["Batuka" by Tito Puente plays] [♪] LUIS: ...de pasajes.

[door closes] ...y precisamente en los días de vacaciones no poder ir a Puerto Rico por tener trabajo en la agencia de pasajes para cubrir las deudas.

Esto me pone a mí nostálgico, de verdad.

A veces me pone insoportable.

It would be great to be able to go to Puerto Rico.

Even for a weekend.

Oh, I know.

I wish... Oh, everybody feels the same way.

Well, money doesn' grow on trees.

[dry chuckle] Bueno... A falta de pan, comamos galleta.

At least we haveÁngel here.

And since he's just come back from Puerto Rico, he can tell us all about his experiences.

Me imagino que hasta ayer, gozaste de lo lindo en Puerto Rico.

¿Eh,Ángel?

Sort of.

Bueno, ¿qué?

¿hiciste amistades o qué?

"Sort of, sort of" Any new girlfriend?

DORIS: [chuckles] Not really.

Well, tell us about your experiences.

All those beaches, mountains... Blue sky, snow.

DORIS: Snow?

LUIS: Yeah, snow.

Bueno, no parece nieve el hielito ese que le ponen a las piraüas así-- - DORIS: [laughs] - los carritos de piraüas... que se paran alrededor de la playa.

- [laughing] ¡Ay!

Yes!

Snow cones!

Please [laughs].

Bueno, bueno, dejemos eso a un lado aquí.

Ángel tiene que tener cosas interesante que decirnos a nosotros.

Come on man.

We're all ears.

The only thing I have to tell both of you is... that I enjoyed every hour I spent in Puerto Rico.

In fact... I wish I were there now instead of being here.

Did I hear you right?

And would you mind repeating what I just heard?

What I mean is... I won't trade any of the wonderful things the island has for anything in the world.

Lots of space to raise horses... ride bicycles... animals... fresh fruits off the trees... Fun.

Lots of fun.

So, who is disagreeing with you?

Everybody knows that.

Puerto Rico es uno de los países más bellos del mundo.

However, that's not the reason why you returned so upset.

I'm sure about that.

I mean, quiero decir-- ¿Hay alguna otra razón por la cual tú tienes que estar tan descontento?

Yes, that's right.

There is something bothering me.

I don't understand why, if you have the choice of being there and living here, that you don't choose Puerto Rico.

LUIS: Bueno, mijo, eso es muy fácil de explicar- ÁNGEL: [annoyed] Why do we have to live here?

Aren't we Puerto Ricans?

So we should be living in Puerto Rico.

Enjoying the beauty and the peace of the mountains, the beaches, the warm weather.

Why do we have to stay here?

Suffering the cold weather.

Practically staying all year long in this apartment.

I want to go back.

I want to go back to Puerto Rico, and stay there!

[door opens and closes] There goes that.

[door opens] [door closes] Buenos días.

MANUEL: Buenas.

LUIS: [flatly] Hola, doña Inés.

Hey... ¿Qué es lo qué pasa en esta casa?

Nada, nada.

Siéntese, por favor.

Tome asiento.

DELIA: Abuelo, is it true-- - Hmm?

[door closes] [concerned] What's going on here?

Nothing, Delia.

Let's go ahead and.. He's in his room.

I mean, he needs to go out now more than ever.

But I wanted to know.

- Please.

Will you do like I told you, please?

Okay.

I'm sorry.

LUIS: Okay.

[knocking] Ángel, come on.

Hurry up.

The bus is downstairs waiting.

[door opens] [door closes softly] DELIA: Bendición.

ALL: Dios los bendiga .

LUIS: Que vayan con Dios.

Dejo esto en tus manos.

[door closes] [whistles] - Hmph.

A mi nada más me tenía que pasar esto ahora, ¿no?

Now, don't you get upset, Luis.

I mean, I really can't blame him.

It's not his fault.

It's not the first time that he's shown us how... How proud he is of being Puerto Rican.

It's only natural that he wants to live there .

I remember the first time that I thought I might have to move back to Puerto Rico and live with my whole family.

My reaction was just as strong asÁngel's.

But there was a difference, a very important difference.

[sighs] Ángel is... struggling to find his...real self his--his identity.

And I'm proud that he-- he feels such positive things about his country and his people, because in my case... In my case, I refuse to go back.

