wise but what fell quickly evaporated again. I would think this would effect the coquis too, well, all wildlife really. Oh, btw mosquitos tend to prefer ppl with O+ blood types, are pregnant and/or heavy breathers. So if you're working out/gardening outside please take precautions, dengue, etc is no joke!
Yes Coqui is a tree frog and needs the Dew and humidity to survive and reproduce, so I think you hit it right on the head.
Concerning shopping, Costco carries most items (all except almond and coconut flour, which I have yet to find) on your list, They also have almond and coconut milk cheaper than anyone else. They have a few dark chocolate snacks but I haven't seen any plain dark chocolate bars. Walgreens has dark chocolate from Lindt's most times. Also, Costco has a much wider selection of vegan and gluten free items. Important to me since I have a relative with Celtics disease.
*Celiacs disease, not Celtics.
Thank you, Karen, that is good to know! We need to get to Costco sometime
Hi David!
My daughter and I recently made the huge jump also. We had 2 small farm to table restaurants in rural N.Y.State, sold everything and moved to Puerto Rico. We tried living in Cabo Rojo, but really missed some of the state-side sensibilities offered here in Rincon. I looked at a rental in Aguada, but it was so far up a very narrow, winding road, I didn't want to "white-knuckle" my way down every day.I sympathize with your search for your personal "staples". As a Scot, I'm dying for Twinnings Breakfast Teas! I chuckled at your driving analogies, and I must say, being here since April, it does get easier! Looking forward to more updates!
Vegchef (Pam)
'
It helps closing your eyes when driving those narrow curvy roads.
Use the Force, Luke
ReyP wrote:It helps closing your eyes when driving those narrow curvy roads.
Use the Force, Luke
The sensible way will be to have a refreshing drink (ak beer) to help you calm down. Thats the island way!! 
vegchef wrote:Hi David!
My daughter and I recently made the huge jump also. We had 2 small farm to table restaurants in rural N.Y.State, sold everything and moved to Puerto Rico. We tried living in Cabo Rojo, but really missed some of the state-side sensibilities offered here in Rincon. I looked at a rental in Aguada, but it was so far up a very narrow, winding road, I didn't want to "white-knuckle" my way down every day.I sympathize with your search for your personal "staples". As a Scot, I'm dying for Twinnings Breakfast Teas! I chuckled at your driving analogies, and I must say, being here since April, it does get easier! Looking forward to more updates!
Vegchef (Pam)
'
Amazon has your tea, see link http://www.amazon.com/Twinings-English- … B000F4F952
Try Amazon Prime, we(my wife) been buying all the kitchen appliances and gadgets and they deliver directly to PR for no additional cost.
We have Amazon prime and maybe we are missing something, but they don't seem to ship chocolate. For example, check out these dark chocolate chips that we always used to buy in the states:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YVOFB6
When we try to check out it gives the following message: "Sorry, this item can't be shipped to your selected address."
We've tried several other dark chocolates with the same result.
Thanks for the Walgreens tip though. We were at least able to find a 72% chocolate bar there, but no 85%.
I know, I know... first world problems...
David
You can probably grow your own Cacao, and make the chocolate 100%
We have a health food store in Ponce Centro that has high cacao content chocolate. I have even found it in Marshall's.
Hi davidtx,
Sometimes that happens with Amazon Prime. I've had fairly good success going through the different vendors to find one that will ship things to PR. However, you may have to pay shipping.
If you order anything from small companies, give them a call if you're having troubles shipping. I've encountered some companies that don't realize that PR is part of the USPS and mailing something here (a Priority Mail package for instance) is just like going from state-to-state. UPS/Fedex may consider PR as international, but there is no difference with USPS. Hope this helps!
I just tried re-ordering tick collars for the dogs through Amazon, but this has been added to their list of products that will not be shipped outside of the states. I went to Ebay and ordered the product directly from the manufacturer. My other regular on-line purchases are from fabric/sewing suppliers. If their shipping method is UPS, the cost is ridiculous, so I contact them directly and ask them to ship using the US Mail.
Also, I have 'trained' visitors to bring certain specialty items (like PEEPS) to feed my addictions.
If the article is over 50# US mail will not ship it. We just have that happened to us, we purchase some bar stools and the vendor was not able to send them via US mail. UPS wanted $150 to ship them... 
frogrock wrote:Also, I have 'trained' visitors to bring certain specialty items (like PEEPS) to feed my addictions.
It's already August, so, as it goes, Halloween candy should be out in the stores. I'll see if i can find you some pumpkin Peeps before I leave on Saturday.
Hi Mrkpytn! This is Holly, David's wife. Thanks for the tip about Marshall's. I have been able to find a few goodies there. They do have some raw cocoa powder, and it is a great resource for specialty oils, spice blends and fun snacks.
