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With tears in my eyes, I stopped! The words were too sad, so sad that I had the image flashing in my head while my heart was pounding in my chest. I was "living" the story... the empty bed... I was so brokenhearted that I had to translate this tango into English and share it in my website. The sadness lies in "the fallacy of friendship" and the fact that the words of the song are so true... so moving that you can't avoid "living" the story.  DJ  READ the FALLACY

What Love Really Is
by Don Jibaro Orlando
Parenthetically speaking, the love we share with others goes with an invisible clause that makes us believe that such love will be returned or reciprocated. That fallacy makes us vulnerable to be hurt WHEN IT'S NOT. Is it possible then to love and expect next to nothing or not much or very little?

We make mistakes and then we HURT inside; pain that we cause ourselves by not knowing how to LOVE one another. YES, not knowing. You might say, "Nonsense".... but what I might not know in practice, I do know in theory. Love is the gracious (unmerited to others) self-giving of ourselves as unselfish human care. NO debate needed. READ ALL ABOUT IT

e see  over the centuries that flattery, lying, pretending or living on borrowed glory has created a way of life for most people who honestly believe that must not be all that bad.

Puerto Rican HISTORY 101
USA colonists had developed large sugar plantations and "centrales" and had the capital to invest in the Atlantic slave trade, but when the land got dry the plants were closed and the industry move to the Philippines... BESIDES, In comparison to the different states of the United States, Puerto Rico is poorer than Mississippi (the poorest state of the U.S.) with 41% of its population below the poverty line.



FURTHERMORE... Manufacturing sugar in Puerto Rico was no longer profitable by the late 40s. We can argue that local economic policy was responsible for the industry’s demise. In the 1930s and 1940s, the local Puerto Rican government enacted policies to stifle the growth of large cane-farms. As a result, starting in the late 1930s, farm size fell, mechanization of farms essentially ceased, and the Puerto Rican sugar industry’s productivity rapidly declined until the industry collapsed. by the late 50s... SO... DOES THAT LOOK LIKE the profits stayed in the ISLAND?

When I was a kid, Sugar, Tobacco and Coffee were KING and held the industry HIGH up, but by the late 1960s not even the large pharmaceuticals like Eli Lilly could save the local economy. It's colonial pattern... The Puerto Rican debt crisis is an ongoing financial crisis related to the amount of debt owed by the government of Puerto Rico. The island has more than $70 billion USD of outstanding debt, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 68%.... IT'S SCARY !!!
MORE on HISTORY

Bitterness and Resentment
Edited by Don Jibaro
Bitterness is the response of anger or hatred toward the perception of unfairness of wrong done to or FROM people; triggered by anger, spite, and contempt directed toward a perceived higher-status; or a perceived equal-status that differs from one's opinion. Contempt plays the part of anger directed toward a perceived lower-status individual who's OK but not as good as one's status.

People who tend to be bitter do so without realizing the damage that it does to self. Imagine having your brain tied in a knot or kicking your foot against a big thorn or an anvil. READ MORE

Don Jíbaro's Daughter:
Missionary in Mexico

DON JIBARO'S NOTE: Frances, after a successful missionary quest in Cuba in 2009, has embarked in a new endeavor: Mexico, where she'll be teaching deaf and mute children.

Here's her story:
"At the age of 18, while listening to a missionary speak at a youth camp, God touched my heart and opened my eyes to a broken world that needed to experience His transforming love. At that moment, I knew I wanted to "travel the world for Jesus" and the mission field would be my goal. It would be at age 30 where I would be spiritually mature enough to take that first step of faith towards making it a lifestyle. Little did I realize that I have been taking steps of faith throughout my life preparing me for this moment. I believe this is an act of obedience to the Lord and a huge leap of faith to pursue such an opportunity.   READ STORY

Hypocrisy: Do We Hate Phonies?
by Don Jibaro
hyp·o·crite —ˈhipəkrit/ noun
a person who indulges in hypocrisy — synonyms: pretender, dissembler, deceiver, liar, pietist, sanctimonious person, plaster saint;

A simple Definition of hypocrite: a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs Many Puerto Ricans who are born outside of Puerto Rico get a real thrill when they finally get to visit the island for the first time. It's like "seeing the bride that you've been betrothed to all your life." READ MORE

DROP the  RICAN ACCENT Dept.
To Be Understood in the USA, You Must Kill the Words as You Pronounce Them

In the early 1950s, Puerto Rico had just become an official "Commonwealth" of the U.S.A. and we, as children, learned English as a supplemental way to enrich our horizons. Inasmuch as it was mandatory in public schools, we didn't "need" to learn it, but when we did, we learned the "classic" verbiage. We read "Dick and Jane" ad learned to pronounce the words properly in case we ever needed to come to the States.

