{"id":10821,"date":"2017-12-23T07:58:46","date_gmt":"2017-12-23T07:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=10821"},"modified":"2017-12-24T08:01:24","modified_gmt":"2017-12-24T08:01:24","slug":"puerto-ricans-arent-giving-up-on-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/puerto-ricans-arent-giving-up-on-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Puerto Ricans aren&#8217;t giving up on Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/evelyn-milagros-rodriguez-413510\">Evelyn Milagros Rodriguez<\/a>, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-puerto-rico-humacao-3265\">University of Puerto Rico &#8211; Humacao<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Leer <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/drafts\/89430\/edit\">en espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Some say Puerto Rico has the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.noticel.com\/%C2%BFen-serio-\/brasil-reta-a-puerto-rico-por-el-ttulo-de-navidades-ms-largas-del-mundo\/670719105\">longest Christmas in the world<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>For Puerto Ricans, who are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cia.gov\/library\/publications\/the-world-factbook\/geos\/rq.html\">85 percent Catholic<\/a>, Christmas starts after Thanksgiving, continues through Christmas Day, and extends beyond Three Kings Day, on Jan. 6, with the \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latinomusiccafe.com\/2016\/01\/12\/octavitas\/\">octavitas<\/a>\u201d \u2013 an eight-day street party that concludes in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/latino\/san-sebasti-n-festival-ends-puerto-rico-s-long-fun-n710746\">St. Sebastian Festival in Old San Juan<\/a> in mid-January. Christmas trees and decorations stay up for almost two months. The new year is greeted in noisy fashion, with street concerts and fireworks and guns fired celebratorily \u2013 albeit dangerously \u2013 into the air.<\/p>\n<p>At least, that\u2019s the tradition in my country. This year <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/im-a-librarian-in-puerto-rico-and-this-is-my-hurricane-maria-survival-story-86426\">everything is different<\/a>. In September, hurricanes Irma and Maria both battered Puerto Rico, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/puerto-rico-governor-orders-recount-of-death-toll\/2017\/12\/18\/2aa0ad5e-e401-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html\">killing perhaps as many as a thousand people<\/a> and destroying much of the island.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.knightlab.com\/libs\/timeline3\/latest\/embed\/index.html?source=1tbemi5Fk-vNihs3aeLUgaK5W3wZuicM3nZGUQ3eSZ7s&amp;font=Default&amp;lang=en&amp;initial_zoom=2&amp;height=650\" width=\"100%\" height=\"650\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"\" mozallowfullscreen=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Three months later, most Puerto Ricans still contend with some combination of unsafe water, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/graphics\/2017\/national\/puerto-rico-life-without-power\/\">no electricity<\/a>, blocked highways, broken bridges, lack of internet and food shortages. Some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/the_americas\/report-slams-local-us-hurricane-response-in-puerto-rico\/2017\/12\/17\/7bba944c-e371-11e7-927a-e72eac1e73b6_story.html\">600 people are still living in shelters<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Can Christmas survive this catastrophe?<\/p>\n<h2>Survival first<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019m considering this question from my home in San Juan, the capital, where a Christmas miracle has occurred: Last week electricity was restored to parts of the neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, about <a href=\"http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/International\/wireStory\/anger-grows-puerto-rico-misses-power-restoration-deadline-51814512\">65 percent of the island has electrical power<\/a>, and everyone else is constantly hunting for it.<\/p>\n<p>But we\u2019re also seeking another kind of power, I think \u2013 the strength to get through this national disaster.<\/p>\n<p>Rural governments are still trying to tend to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/nation-world\/article190249154.html\">thousands of people left without water, electricity and medicine<\/a>. Meanwhile, Gov. Ricardo Rosell\u00f3 <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/puerto-ricos-bankruptcy-will-make-hurricane-recovery-brutal-heres-why-84559\">is handling Puerto Rico\u2019s hurricane aftermath while also reckoning with the island\u2019s bankruptcy<\/a>. Everyone has been working so hard for so long.<\/p>\n<p>There are signs of desperation. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/11\/13\/us\/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-mental-health.html?_r=0\">Suicides and post-traumatic stress are a reality here now<\/a>. It will be a long time before anything here starts to look normal again, and we know some things may never be the same.<\/p>\n<p>At my job, as a special collections librarian at the University of Puerto Rico\u2019s Humacao campus, our team is working from a tent outside while the library gets a deep clean. The building that houses the library leaked during Maria, so it soon became mold-infested. We lost our reference collection completely, along with all the furniture and computer equipment.<\/p>\n<p>For a while there, I thought maybe Christmas might be one more thing lost to Maria.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n            <img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/200243\/original\/file-20171220-4980-15p65zf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\"><figcaption>\n              <span class=\"caption\">The University of Puerto Rico in Humacao has reopened for classes since Hurricane Maria, though some buildings remain closed.