BTW, your farm in Ponce sounds wonderful. We have very limited space here at the condo, but I plan on doing some square foot gardening, and a few containers for those plants that can't handle the amount of rain we get here in Aguada.
If you have trouble with shipping from Amazon Prime, try using the page AmazonGlobal to double check. Some stuff in the regular Amazon site won't ship but they will ship from the global one.
On the chocolate thing. I have better luck finding chocolate that dark in CVS and in health food stores. There's a Freshmart in Aguadilla, which sells things like that. Marshall and TJMaxx also tend to bring food like that.
Great overview! Thanks for this. The one thing I am very baffled by recently is this drought in PR. I know it is one of the larger islands in the Caribbean but my experience having lived right next door in St. Thomas was that it rained quite a bit. Sufficiently enough that the word "drought" was never on anyone's lips. Whats the situation?
Thank you for these suggestions.
BRussell wrote:Great overview! Thanks for this. The one thing I am very baffled by recently is this drought in PR. I know it is one of the larger islands in the Caribbean but my experience having lived right next door in St. Thomas was that it rained quite a bit. Sufficiently enough that the word "drought" was never on anyone's lips. Whats the situation?
Hi BRussell:
I've been contributing to the 'Drought in PR' thread and just posted an update. It has been quite challenging for a lot of residents.
Thank you. I will head over to that thread.
Speaking of FRESH MART, can anyone give me their impressions? Looks great on the website...Thanks
BRussell wrote:Great overview! Thanks for this. The one thing I am very baffled by recently is this drought in PR. I know it is one of the larger islands in the Caribbean but my experience having lived right next door in St. Thomas was that it rained quite a bit. Sufficiently enough that the word "drought" was never on anyone's lips. Whats the situation?
BRussell, I have been to St. Thomas every August since 1996, and the impact of the drought there is quite visible, and nothing I've ever seen before. Flamboyant trees that are normally lush and filled with color are skeletons. the big tree outside Udder Delight is bare. Brown is the general landscape. No sea grapes to provide shade on the beach. St. John looked even worse. We left there this morning, in a rainstorm (you could hear all the foliage singing}. We landed in Puerto Rico at 10 am, picked up a rental car and drove through some squalls driving along Rte. 3 to Palmas del Mar. Thankfully we were able to unpack the car before the skies opened up. There's still some rain over the water hiding Vieques from our view.
My first impression? Aaaaaaahhhhhhh....... It's beautiful once you get away from all the shopping. We stopped at La Parilla in Luquillo, and our first meal was amazing. We're here for a month. WooHoo!!!!!
Welvome to the island just limin!! I guess you brought the rain with you!!! 
Wow! That's crazy about the drought in the islands! I haven't been back to st Thomas since maybe 2008-9. What a bummer. Well in the hope that everything is cyclical things will return to normal soon enough!
vegchef, I went to visit the Fresh Mart in Aguadilla today because of the recommendations here and was actually working on a post about it before I saw your question.
Bottom line is it had everything we were looking for even if they were a little bit pricey. It's like a mini Whole Foods.
Thank you victorlglass and skync!
David
Thanks David! I'm excited about going. Been looking for whole grains, tempeh, and some supplements. I have to travel to Aguadilla monthly from Rincon anyway, so it's all good!
Hi, David! Yes, you really have to bring your patience when you go shopping as everything is on island time, lol. We tend to just stand and look around at people (I love to people watch) and smile when I catch someone's eye. It is great you were able to find the items you needed, take care!
I tried to post this on your blog but I got error 404? Weird.
Schuttzie wrote:Hi, David! Yes, you really have to bring your patience when you go shopping as everything is on island time, lol. We tend to just stand and look around at people (I love to people watch) and smile when I catch someone's eye. It is great you were able to find the items you needed, take care!
I tried to post this on your blog but I got error 404? Weird.
Error 404 means the page you requested was not found, you probably had a typo in the page name or location or there was an issue with the link.
Thanks for the heads up Schuttzie. It must of got messed up because I changed the title (and therefore the permalink), but I think it's fixed now... thanks again!
David
On 115 in Rincon, there is an Edwards food market.. they have some stateside foods that most stores do not carry.. If you cant find it, ask the manager, he will order most things for you and have it within a couple days.. It is a little more pricey than other markets, but I guess thats what you get when you live on an island and wanting what you want..
You're welcome, David!
PRvacationRental, yes, we've gone into Edward's too and they have some unique items there. We found their fruit and veggies high priced, though.
Yes, we've been to Edwards. There is a similar Fam-Coop in Aguada also on 115.
David
We just moved here as well, been on island for almost a month. Just now finally moved into our home and I agree with everything you posted. We are outside of SJ a little, in Dorado, but everyone has been very friendly!
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