What do you think of this artist and her work Scottish Economist?

[PRgirl]

SE,
Check out the variety of dancers. We got Eddie Torres and Maria, who are in not young and not slim at all dancing so well. It doesn't matter how old you are really or even if you have a certain look. We dance since early childhood. Check out these little kids. The boys start so young. It is how we all socialized with family, community, neighbors and friends. Johnny can't be older than eleven or twelve yet he dances so well:

http://www.justsalsa.com/puertorico/...hnnyolivia.htm

Just click on the Johnny Vasquez and Olivia part to see the movieclip in realplayer.

And Eddie too.

Just go to Eddie and Maria with "Castellano que bueno baila usted" and you should get those two old ones dancing!! Lol.

Let me see if I can get this pair of sexy dancers too on here. I don't know. Why am I doing this now? Well SE, I went dancing on Saturday and had so much fun that now on Sunday my every muscle aches with the overexertion. It is so relaxing to dance your head off!! The next day no stress, no worries, just a good feeling and some sore feet and calves.

http://www.justsalsa.com/puertorico/...ies/17665a.mpg

SE, I just opened this link and that song, "Vamos Rumbero" it made me smile so much. The girl in pink with the hip action!! I think I danced with her brother a long time ago!! I recognized her style!! I love that old rumbero song. I remember when I was about nine, I would move those hips to that song, and near the jam session part my father would lift me high in the air and spin me around. How I would laugh and beg to be put down before the song ended. Oh, SE. One of the joys of this culture I live, is that all that emotion is allowed free reign and accepted at all times. I love meditation SE. Complete silence is great. But one wants energy and the heartbeat of life. Nothing beats those old primal rythyms to let you know you are ALIVE damnit!! And your heartbeat and the drums are the same!! You both pulse with life. All life comes from a basic rythym. A dance. From the moment of conception to your final breath and heartbeat. Boom, thump, boom, thump. THere is el ritmo in everything. In the stillness and in the sounds of life on earth. I know you understand me SE. You are way too perceptive a man not to. The girl in pink. Hmm. How she made me think of such good times:

http://www.justsalsa.com/puertorico/...ies/17609a.mpg

[PRgirl]

QUOTE=TheScottishEconomist]Erm, like George Washington I can’t tell a porky pie, and as I don’t want my nose to grow any longer, I must truthfully answer (and in my beautiful graceful German): nein. Tut mir leid!



PRgirl: You are so cute with a long nose SE!!



Thanks! You know compared to the United States the UK is quite socialistic. We love the National Health Service and state schools, and no government would get into power if it threatened those sort of things. British people are horrified at the American Health service, indeed so are most sensible Americans.

PRgirl: Scottish people don't know how good they have it!! Lol. Despite its poverty areas and high unemployment in bad parts of the city, they have socialism installed plugging away for survival for everyone. Unfortunately did you know over 18,000 Americans in the USA die a year for lack of health insurance and inability to pay. You don't have the dough or might have to foreclose on your home to pay for surgery. It is primitive values with high tech equipment and training. They have sophisticated equipment but primitive out of control charges for health services. My husband got a simple heart diagnostic and my eyes bugged out over ten thousand dollars for a test that took 15 minutes to complete. They tried to charge me 4k for it. No way!! I have to pay a huge amount for health insurance per month and the insurance doesn't want to pay for anything. It sucks. The whole system is destined to crash and burn unless it becomes forceably socialized. The private insurance is killing people. The insurance doesn't want doctors to spend on patients and the premiums keep going up and up. The doctors are scared of not being able to recommend a treatment for a patient thinking the patient doesn't have the coverage. It is awful crap!!