"Run, Spot, run." —said Jane
"Run fast, Spot." —said Dick
Well, we came to the States and nobody spoke like that. Everyone spoke... idioms, slang, dialects, lingo, mumbo-jumbo... etc.

Today we kill the words in the English language... which is nothing new. We kill the words differently than our ancestors did. Shakespeare spins within his grave. READ MORE

HOW TO SPEAK AMERICANO III Dept.
What's an Oxymoron?
Edited by Don Jibaro
Along with the Spanish, I studied proper English and it's literature in the schools of Puerto Rico from 1952 to 1964. My teachers made shure that the phonetics and dictions were executed flawlessly.

However when I came to USA in 1973, I found that English was spoken much different to the stuff I had learned. They had stuff called "SLANG that could be used to fit on any lirterary exchange. But that's another story. Behold! I now bring you the American Oximoron, a set of words dedicated to and spoken by the idiots that roam the land...

An oxymoron (plural "oxymora")
(noun - not to be confused with Oxymoron (band).) is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms (e.g. "anarchy rules"). Oxymoron is a Greek term derived from the adjectives oxys ("sharp, keen") and moros ("blunt, dull"). Oxymora are a proper subset of the expressions.... READ MORE

Glossary of Boricua Cooking Terms
(Thanks to Hector Valera) 
A Caballo - a folkloric expression that means a plate of rice and beans with a fried egg "mounted" on top.
Aceite con Achiote - annatto oil.
Aceite de Maiz - corn oil
Aceituna - olive. The olive most used in Puerto Rico is the manzanilla, which is a pitted green olive stuffed with pimiento.
Acelga - Swiss chard. Used to make caldo Gallego (Galician Soup)

Acerola - West Indian or Bardados cherry. This fruit is best known for its high vitamin C content. Traditionally it was used to make refresco de acerola, or acerola juice.

Achiote or Achote - annatto seeds.
Achiotera - a container used to store annatto oil with its seeds. The oil is heated every time it is needed so the seeds can release their yellow color.

Arroz y Habichuelas - rice and beans
SEE MORE TERMS

Let Jesus Christ into Your Life
by Don Jíbaro
Is Jesus Christ really part of your lives
or is He just an Icon at Easter and Christmas?

We "talk the talk" and more often than not, we "walk the walk."  It's consequently and imperative that we get to know that part of our culture that our ancestors staked the essence of their existence on... their faith in The Lord Jesus! Yes, Jesus Christ is Lord to at least 2.35 BILLION humans throughout the world, even respected by those who don't even know Him. There's no doubt, we distinguish The Lord Jesus from other "deities". Your grandma knew that! READ MORE

The Amazing Power of Gratitude
There's Always Someone Worse Off Than You!
----by Don Jíbaro
The Gospel of Luke, chapter 17, tell us that Jesus passed through a village where ten lepers, men with a very serious skin disease, met Him. They stayed at a distance because they were not allowed to approach anyone who was healthy. From a distance they called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, master, have mercy on us!” As He told them to go and show themselves to the Priest, all ten men were healed, but only one returned to give thanks. “One of them, when he saw that he had been healed, came... READ MORE

" The proof of the pudding is not merely in the eating,
but in how you feel after you've eaten it." — Don Jibaro

The Flag Of Puerto Rico
The origins of the current flag of Puerto Rico, adopted by the commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1952, can be traced to 1868, when the first Puerto Rican flag, "The Revolutionary Flag of Lares", was conceived by Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances and embroidered by the great Mariana "Brazos de Oro" Bracetti. This flag was used in the short-lived Puerto Rican revolt against Spanish rule in the island, known as "El Grito de Lares".  READ MORE

