Chirol, if you get bored with San Juan, head down to Boqueron Beach in mid-week. This time of year it is quieter. Right at the small town dock near it’s miniscule plaza there is a small dockside restaurant that opens up about 0700. You sit on stools or a few cement tables, eating “sanwich jamon, huevo, y queso con ensalada” and drinking “cafe con leche” with Boqueron bay for a morning view.

If you would like to get in touch with a local for a trip down to Guayama to see the remnants of an American colonial experiment that left a virtual small town within a sugarcane hacienda, or see Old San Juan with someone who knows the area, drop me an email off line and I’ll put you in contact with someone.

Pity I sold the Lirelou family farm, which lay between San German and Lajas on a back road that leads into Boqueron. You’d have enjoyed the spectacular views of the Guanajibo river valley. But, as you are interested in empire and the wars of empire, you might pick up a copy of former Spanish Army Captain Angel Rivero’s “Cronica de la Guerra Hispano-Americana en Puerto Rico” which can usually be found in good bookstores.

If you’re looking to get in touch with someone knowledgeable of Puerto Rican politics and problems with colonialism/neo-colonialism, I would suggest an interview with Lcdo. Luis Davila Colon. He was educated partly in the U.S. and speaks excellent English.