#92 – From Bolivia to La Isla with Childfree Latina Bianca Alba

[00:00] Paulette: Buen dia mi gente, and welcome to the Childfree Latinas, the only Spanglish podcast for childfree Latinas. Latinas helping us liberate ourselves from the toxic cultural brainwashing we all grew up with so that we can design our best lives instead. I’m your host and resident childfree Latina Paulette Erato. Today we’re talking about living and being a childfree Latina in Puerto Rico with my guest and host of This Latina Travels, Bianca Atla.

[00:34] She is great. During this episode, I refer back to the ones that my husband Ryan and I made in the aftermath of our move there and back. Links in the show notes of course. Not just to those, but also we talk childfree weddings. We’ve been celebrating Childfree Latina Summer with our last four episodes, and this is the finale, although I don’t think I ever mentioned that to you.

[00:58] Oops. So yeah, this was the Childfree Latina Summer. That’s how I’ve been referring to it over on Instagram. So if you follow there, give a shout out. Uh, but like I said, this is the finale, not just of the summer episodes of Childfree Latina Summer, but also for the show. For now. I’m taking the rest of the summer off to manage the Latinas In Podcasting virtual Summit, which is in October, and after that we’ll see what this show looks like then.

[01:27] I know it’s a little insensitive to drop a bomb like this on you, unceremoniously right in the middle of an intro, seemingly out of nowhere. But the truth is that your girl is suffering from burnout real bad. So something’s gotta give. Like I’m always saying you need to take breaks, so I’m taking one and you should too.

[01:48] It’s summer after all. But no te apures. join the Super Cheveritas on Substack where I’ll be dropping some posts while we’re on hiatus. I’m even considering taking the paid supporters along on my TEDx journey. Oh, did I tell you? I’m on a TEDx journey, so check out the Super Cheveritas for more on that. Alright, back to the topic at hand, which is living and being a childfree Latina in Puerto Rico.

[02:12] Let’s learn more about today’s guest, Bianca. Her bio, of course, will be in the show notes, but let me give you some highlights. Born in Bolivia, Bianca holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s in public health, which she put to good use for all of our collective benefits, which you’ll hear her talk about.

[02:28] She’s also the creator of This latina Travels, a podcast about travel through the eyes of a first gen Latina traveler slash college grad, sharing all her travel experiences firsthand. And she’s gonna end this episode with a few gems about traveling. All right.

[02:44] Hi Bianca. How you doing?

[02:47] Bianca: I’m doing good, Paulette.

[02:48] How are you doing?

[02:48] Paulette: I’m great. Thank you. I’m so excited to have this conversation with you because you live in Puerto Rico. I used to live in Puerto Rico, and you’re not even Puerto Rican, so. Mm-hmm. Tell me all about how you ended up. On the island.

[03:03] Bianca: So yes, I am not Puerto Rican by blood, but I always say, que so boricua de corazon. Hmm, that, you know, it’s in, in my heart.

[03:09] I’ve been here for almost eight years, so Puerto Rico is definitely home. But how I ended up here, that is a story of itself. So I am a public health background by trade. I have my master’s in public health, so I studied diseases, illnesses, epidemics. And so in 2016 when the Zika outbreak happened with the mosquitoes, they needed Spanish fluent speakers to come on the island and do outreach work.

[03:35] And of course, as we all know, there’s a limited amount of Spanish fluent speakers within the government. And so I was offered this opportunity and I said, of course. And it turned out to be instead of like a 30 day deployment, almost three months. And I just fell in love with the culture, the island. I’m Bolivian and Spanish was my first language.

[03:56] I’m a proud immigrant and immigrated to the United States when I was a baby. And so for the first time in a long time, I felt in Puerto Rico something that was missing. And it was like, being close to home, you know, being close to like an identity that I didn’t get to be raised apart. So I was like, I need to make Puerto Rico my official, like home base.

[04:16] And so after networking, getting to know a lot of the different, uh, people within my team, I was offered a full-time position here with the CDC. And so that’s how I ended up here almost eight years ago. And the journey started there.

[04:31] Paulette: Wow. Wow, wow. How was Puerto Rico affected by Zika?

[04:34] Bianca: Well, back then when it was a a pandemic, it was affected greatly because of mis there’s, yeah, because there’s mosquito, a huge yeahs ton of mosquitoes here, and the specific mosquito that carried that virus was prevalent here.

