A Week in Puerto Rico, One Year After Maria
The seatbelts clanked and the luggage clattered as the large van rattled over the potholes. Five of us sat spaced out across the three rows of seating. The seats were exactly what you would expect in a transport van: firm and unforgiving. There wasn’t ample space to outstretch your legs, so my little sister — who, despite her rather tiny size, somehow needs the most legroom out of all of us — swung her legs onto the cushion.
To our left, the island sprawled out, falling gradually into the sea on the horizon. The waters were characteristically turquoise blue. I could just barely spot the little whitecaps materializing and then vanishing as the waves crested before the shorebreak. The sun glistened on the crystal blue water, inciting within us all a newfound feeling of tranquility that we had craved for months. Palm trees and lush greenery abounded down to the water. To our right, high peaks covered in a luscious forest towered above us. Barely visible at the top of the mountain was a cylindrical communications tower.
I tested my Spanish on our driver, and fared better than expected. I was able to hold a conversation for about five minutes — enough time to leave him impressed such that I could brag to my friends about my ostensible Spanish-speaking abilities. My family exchanged the usual pleasantries with him and took to getting to know him. He was an affable, good-natured man with two little girls who seemed as excited to share with us his island as we were to explore it. Inevitably it seemed, conversation swung to the one thing we all wanted to know about: the hurricane.
There had been extensive news coverage following the hurricane and the U.S. government’s inadequate response to the crisis in Puerto Rico. Nothing prepared me, however, for the stories this man told. Seven months without power. Twelve hour lines for gasoline. The laundry room in his house decimated.
Imagine the change in these people’s lives. Imagine the cold, dreary nights. Imagine the sacrifices that had to be made, the things that had to be given up. Imagine the gas tank running empty. Imagine the crying babies and their helpless parents. Imagine the feeling of feeling like nothing.
This feeling is nothing new for Puerto Ricans.
Puerto Rico has been crippled by neglect and deceit, and it has been pillaged by outsiders for hundreds of years. In 1898, America usurped imperial control from Spain in order to profit off of sugar, turning it into a cash crop society and then recruiting soldiers to manage harsh, tropical territories. Puerto Rico is still dictated by American investors today, and internal corruption has contributed to colossal economic problems including debt and poor infrastructure.
The hurricane exposed the severity of these issues and left Puerto Ricans with next to nothing. Research studies have shown that the American government’s response to natural disasters was much more extensive than the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Keep in mind that even as American citizens, Puerto Ricans have almost no say in American politics or decisions that affect Puerto Rico.
Imagine the feeling of feeling like nothing…
