Perspective

A Pediatrician Travels Back Home to Old San Juan

jOhanna viDal-Phelan, mD, mBa, FaaP, Chie

Since I was a young child growing up in Puerto Rico, I always wanted to be a pediatrician. At the age of seventeen, my dreams of becoming a doctor led me to move and pursue higher education in the mainland U.S., while my family remained on the island. During both my undergraduate and medical school years, I would travel back to the island frequently. After I met and married my husband, when our family grew by two (sons), and with my work responsibilities ever increasing, traveling to Puerto Rico is no longer a simple undertaking. The last time I went to Puerto Rico was in 2018, when our family took part in a missionary trip focused on the reconstruction of homes impacted by Hurricane Maria. Although we had planned another trip in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic complicated things greatly and prevented us from returning to Old San Juan for another two years. Four years is the longest time that I have ever been away from my beloved island. So, you can imagine just how excited I was to travel back to Puerto Rico with my family this past June 2022.

Returning to Puerto Rico is more than just a visit or a vacation for me. Traveling to the island restores my soul! When arriving to San Juan, the airplane passes above the islet where you can easily spot Old San Juan and Castillo San Felipe del Morro. Upon landing at the airport, don’t be surprised when people start clapping and cheering! It is a true celebration to return to the island of “Borinquen,” or “La Isla del Encanto,” as it is often called. I invite you to join in the commotion, as people from all over the world are often eager to experience everything Puerto Rico has to offer. As a commonwealth of the U.S., neither a passport nor currency exchange are needed to travel to Puerto Rico.

During our travels, we visit many parts of the island, from the rainforest named “El Yunque,” to the beautiful turquoise water beaches of “Luquillo.” But one place that we never miss when we go to Puerto Rico is the incredible city of Old San Juan. Sharing the colors, sounds, flavors, and warmth of Old San Juan with my family is an extraordinary experience. When visiting, I cherish sharing with my sons the most intricate aspects of the culture, history, architecture, gastronomy, art, and music that make the island of Puerto Rico such an amazing destination.

Visiting Viejo San Juan (Old San Juan) is like traveling back in time, 500 hundred years to be exact. Due to its geographic location, Puerto Rico became a very important port where early European travelers crossing the Atlantic Ocean could obtain fresh water, food, and supplies. Founded by the Spaniards in 1519, Old San Juan is the second oldest city in the Western Hemisphere.

Although Christopher Columbus first arrived at the island of Puerto Rico in 1493, naming it “San Juan Bautista,” it was Juan Ponce de León who established a settlement on the island and became its first Governor. As you walk the busy streets of Old San Juan, it is easy to imagine Puerto Rico’s early Spanish colonial days. From the 16th and 17th century artefacts at Casa Blanca Museum, to the adoquines (cobblestones) streets, walking through Old San Juan is a living-breathing history lesson.

Figure 1. When walking the streets of Old San Juan, do not miss the beautiful blue adoquines. These cobblestones are over 500 years old and were made from iron smelting waste.

From Page 13 Pay close attention to the architectural beauty of the buildings along Calle del Cristo (Cristo Street), stopping along the way to visit the Catedral de San Juan Bautista (San Juan Cathedral, the second oldest church in the Western Hemisphere). Be sure to ask a local about the legend of the Capilla del Santo Cristo de la Salud (Chapel of Christ the Savior) while smiling at the children playing and feeding the pigeons next to the chapel at the Parque de las Palomas (Pigeon Park). This is the same park I visited as a child with my grandmother, and it’s a little hidden gem overlooking the San Juan Bay.

Figure 2. Entrance to Castillo San Felipe del Morro. This impressive fortification guarded the entrance to the San Juan Bay during Spanish rule and took 250 years to build.