I am not much of a traveller really, I have visited the following countries: England, Wales, Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, and Spain (including Spain’s island territories). Not too impressive really? I never visit anywhere long enough to get a good impression, I enjoyed Holland, Romania (under Ceausescu) was very interesting. The countries I have the most experience of are Spain and England. I remember my parents taking me to visit Barcelona Cathedral when I was in my early teenage years which sticks in the memory:

, as for England, it is so flat compared to Scotland, I have always enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the Southern English coutryside:


PRgirl: That is beautiful indeed. Spain is so regionalistic. The Catalanes are reknown for being business oriented, and cheapskates. And highly disloyal to Madrid. lol. All Spaniards have a bit of the anarchist in them. They really do. Even the super conservatives have a streak of anarchy in them. I should know I met a lot. Charming, silver tongue, cheeky, and traditional mixed with irreverence. Interesting lot. Puerto Ricans are so different from the Spaniards. Like I told AndyJ3 we wear Spanish masks and behind those masks there are African souls with no respect for tradition, just love of freedom, and expressiveness and a warm looseness without any of the old heaviness of Spanish Roman Catholicism. It is a curious mix. And a fine one. One made for the tropics and for the history of the entire Caribbean region. Out of many forging the one. There is no beating around the bush with Ricans. Not like Mexicans at all. You can be weeks with Mexicans and they will beat around the bush, be stoic and quiet and enigmatic as all hell, and won't tell you anything until you are hit with something you never knew about till the end. Totally different styles. The Mexican is wearing a Spanish mask with an Aztecan and Mayan soul underneath the mask. With all the complexity an old Native American Mesoamerican ancient culture has. Ricans are straight forward, irreverent unapologetic unrepressed Africans with some Spanish veneer. But somehow we all understand each other in a way. Must be all that trouble those damn Spaniards caused us for such a long time!! Lol.



I think it probably a cultural difference; we are both products of very different societies with very different histories, and it would be very surprising if this did not impact on our views considerably, but I am afraid my knowledge of Puerto Rico is not anywhere near good enough for me to give a very considered opinion on this matter



I am interested in what you mean by upper middle class values. It seems to me a term that could be difficult to define. Class is essentially an issue of status, but is not necessarily an economic issue. Income on the other hand is an economic issue, but not always related to class. In England there have been periodic outcries because the ‘wrong sort’ of people have started making money, the Essex man stereotype is a good example of this. Thankfully class is not much of an issue in Scotland, and it is becoming much less of an issue in England.

PRgirl: Good idea to explore later on you and I. I will take it up for discussion. The UK has a long tradition of classism.



Oh dear, speaking of cultural differences I think the above is unfortunately a fine example. I doubt very many Scottish kids would show any such enthusiasm for a foreign language. They would probably regard it with the same amount of enthusiasm as tidying up their bedrooms or doing household chores.

PRgirl: Not if the Scottish kid were living in Spain and his parents spoke English to him at home but the entire world outside of home spoke Spanish. Then he or she would think it important to learn. All kids want to be part of the greater society they occupy. But the Latino kids all like learning new things. But they keep so many things that are traditional too.



With regard to the reformation, it happened independently in Scotland and England. Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church, but he was not strictly speaking a protestant. Henry’s break with Rome came a quarter of a century before Scotland’s reformation, and it was more about diminishing papal power over England than Henry getting a divorce. In Scotland Henry VIII’s nephew King James V criticised his uncles “Lutheran madness”, The Scottish reformation came several decades later than England in 1558, and happened very quickly (the same year the Catholic Queen Mary of England died and her sister Elizabeth came to the throne).

At the time of the Scottish reformation Mary Queen of Scots was in her minority (and living in Catholic France, where she had married the dauphin Francois in 1558 and became Queen of France in 1559, though her husband died in 1560), and the country was ruled by Mary’s mother Marie of Guise. Historically Scotland has had a lot of minorities, and these can lead to weak governance, Marie of Guise was a catholic but she had to compromise with the Protestant party in Scotland in order to get the green light for the marriage to the dauphin. That allowed the Protestant party to grow in power, and when they needed military aid they appealed to Elizabeth of England (which she did finally send), and that allowed the French/Catholic influnce on Scotland to be broken.

