Welcome to Primera Persona, a new corner of Platea where we explore reflections deeply connected to Puerto Rico, the kind that give you a warm flutter in your chest.
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The season of the most beautiful days in Puerto Rico has arrived. The temperature has dropped a few degrees, there are celebrations everywhere, and Puerto Ricans are wearing their best outfits for the fiestas navideñas. From here, everything looks beautiful. Through a live call with my sister, uncle or my parents, I can feel the special joy of being Puerto Rican. And even though I am away from the archipelago, and nostalgia wraps around me, I am at peace because my connection to Puerto Rico goes beyond the distance in miles.
We always say it, our Christmas season is the longest, and therefore the most fun. The music, the food, the gifts and even a little moonshine, none of it can be missing. I have spent many years on the Island. The mark of the plantain is painted on my skin and in my being, the arroz con gandules, the tostones, the pasteles and all that Puerto Rican flavor. Yes, when nostalgia or sadness hits me, I remember that I am Puerto Rico. I am the warmth and the good people. I am the joy and the sandunga. I am that rhythm that moves my hips and my legs to the beat of the drums, the tambourines, the guitar or the güiro.
"I live the Puerto Rican landscape when I close my eyes: the blue sky and the palm trees, the green mountains of the Cordillera mountain range. I am the calm of the Caribbean beaches and even the intensity of the Atlantic beaches. I am Puerto Rico and no one can take that from me."
I am everything I love about Puerto Rico. When nostalgia arrives, I remember that I am Puerto Rico wherever I am. So I make my coffee with crackers, I cook my rice and beans, my sancocho and my arroz con dulce. I put on a playlist with the best of our music and I dance to our rhythms in the living room and on the balcony. I invite my neighbors and new friends, because I am Puerto Rican and that is just who I am. Three Kings Day is the most important day of the season, and we open gifts and celebrate the magic of it.
And wherever I am, I look for that Puerto Rican community and we come together. We speak our Spanish with our words that only we understand. We laugh at our jokes and never stop talking about the wonder of being from "La Isla del Encanto." That archipelago we want to return to, but that, no matter the circumstances, we celebrate belonging to, celebrate being Puerto Rican. No matter where I find myself, I am Puerto Rico and that is more than enough. You miss your homeland, but the homeland is me.
So if you are far away, put on your best outfits, find your favorite music, plan your calls with family, cook with Puerto Rican flavor and celebrate as if you were on the Island, because the homeland lives in your heart. Happy holidays!
The author is a Puerto Rican creative, communicator, cultural manager and co-creator of the cultural blog Con Sabor Coco.
Christmas is here!🎄 — Explore here
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