Another highly anticipated stop for our family is always the San Juan National Historic Site, which includes Castillo San Felipe del Morro (or simply “El Morro” if you’re a local), Castillo San Cristobal, and the old city walls. On the weekends, many local families come to large open grounds at the entrance to El Morro to fly chiringas (kites), and to enjoy the treats brought by the colorful street merchants. When visiting the Castillos, be sure to find at least one garita (sentry box) and take a picture. San Juan’s garitas are commonly portrayed in the works of local artisans as a symbol of Puerto Rico. For those who have traveled by sea, the garitas and El Morro of Old San Juan are the first and last sights of the island.

We greatly enjoy walking at El Paseo de la Princesa (Princess Promenade) and talking to the local merchants. Artisans from all over the island come to visit El Paseo to bring their latest creations. From musical instruments to delicious local candies, El Paseo is always a fun experience. At El Paseo, my eldest son learned directly from an artisan how he handcrafts a gϋiro using a hollow gourd. The artisan gladly demonstrated how the gϋiro, a percussion instrument frequently heard in Puerto Rican music, comes to life when rubbing tines along the carved notches. Our son’s new guiro even has the artisan’s signature!

A visit to Old San Juan would not be complete without a stop at the Puerta de San Juan (the San Juan Gate). The Puerta de San Juan is essentially a gate in the old city walls that opens to a pier where the Spanish galleons would moor after their transatlantic voyages. When the weary travelers would make landfall in Puerto Rico, the first thing they saw through the gate was the San Juan Cathedral, just up the hilled street from the Puerta. According to my high school history teacher, many travelers showed their gratitude for arriving safely to the island by making the Cathedral their first stop after their long voyages. Honoring this tradition, our family makes visiting the San Juan cathedral an essential stop when returning to the island.14 Figure 3. Many families enjoy a Sunday’s afternoon stroll around the beautiful plazas in Old San Juan.

As a family, our favorite time to visit Old San Juan is on Sunday afternoons, when you can see many locals taking a walk (un paseo) through the city wearing their Sunday best. From newborns to abuelos (grandparents), entire families join in the local tradition of visiting the many open plazas in Old San Juan, sitting on benches, and enjoying local refreshing treats together. My favorite treat is called a piragua, or Puerto Rican shaved ice. Walking around Old San Juan, you will notice local vendors called piragϋeros. To make a piragua, piragϋeros shave a large block of ice, by hand, and shape the ice like a cone into a paper cup, covering it with local fruit-flavored syrups like tamarindo (tamarind), frambuesa (raspberry), parcha (passion fruit), or guayaba (guava). You will not miss the piragϋeros’ bright colorful pushcarts! When enjoying our favorite flavored piraguas this most recent visit, our family could not stop thinking of Lin-Manual Miranda’s “Piragua” song from the musical In the Heights. We even sang it out as we enjoyed our special treats, making our friendly piragϋero smile.

Figure 4. A visit to Old San Juan is not complete without a piragua!

Old San Juan is also filled with colorful businesses and wonderful restaurants showcasing local gastronomical favorites. I greatly enjoy visiting the local artisan shops at Calle Fortaleza where you will find vejigante masks (made of papier-maché or coconuts), lithographs of the island’s landmarks, and other hand-made items. One of our favorite places to eat and recharge is Calle Fortaleza’s Barrachina Restaurant. While enjoying a mofongo (a local Puerto Rican dish made with plantains) in the restaurant’s courtyard, I encourage you to relish the architecture of the beautiful colonial building. As part of your visit to Barrachina, you can also savor a deliciously sweet homemade piña colada. Although disputed by the nearby Caribe Hilton hotel, the Barrachina Restaurant claims to be the location where, in 1963, the Piña Colada was created by Don Ramon Portas Mingot. Regardless of who created it first, a freshly made virgin piña colada was a treat our family could not pass up in the tropical heat. Figure 5. Do not be frightened of vejigantes. You may see a vejigante dancing to Puerto Rican bomba and plena music during festival season.