Eventually Mary Queen of Scots would give bith to yet another James, and he would gain the English throne upon the death of Elizabeth in England, but that’s the end of todays Scottish History lesson.






I believe you can actually buy it here, though they charge in pounds sterling. Did you know there was a program on British TV suggesting that Black Gospel music had it origins in Gaelic psalm singing? I watched the program and thought it was inconclusive, though the producers seemed to think otherwise, but needless to say it has not gone down well in some quarters!

I shall have a look at the Museo de Arte de Ponce website. Hasta luego [/quote]


PRgirl: Something to be explored when I get back again. I got a busy week. But I love your posts. I am always happy with anticipation when I see your screename in this thread. Got me hooked on Scottish Economist in Glasgow suburb charm. Never would have thought so!!

[TheScottishEconomist]

Originally Posted by PRgirl

Oh, SE, my husband is spoiled. He really is. I have catered to his tastes in food for YEARS. Worry about if he will like the appetizers or the soup or the salad or the low sugar desserts, or the tropical fruit concoctions. But it takes so much work!! And Angelica (his mother) was a lousy cook. I hated to tell him that but she was!! He finally confessed to me as we exercised the dog and I did some work for next week, that one of the great joys of being married for him was my cooking. When I go off for my anthropological research and things and leave him alone he calls me at least four times a day. Usually around meal times, and tells me everything tastes like sawdust and tasteless and how life is not worth living without my cooking...how can I not cater to him?

You clearly have spoiled him! This is what you should do in order to wean him off it: gradually lower the standards of your cooking, and keep doing this until he complains that his mother could have done better!

Problem solved

[TheScottishEconomist]

Originally Posted by PRgirl

I found a rare black and white OLD filmstrip from the 1970's with an old classic salsa song entitled, "Todo tiene su final" "Everything has an ending". Which emphasizes that we are all mortal and will die someday. The little boy dancing in the video made me smile. Because that is exactly how I used to dance to that song with my father when I was about that little boys age. Lol. I guess we do come out dancing right out of our cots. Lol.

I really enjoyed that performance, I have now got the song and the rhythm in my head. I found the lyrics to it online:

Todo tiene
su final
nada dura
para siempre

tenemos
que recordar
que no existe
eternidad.

Como
el lindo clavel
sólo
quizo florecer

y enseñarnos
su belleza
y marchito
perecer.

Todo tiene
su final
nada dura
para siempre

tenemos
que recordar
que no existe
eternidad.

Como
el campeón
mundial
dio su vida
por llegar

y perder
lo más querido
en la masa
es otro más.

Eeh
alalalele
lelele
todo tiene
su final.

(Todo tiene
su final)
si no me quieres
dímelo ahora

(todo tiene
su final)
a mi velorio
no venga a llorar
no, no.

(Todo tiene
su final)
ay mamita rica

(todo tiene
su final)
yo sabía
que un día
tenía
que acabar.

(Todo tiene
su final)
punto final
todo se acabó

Warning: Appalling translation ahead Might be an idea just to skip this bit.

Everything has
its end
nothing lasts
for always

we have
that to remember
that it does not exist
eternity.

Like
pretty clavel
only
quizo to bloom

and to teach to us
its beauty
and withered
to perish.

Everything has
its end
nothing lasts
for always

we have
that to remember
that it does not exist
eternity.

Like
the champion
world-wide
he gave his life
to arrive

and to lose
the most wanted
in the mass
he is another one more.

Eeh
alalalele
lelele
everything has
its end.

(Everything has
its end)
if you do not want to me
I occurred it now

(everything has
its end)
to my velorio
it does not come to cry
no, no.

(Everything has
its end)
ay mamita rich

(everything has
its end)
I knew
that a day
it had
that to finish.

(Everything has
its end)
full stop
everything finished

(everything has
its end)
and it is going to arrive
a demon
atomic
and he is going to clean to you.

(Everything has
its end)
because everything
it has his end

(everything has
its end)
it throws pa´lante
it sucks.