<\/span><br \/>\n              <span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">Milagros Rodriguez<\/span>, <span class=\"license\">Author provided<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>After the celebrations<\/h2>\n<p>Puerto Ricans, as it happens, are good at adversity. It\u2019s a legacy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/worldviews\/wp\/2017\/09\/27\/puerto-rico-is-still-a-victim-of-colonial-neglect\/\">our colonial history<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Either way, the country\u2019s resilience is on full display this Christmas season. Despite the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/opinion\/flip-switch-puerto-rico-power-desperately-article-1.3702115\">blackouts that still affect even places where power\u2019s been restored<\/a> and the cold showers, we will have our holiday. <\/p>\n<p>It may not be the longest Christmas in the world this year. And there may not be a lot of decorated trees, wreaths or parties. But in homes across the country people are roasting suckling pig right now, preparing blood sausages and stewing rice and peas. <\/p>\n<p>We may have to cook over a charcoal fire, but to be sure: There will be bananas for our pasteles, meat-filled pastries served wrapped in a leaf. <\/p>\n<p>Families hum along to holiday favorites \u2013 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5JX0gEOVR9E\">Navidad<\/a>,\u201d a salsa tune by Jos\u00e9 Nogueras, and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=okZcVZiGKNk\">Los reyes no llegaron<\/a>,\u201d a Christmas bolero by Victoria Sanabria \u2013 accompanied by the roar of generators. <\/p>\n<figure>\n            <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"440\" height=\"260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5JX0gEOVR9E?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Jos\u00e9 Nogueras\u2019s \u2018Navidad\u2019 is a classic Puerto Rican holiday song.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Since my house has electricity, we\u2019re stringing the Christmas lights and planning to party. Even in homes without power, that\u2019s sometimes the case. As I heard one caller say on the radio, \u201cWe\u2019ll turn on the Christmas lights even if it means plugging them into a generator.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>At work, the library team hung a Three Wise Men-themed decoration on our temporary library tent.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-right \">\n            <img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/200235\/original\/file-20171220-4980-m6mcuq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip\"><figcaption>\n              <span class=\"caption\">Christmas is on.<\/span><br \/>\n              <span class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"source\">M. Rodriguez<\/span>, <span class=\"license\">Author provided<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Elsewhere, sadness is more tangible. By November, <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/will-puerto-ricans-return-home-after-hurricane-maria-87160\">100,000 Puerto Ricans had fled Hurricane Maria\u2019s aftermath<\/a>, a number that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/puerto-rico-maria-hurricane-leave-island-flee-electricity-flooding-devastation-a8007751.html\">grows daily<\/a>. Many families will be missing their loved ones this Christmas. <\/p>\n<p>Tragedy unites us all right now. In some places \u2013 like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elvocero.com\/regionales\/municipios\/viva-la-magia-de-las-luces-en-santa-isabel\/article_e3398792-2454-52df-880b-31d4b40db61d.html\">Santa Isabel<\/a>, on Puerto Rico\u2019s southern coast, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elvocero.com\/actualidad\/listos-para-celebrar-la-navidad\/article_c521f386-d120-11e7-a3eb-7bf42b725568.html\">Moca<\/a>, a town near Aguadilla \u2013 locals have decked out the main square, transforming storm debris into makeshift Christmas trees and wooden nativity scenes, all strung up with lights. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/89466\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/>Such scenes reflect the national sentiment that not destruction, or terrible crisis management, or bankruptcy can take Christmas from Puerto Rico. Celebrating the holidays this year means feeling, if only for a moment, normal. It\u2019s a sign of survival.<\/p>\n<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/evelyn-milagros-rodriguez-413510\">Evelyn Milagros Rodriguez<\/a>, Research, Reference and Special Collections Librarian, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-puerto-rico-humacao-3265\">University of Puerto Rico &#8211; Humacao<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>This article was originally published on <a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a>. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/puerto-ricans-arent-giving-up-on-christmas-89466\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Evelyn Milagros Rodriguez, University of Puerto Rico &#8211; Humacao Leer en espa\u00f1ol. Some say Puerto Rico has the longest Christmas in the world. For Puerto Ricans, who are 85 percent Catholic, Christmas starts after Thanksgiving, continues through Christmas Day, and extends beyond Three Kings Day, on Jan. 6, with the \u201coctavitas\u201d \u2013 an eight-day street [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":10823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[387,3267,1686,3752],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10821"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10824,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10821\/revisions\/10824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}