[04:47] Mm-hmm. And of course, because it affected women of childbearing age mm-hmm. And that the A population here too. Mm-hmm. That was affected greatly. So yeah, it was definitely an interesting time because nobody knew like how it came about or like what happened. They had like an idea, but it was also really difficult because all mosquito-born illnesses on the island here, dengue and chikungunya that have been here for years. It’s something that is still a mystery in a sense, because there’s not vaccines. They just started like a, a trial for dengue vaccines and still then people here, of course, just like any minority, doesn’t wanna even do vaccines or deal with it if it’s not a hundred percent accurate.

[05:29] So it’s definitely a topic of okay, like, yes, we knew we had Zika here, but I think they also kind of wanna like hush hush it and I’m like, no. Like we, there was, and we need to talk about it.

[05:40] Paulette: That’s crazy because in all the research that we did in moving there and we did two years worth of planning for this, none of that came up.

[05:49] Bianca: Yeah, it’s, isn’t that crazy?

[05:51] Paulette: It’s so interesting and, and scary because mm-hmm. Also something we didn’t consider. I knew there was mosquitoes. I’ve been there. It’s a tropical island. Yeah. Certain things come with that environment, but wow. I didn’t know it was so bad. Yeah.

PR during Covid

[06:06] Paulette: So if you’ve been there for eight years, at this point it’s 2025, you lived through the pandemic there, through lockdown.

[06:13] Bianca: Mm-hmm.

[06:13] Paulette: What was that experience like?

[06:16] Bianca: Oh, well, so my experience was definitely very hands-on because I used to work for CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sure. And so I was deployed everywhere. So not only was I sent to the states to work hands-on in New York, Maryland at the poultry, um, factory workers and stuff, but I was here on the island. And, in places where it was, the numbers were really high. So I remember I was in Ponce for about three months, like living there, doing testing, and again, like thankfully here in Puerto Rico, I will say the community is what really made the virus not spread because everybody knows here the lack of healthcare.

[06:57] Mm-hmm. Everyone knows here that, you know, if someone would get sick, like there’s no urgent cares here on the island. Mm-hmm. There’s no like, you know, emergency. No, there’s an emergency room, but you’re gonna be there for like two days.

[07:08] Paulette: Mm-hmm.

[07:08] Bianca: So it’s like everybody did their parts. They had very strict rules here on the island for that reason. You couldn’t like drive your car on certain days. You can only drive, like, let’s say if you have an even number in your license plate, you can only, you know, drive the Tuesdays, Thursdays. At first, like Monday, Wednesday, Friday. It was like all these really crazy rules. That I think people who, you know, aren’t from here or who just maybe were here visiting, which I don’t, yeah, that’s a whole other thing.

[07:36] But they had to, they had to do what’s best for them because they knew like there was not gonna be enough respiratory doctors. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, medicine or just like the, uh, intimidators to like be able to survive here.

[07:49] Paulette: Wow. I do remember reading a stat, and you can tell me what this was like from your experience, that Puerto Rico had some of the highest vaccinated rates after the vaccines rolled out.

[07:59] And it tracks with what you’re saying because healthcare is so hard to come by. How did you see that play out other than these very interesting rules? Were people clamoring for the vaccines or was there any kind of vaccine awareness campaigns? Were there people who were still afraid of them? How did that look for you?

[08:19] Bianca: I think because I, at the time, I was a very hands-on public health employee. Mm-hmm. I will give at least the agencies that I worked with, their props, their flowers, because yeah, like there was a lot of boots on the ground. Like education, you know, making sure that people who looked like us were in the communities telling this is what the vaccines are, these are the side effects. This is what could happen, but at the end, this is what could really save you and your family. Mm-hmm. Um, so it’s just the education component that I think lacked a lot in the states. Mm. I do feel like here in Puerto Rico it was much more prevalent.

[08:53] Paulette: That’s awesome. So thanks to you and your colleagues who did all of that outreach, who made sure that they saw people who looked like them. You, you said something that is so necessary. The cultural relevance of speaking to someone about something so scary and so outside the normal realm of knowledge, but they look like you so you can trust them a little bit more. That’s awesome.

[09:18] Bianca: Yeah, a hundred percent. It’s something so like you would think, yes, duh, but some people just don’t understand that.

[09:24] Paulette: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[09:25] And it’s a missed opportunity too. I think your agency is smart. You’re smart, you have a master’s in public health, you have a master’s as a Latina.

[09:33] There’s like, how ma, how, how small is that percentage? 4%?

[09:37] Bianca: Yep. Mm-hmm. Wow. 4%.

Impact on wanting children

[09:39] Paulette: So all of this that you’ve lived through, that you’ve been boots on the ground, hands on with, has that had any impact on you wanting children?