Ay I lost
the most wanted
when I lost
to my mother.

(Everything has
its end)
but I followed
pa´lante
and pa´lante

(everything has
its end)
ay, like I
I never threw
pa back.

(Everything has
its end)
nor pa cogel
impulse
what goes

(everything has
its end)
cuidao that
the back
they can to you
to attack.

(Everything has
its end)
it throws pa´lante
cowardly

(everything has
its end)
it walks and it sees
búscate the bread.

(Everything has
its end)
I hear a voice
that it says to me

(everything has
its end)
cuidao
earth goes
to shake
earth goes
to shake.

It is the rhythm combined with the brass and the slight tinge of melancholy that pervades the whole song. I spotted Willie Colon (he also does backing vocals I see).

Yes I liked the little boy in the cargo beanie hat too! I suppose to you the music is the kind of thing you are used to, though to me it sounds very exotic and makes me think of a more colourful and passionate culture (which of course it is).

Originally Posted by PRgirl

NO latin rythym growing in you eh? HA! I knew it. Lol. You don't have to lie to me. I know you don't go for that sort of thing.

Ah yes, but that was before I seen the girl in the pink! She could certainly persuade me otherwise (oh Lord why was I not born in Puerto Rico?).

Originally Posted by PRgirl

SE, I just opened this link and that song, "Vamos Rumbero" it made me smile so much. The girl in pink with the hip action!! I think I danced with her brother a long time ago!! I recognized her style!!

I watched that too, and what can I say, during that short clip my enthusiasm increased ten fold! That girl in the pink wasn't raised by Presbyterians I can tell you! (I must tell you one day of the multitude of things the Presbyterians didn't approve of, though as a general rule of thumb if it gave you pleasure it was a no no). However in that second clip, if I did that to a woman I was dancing with I would probably get my face slapped! Though of course I never do dance.

Originally Posted by PRgirl

The ones like David Byrne who venture into that world, the Latin art world (music, dance, painting, literature, poetry, etc.) They become totally fanatical about it. They love it!

And who can blame them? Btw David Byrne is sort of Scottish; he was born in Dumbarton, though he grew up in New York.

Hasta luego

[PRgirl]

Originally Posted by TheScottishEconomist

You clearly have spoiled him! This is what you should do in order to wean him off it: gradually lower the standards of your cooking, and keep doing this until he complains that his mother could have done better!

Problem solved

PRgirl: Oh SE, you don't know the half of it. I try to keep everything very fresh and work from scratch almost everything I serve. I bought a food processor and a really great blender and all my equipment (top of the line), so it is easier to do. But the really traditional stuff still requires la tostonera, and el pilon and all the labor intensive stuff. Sometimes when I had a long day at work, I open the fridge and see if the dough I left to rise is just right for baking, and I decide to make pasta (cuz it is fast), and I boil the water and add the pasta, and then I make the sauce from scratch, I cut fresh tomatoes season them with olive oil and salt and white pepper and add cut basil from my herb garden and so on and cut fresh green and red and yellow bell peppers into strips a little red wine, crushed garlic and I make the little meatballs with a lot of care. But he doesn't like it. He doesn't like pasta. I tell him I try to make the sauce really nice and the pasta is just a little filler. He doesn't like it. He wants rice or yautia masa, ayacas or alcapurrias. Those are so hard to make! You have to grate them by hand and soak them and work them and season them and tweak them. They are tropical vegetables that require a lot of processing to make. They take atleast three hours to process. And I can't use any of the modern equipment on those veggies. Too delicate. But he insists on it. He breaks my heart cuz I serve him the pasta and he ignores it and makes a face! The bread is fresh and he eats that. And the salad too. I make the dressing from scratch. Balsamic vinegar with white rice wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and some seasoning and salt and mix it. If the vegetables for the salad are not finely diced and the arugula and the spinach and lettuce and red onion and so on with the slivered almonds are not very finely chopped he doesn't like it either. And he only does that to me. He eats big leafy salads not finely chopped with other friend's who cook, but not with me. He doesn't like cucumbers, or celery, pasta, and prefers pink beans over black beans. He likes my Japanese food. But only the highly difficult dishes that take me two days to do. I tried a delicious simple miso and tofu with lemongrass recipe soup the other day with him, and he ate it but prefers the Chile Poblano with cheese and cream soup that is VERY labor intensive. Two days to make that soup. He wants the hard to make soup on a weeknight. I think I will take your advice then SE. Let him eat some crap American Gringo stuff for a while. Let him suffer. Maybe then he won't be such a complainer about the little stuff like the dried pasta cooked.