I mean, I not only rebelled against my family, I rebelled against my country and my people, and that was a real shame.

No.

What Angel really needs right now is for someone to... to talk with him... and to help him understand what he's feeling right now.

Eso mismo estaba pensando yo, Doris.

Yo creo que ahora es el momento de sentarse con él, hablarle, y aclararle un montón de cosas para que salga de esa confusión.

Sí.

Yo pienso que... Angelito ya es un jovencito y tiene capacidad para entender los problemas de la vida.

De manera que-- I mean, we ought to take advantage of this situation and explain things to him.

Desde luego, después tendremos que hacer lo mismo con Delia y Pedrito, pero ellos-- ellos pueden esperar.

Pero lo deÁngel parece una emergencia, y me parece que debemos actuar pronto.

MANUEL: Hmm?

DORIS: Sí.

Mañana mismo, abuelo.

Tomorrow.

Okay?

A primera hora.

La verdad es que... Tenemos un problema de generación aquí.

It is!

It's a generation problem.

And we need all three generations to tackle it.

It's gonna be usted, y yo yÁngel.

¿OK?

Arreglado.

Mañana temprano, al despuntar el alba, estaremos en pie de lucha.

¿Bien?

Mañana, ¿ah?

- OK.

OK.

[soft guitar music] [♪] Era--era alentador, Luis.

I mean--Ángel, it was inspiring to see those jíbaros, how they struggled.

You could see the lights in the mountain burning at 4:00, even at 3:00 in the morning.

Y dentro de cada casita había un jíbaro preparado ya con su machete para irse a trabajar.

Y naturalmente, dentro de cada casita también estaba la jibarita que ya se había levantado antes que él para prepararle su buen trago de café puya.

[♪] Ay... Se trabajaba y se sufría, pero había ese-- ese espíritu de lucha, esa--esa alegría de vivir.

You know, I still remember el compay Chepo.

[♪] Hard to believe how hard that man worked.

[♪] When the sugarcane season was over in Puerto Rico.

[♪] They come over here to the United States to continue struggling for a decent living.

There were no vacations for him.

My teacher said something about that.

He said that Puerto Ricans started coming here in the 1800s, but the greatest numbers came in the 1940s and 1950s.

Has aprendido algo por lo que veo.

Sí, en realidad, la primer gran emigración de boricuas a los Estados-- como acostumbraban decir, no a los Estados Unidos, sino a los Estados, empezó por allá, por los años del 40.

Justamente, más o menos, coincidió con la victoria del Partido Popular en Puerto Rico.

Hay que entender que los jíbaros venían aquí a los Estados, como decían, a trabajar, porque sencillamente se había acabado la zafra y no tenían donde conseguir trabajo, y necesitaban dinero para mantener la familia.

See, a great number of Puerto Ricans started to come in the '40s.

You know, when the-- When the farming season ends in the island, it's just beginning here.

And it was very, very hard for them to find work on the island.

So they have to migrate to the States, as I used to say.

But migration involved so many hardships, you know?

Some people call our brothers "the slaves of the 20th century".

Only these modern slaves came in airplanes instead of ships Ay... You know?

Many times, the airplanes were very dangerously overloaded.

And once, it was so overloaded that it crashed in the open ocean, and more than 100 people died.

- La tragedia.

- Mm-hmm.

It was in 1948, on Good Friday.

What a "good" Friday... Ah... But there were many other difficulties, you know?

To be separated from families, from wives, from children, to be stranded for many-- many months in a strange land.

Low wages.

I mean, so many difficulties for them.

Pero, por lo menos, en algunos pueblecitos todavía, en los jíbaros... sobrevive y persiste aquel espíritu de antes.

Me parece que si muriera alguna vez ese espíritu, no valdría la pena de seguir viviendo.

My teacher said that it was very difficult for us to be accepted as citizens when the first Puerto Ricans came here, especially since people didn't understand that we've been United States citizens since 1917.

And you know what else he said?

He said that even today, there are many non-Puerto Ricans that don't even know that we're citizens, and some who do know but refuse to accept us anyway.

It's always difficult,Ángel.

Do you remember what I was telling Delia one day, not so long ago?

We were talking about how some people feel about newcomers, and I was telling her how one of my relatives eh-- refused to accept the new industries and the new people that moved to our hometown.

