The Scurvy Dog's Puerto Rican Blog

153rd Ponce Carnaval 2011- Part 2

The ‘Burying of the
Sardine’, March 8th, 2011 and the conclusion of ‘Carnaval Week’ in Puerto Rico.

As reported in my last post- Carnaval in Ponce, this is a fantastic time to be in Latin America. Great music, great food, outrageous costumes and tons of fun. An event the entire family will enjoy.

Though there are things happening the entire week before Ash Wednesday, the weekend before is always the most active.

Activities during the week don’t get started until after dinner. There was a much more relaxed, local feel to Tuesday night’s celebration.

According to US Census, Ponce’s population is just under 180,000
(as of 2009). So the scale of activity is nothing like being in a big city like Rio de Janiero or New Orleans. A definite home-town vibe. That’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned. I felt pretty safe the whole time I was there. [Read more…] about 153rd Ponce Carnaval 2011- Part 2

153rd Ponce Carnaval 2011- Part 1 of 2

‘Carnival Week’ (Carnaval/Spanish) is always the week before Ash Wednesday. A tradition that dates back to Colonial Spain and it’s celebrated throughout Mexico, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean.

A fantastic time to take a vacation!

Everyone has heard of the Rio de Janiero Carnival in Brazil or Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are the most famous, but there are thousands of ‘Carnavals’ going on during this time of year.

Rey Momo in Carnival Week Parade at Ponce, Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, Ponce is most famous for theirs. It’s the longest running Carnaval on the island.

Carnaval events in Ponce started on the 2nd of March

A masked ball was staged in the Plaza on Wednesday. Thursday featured a local tradition- ‘Rey Momo’ the king of Carnaval who reigns over all the sillyness. Formal pageants for junior queen and queen were held on Friday and Saturday. The big parade was on Sunday afternoon, ending in the Plaza. And Monday evening featured the Grand Ball of Carnaval also in the Plaza. Plaza las Delicias [Read more…] about 153rd Ponce Carnaval 2011- Part 1 of 2

2011 Puerto Rican Coffee Harvest Way Down

A follow up editorial to the Maricao Coffee Festival of 2011

I ran across an article dated Feb. 24, 2011 in the Caribbean Business Weekly regarding the overall decline of the Coffee Industry in Puerto Rico. In the article they quote the Puerto Rico Coffee Buyers & Growers Association, stating that this year’s harvest lost $25 million, all due to a lack of hands needed for the harvest. Of the estimated 150,000 bushels grown, only 80,000 bushels were ultimately collected. The industry cites the inability to lodge migrant workers during harvest time and have requested assistance from the PR Agriculture Department to help cover housing for next year.

This is particularly depressing news for Labor as unemployment here exceeds 16% and has been double digit for the last several years. This would have been a ‘shot in the arm’ for the Economy on the West end of the island. The best harvest in recent years was 178,000 bushels in 2006 and has declined ever since. The cost of labor and operations is slowly driving farmers out of biz.

“Small business (less than 12 employees) is all but dead in PR”

This is in spite of the fact that Puerto Ricans consumed 270,000 bushels of imported coffee last year. I did the math.. less than a quarter of the coffee consumed here is locally grown.

Puerto Rico’s Dept. of Labor will not allow the use of foreign labor even though efforts to enlist inmates with sentence reduction and changes in unemployment rules have not solved the problem. All of this reflects badly on the Puerto Rican government’s ability to respond to a time critical issue and act decisively. This is NOT a slam on the governor, but on the system itself. For the Economy to lose $25 million over a known issue is simply not acceptable.

Why Puerto Rican Coffee is NOT marketed to the world as an upscale boutique product is lost on me. Then the local coffee haciendas could actually thrive.

So Sez the Scurvy Dog, Arrg!

Info for part of this story was taken from an Associated Press report by Danica Coto dated Feb. 17, 2011

Maricao Coffee Festival, The Mountains of PR

Coffee, My Second Most Favorite Drink!

I found out about this local event 2 weeks after it ended last year. I had been looking forward to checking it out, ever since.

I was not disappointed!

The Coffee Festival runs for 3 days, but Sunday was the best day for weather. We took Hwy 52 through Ponce which turns into Hwy 2. This took us to Hwy 121, the exit at Sabana Grande. 121 snakes through town past the Plaza and makes a hard left turn, then a right, then a left that takes you back out of town to become Hwy 120. We missed the 2nd turn, drove through and got lost. As luck would have it, when we stopped to ask for directions, one guy spoke perfect English and explained how to get back on our way. The locals love to impress their friends with their ability to speak some English. He was very helpful.

I had set up the video camera before we left Hwy 2 so I could do a “From the Road” video of the trip up to Maricao, BUT the battery quit 15 minutes in, so I got nothing. [Read more…] about Maricao Coffee Festival, The Mountains of PR

Ghost Town of Aguirre Central Revisited

Another installment of PR’s Sugar Industry of years past.

Panoramic of Old Aguirre Central Office in Puerto Rico

The San Juan Photo and Social Club decided to take a ‘guerrilla’ run at the old sugar mill in Aguirre. I could not pass that up! We met the guys from San Juan at the Aguirre Post Office, on Sunday morning. It was a bright and sunny day. The weather forecast was for a 35% chance of rain.. other than a light shower on our way there, it never rained while we were shooting. This would be my 2nd visit to Aguirre.

We are in the middle of the dry winter season now so dead grass and dying brush was everywhere. In Coamo, they are busy burning it away from the side of the road. You can see some of that from the last video I did, from the San Blas Marathon Route. In fact, some of the burning came very close to our house. I digress…

The shoot consisted of 2 Mates from San Juan, me-self and me First Mate. There are more photos taken by the group over on the Meetup Group Web page, ‘A trip to the South Side‘.

We started at the abandoned hotel, up the road a bit from the local Post Office. I had shot it before so I wanted to try a little HDR photography this time around. [Read more…] about Ghost Town of Aguirre Central Revisited