Destinos Episodes 19 through 25

Episode 19: Finally...

Raquel flies to San Juan, the capital of the island of Puerto Rico, to continue her search. Then she takes a taxi to the address that was on Ángel's letter: Calle Sol, 4. There are a lot of blocked streets and Raquel has to walk the last few blocks. when she knocks on the door, there is no answer, but a neighbor comes out on her balcony and tells her that Ángel recently died. His wife died several years ago and Ángel never recovered from his loss. The neighbor directs Raquel to the cemetery where they are both buried.

At the Cemetery, while Raquel is taking a photo of the graves, a woman arrives and says that they are the tombs of her parents. She is Ángela, daughter of Ángel and his wife, María Luisa. Raquel tells her the story of don Fernando and Rosario. Ángela knows nothing of the history of her father. She invites Raquel to meet her family in order to tell them the story.

While waiting for Ángela's aunts and uncles to arrive at her house, Raquel visits some tourist attractions. Ángela also calls her boyfriend Jorge in New York, where he works from time to time. Raquel sees a photo of Roberto, Ángela's brother.

Cultural information:

Cities of Puerto Rico: San Juan and neighboring cities such as Hato Rey, Rio Piedras, Santurce Other important island cities: Ponce, Caguas, Mayagüez

Old San Juan: Ponce de Le6n's Casa Blanca, Park of the Doves, the Christ's Chapel

Vocabulario: directions; more family members; weather; changes in states and condition; parts of a house; domestic appliances; more descriptive adjectives.
Gramática: present and past progressive; imperfect; imperfect and preterite together; por and para; affirmatives and negatives; idioms with tener; comparisons; estar and sentirse with adjectives; acabar de; hace, hace ... que; al + infinitive.

Episode 20: A Close Relationship

Ángela tells Raquel that Ángel was his mother-in-law's favorite relative. Ángela shows her some photos of her relatives.

Ángela's uncles, Jaime and Carlos, and aunts, Olga and Carmen, finally arrive. They have a lot of questions and it is evident that they have their doubts about Raquel's story. She tells them the whole story of don Fernando, Rosario, and Ángel, and says that Ángela should go right away with her to Mexico to meet her grandfather. Aunt Olga thinks this will be impossible. Ángela says she needs to know her grandmother's opinion. The grandmother says on the phone that they should come to her house so she can meet Raquel. Raquel agrees to go to her house in San Germán.

Raquel goes back to her hotel because she wants to call Pedro Castillo in Mexico to give him the latest news. Ángela says that she is also going to call Mexico because her brother, Roberto, is a student at the university there and she wants to tell him what has happened. As Raquel is calling Pedro, Ángela sits in bed looking through a book, made for her by her father, which that tells the story of a tree frog that has the same experience as he.

The following day, Ángela and her cousin Laura pick up Raquel at the hotel and they start out for San Germán to see Doña Carmen.

Cultural information:

The history of Borinquén (Puerto Rico): the greater Antilles, the Taíno indians, the arrival of Columbus in 1493

Episode 21: The Tollbooth

Raquel, Ángela, and Laura leave San Juan by car. Ángela notes that they need gas. When the attendant checks the water and oil, he discovers they need oil and Ángela directs him to add some. As they leave the station, an oil stain is seen on the station driveway where their car was parked.

While they stop to buy soft drinks, they talk about the names of money in Puerto Rico. Ángela also tells Raquel about Puerto Rico's landscape and tropical climate. They arrive at the tollbooth and, as they pass through, the car stalls. Ángela looks at the motor but can't do anything, so they end up calling a shop in Ponce. While they wait they have a picnic in a nearby field.

The mechanic arrives and decides to tow the car to the shop in Ponce. The three women ride with him in the tow truck. At the garage he tells them that he can't finish repairing it until tomorrow morning. For that reason the women have to spend the night at a hotel in Ponce.

Cultural information:

The history of the island of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican money

The geography and climate of the island

The linguistic variety of Spanish

Ponce: "the Pearl of the South," "the Patrician City"

Episode 22: Memories

Raquel, Ángela, and Laura pick up Ángela's car. She pays the $80 bill in cash and they drive through Ponce. They see the firehouse, painted red and black, and Ángela points out the Barcelonian style of a house. Raquel recounts Ángel's story again and Ángela wonders why he didn't tell his family about his past

They arrive in the old city of San Germán and go to Ángela's grandmother's house. She is at church so they go there to find her. She returns home with them for lunch and they continue to chat while they have dessert and coffee. Doña Carmen tells Raquel that she and her husband were owners of a large farm with more than 200 employees, but she has sold off various parcels in the years following the death of her husband. Doña Carmen agrees that Ángela must meet her grandfather. Ángela has some sad memories of the death of her father and mother.

