Puerto Rico

Hey everyone ! Today we'll deal with another island, which is Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico, officially The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a United States territory located at the northeastern Caribbean. In addition, Puerto Rico is composed of a a main island and a number of smaller islands. Puerto Rico is a Unincorporated territory of the United States , which means that the President is Barack Obama, and the current Governor is Alejandro Javier García Padilla. The official languages spoken there is Spanish and English, with Spanish as primary language. The Capital is San Juan, and currently 3,548,397 live in this island.

Puerto Rico Flag

 

Puerto Rico map

 

Right now we are going to focus on the culture of Puerto Rico. First of all we'll talk about Food. The national dish of Puerto Rico is Arroz con Gandules (Rice with Pigeon Peas). It’s a rice-and-pigeon-pea dish seasoned with sofrito and Pernil (Pork shoulder) diced smoked ham. There are other specialities from Puerto Rico such as Steak with onions, or roast suckling pig, a dish served on festive occasions. Moreover, Puerto Rico has its own locally producted food like peanuts, Ají Caballero (hottest Pepper from Puerto Rico) and guavas.

 

Rice with Pigeon Peas

 

Let's now deal with Puerto Rican Music. Puerto Rico has several music genres. It can be bomba y plena, Aguinaldo, or more recently reggaeton. There is also classical music, there's even a festival, The Casals Festival, which takes place anually and attracts classical musicians from around the world. Concerning Opera, Puerto Rico is the birthplace to the legendary Antonio Paoli, who even performed private récitals to the Pope Pius X and the Czar of Russia Nicholas II. Moreover, Paoli was the first operatic artist in world history to record an entire opera in 1907. Many other famous artists come from Puerto Rico like Daddy Yankee, Marc Anthony, Tito Puente, and Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López.

 

Daddy Yankee

The Casals Festival

 

We'll end up this article with Sports and Literature.

 

Concerning sports, One of the most popular sports in Puerto Rico is Baseball. There is the Puerto Rico Baseball League, which serves as the only active professional league, operating as a winter league. The Puerto Rico national team has participated in the World Cup of Baseball, and won one gold medal in 1951, four silver and four bronze medals. Puerto Rican players have their name at the Baseball Hall of Fame like Roberto Clemente (1973) and Roberto Alomar (2011).

Another popular sport here in Puerto Rico is boxing. Wilfredo Gómez Rivera and McWilliams Arroyo won their respective divisions at the World Amateur Boxing Championships. In the professional circuit, Puerto Rico has the third-most boxing world champions and it is the global leader in champions per capita. Some of these champions are Miguel Cotto and Félix Trinidad.

Basketball is also very popular. Indeed, The Puerto Rico Basketball Team joined the International Basketball Federation in 1957. Since then, it has won more than 30 medals in international competitions, including gold in three FIBA Americas Championships and the 1994 Goodwill Games.

Last but not least about sports, Soccer. The Puerto Rico Islanders Football club, founded in 2003, plays in the NASL which constitutes the second tier of football in North America.

 

About Literature, There are famous writer such as Alejandro Tapia y Rivera, known at the Father of Puerto Rican literature, one of his book is La antigua sirena (1862) . or Cayetano Coll y Toste, a writer and historian  who wrote His work The Indo-Antillano Vocabulary is valuable in understanding the way the Tainos lived. More recently, there are other Puerto Rican writes as Ed Vega, Piri Thomas, or Esmeralda Santiago.

 

Roberto Alomar

 

Esmeralda Santiago

 

To conclude we can say that Puerto Rico is very rich when it comes to culture, there are alot to learn there. Beautiful Island as well.

 

 

Peace !

 

More articles coming soon ;) 

 



St Vincent and the Grenadines

Hello everybody ! Haven't talked to you in days ! Today i'll talk to you about a beautiful island named St Vincent and the Grenadines (or just St Vincent). This island belongs to the Lesser Antilles. Indeed, it is located to the South of St Lucia, and to the west of Barbados. St Vincent took its independence from the British colony in 1979. Right now it is a  parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State. The Governor General, who represents The Queen, is currently Frederick Ballantyne. The Official language is English, and the local language is Vincentian Creole, spoken by almost everyboby in the population. The Capital of St Vincent is Kingstown, and approximately 120,000 inhabitants live there.

St Vincent and the Grenadines Flag

 

St Vincent and the Grenadines Map

 

Now let's get into détails about St Vincent and the Grenadines Culture. For the moment we'll talk about Food. The national food there is Roasted Breadfruit and fried Jackfish. There are also specialities as billjau, a stew with salted fish, tomatoes, onions, coconut oil and hot peppers. , or madongo dumplings, a baked or fried specialty made with arrowroot flour, nutmeg and coconut. Some vegetables such as yams, potatoes, dasheen, tania, carrots, bananas and plantains, grow in St Vincent and The Grenadines.

Roasted Breadfruit and fried Jackfish

 

We'll continue with Music. Several music genres exist in St Vincent like big drum, calypso, soca, or steelpan. Concerning artists, one of the most famous artists from St Vincent is Kevin Lyttle, known for his worldwide song Turn Me on. In 2013 he was named Cultural Ambassador for the Island. Each Year, St Vincent and the Grenadines has a festival named Breadfruit Festival. It's held at the month of August.  There are some activites like Local cultural activities. They include dancing, drumming, and performances by calypsonians among others.

 



 





We'll end up this article with Sports. The most popular sport in this island is Football. Indeed, St Vincent and the Grenadines has its own Football League, entitled the NLA Premier League, and also a national associal football team. There is a notable Vincentian player named Ezra Hendrickson who played at several Major League Soccer clubs in the United States, he is now a retired footballer and a coach at Seattle Sounders FC. Rugby is becoming very popular too, St Vincent and The Grenadines has its own national rugby union team, ranked 84th in the world.

Furthermore, netball is a major local sport and comprises women only.

 

 

 

In a nutshell St Vincent and The Grenadines is a great island, with lots of advantages. A good destination for vacations.

 

Peace !

 

More articles coming soon.