SPAM & EGGS
SPAM - Unwanted Email...
Clogged Bandwidth and the problem with “Cutesies” Special Commentary By Don Jibaro
y friend from Bayamón, Chebo and I no longer share the philosophy of life through email anymore. Now he just sends me "forwards" that he collects from the Internet or that people send to him. What once was a profound exchange of "nuggets of truth" between friends has become a bombardment of "cutesies". Cutesies (cute things) are those snippets that you get forwarded from someone who got it forwarded to him by someone who... well, you get the idea, don't you? READ MORE

My Incredible Tío Genaro
“Yo conozco el Buey Que Faja y La Víbora Que Pica.”  ("I know the bull that charges and the snake that bites.") —by Don Jibaro
The memories of my Uncle Genaro... go back to 1956, when I was eight years old living in El Barrio La Cambija in the town of Bayamón. His name was Genaro Reyes Vázquez and he was blind, but he wasn’t always blind. Before suffering glaucoma, the eye disease that blinded him, my uncle was a picturesque man that knew everyone in town and everyone knew him. He never got married. Instead he traveled about the island of Puerto Rico by bus or “pisicorre pública” (sort of station wagon taxi that many people share in one trip). He loved to go to the town’s “plaza” and watch the old timers play dominó… while holding his chin with one hand, elbow with the other hand and muttering “Mmmm” occasionally. He seldom played, but he knew a lot of “tranques” (blocks). READ MORE

The Art of  Pleasing Others
Oh, I've gotten Hell on Earth for voicing my opinion here and there... Sometimes I feel like I need to buy me a shotgun and shoot the computer.... ...and just go back a notepad and a pencil. But you know, I can't live by myself, I'm too gregarious to not even have a dog that I could boss around... "Mira, apéate del sofá, sato asqueroso..."

Consequently, I compromise... I go to my psychiatrist who teaches me the two arts: the art of conquering misanthropy (no offense) and the art of fitting into an environment I don't like it!!!... My neighbors, they all wanna lock me up. So what do I do? Compromise! That's what I do, yes sir! Compromise is a concept of finding agreement through communication, through a mutual acceptance of terms… yada yada —often involving variations from an original goal or desire… blah blah... and BLAH! READ DONKEY

The First Puerto Rican Astronaut
Ralph Acaba will never forget the day his son Joe called to let him know his life had astronomically changed. "He called me at work, so I answered as I used to do, 'Hi, this is Ralph,' and my job title," said the father, who was a private-school administrator. "He said, 'Hi, this is Joe, astronaut.' There are very few things in life that one remembers forever."

Nearly five years after that phone call, the Acaba family is counting the days until Joe's first trip aboard space shuttle Discovery, which is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 12. He'll be America's first astronaut of Puerto Rican descent.
READ STORY

¿Why Do We Worry?
by Don Jibaro
t has been said that there are two days that people worry most about but should actually worry least about: Yesterday and Tomorrow. We worry about yesterday - the mistakes we've made and what we would like to do over or differently. Yet, there is nothing we can do to change yesterday.

Our worries are wasted. Meaning? Give way to anxiety or unease; allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems. READ MORE

ASK DON JIBARO
Dear Jibaro
What does it mean "turn the other cheek"?
Curious

Dear Curious:
FIRST, It's Don Jibaro, oite?... Good question! It certainly doesn't mean that you go around gathering gasnatá handmarks on your face or be a dummy for all to abuse. The spirit of the remark, as stated in Luke 6:29, means that you don't have to pay evil for evil or seek revenge when someone wrongs you. That you can let one slide, or two or maybe three times if necessary. I know that's unusual but is not that difficult to do. I've done it and I still have my whole face.
Don Jibaro

The Amazing Gospel of Garlic!
To use the word “gospel” is no heresy… after all, the word "gospel" just means “Good News”
by Don Jíbaro
When I was a... ten year old child in Puerto Rico sometimes I’d eat dinner at my friend’s house next door, if I happened to be there at dinner time. My friend’s mother cooked the most delicious “arroz y habichuelas colorás” that I had ever tasted. Yummee! That lady could cook! Her rice and beans needed no meat! When I asked her how did she cooked such tasty beans and if I could learn to cook like that, she said her secret was “culantro y ajo” (coriander and garlic) but the main ingredient was garlic.
 