Doña Carmen reminds Ángela that she never cleaned out her father's old room. Raquel and Ángela go to the room and find some sketches made by Ángel titled "Memories." Her grandmother gives her a box that belonged to Rosario. It contains a wedding goblet with which she toasted her marriage to Fernando.

Cultural information:

Ponce: the firehouse, carnival, Barcelonian style houses

San Germán: very old city, agricultural center, the Interamerican University, the Porta Coeli church

Episode 23: A View of the Sea

Raquel, Ángela, and Laura return to San Juan following the visit with Ángela's grandmother. They talk about Arturo, and Raquel admits that he is handsome and that she likes him very much. They drop off Raquel at the hotel and Ángela says she will come by to pick her up at 9 A.M. Raquel calls and gives Arturo the news about his half brother. Arturo decides to meet them in Mexico.

The following day, Raquel and Ángela go to the bank where Ángela works in order to ask for her to have time off to go to Mexico. Her boss says she can go, but she gives her only two weeks off.

Ángela asks Raquel if she wants to go to the university in Rio Piedras to meet Jorge Alonso, her boyfriend and a professor of theater. He has recently returned from New York, where he had a role in a movie. He spends a lot of time in New York, the home of many Puerto Ricans.

Uncle Jaime calls to tell Ángela that there is a buyer for her apartment. Ángela needs a new place so she and Raquel visit an apartment and a townhouse. Both include parking but Ángela decides on the apartment because of the ocean view.

Afterward they go to the university where they find Jorge in a classroom. After class Ángela takes Jorge outside to tell him the family history that she has learned. Raquel waits in the theater and wonders what Jorge's reaction will be when he sees the wedding goblet with its great sentimental value. Jorge tells Ángela that they can use the goblet to toast at their own wedding.

Cultural information:

Puerto Ricans in New York: bilingual and bicultural

Episode 24: The Don Juan

While they listen to the university choir, Jorge notes how incredible Ángel's story is. Raquel admires the music and Jorge offers to take her to a store where they sell cassettes. When Ángela goes to the bathroom, Jorge flirts with Raquel. Jorge decides not to go with them to the museum, but he goes accompany them to the Paseo de Diego where Raquel buys the cassette.

They decide to go back to the hotel to swim. Raquel decides to invite Jorge, but Ángela does ask him. While Ángela and Jorge swim, Raquel makes some calls. She speaks with her mother and mentions that Jorge is a womanizer and that Ángela doesn't know. Her mother advises her not to get involved in other people's affairs. Then she calls Arturo to tell him her travel plans. He again tells her of his love for her.

Ángela and Jorge discuss a theater he wants to buy in San Juan. When she is alone with Raquel, Ángela tells her that she plans to give Jorge part of the money from the sale of her apartment. Raquel expresses some reservations and Ángela gets angry. She wonders why everyone, including her grandmother, is opposed to Jorge. Raquel notes that her grandmother has experience and that Ángela should listen to her. Ángela becomes angrier and leaves with Jorge.

The following day, as the women prepare to leave for the airport, Uncle Jaime arrives to tell Ángela that Roberto has had an accident in the archeological excavation in Mexico. That's why they haven't been able to contact him by phone.

Cultural information:

The University of Puerto Rico: the chorus; Francisco Oller, painter; Rio Piedras, home of the university

Episode 25: Reflections (I)

Raquel ponders the results of her investigation. She recalls her conversation with Sra. Suárez in Madrid in which she found out that Rosario had moved to Argentina with her son, Ángel Castillo.

She had continued her investigation in Argentina and discovered that Rosario had died but that she had another son named Arturo, a psychiatrist.

Arturo and Raquel had searched for Ángel in the La Boca district. At first they had had no luck but finally they found a sailor named Héctor who knew that Ángel had gone to Puerto Rico; he gave them a letter from Ángel with a return address in San Juan. Arturo had decided to accompany Raquel in her search.