That’s right! I’m currently sitting in a large computer room, in a beautiful house, just atop a hill in Puerto Rico. For those of you who don’t know (which may be many) I’v been “vacationing” here in PR since the 15th. One of the main reasons I came here was to visit and meet family I had never before seen or knew of. The other reason being because my mother and her friends were going to have a big ole meet up here to talk about past times and hang out (oh joy). So far, my trip has been quite pleasant, and if I could, I would stay forever!

I’ve pretty much been throughout the whole island, visiting family and friends here and there and staying at more houses then I count (ok not literally). While fun and adventerous, it gets a little tiresome, so I’m glad I could be able to sit here and write this out.

I’ve taken quite a few video shots, since I wasn’t able to bring my camera (the battery died and I didn’t have time to get a new one) so I have my trusty video camera. Maybe later I’ll upload the clips to YouTube or something and post them up for all to see my horrible shaky-hand (while in the car and walking) shots of this wonderful island. Haha, I’m sure you’ll love it.

Well, I just wanted to let the loyal few know I wasn’t dead in some ditch (God forbid!) and also blog a little about what I was doing on my “vacation”. I’m sure I have a lot of catching up to do when I get back to the states. So I await those new blog posts! Ciao!

Today my mother and I went to go see the new movie ‘El Cantante’ that stars Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. The movie is a biopic on the legendary Salsa artist, Hector Lavoe (Marc Anthony). It is told from the point of view of his wife, Puchi (Jennifer Lopez) years after his death. Although I was only about 5 years old when he died (1993), I grew up listening to most of his songs with the Fania (famous New York/Puerto Rican record label) All Stars. So every time during the movie I would hear his songs, I would sing along.

During the making of this movie, there was much controversy and problems between family and friends of Hector. Many things in the movie were left out and a lot of people in Puerto Rico had problems with that. I heard that his family was angry about how they (directors, producers, and writers of the movie) had the focus more on his drug abuse then on his accomplishments during his lifetime. That’s where Puchi, his recently deiced wife, comes in. She wanted the movie to be told from how she saw it, the raw way. What not many people saw behind the closed doors, and I think she did an amazing job!

Both Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez did a remarkable job with this movie and if you are a latino or even a music lover, I highly recommend this movie to you.

What I love most about this whole story is that it adds on to stories I’ve heard since the day I was born. My mother grew up with most of those people in both Puerto Rico and New York. For the Latinos out there who know who Roberto Rohena/Roena is, well, he’s my mother’s cousin and another member of the Fania All Stars. He played with Hector Lavoe and all of those big time Newyoricans! It just gets me so excited to learn more about all of these legendary people and I’m so glad to be apart of it all, even if just a little bit. =)