First time visit to Puerto Rico was Amazing!

Glad to hear you had a good time here on La Isla del Encanto!

I've noticed PR is quite popular with continental Europeans. That's great.

NomadLawyer wrote:

I've noticed PR is quite popular with continental Europeans. That's great.

Where i come from ( Belgium) it is completely different then
Puerto Rico. Its like walking into a different world ^_^, i love the island, and i would not say no to live there

I think you are right Nomad Lawyer. It might have something to do with the differences in attitude and frame of mind with the Europeans compared to the people from the States.

GreggK wrote:

I think you are right Nomad Lawyer. It might have something to do with the differences in attitude and frame of mind with the Europeans compared to the people from the States.

What do you mean by that gregg?

We Europeans are more relaxed than many "gringos", I think, and that fits better with the laid back Caribbean lifestyle.

I think you are a bit more open minded too.

Do you ever miss traditional Dutch food, Gary? Or a nice Dutch beer with an omelette for breakfast?

Be careful. You might get scolded for changing the subject.

haha I think the questions provide a segway for continued discussion of Puerto Rico as contrasted with the Netherlands and other continental European countries

Sounds logical to me. But logic can be elusive here sometimes. Not so sure about a beer with an omelette, but it has to have some really good extra, extra sharp cheddar and a little sour cream on top before you fold it over to serve it. And some sauteed onion too. Don't the Germans and the Dutch have beer with everything anyway?

NomadLawyer wrote:

Do you ever miss traditional Dutch food, Gary? Or a nice Dutch beer with an omelette for breakfast?

There's not a lot traditional Dutch food that I miss.
The one thing that I miss is bitterballen/kroketten but I can make them myself.

Beer for breakfast? That's not traditional Dutch..

I like to make an "uitsmijter" for breakfast though:

GreggK wrote:

Don't the Germans and the Dutch have beer with everything anyway?

Not in Holland and in Germany that has changed as well.

I remember one of of my first technical support trips to Germany. In the production area of a plastic molding company a couple of cases of beer in a fridge in a corner. The company provided that for the workers.
Nowadays that's a no no - alcohol and work doesn't mix.

Here in Ireland, alcohol can be drunk during work lunches without judgment. That wouldn't fly in the office though.

I didn't miss the food that i'm used to eat in Belgium, how-ever eating rice and beans everyday was a big change since we always eat potatoes here .
The beer can't really be missed since they have Heineken everywhere on the island, and that is pretty similar to Belgian beer.

Ahhh, rice and beans. The staple food of Puerto Rico. Actually I really got to like rice and beans. But I still did a lot of cooking on the grill. The high cost of food was one of the things that really kicked my butt when I was there. I knew it would be somewhat higher due to shipping costs but the prices even amazed my wife who is from there and lived there at least half her life. For example, plantains were about 75 cents apiece at the supermarket, and they grow them on the island. Where I live now they are 15 cents each at Walmart. All the traditional vegetables came from mostly DR, Costa Rica and South America. Obviously it's cheaper to buy that stuff from a roadside stand. But you still have to buy staples at the grocery store and it kills the average Puerto Rican. That's one of the reasons besides tradition that a lot of rice and beans are consumed.

Nice job on the eggs Gary. I'll have to whip up a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast one of these days and send you a pic. That's the kind of food I grew up on. Got an Amish recipe for scratch made soft pretzels if you ever want to do something fun together with the family at home one day.

When you live in the country like we do you never pay for locally grown fruit and vegetables. Most people grow something and -at least in our little neighborhood- all that stuff is shared.
Plantains, bananas, avocados, mangos, lemmons, sweet peppers, bread fruit, ñame (yam), yautia.. Whenever it's available a neighbor will come by and bring some.
We grow peppers (sweet and hot), bananas, different kinds of herbs in our yard and share as well.

People close by have chickens and pigs and they sell eggs, meat and sausages cheaper and fresher than any store.

As for the beer, my Puerto Rican wife prefers Heineken and I like the Puerto Rican Medalla better.

Gary wrote:

As for the beer, my Puerto Rican wife prefers Heineken and I like the Puerto Rican Medalla better.

In a whole month i didn't even try a Medalla

agten wrote:

In a whole month i didn't even try a Medalla

Make sure you do next time - it's pretty good.