“In July 1898, near the end of the Spanish-American War, U.S. forces launched an invasion of Puerto Rico” And so it began…
I’m betting a lot of people in the USA don’t even know that Puerto Rico is part of the United States. What the heck is a commonwealth anyway? It’s part of the US but it’s not. Puerto Rico seems to be in a limbo. Maybe that’s what a commonwealth kind of is.
For instance, we use the US dollar, the US postal system, Social Security, pay Federal taxes, and can get welfare. (I believe). Puerto Ricans also serve in the United States armed services. The official languages are Spanish as well as English. 
But there are a lot of European influences from when the Spaniards were here.
-Gas is pumped in liters not gallons.
-Distances on the highways are measured in kilometers. But go figure this, speed limit is in miles per hour.
-There is a custom of kissing each other on the cheek when you first greet each other. (the right cheek mind you)
-Cars park every which way on a road no matter the direction of traffic.
-Every town has a plaza, usually with a church. 
-And Puerto Ricans call us gringos Americano and Americana even though through Commonwealth status they’re Americans citizens too. (PR has a non-voting member of the House of Representatives. We can’t vote for US president)
Also, try ordering stuff online. When they ask for the country – do I select USA or Puerto Rico? It’s different every site. Sometimes it’s USA and the ‘state’ is PR. Some charge overseas pricing even though we use USPS.
It’s fascinating to think about!
This is an interesting subject. I’ve been told that you when are ordering online and they are trying to charge higher international shipping that you should call them and remind them that PR is also USA. I’ve a question: now that you are there full time, can you not vote for the President, either? Just curious.
Some places you order from really don’t care that we are still in the US and will charge more. But they are probably shipping with UPS or FedEx? dunno. Get Amazon Prime and you’re golden.
No, if you become a resident here you can’t vote for president.
Thank you, for responding, Laura 🙂
Hi, Laura! This is Julian. I would like to follow your blog, but I see no subscribing option on it. Please tell me how to. Thanks.
Thanks Julian. I will look into it.
Oh so complicated! Tell me about it! Still , moving here to France, and learning complicated stuff, I was like ”go live in PR”. LOL.
Laura are you planning to vote this year election in Puerto Rico?
No. I haven’t been following any campaign. But I’m not one of those that doesn’t vote but still complains.