If you love chocolate as much as I do, then you may also enjoy a visit to the Chocobar Cortés on Calle San Francisco. When I was growing up in the island, my grandmother enjoyed making and drinking Chocolate Cortés hot chocolate. Paired with Maria Cookies, I would sit on my grandmother’s front porch to sip the scrumptious beverage with her. And yes, you read correctly, we drink hot chocolate, even in the Caribbean heat! Chocolate Cortes has been a stable of Puerto Rican and Dominican families since 1929, and when the Chocobar opened in Old San Juan in 2013, I couldn’t be more excited. The Chocolate Cortes family’s vision is to “inspire the world with the taste of our chocolate, the richness of our culture, and the warmth of the Caribbean.” Besides all the delicious candies, and chocolate and coffee beverages at the Chocobar, you can also treat yourself to delicious treats like the Rio Chocolate Cake, quesito Cortes (cheese pastry), or churros.

Figure 6. You will not regret enjoying a chocolate treat as part of your Old San Juan experience at Chocobar Cortés.

Finishing your day in Old San Juan should include a visit to the San Juan City Hall and the Plaza de Armas, a main square built in the 16th century. Inside the City Hall, find a white marble plaque engraved with the words “En mi Viejo San Juan” (“In my Old San Juan”). After a day visiting Old San Juan’s historic landmarks, learning about its history, traditions and people, the words of Noel Estrada’s nostalgic song will have a new meaning. Written in 1943, “En mi Viejo San Juan” is considered by many as a Puerto Rican anthem that acknowledges the painful sacrifice many Puerto Ricans have made when leaving the island to

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seek better opportunities and a new future. “One afternoon I left, towards a foreign nation, as fate would have it, but my heart remained facing the sea in my Old San Juan”. Although the man in the song leaves, his hope is to return one day to the “land of my love”. Unfortunately, “time passes by, and destiny mocked my terrible nostalgia, and I couldn’t return to the

adjacent lumbar vertebra, explaining San Juan that I loved, little piece of my her pain. My resident, from Georgia, land.” When standing in front of “En mi upon seeing the findings said, in his Viejo San Juan” and reading the lyrics, deep southern drawl, “Fellahs, there’s line by line, I always remember that a lesson here. Crocks daah (die), although I left Puerto Rico many years too.” Unfortunately for the patient, CT ago to become a pediatrician, a “little scanning and ultrasound exams had piece of my heart” will always be found not been developed. The important among the streets and walls of my lesson is that for most patients with a precious Old San Juan. diagnosis of psychosomatic illness, the symptoms are real, and in fact a small number of these patients indeed have real abnormalities accounting for their Figure 7. The author during symptoms. her recent visit to Old San Juan.

Sigmund Freud’s view of humor was that it was a conscious expression of thoughts that society usually suppressed or was forbidden.2 As long as the humor, in this case namecalling, is meant in a benign fashion, it is considered harmless. However, in today’s politically divisive atmosphere, it is best to use humor only when you truly know your audience. As a good example, I remember the not so “good old days,” when it was expected that a speaker at a conference or a refresher course would tell jokes. Many of the “old timers” were very colorful characters. Today, fortunately, speakers are business-like and jokes are tacitly forbidden, since they are bound to offend someone. Finally, we should always remember that no matter how unpleasant some of our patients are to us, they are still our fellow human beings.

From Page 15 Dr. Daffner, associate editor of the ACMS Bulletin, is a retired radiologist who practiced at Allegheny General Hospital for more than 30 years. He is emeritus clinical professor of Radiology at Temple University School of Medicine and is the author of nine textbooks. He can be reached at bulletin@acms.org.

The opinion expressed in this column is that of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board, the Bulletin, or the Allegheny County Medical Society. References

1. Shem S. The House of God. Richard Marek Publishers 1978. 2. Freud S, (Strachey J, Trans.). Jokes and their relation to the unconscious New York: W. W. Norton, 1960 (Original work published 1905). For more info on Puerto Rico visit https://www.discoverpuertorico.com/

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