In a very different year, Juana González, from Ponce tells us that this holiday season has been very different from all others, stating that family and friends have been distant due to the covid19 restrictions and the fact that the economy is in shambles. “We are fortunate that we have help from the Federal government, because if we wouldn’t, we would go hungry and dying like many other countries in Latin America, there are no jobs, and the few jobs we can grab, are abusive, close to slavery, she said”.
Boricuas in the island still celebrated this year, although many took big risks by not following social distancing orders, many had large family gatherings in secret, no loud music in order to bypass law enforcement and barely no parrandas were seen this year. The good thing is that coquito, arroz con gandules, lechón, tembleque and Pitorro, were all see throughout the islanders who shared images and videos of joy in social media. “We all hope this new year 2021 will be better, although we know the vaccine’s effects won’t be immediate, next summer should be better for us all, amen, Gonzalez said”.
Fireworks are still illegal in Puerto Rico, but the black market still managed to get some containers to the island and are mostly were sold in public housing complexes in the island, where people from all social classes go and make the deals. This is a big concern for the fire dept and ER rooms, which handle many fires and burn victims every year due to illegal fireworks being used.