Oh, but I love him so much SE. I love to please him. Make him happy. He is such a sweet man. Why oh why do I let him manipulate me in the kitchen?? I do love to cook and it is not as hard for me to do as other women friends of mine who hate the kitchen!! But even Laura thinks I spoil him way too much and that he needs to be less demanding. And consider how much work goes into all that cooking JUST for him. He doesn't like red cabbage, or chicken served without rice. He adores elaborate rice dishes that take forever like Paella. Mine won big bucks in a cookoff competition. The second runner up got mad as hell!! She was a Spanish lady and thought since it was a Spanish dish she should have won! But no...she lost. My secret weapon? Ajies dulces. They only grow in the tropics and kick all the competition to the curb due to its complex flavor. It was a secret my grandmother gave me. And it beat her paella. Plus I never use powdered saffron. She did. I go for the live threads wrapped in paper. She was angry!! HAHA. I got the prize money and I am going to buy those little girls I tutor a big dollhouse with all the accessories for Christmas. All from the prize money!! And a pair of fancy salsa dancing shoes I have been eyeing for a while and lacked the funds for!!

Don't you think he should be less demanding and more lenient with me SE? At least with the mid week meals? Don't you?

I will be back to translate the song lyrics of "Todo tiene su final" for you. And lots more. I got to go. But will be back. Let me see if Andy responded to my "train" description for me.

Oh SE, it is so funny what you said about face slapped! Andy said the same when I told him I had my butt pinched by strange men on the public bus on a regular basis in PR. I don't like that part. Lol. But for the most part, I love the culture. It is a lot of fun. Some men dancers though, you can fall in love with them just by how they lead. How they touch you and how they handle the dance. But it is just dancing. Not anything else. How many 'piropos' I had to endure in Puerto Rico? Many, some very nice and with great taste. And others in poor taste and crude. Lol. But women are always noticed by men in our culture. I think my husband said it best "Oh, those Puerto Rican women. With their beautiful bodies, their warm hearts, fine cooking, intelligence and charm and they still cater to us all the time...how can we not find them the loveliest things on earth and not worth dying for? I thought maybe the USA had beautiful women. I did not know how beautiful our women were till I left."

Yeah, as long as sticks to the one that adores him the most. Lol. Oh, SE, protestant or not. All men who are not gay, enjoy the uniqueness of women. If they have male hearts and minds they do.

[PRgirl]

Originally Posted by TheScottishEconomist

I really enjoyed that performance, I have now got the song and the rhythm in my head. I found the lyrics to it online:

Todo tiene
su final
nada dura
para siempre

tenemos
que recordar
que no existe
eternidad.

Como
el lindo clavel
sólo
quizo florecer

y enseñarnos
su belleza
y marchito
perecer.

Todo tiene
su final
nada dura
para siempre

tenemos
que recordar
que no existe
eternidad.

Como
el campeón
mundial
dio su vida
por llegar

y perder
lo más querido
en la masa
es otro más.

Eeh
alalalele
lelele
todo tiene
su final.

(Todo tiene
su final)
si no me quieres
dímelo ahora

(todo tiene
su final)
a mi velorio
no venga a llorar
no, no.

(Todo tiene
su final)
ay mamita rica

(todo tiene
su final)
yo sabía
que un día
tenía
que acabar.