It's always difficult for some people to accept new things... ...and new people.

After a while, most of us come to realize that new people make life better for all of us.

Hey,Ángel.

You see that?

What?

Take a look, out there.

See all those things?

They look like blankets.

On top of the plants.

I don't know what they are.

But they look like the mosquito nets people have in Puerto Rico.

Well, let's take a look at this lovely scene.

[engine turns off] [car doors open] [car door closes] [car door closes] [crickets chirping] ¿Tú sabes algo, Angelito?

En cada pulgada de ese terreno que tenemos aquí en frente de nosotros, hay sudor de nuestra gente... sudor y esfuerzo.

Pero déjame explicarte por qué te he traído aquí.

I think about your other grandfather.

Remember?

Mi papá.

He worked these fields.

He toiled them, and he worked very hard, very hard so that his family and his children... could be educated and could have a better life than he had.

That's me,Ángel.

He was working for me.

He was one of those that left Puerto Rico, that left his family, and his friends back there, the homeland.

And yes, the beautiful beaches and good weather you were talking about.

To come here... To make something for the future.

So I think that this land is also...his because he helped.

Now it took a lot of sacrifices, you see?

Leaving all those things behind.

One has to sacrifice at times certain things.

My father used to say to me, "I want you to be a better man and a better human being.

And I want you to be prepared and not go through the things that I have to go through."

And that's what I'm doing.

I want you to be a better man and be prepared and not have to go through the things that I'm going throug.

Life at times requires these sacrifices.

Nothing comes easily these days,Ángel.

You have to struggle for everything you need to live.

Keep that in mind.

Estoy recordando, la última vez que hablé con don René estando él en vida.

Me dijo, "Don Manuel, si me tocara morir mañana mismo, moriría feliz, Por qué no solamente mandé a mis hijitos a estudiar a la escuela Sino que además, y sobre todo, los eduqué con mi propio ejemplo".

Pero, Papi... One of my friends in Puerto Rico told me that they lived here for several years, but now they're back in Puerto Rico, and he's very happy there.

Ángel, there is much more to life than just being happy and having fun.

Really.

We as human beings must think not only of our own happiness, we must think of other people's happiness, and we must plan for the future.

You remember what Abuelo was telling you on the way over?

All the sacrifices that our forefathers made to come over here to this land?

Yeah?

And you remember what I was telling you about my father?

Sacrifices.

Well, think of it this way.

That's your sacrifice.

You're going to have to stay here because this is where your father is at, because your father is trying to make you a better person and to give you an education.

So if you decide to go back to Puerto Rico, you'll be prepared, and you go there to help solve the problems of Puerto Rico.

And if you If you decide to stay here in the United States, then you will be better prepared in a competitive level.

But... It's your choice.

But Abuelo never studied, and he had money, a farm, and cattle.

Así de fuerte tuvo que trabajar,Ángel.

Toda persona que quiere echar pa'lante tiene que sacrificarse.

La vida no es nada fácil.

Así esÁngel.

And for your generation, it's going to be even harder.

Let me explain something to you about this country.

See this country?

This country is made up of people that came from different countries all over the world.

But that was years ago, and when they came, the country was being built, so they had to rely on muscle power, you see.

Now, things are more-- I don't know, technical, more sophisticated.

So, brain power is needed, and that makes the competition harder.

Even for me, it wasn't as hard as it will be for you.

See, when I decided that I would go into business, competition wasn't as stiff, and I thought that Spanish-speaking people would rather go to a travel agency where Spanish was spoken than to an agency where it wasn't spoken.

Economically, it's better for me.

But then again, more important, I feel... I feel I'm doing something for my people because I service my people.

Think about your mother, for example.

She's a social worker.

She loves her job.

Here, in the States, we are an ethnic minority, and social problems arise in the community that make your mother feel that she is needed here.

I'm not telling you all these things so that you stop dreaming about going back to Puerto Rico, but so that you will become aware of the reasons that forced us to come here and, for some of us, to remain.

You understand that?

I'll tell you what.

Let's go over to this place... that I know is going to make you think a lot.

Come.

[indistinct chatter in distanc [car door opens] Ángel antes de partir, yo te voy a hacer una pregunta y no quiero que me la contestes ahora, sino que sencillamente pienses sobre lo que te voy a decir.

