Lesson 8 – Be prepared

Back in my late 20’s I was finding life rather dull, and decided upon a way to spice it up; I would move to a Spanish speaking country for a year. I would live, and work completely in Spanish. Mind you, at the time my Spanish was and still is rudimentary, but I thought, no problem I can do it.  So with a $1,500.00 saved up, I gave notice at my current position at the time.

This was one of the best companies I have ever had the pleasure of working with. It had a real family feel, and everyone including my boss and the president of the company were supportive and happy for me in my new adventure.  My last day at the company my boss took us all out for lunch and the president arranged for a breakfast in my honor, so everyone could wish me well and say good bye (this company was very small; under 50 people). Oh, I forgot to mention, what place I decided to move to.  I choose to go to Puerto Rico. At first I thought I’d move to Seville Spain for a year, but when I checked out the prices, I decided P.R. would be the best bet.  I’d traveled to Puerto Rico some 5 time prior on vacation and had friends with family there that I could contact in case of an emergency.

Before I arrived in Puerto Rico I attempted to set up a bunch of interviews, but this seemed near impossible, as all the places I called requested that I have a Puerto Rican address and phone number.  I decided to just book my flight and hotel, and felt quite confident that I could secure a position before my funds ran out.

I landed in San Juan Airport at 1pm on Friday afternoon; I immediately took a cab to my hotel (booked the cheapest room I could find for $75 a night), and then headed out to the nearest bodega to get a newspaper (‘El Nuevo Dia’ the NY Times of P.R).  I realized if all the positions wanted me to have a P.R. address and phone number I first had to secure a place to live and then get a phone number.  So the first thing I did was look in El Nuevo Dia’s classifies for some apartments for rent.  That very afternoon I went to look at three apts.  The last one was a winner.  I found a very nice studio apartment in San Juan. It had a family feel to the neighborhood (a lot of little kids and toddles playing in the street) for only $275.00 per month.  I immediately signed the contract and gave my deposit.  The landlord advised that they would have to check my references and credit and would call me in a couple days.

The then next morning I headed off to Telefónica de Puerto Rico (P.R.’s Telephone company). Luckily before I moved, my mother gave me an old cell phone.  I took the cell phone to the phone company and they promptly set me up with service and a 787 phone number (PR area code).  I then took my resume to the lobby of the hotel I was staying at and asked if they could send a couple of faxes for me.  They were gracious enough to send out several faxes to a couple of possible positions for me.

The following day the landlord at the place I had checked out earlier in the week called and gave me the green light to move in. That day I checked out of the hotel I was staying at, and put my merger things into a cab, and headed off to my new apartment.  Once all my baggage was dropped off. I headed to ‘Plaza Las Américas’ (the biggest mall in San Juan), to get some essentials, such as an air mattress, some sheets and towels and such.  After getting back I spend the rest of the evening unpacking and cleaning my new space.

Two days later a call came in for a job interview for a small motel in the Isla Verde area in San Juan.  I went to the interview, and within a couple of minutes realized that the controller of this establishment was from Queens NY.  We had quick and easy banter together, and within less than a half hour I had a job offer for $8 dollars an hour; which by the way is awesome money for PR (My friend who was working in PR only made $6 dollars an hour w/ a masters degree in accounting).  I was so excited, I immediately called my old job in NYC, and got all my old co-workers including my old boss on the phone, and told them the good news.  They were all so happy for me. I then took myself for a celebratory dinner at Denny’s (One of my favorite suburban restaurant, which I ate at often while growing up in Virginia).

Well, things seemed to be off to a great start in my new life in PR, until three weeks later I was let go from my new job. It should not have been a complete surprise however, as two days prior to being let go (pay day). The controller and owner of the hotel (a prejudice, mean spirited southerner from Alabama), were yelling in the hallway outside our offices. He was telling the controller that there was no way in hell that he was going to pay me $8.00 an hour, when he was paying everyone else $4 an hour.   Two days later on a Sunday evening, one of my co-workers from the hotel showed up on my doorstep with my belongings, my final check (of which was  short $250.00), and a letter saying I was being let go because I could not perform the job I was hired to do.

I knew this was not the truth, as two days prior to the yelling in the hallway (between the owner and controller); the controller had taken me out to dinner in Viejo San Juan as a welcome to the position, and Thank you for all my hard work.  Nevertheless, here I was three weeks in to my new life here, without a job. I had already spent the entire $1,500.00 I had come with, and the hotel’s final check was only around $300.00 dollars. To say I was stressed was a mild understatement. The rent for my new apartment was due soon, and was $275.00. That pretty much left me with $25 for all other essentials (including food).

 In the end all did not work out the way I had hoped, and I was forced to come back to NYC on Labor Day weekend 1999. I was depressed for weeks that I did not accomplish what I set out to do.  I did learn however that one of the biggest reasons things did not work out for me in PR, was that I did not plan appropriately.  I had been doing light research before I moved, but   in the end; I had really not had a clear plan of action on how I would accomplish my goals. I moved spontaneously and quickly; all because I was bored with my life and unfulfilled.  I learned many lessons in my two and a half months living in Puerto Rico (many of which I will share in future posts), however I could have spared myself much heartache and pain had I been more prepared.

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