(Todo tiene
su final)
punto final
todo se acabó



It is the rhythm combined with the brass and the slight tinge of melancholy that pervades the whole song. I spotted Willie Colon (he also does backing vocals I see).

PRgirl: Yes SE. Very perceptive as usual. It has that melancholy. But it is a song of great rythm. Willie does it all. The man is talented. He does classical, salsa, and everything in between.

Yes I liked the little boy in the cargo beanie hat too! I suppose to you the music is the kind of thing you are used to, though to me it sounds very exotic and makes me think of a more colourful and passionate culture (which of course it is).

PRgirl: To me that music is as much a part of my life as an arm or a leg. I grew up with it. And I would miss its absence. That is why I have so many songs I collect. To keep my entire memories of my life alive. For songs are like little time capsules too. They transport you to parts of your life don't they? Oh passionate culture. Yes, lots of kisses, hugs, camarederie and constant warmth. I think it makes many of us very open emotionally and so easy for us to express love and appreciation for each other. It is so easy to love old people, children and little animals with no restraint because we got so much of it when we were little ourselves. It is a cycle. For good or bad many emotionally rooted teachings in a culture set a pattern for the future. For good or bad.



Ah yes, but that was before I seen the girl in the pink! She could certainly persuade me otherwise (oh Lord why was I not born in Puerto Rico?).

PRgirl:Hmm, why I am not surprised? I did tell you if you learned you would meet beautiful girls. Did you think I was lying to you? Lol. Why wasn't I born in Scotland? Cuz I was destined to fall in love with your culture Scottish Economist precisely because of its differences with mine. We were meant to be different. Though I have known SO many men from non-Latino cultures who just adore the women in Latin cultures. They get all the benefits of it. The women who love to cater to the men. The prettiness, femininity, and all the rest, and the women from our culture get men who are not as machista and who appreciate more the love and care we take in taking care of our husbands and family. Most find a lot to love there. It is the Latino men who don't like the non-Latin women much. Lol. I wonder why? Lol. I know why, those Gringas would throw some hamburger helper on a paper plate, not iron any shirts and the Latin man had better not complain one damn bit!! Lol. The marriages that last I have seen are the Anglo men with the Puerto Rican women. The Puerto Rican men with the Anglo wives rarely last long. They are not particularly attentive and deferential and expect the male to cooperate in the home more. Lol. Disaster in the making!



I watched that too, and what can I say, during that short clip my enthusiasm increased ten fold! That girl in the pink wasn't raised by Presbyterians I can tell you! (I must tell you one day of the multitude of things the Presbyterians didn't approve of, though as a general rule of thumb if it gave you pleasure it was a no no). However in that second clip, if I did that to a woman I was dancing with I would probably get my face slapped! Though of course I never do dance.


PRgirl: Raised by Presbyterians? No way!! Even the Christian evangelical groups from the states that opened churches in Puerto Rico to steal the flock from the Roman Catholic church had to drop the ban on music! No music NO PUERTO RICAN converts period. Instead all those Protestant Puerto Rican churches got salsero bands all over the place!! They tried to ban makeup and jewelry on the women and certain foods. That did not go over at all either!! I wonder who adapted? The church did in my opinion!! The love of all pleasures is endemic to us. Take the pleasures out, might as well fold up shop and consider yourself without recruits. Dancing is the devil's playground? If you said that might as well say all fun is the devil. Bring on VEJIGANTE then!! The DEVIL is gonna win!!


And who can blame them? Btw David Byrne is sort of Scottish; he was born in Dumbarton, though he grew up in New York.

Hasta luego

I will translate the "Todo Tiene Su Final" Now. You cutie you!!

[PRgirl]

Translation:

Todo Tiene su Final.

Everything has an ending,
nothing lasts forever,

We must remember,
that eternity doesn't exist,

Like the lovely carnation
It only wants to bloom,

And show off its beauty,
and then wilt and perish,

Everything has an ending,
nothing lasts forever,

We must remember,
that eternity doesn't exist,

Like the world champion (boxing)
that gives his all to achieve,
and to lose
in the attempt
in the crowd of people
becomes just another soul,

Everything has an ending,
nothing lasts forever,

Everything has an ending,
If you don't love me, tell me now.