¿Acaso tú crees que... tu mamá y yo... y el mismo don Manuel acá, No estamos tan ansiosos como tú por vivir en Puerto Rico?

I mean, don't you think that we'd all much rather live in Puerto Rico?

Like you?

[softly] Vente.

[crickets chirping] [car door closes] [engine starts] Los años del 30 y del 40 fueron bien difíciles para nuestra gente.

Fueron los años de la gran depresión.

Yo recuerdo--Angelito, que en mi casa teníamos que reunir las latitas de jamón para podernos bañar.

Y que no se podía botar nada.

Ah... Was that the time of the hurricane?

I heard about a very bad hurricane named Santa Clara.

I think that must have been about the same period.

That hurricane was in 1956.

I know-- I remember that one.

But people say that Santa Clara wasn't so terrible.

The really two disastrous ones were... San Felipe and San Cipriano.

They were in-- W--What was it?

1928?

1932, right?

- Right San Cipriano, 1932.

Yeah.

No era ningunos santitos esos, como dicen los nombres, ¿no?

Our people... had to struggle against hundreds of hardships, but at least we have endured it all.

You see,Ángel?

That is a prison.

And part of your mother's work as a social worker takes place inside of those walls.

A good number of inmates in there are Puerto Ricans who can hardly speak English.

They came to the tobacco field and then they move on to the city to try their luck But they weren't as lucky as don Manuel here and my father No, sir.

For many reasons, differences in--in culture and language barriers, alien customs, they wound up in trouble, and they ended up there.

And part of the responsibilities of a social worker, like your mother, is to prepare those that do not belong there to come out and rejoin society.

The father of a friend of mine is in jail.

Yeah?

Hay muchos niños que... no pueden ya volver a ver a sus padres.

Y hay otros niños que vienen a ver a sus padres, a visitarlos una vez a la semana, una vez al mes... Y otros que están en peores condiciones porque esos tendrán que ver a sus padres tras las rejas por el resto de sus vidas.

Es doloroso papi.

I know it's painful right now.

But part of the realities of life are painful.

Let's go, Luis.

I don't like to visit places like this one.

No porque no simpatice con los hermanos que están ahí dentro-- pues claro, sí simpatizo, sino no sé que... No me gusta estar en sitios donde sé que hay seres humanos sufriendo.

Okay, don Manuel.

Let's go.

I just wanted to come here.

Sometimes it's good to come and see these places and... and know that inside those walls, some of our brothers are suffering.

And besides, it was important forÁngel to know the importance of that place in his mother's work.

But you're right.

Let's go.

[distant traffic noise] ÁNGEL: Do we have jails in Puerto Rico?

LUIS: Of course.

MANUEL: Desde luego, Angelito cárceles hay donde quiera.

Es donde se retira la gente qu comete algún delito contra la sociedad o contra alguna persona en particular.

Yes, unfortunately, jails are necessary,Ángel.

Even in our beautiful island.

This is very different.

You know, if I could, I'd be here the rest of my life.

How are you feeling in a place like this?

I feel like a teenager.

Juventud divino tesoro.

How many happy memories I have of the university.

Fíjese a mí me trae buenos buenos recuerdos también, pero también me trae unos recuerdos más ingratos.

Mire no fue nada fácil para mí estudiar aquí.

Fue bien difícil.

Sí,Ángel, it wasn't-- I wasn't very easy for me when I came to study here.

I mean, getting accepted at the university and then to be able to graduate-- since I'm a Puerto Rican of poor backgrounds.

I had something else.

I had Doris.

She worked and she helped me while I was studying business administration.

We kept on struggling, you know?

And sacrificing because we knew that was the only way to make a better life for us and for our family.

And let me tell you something, there were bad times.

Times when things-- things got really bad.

I never told you this before because you were too young, and these are problems for the parents to handle.

But today, since you began to question, I think that it's very important that we talked about it.

Ahora, de una cosa que sí voy a estar seguro toda la vida.

La vida de mis hijos, no va a ser tan difícil... como lo fue para mí.

Oh, no.

No, la vida de los hijos de mi vida.

Papi... I think that's enough.

I know what you mean.

Let's go home now.

[cathedral bells chime rhythmically] [♪]