I was turned on to the marvelous world of Garlic by a passage in the Bible where the Hebrews don’t want to follow Moses anymore after he has given them the Ten Commandments. Instead, they want to go back to Egypt where, as slaves, they were kept strong for making bricks for the Pharaoh's pyramids with a diet of “garlic”. READ MORE

Breeding Ethnicity
By Mrs. Don Jíbaro
n our house, everyone knows that there is a Puerto Rican father living here. The neighbors know it. The congregation of our church knows that there is a Puerto Rican among them. My relatives know that I am married to a Puerto Rican. Even the people at my job know it! What does that tell you? He is who he is and he’s proud of it. In our house we eat Puerto Rican meals.

There are Puerto Rican flags in the living room along with wood photo plaques of typical country scenes adorning the walls: ceramic coquis, wooden pilones, lace fans and a three by one foot wooden clock in the shape of the island. READ MORE

HOW NOT 2 GET BEAT UP by POLICE
by Chris Rock:
"If the police stops you, for whatever reason,
SHUT your mouth and follow their instructions."

Pasteles
FILLING
two pounds boneless lean pork meat
six tablespoons sour orange juice.
In a pilón, crush and mix:
4 sweet chili peppers,w/o seeds
2 large cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp whole dried oregano
1 tbsp salt
4 fresh culantro leaves
Cut into cubes 1 lb lean cured ham
1 green pepper, seeded]
1 onion, peeled
1 can garbanzos, inc. liquid  = 1 cup water
24 green olives, stuffed with pimientos,
11/2 tbsp capers
6 tbsp Achiote

Wash and dry pork meat. Cut into very small cupes. Mix meat with sour orange juice. Add the crushed chili peppers, garlic, oregano, culantro leaves and salt.
Add also ham, onion and green pepper. In a sauacepan, bring to a boil everything including garbanzos, and water. Drain the liquid over the meat mixture . Remove skins from chickpeas and add chickpeas to the meat mixture. Add olives and capers. Add ingredients all together, mix well, cover and set in refrigerator until the masa is ready. MORE RECIPES HERE

The Ponce Massacre of 1937
was a police slaughtering over a peaceful civilian march, taking place in 21 March 1937 at 3:15 pm, in Palm Sunday, Ponce, Puerto Rico, that killed 19 people and wounded over 200 others. It is the largest massacre in Puerto Rican history. The march had been organized by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico by the governing Spanish National Assembly in 1873. The march was also protesting the U.S. government's imprisonment of the party's leader, Pedro Albizu Campos, on alleged sedition charges.  READ MORE

As an amateur historian, I have no intention of re-writing history... so please abstain from shooting in this direction if you happen to disagree with me. I just want to, if you'll allow me, add a little bit more of light unto the data we already have. Remember... "a picture is worth a thousand words." Therefore, memory is worth having, especially for those of us who weren't there.  If you travel to some areas in Puerto Rico, you might be able to see some traces of all those years ago. Everything was simple, significant and impacting. Your Grandma told you about those times. ¿Didn't she?

Caserio en Ponce 1942  --- The first housing projects were not concrete apartments as became in the 1950s and 60s, but individual houses with their own outhouses (letrinas) --- READ MORE

Love yourself... just in case nobody does.

Don't spread rumors, good or bad;
instead SPREAD Love and Kindness

Bingo The Dog Plays The Drums
 

Who Was Juan Tizol?
The Puerto Rican Trombonist that
Made up Duke Ellington's Band

One of my favorites jazz tunes of all times is "Caravan" but I never knew that the composer was a Puerto Rican. Juan Tizol was born in San Juan Puerto Rico on Jan. 22, 1900, started music lessons early, was trained as a valve trombonist and as a teenager played in the San Juan Municipal Band. Tizol moved to the U.S. in 1920 and became valve trombonist in the pit band of the Howard Theatre in Washington DC, was a member of the Marie Lucas Orchestra, Bobby Lee’s Cottonpickers, and the White Brothers Band. His big break came in August of 1929 when he joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra... READ MORE