Everything has an ending,
To my wake don't you come to cry.
NO NO.

Everything has an ending,
Beautiful mamita,

Everything has an ending
I knew one day it all had to end,

Everything has an ending
period and its over.

I lost my mother,
that which I most adored
in this world
and there is no going back,
not even to try to catch some momentum

Forward only is the path of life,
looking back is for cowards.

Notes on the song:

Scottish Economist, again wakes in the older traditons of the island were happy occassions in which one celebrates a life lived. No matter how briefly it was lived. Mamita rica---is an endearment said to a beautiful Puerto RIcan girl by her lover or husband or boyfriend. For the loveliest thing to be in our culture is a 'little mother' or papito--'little father'. In truth I think our culture is superficially patriarchical. But in reality it is a matriarchy. And most Puerto Rican men know that. Women are trusted to run so many things. The highest office in the land is the Governor's office. And a woman was elected recently for that. More than half of all judges including the top judges on the island are women. The lawyers and doctors about half are women. Have you heard of the Italian cultural modes of the 'mamalone'? Of the mama's boys in Italy? Where Mama was all important for the Italian men? It is the same in Puerto Rico, Cuba, etc. How easy it is for me to understand Italian society Scottish Economist. Especially that absolute love Italian mothers have for their sons and how much they cater to them. It is the same with us. Yet the men in our society really if they are in good shape mentally and physically and emotionally, really do have a lot of love and respect for us in their way. And they literally say that without us women, life sucks. Lol.

But it is a sensual culture. In everyway. Things of the flesh are loved. Sunbathing, swimming, fishing in the deep sea, dancing, eating, laughing, drinking, music, poetry, oral traditions, watching pretty girls walk by and making comments. Lots of time spent on designing clothes or jewelry or hairstyles and fragrance and being social. Closing businesses at any excuse of a holiday. USA holidays are observed along with Puerto Rican holidays. Double doses of holidays. In fact, if I told you how many official holidays in which banks close and restaurants close and etc. closes down you would be shocked. Too many for real respect of making money only. You tell me that is a culture that is all about efficiency and profit? NO. Lol. Puerto Ricans want to make a living but never at the expense of family life, fun, and sensuality. No. Give it all up before you give up the good stuff!

Other things like meditation and so much more is growing in followers. As long as it feels good it will have a market in Puerto Rico. Massage therapy? A hit. Health food, and fitness? A hit. New warm weather sports? A hit. Flower arrangement and exotic gardening? A hit. Skimpy outfits for women? A hit. New perfume? A hit. Jewelry designers? A hit. Exotic cuisine? A hit. Working too long hours in an office? A flop. Fiery politics and rumble in the jungle? A hit. Boring speeches on how to make more money--like you see in the USA on late night TV. A flop. Scrimping and being cheap with your time, money or favors with people you love? A flop.

In fact, now that I reflect deeply on our culture Scottish Economist, we need people precisely like you are to give the culture a much needed reasonable and lovely balance to its absolutely over sensual loves.

I am no exception to the love of sensuality either. I love all things that are pleasurable to the senses and I am not going to deny it either. And won't change. No. I love fine food. Lots of fine exercise. Beautiful paso fino horses and dogs and animals of all sorts, beautiful flowers. My husband and sex. I love it all. And I am not going to be repressed about it. No Senor. If they want to live worried about pleasures are bad. They aren't living and need to sing that song up there...."Todo tiene su final" and sieze the damn day and enjoy everything made for letting you know it is good to be alive at this time in life!

