Parting Thoughts (my own personal experiences and opinions)

Puerto Rico- A beautiful, idyllic Island Paradise. Who wouldn't want to live here? Relax in a hammock overlooking the ocean and drinking pina coladas all day, enjoying the fabulous night life of San Juan. Man, it doesn't get much better than that! I know, let's move there and live in Utopia the rest of our lives. Some members of this blog will have you believe that this is the way Puerto Rico is, all the time, everywhere. "Don't say anything negative about PR because it wouldn't be true" they tell you. Look a little deeper. Most of those who will tell you to "come to Puerto Rico to live, it's such a paradise, you will have nothing but fun times here" aren't telling you the whole story. Why, because if you have money and are thinking of coming here to live, they have a considerable financial interest in relocating you to paradise. It's their business! It's like selling a used car. They clean it up on the outside and make it shine and impress you with it's many wonderful features. What they don't tell you is that the oil in the car hasn't been changed in 50,000 miles and the car, though it looks really, really good, it's only going to last as long as it takes for the ink to dry on the bill of sale. It is then that you are faced with REALITY.
  Now, Puerto Rico can be a wonderful place to visit and live. But it depends mostly on your personal attitude and to a very large extent, your financial situation. If you move here and already have or are going to be making very good money, you can insulate yourself somewhat from what the population in general has to deal with on a daily basis. You can afford the best schools for your children, not worry about the cost of groceries at the checkout line, just zip off a check to pay your outrageous electric bill, etc., etc. Then you drive home to your expensive gated community where the huge political caravans blasting their music and campaign messages aren't allowed to come too close to.  Also the municipality will take greater care to remove the dead dogs from the street so you don't have to deal with such unpleasantries. Then at night you can relax on your terrace and listen to the coqui and the breezes whispering through the palm trees while the security guards vigilantly keep watch over your own personal piece of paradise.
  Now, on the other side are those that want to live here who have  a very small amount of money to work with and live somewhere to "blend in" with the locals. Their lives are a bit different. All of a sudden they find themselves having to deal with a lot of things they hadn't thought of. First off would be the constant barrage of noise. Understand, your neighbors don't give a sh** about your piece of mind in the little place you just rented in paradise. They will make all the noise they want at anytime they want. Call the police and complain! Don't bother. Nothing will be done. Just wait until the political caravan drives by your house. The noise will rattle the dishes in your cupboard(seriously). Or when Junior next door comes home next at 2am and pulls in his driveway with reggaeton blasting. Are we having fun yet? Hopefully you can live in an area where the 4 track ATVs haven't discovered yet. Listening to them all night is a real treat. Then you find yourself wondering one day, why hasn't the city picked up that mangled bloated dead dog that's been in the street for 3 weeks? And you look around some more and wonder, why is there trash and garbage and litter ALL over the place? I like the one of blending in with the locals. It can be done. But it shouldn't be assumed. Moving into a neighborhood or area where families have lived for generations can be tricky. They are all related usually. If one doesn't like you chances are you will also have trouble from the others. And yes, the island is a dangerous place to live. Don't let anybody tell you it's only in certain areas. It's all over. I live in what's considered a semi rural area in a pretty benign pueblo. Last year less than a mile from where I live a couple teenagers killed their uncle and cut off his head. The violence touches every part of this island. People will shoot you for beeping at them to move at a traffic light. The list goes on and on.
  In all fairness, most people's experience will fall somewhere in between what I've just described. There is good and bad wherever you go. It's just that the bad might not be quite what you are used to or would expect. There are a few people on this blog who live here that will give you honest, intelligent answers and advice to your questions. Those people have great knowledge and experience in dealing with both the good and the bad of Puerto Rico. Listen closely to what they have to say because they know best how to live here.
Now it's time for me to move on. Because as people are prone to saying, " if you don't like it here then leave". The movers are coming tomorrow. I will leave here gladly, but with sorrow. Because for ten years I had the dream of moving to Puerto Rico and when I finally did, I found out that I just couldn't find a way to love being here. That's only my experience. Yours may be different.
Last thoughts, pay attention to the smart people on this blog, and if you do come here to live, please carry a big bag of dog food and a jug of water in your car at all times. There are soooo many homeless animals wherever you go. You just can't get the full impact of it until you witness it first hand. Finally, a very special thank you and my greatest respects go out to Gary and Adolfo. Good-bye all. It's been an interesting experience. Best of luck and good fortune to any of those that decide to come here to live.

Respectfully,
Gregg