[PRCo] Re: Off to see the Wizzard

[Herb Brannon]

WARNING WARNING The word Cleveland is used in this email. 

The link to Caribbean Natl Park was very good. Thanks for that. One of my buddies at work, originally from Puerto Rico, always wants me to go there. He is also into rail transit and says I would appreciate the new rail transit system. Maybe now I will take him up on the offer.

As far as the speaking Spanish goes.....I'm glad I took two years of it in school, kept up on it, and lived in Florida and Texas. Here I use Spanish frequently. Just today in fact on the 79-Fulton. The near westside of (WARNING bad word ahead!!!!) Cleveland is Hispanic. This includes advertising signs in Spanish on stores, billboards, and on RTA buses inside and out. It seems to be the 'second language' of the U.S. now.

?Cuanto cuesta un boleto de ida y vuelta a Puerto Rico?
 
Herb Brannon



----- Original Message ----
From: Fred Schneider <fwschneider at comcast.net>
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2007 11:36:47 AM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Off to see the Wizzard


Enjoyed Puerto Rico ... want to go back!  The city is clearly a mix of well-to-do and those of lesser means.    

I found the territory rather curious.   Of course many Americans like  
to consider them not part of us in spite of the fact that Teddy  
Roosevelt took Puerto Rico from Spain in the Spanish American War in  
1898.   It's a rather curious place with Spanish as the primary  
language but with many corporate names in English ... with Waste  
Management trucks with admonitions warning you that the back  
frequently in English, with familiar stores ... Ponderosa, Wal*Mart,  
Walgreens, Holiday Inn, Hilton, and thousands more and English words  
peppering the language like muffler.   .   It's just  
the part of us or U.S. that speaks Spanish.

They have some of the same problems we have.   Just like the people  
up here don't want to speak Spanish, they have people whose pride  
causes them not to want to learn English.   There is stubbornness  
everywhere!

.   We rented a car and drove east along  
the beaches.   Fantastic azure water with nothing built along them  
for miles.   Then we drove up into the Caribbean National Forest ...