[09:50] Bianca: Yeah, no, of course. Uh, especially living here and seeing it firsthand, it has completely shaped my mind.

[09:57] Like I’ve gone back and forth plenty of times. And for one full disclosure, I was single for a lot of the time since I moved here, like I think almost six years. Yeah. And so it wasn’t until two years ago, almost three that I met my now fiance. And before, I think society or like, especially being Latina, first gen, like, it was like, oh, okay, like if you don’t have kids, you’re, you’re failure.

[10:21] Mm-hmm. Kind of thing. But I’m very blessed that I have a mom who’s never pushed me on that because she was a kid who had a kid. Like she was 17 when she had me. So she knows the struggles. And I’m the oldest out of four. So there was never that pressure. I never felt like I needed to get married or have kids.

[10:38] But of course, once you’re in your thirties and you have your career, you have your finances, you know, you’re like irking for that relationship. It was like a want that I wanted for a while. But living here and seeing firsthand the healthcare systems mm-hmm. And also the education systems, the schools, it frightens me.

[10:58] Mm-hmm. It frightens me. And now more than ever with my fiance, if we decide to have it, it’s like things that we constantly talk about. ’cause it’s nearly impossible to find an OB GYN, for just a simple pap smear. So I’m like, if I want to get pregnant, I can’t even find an OB GYN to get a pap smear, let alone to follow me through my pregnancy.

[11:20] So, and that’s the thing I think people don’t really understand here in Puerto Rico. There is a lack of doctors in every specialty, from general to OBGYNs, to cardiologists, to you name it. Mm-hmm. Because they don’t stay here because they don’t make any money. Mm-hmm. So it’s just a really sad reality that people who live here, who are from here have the face.

[11:40] Like when they try to call for an appointment

[11:43] mm-hmm.

[11:43] They tell you they have a list of over 600 people on the wait list. Mm-hmm. I heard that like the other day I went to my neurologist ’cause I have really bad migraines and she literally said that every time someone called and my heart sank. Can you imagine like having told, sorry, no.

[12:01] There’s a wait list of 600 people. Like, it just blows my mind.

[12:05] Paulette: Yes. I actually can imagine it because that’s why I no longer live there. I was so sick and could not find a doctor. So to your point, yeah, it’s, it’s not even like we’re entitled to healthcare, it’s just that it’s not available in the same way we’re used to where I grew up in Los Angeles, you grew up in the Virginia area and we lived in San Juan.

[12:25] We lived in the metropolitan area. You live in the metropolitan area. This is not an exaggeration. It is the truth, and it’s one of those things that is heartbreaking. Because people are having children on the island every day. Every day someone is being born on the island, but they don’t necessarily have the resources that you would think someone, mm-hmm.

[12:48] Giving birth should have. And this isn’t a commentary on the people of Puerto Rico. This isn’t a commentary on Puerto Rico. This is just the reality. And it’s the reality of being a colonized state as well, because it behooves the United States to keep Puerto Rico in this weird gray secondary citizen place that they’ve been held at for well over a hundred years.

[13:14] Bianca: Yep. I say that over and over again. It just frustrates me how like literally people here are treated like second class citizens. A hundred percent. And that should not be the case because we pay so much in taxes. You know, this, everything’s expensive here. Mm-hmm. And yet the salaries are trash. Mm-hmm. So it’s just like, it make it make sense and it doesn’t, the only thing is like we, we need to be freed. Like that’s what it comes down to.

[13:40] Paulette: Yeah, a hundred percent. You know, before I lived on the island, and even just visiting does not cover it. If you don’t have the experience of living there, of having to use an expediter to set up your utilities, to just get internet set up. Your electricity just going away for a few days, every few months, until you experience that, you really do not understand the day to day of how the culture works.

[14:03] So prior to that experience, I was like, sure, why wouldn’t they wanna become a state? And now I know. Now I know that there really is no benefit. There really isn’t. And I hope that Puerto Rico can one day be free.

[14:15] Bianca: Yeah. Oh, it gets me all emotional. ’cause it’s, it’s, I mean, like you said, until you live here, like there’s a difference between vacationing and living here in Puerto Rico.

[14:24] Mm-hmm. And it, it just opens your eyes to so many things because there’s so many beautiful people here. Mm-hmm. And I’m not talking just, just how they look. I’m talking internally too. Yes. Yeah. I always say like the community, the pe like the neighborhoods, they will give you more than they have. Like always.