What do people do when they live their lives 'a medias' half way? They are worried about crying too hard, or laughing too hard, or dancing too much. Why? That is precisely what relieves tension and gives you the relaxation needed to tackle the troubles that all of us in life have in abundance. What is so hard about kissing a child a lot and hugging them and letting them know you adore them? Or over petting a dog? Or breathing in your husband's skin's fragrance and enjoying his very essence and his breathing and his very pores. Or the taste of a ripe mango melting on your tongue and its sweet pungent juice dripping all over your chin? Or the warmth of the sun and the heat of water. The smell of lilies and roses? Laughing until your voicebox is hoarse from the laughter. Is that not one was made to do on this earth filled with colors, and sounds, and tastes and touches and sights? Why must you repress that which is made to be noticed? I don't get it. And never will. All those Protestant holy roller repressed types aren't gonna get me as a recruit. Guaranteed. Or those Muslims either. Any religion with too many restrictions aint gonna get many recruits in Borinquen. Though I noticed many Scottish types aren't into religion much either. And the Scots have a lot of music inside of them. So much. They just need a little tiny bit of encouragement (like a girl in pink....LOL) and they might be easy to convince!!



Look at this couple. It says it all. He is atleast in his fifties and likes his food obviously. Does that stop him from bouncing around and having fun? No.

http://www.justsalsa.com/movies/

then go to Eddie Torres & Maria. And it will open in real player. BTW, the singer for that song is a guy by the name of Oscar De Leon. A Venezuelan from Caracas who used to be a taxi driver and became a salsa singer extraordinaire.

http://www.rhapsody.com/oscardleon

you can sample some of his tunes there too.

Puerto Rican men love those bodies. My husband still remembers when he was hanging out in the plaza near his humble home when a beautiful gray Rolls Royce pulled up and a famous showgirl in Puerto Rico stepped out of the car and smiled at him. He automatically waved. He must have been about 16 years old. He said he did not know his brain could stop functioning at such a sight. How predictable. My grandfather used to watch this woman's show on Sundays at 8pm like clockwork. I wonder why? I know why.....see?



Another thing Scottish Economist, Puerto Rican men don't like stick thin women. They just don't. It is all about the rear end with them. And all that African and Spanish, French, and Indigenous mixture comes up with these women famous for their rear ends all over the world. I don't know why. It just is. Jennifer Lopez famous for what? Her rear end. 100% Puerto Rican woman DNA. I find it all kind of theatrical. No one takes all that show seriously. No one is offended by a lot of skin being shown. Fundamentalist Islam would be shocked to its very foundation!! People on the island just laugh--at all that repressiveness. Sure there are some conservative Protestants rolling around. But if you go to the church? All they do is dance and scream and sing and the salsa band goes crazy. The pastor is fiery and telling people to get rid of their sins---it is all so passionate and sensual!! Not repressed either. Lol. Not like the protestant churches I have seen in the states. With the exception of gospel churches in the Black community with their passionate singing. But they dress covered up. I don't know. Too much fondness for all that is sensual is very much part of the Puerto Rican character and it is unlikely to change for a LONG time. Lol. If at all. Maybe it's the weather too.



I even remember an auto coolant commercial on TV when I was a kid, featuring the showgirl above. She stopped cuz her car was overheating and she bends over and pours the auto coolant in the vehicle and some Puerto Rican guy says, "Iris, what brand of---(and he forgets the brand and looks somewhere else)--" And she smiles and says---"Auto Coolant Amalie es el mejor. Te gusta mi coolant?" It is all a play on words. "Coolant" is similar to the word for rear end in Spanish. Well needless to say she sold A LOT OF AUTO coolant Amalie in Puerto Rico. Too many feminists only see the surface,it is the objectification of women. The truth is that would be true if women were not at a par with men in education, positions of power locally and etc. That is not the case. And ask the men and they have no problem with letting women be leaders back home. That is not the case in Mexico at all! Or many other nations. National Geographic wrote an article a while back. It said in summation, "Puerto Rican women are extremely feminine, and strong, and willful, and they rule. One might think this society is macho oriented. In truth the women run the show with an iron fist inside a velvet glove!!" Lol.