Station/Boat Location~
Station San Juan
Date there~
2006 - 2009
Weather~
Humid and warm. It is always about 82-90 in the daytime and about 76-82 in the evening. The humidity is very high. It rains almost every day, but for very short periods of time.....expect a downpour and then sun for the rest of the day!
Military facilities~
CG has a small exchange in San Juan - enough for the necessities if needed. Ft. Buchanan (10 min. from housing) is where everyone goes to do grocery shopping - it also has a nice water park, gym facilities, MWR program (you can rent things), hobby shop, bowling alley, and stores.
Medical~
A civilian clinic several blocks away from CG housing. A lot of the staff do not speak English (like when you get your BP and weight checked) but all of the drs. do speak English. The drs. are ok -but definitely different than in the states. I had one bad experience that my dr. gave me a prescription but when I sent it off to xpress scripts, he would never verify the prescription. I ended up going back to a different dr.
Also - if you end up going to a specialist (like a dermatologist), they do not make appointments. They will tell you to come in between 8-10 and then you are waited on, first come first serve. The line starts building up around 7!!
Housing~
CG has townhouses which are relatively new. They do have mold that grows on the outside, but that is common for around here. They are in the process of painting all of them now - they were white and are now painting them peach, green, yellow and orange. The 2 bedrooms are small, but the 3 and 4 bedrooms are nice. The only way you can choose not to stay in housing is to buy a house - which is what we did. The houses on the market are very large and very affordable!
Shopping~
Tons of shopping but there is no Target, Kohls, Dillards, Fred Meyers. But there is Costco & Sams and many large malls. Plaza Las Americas (15 min. from housing) is the largest mall in the Caribbean (4 floors) and there are several other nice malls in the area, including Plaza Del Sol (20 min. from housing) and San Patricio Plaza (10 min. from housing).
Child Care/Schools~
The CG has a child care department. The schools are all on Ft. Buchanan.
Adult Schools~
Several univerisities here but all of them teach in Spanish.
Fun Activities~
Lots! Since the weather is warm and sunny year round, there are countless things to do outdoors. Beaches are great, Scuba Diving, snorkeling, hiking in the rainforest, kayaking, horseback riding, bicycling.
Additional Info~
I found it very difficult to search for a job here. Even with a degree I could not find a job because I could not speak Spanish. A lot of people speak English in San Juan metro area, and in the tourist areas of PR - but if venture out you will find that a lot of people do not speak it. I would recommend for you to brush up on your Spanish before coming over.
The driving here is crazy - I would advise those to not bring your motorcycle.
The areas in PR do not look very 'clean'. It is just older buildings. It was kind of shocking at first but I have grown used to it. Just a part of PR!
Homeport PR
Station San Juan
Date there~
2006 - 2009
Weather~
Humid and warm. It is always about 82-90 in the daytime and about 76-82 in the evening. The humidity is very high. It rains almost every day, but for very short periods of time.....expect a downpour and then sun for the rest of the day!
Military facilities~
CG has a small exchange in San Juan - enough for the necessities if needed. Ft. Buchanan (10 min. from housing) is where everyone goes to do grocery shopping - it also has a nice water park, gym facilities, MWR program (you can rent things), hobby shop, bowling alley, and stores.
Medical~
A civilian clinic several blocks away from CG housing. A lot of the staff do not speak English (like when you get your BP and weight checked) but all of the drs. do speak English. The drs. are ok -but definitely different than in the states. I had one bad experience that my dr. gave me a prescription but when I sent it off to xpress scripts, he would never verify the prescription. I ended up going back to a different dr.
Also - if you end up going to a specialist (like a dermatologist), they do not make appointments. They will tell you to come in between 8-10 and then you are waited on, first come first serve. The line starts building up around 7!!
Housing~
CG has townhouses which are relatively new. They do have mold that grows on the outside, but that is common for around here. They are in the process of painting all of them now - they were white and are now painting them peach, green, yellow and orange. The 2 bedrooms are small, but the 3 and 4 bedrooms are nice. The only way you can choose not to stay in housing is to buy a house - which is what we did. The houses on the market are very large and very affordable!
Shopping~
Tons of shopping but there is no Target, Kohls, Dillards, Fred Meyers. But there is Costco & Sams and many large malls. Plaza Las Americas (15 min. from housing) is the largest mall in the Caribbean (4 floors) and there are several other nice malls in the area, including Plaza Del Sol (20 min. from housing) and San Patricio Plaza (10 min. from housing).
Child Care/Schools~
The CG has a child care department. The schools are all on Ft. Buchanan.
Adult Schools~
Several univerisities here but all of them teach in Spanish.
Fun Activities~
Lots! Since the weather is warm and sunny year round, there are countless things to do outdoors. Beaches are great, Scuba Diving, snorkeling, hiking in the rainforest, kayaking, horseback riding, bicycling.
Additional Info~
I found it very difficult to search for a job here. Even with a degree I could not find a job because I could not speak Spanish. A lot of people speak English in San Juan metro area, and in the tourist areas of PR - but if venture out you will find that a lot of people do not speak it. I would recommend for you to brush up on your Spanish before coming over.
The driving here is crazy - I would advise those to not bring your motorcycle.
The areas in PR do not look very 'clean'. It is just older buildings. It was kind of shocking at first but I have grown used to it. Just a part of PR!
Homeport PR