[14:40] And I’ve seen that and it’s just, it’s something beautiful. But also something like that shouldn’t happen. We should, you know, have government aid and we shouldn’t have to rely on each other. We should rely on people who we’re paying taxes to. But it comes down to that if something happens, like I’ve seen it, the community is always there to support one another.

[15:01] Paulette: It’s a beautiful thing.

PR Taxes

[15:03] Paulette: Going back to the taxes thing. So what really threw me is I live in California, I’m used to high taxes, right? Nope. The one thing that was the most shocking was that the Commonwealth taxes were three times as much as the equivalent taxes in California. Wow. Where does the money go?

[15:22] Because there’s, the potholes in the road are large enough to sink a car. There’s no public library system. You can’t get this private company who owns the grid to fix it. Where’s the money going?

[15:37] Bianca: In the corrupted politician pockets.

[15:40] Paulette: Salaries do not increase with the cost of living. They are stagnant.

[15:45] Bianca: Yeah, and it’s a topic that I get angry so much because as a previously public federal employee, like they take so much. Hacienda takes so much of my money.

[15:54] Mm-hmm. It’s so frustrating and I always have this conversation with friends. I’m like, if I saw the roads were were fixed, if the school systems were better, if I would see better healthcare systems, you know what, yes, go ahead, take my taxes dollars. But I don’t see any of that. I’ve been here for eight years.

[16:13] Why is it that Maria happened almost seven years ago? Why are those signs that were destroyed by Maria? Why haven’t they been replaced?

[16:20] Paulette: Mm-hmm.

[16:21] Bianca: Yeah. All over the island like that makes no sense. Why do teachers with master degrees on the island make $18,000 a year? Like that is disgusting. Why is the minimum wage, I think now it’s $10.50.

[16:36] Like you can’t even buy eggs and bread and milk with that. No. No. So it’s just like, why, how does this make sense? And then on top it infuriates me when I hear that they’re millionaires moving to the island, you know, taking advantage of these tax advantages that are available to millionaires, but not to Puerto Ricans.

[16:53] Like mm-hmm. Make it make sense.

[16:56] Paulette: Oh, God, yeah. I get so angry.

[16:58] Bianca: The people who are running the island are the ones that are promoting this, right? Mm-hmm. So that’s why I just, it feels so, like, even if I talk about it and, and I’m never gonna stop talking about it, but like, sometimes it just, it does feel like a circle.

[17:10] Like I keep just being redundant, how like it’s not fair, it shouldn’t happen, but

[17:15] Paulette: mm-hmm.

[17:15] Bianca: At the end of the day, unless we get new people in power, the stuff is not gonna change.

[17:20] Paulette: Correct me if I’m wrong. But the whole reason that those tax advantage plans exist is to encourage investment in the island and the hiring of local people.

[17:31] Yeah. To build those companies. So like all of the people with masters, those teachers, the whoever don’t have to leave for better opportunities. Right. Like that was the intention?

[17:45] Bianca: Yep. They, and they, they will say that I, I’ve heard that constantly, like the purpose of these acts is to encourage jobs available for boricuas.

[17:53] But the thing is, half of these millionaires that come here, like they’re not providing that. And if they are, it’s like very limited. Half of them don’t even live here. Like you, you have to have like a, a set number of days though, or set number of months to live here and that’s all that they, they complete.

[18:09] So I’m like, how much are they really investing on the island? Like how much are they really buying? It really is just a corrupted policy. Yeah. That just needs to stop or you need to. Make it available for people who are from here. Mm-hmm. Like it should not be difficult for boricuas to start a business. It should not be difficult for boricuas to own homes like the real estate.

[18:31] I know it’s horrible everywhere, but here I saw it firsthand. Like this past weekend I went with a friend who is single, no kids trying to buy an apartment. And it was $129,000, which is very low. Mm-hmm. So, mind you, but it was a perfect two bedroom, two bath. Ooh. In a gated community, there was over 60 people that went to the showing.

[18:52] Ooh. 60 like we saw the list ’cause we were like one of the last ones that she signed up and the lady was like, it’s been in a long day. And the, and there’s so many boricuas that are, that went there and it was all because that’s all they can afford.

[19:05] Paulette: Yeah.

[19:05] Bianca: Because everything has been been buying out by a millionaires that are coming from the states and it’s not okay.

[19:12] Paulette: It’s really not okay. You know we have problems here in California where our Constitution states that all beaches are public property, and you get these people who buy beachfront property and then decide, no, this is my private land. When like it’s fully illegal, but they have the money to keep issues like that tied up.

