What I’m Reading, Watching and Listening to Before PR

An abridged list of the media I’m absorbing three days before departure

By Lucas Thomae

I’m writing this blog post three days before my flight for San Juan takes off, which is a reality that I haven’t quite processed but one that I’ll have to be prepared for all the same.

Of course i’m excited — but it’s a nervous excitement. One that stems from the task of telling the story of an island whose culture I don’t know and language I don’t speak fluently. One thing I’ve been doing to calm my nerves is consuming as much Puerto Rican media as possible, from music to film to literature. Even if it may not have improved my Spanish-speaking skills much, I’ve found that it’s given me comfort knowing that I’m more familiar with the culture and historical context of Puerto Rico.

Here is a selection of the things I’ve been reading, watching and listening to:

Literature & Poetry

The big task I’ve taken on is reading Simone, a novel from Puerto Rican writer Eduardo Lalo that I’ve been reading between classes and before bed.

The story takes place in San Juan and centers on an unnamed protagonist – who is also also the narrator – who teaches at Universidad de Puerto Rico and spends his free time wandering the city. However, the narrator’s mundane takes a turn when he starts receiving mysterious messages from a supposed stalker.

I haven’t finished Simone but everything I’ve read I have loved, and no doubt it will be in my carry-on come Thursday.

Another book I’m reading is Inventing A Word: Twentieth Century Puerto Rican Poetry, which is exactly what it sounds like: a short collection of poems from famous Puerto Rican writers that explore various themes of the island’s culture and heritage. One thing that I like about this collection is that it has both the original Spanish-language poems and their translations, which has helped me pick up new vocabulary.

Film & Documentary

One film that i took the time to watch over the weekend was La Gran Fiesta (1985), which was the first full-length movie to be distributed outside of Puerto Rico. The story takes place in 1940s San Juan and depicts the last party held at the Antiguo Casino de Puerto Rico before being passed on to the United States military. The film touches on many aspects of the colonial relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico and is a incredibly important landmark in the nation’s film industry. It can be watched in full on YouTube.

I’m also watching a couple of documentaries. The first I want to highlight is Mala, Mala (2014), which highlights the struggles of the transgender and drag communities to find acceptance in Puerto Rico. That can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video. The other documentary I’d like to feature is not a full-length film, but the Fighting for Paradise episode from CBS’s docuseries CBS Reports. The well-reported and succinct look at puerto Rico’s debate over statehood gives a good overview of the current political struggle on the island and all of the cultural and historical context surrounding that debate. The full episode can also be watched on YouTube.

Music

Bad Bunny is the most popular musical artist in the world right now – at least by Spotify streams – so it would feel neglectful not to at least mention the reggaeton singer-rapper here. I particularly enjoy the official music video for his song El Apagón, which is really a 20-minute documentary on the energy struggles that the island is still facing five years after Hurricane Maria.

Sometimes, when my brain is weary of absorbing new information, I’ll relax with some instrumental music. At some second-hand stores around Chapel Hill I found some salsa records on vinyl that I’ll play on the record player sitting in my dining room. Salsa, which literally translates to “sauce”, came into its own in New York City in the 1970s, and its most famous musicians were of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. No doubt it will be on my downloaded playlist once my plane leaves the runway later this week.