If you can't make it in paradise, then where will you make it? What is the connection between Puerto Rico and Texas? At first thought, most people would answer not much at all....It was the first day of school and I was sitting in my 1st grade classroom in Puerto Rico. There I was along with all the other first graders. Ordinarily the first day could be frightening at that age, and frightening it was because my past experience in school was kindergarten in snowy Fairbanks, Alaska.
Dad, a professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks accepted a new job at The University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras. It was a funny sight in Puerto Rico when mom and dad loaded up all six of us kids in the the big yellow and wood grain Ford station wagon with Alaskan plates.
Dad took over a year before he decided he better get Puerto Rican plates. Maybe it had something to do with us getting pulled over by the police several times. It was always a memorable occasion listening to dad explaining the Alaskan license plates in half English and half Spanish.
"Hoy vamos a empezar la classe con un introducciรณn", meaning "today we will start class by introducing yourself" said the teacher. Well, I only knew that because introductions started at the front of the class and they kept moving down my row. Don't they know I can't speak any Spanish? Apparently not, or they didn't care. The only words I could remember were "ecuela publica" meaning, "public school". Naturally, when it was my turn, after some hesitation, and a long pause I remember saying " I'm Michael escuela publica". There was a pause and then a sudden eruption of classroom laughter. After motioning lowering her hands a few times to the class to stop the ruccas, she said "what is your name in English?" I answered, "My name is Michael Schaefer". Well, irregardless, the rest of the school year, "escuela publica" was my nick name.
There are many more interesting occurrences I will tell you about later. But I tell ya, Puerto Rico was a great place for a 6 year old boy to spend the next five years. At that young of an age, learning the language is a snap, and before I knew it, I was fluent in Spanish after about 3 months.
That was about 39 years ago, but you know, I can still speak fluent Spanish today. Ahh, Spanish, the romantic language of the world...it really comes in handy sometimes, just ask my wife. Now I'm married, 45 years old, and have 4 boys with one in high school and three of them in college. The boys grew up in Pearland, the town that started out as a pear orchard farming community over 106 years ago. Although the 1900, and 1915 hurricanes destroyed all the pear tree business...to this day there are very few pear trees, no more pear trees than any other town, per say. I love Pealand, TX. It is a great place just 15 minutes from Houston and about 45 minutes from the Galveston beaches.
I also hold the memories of fantastic childhood events and adventures in Puerto Rico. I often recall the sites, smells, and sounds of La Isla Del Encanto, meaning, the island of charm.
A Spanish century guard station at El Morro in San Juan
This is the first day of my blog. If you like reading some or most of this blog, you are in for a treat. Not only am I going to reveal some interesting aspects of both Texas and Puerto Rico, but I will also have some more Michael Schaefer stories that may even be amusing. :-) Look for some fantastic subjects of life, money, family, news events, and politics (not necessarily in that order). Also, this will be your blog to prosperity in your life. There will be financial opportunity here as well so that there will always be something to look foreword to.
I will talk to you again in a in a short while