[19:33] And this also bleeds out into the millionaires colonizing Puerto Rico, that they feel entitled to everything. And there’s something wrong there. That woman who set fire to those businesses in Caba Rojo last year. Oh my God.

[19:49] Bianca: Yes. Yeah, no, I think you said it right, like the entitlement is on another level, but that was horrific.

[19:55] Like I, I really can’t believe like that was even something that anybody would even consider doing. Yeah.

[20:02] Paulette: Why are you there?

[20:04] Bianca: Exactly. Like what’s your real purpose?

Great things about PR

[20:07] Paulette: There are great things to living in Puerto Rico, so why don’t we focus on that as a contrast to all of the yes realities that we’ve been talking about.

[20:15] These are harsh truth. And they exist, but there’s also really wonderful things. Tell me what keeps you there. So you were there originally on assignment, but you decided to relocate permanently. Mm-hmm. It wasn’t a man, it wasn’t love it. It was something else that, that kept you rooted to the island. I wanna hear that story.

[20:32] Bianca: Yes, so, so I, I say this all the time. What keeps me here is the community. I am a big boots on the ground, and that’s also why I entered public health, because I am a public health servant. Like I want to help my community in every way that I can. And I just feel that’s what my purpose is, and that’s what keeps me here in Puerto Rico.

[20:53] The simple things. The sayings, the buen provecho like that, you know, welcoming feeling, you don’t get that in the states. And so here, like that’s something that’s like given like without even thinking about it. And so that’s honestly what has kept me here for almost eight years.

[21:10] Paulette: Mm-hmm. And now that you’re engaged, you met your fiance on the island, is he from there?

[21:16] Bianca: No, he is not. He is from Florida, gringo as hell. Oh, okay. I love him to death. Yes. But he’s not a colonizer. I always say that.

[21:27] Paulette: It’s an important distinction.

[21:29] Bianca: Yes, and he is a really good person. We met, here almost three years ago on a one of those dating apps, and it was not intentional at all. I was in a stage in my life where I was like, I’m over dating, but I gave him a chance. And it so happens that he’s an air traffic controller, and so we bonded on our love for travel and in our careers.

[21:50] It was just really funny, and he’s not going anywhere anytime soon, and now it looks like I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.

[21:58] Paulette: When you first met, being childfree wasn’t really. Mm-hmm. A topic of discussion, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, because that wasn’t something that you were even considering. Now, how do those conversations look?

[22:08] Bianca: I mean, first off, whether you’re, you know, dating or engaged or whatever. Say like, I think that conversation of children is a must. Mm-hmm. Any type of relationship, I think people don’t think about that, but I’m like, no, you need to have these conversations. So it’s something that we’ve talked about since the beginning stages of our relationship.

[22:26] We both, at the beginning it was like, we would love to have kids, but we also understand that there’s a lot of factors. And so one of the big factors for me is I was diagnosed with endometriosis about two years ago.

[22:36] Paulette: Oh, I’m sorry.

[22:38] Bianca: Yeah, that was really hard. ’cause I had surgery here on the island, which is a whole other emergency surgery.

[22:44] That was awful. And so that opened a lot of wow factors to both of us. Like if we would want to open the idea of having kids like. Are we open to having it here in Puerto Rico where we know the health discrepancies? And for me personally, like I wouldn’t wanna put my body through that again. That’s something, a conversation we’ve definitely have had.

[23:06] I think children is a beautiful thing. Seeing my sisters have their daughters. But I also know that it’s okay if, if we don’t end up having kids, like we, we joke around, but we’re like, we’ll go buy a boat. Um, if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. But we’re in a, in a place in our lives right now where we’re just focusing on our relationship.

[23:24] We’re planning a wedding for next year. Just taking in the factors though for sure. Like, okay, if we are gonna be here in Puerto Rico, we gotta think about the healthcare systems, then the education systems, um, because unfortunately, like I mentioned, the school systems here are not good. And so that means we would have to do private and are we gonna spend that x, y, z amount of money on elementary school, on daycare, on all that stuff when we know how expensive it is.

[23:53] So it’s just a lot of factors that you need to consider, but it’s also really healthy to, to be in a relationship with somebody who’s willing to, to listen and understand all that stuff, because it’s like, some people are just like one sided on this. Mm-hmm. But I think it’s great to be with somebody who’s like, okay, like this could be, you know, a path that we could take, but if this doesn’t work, I’m okay with plan B.

[24:15] Paulette: Yeah. You’re so correct that those conversations have to happen early, like so early. Just to find out if you’re on the same page. Hmm. Children, finances, where you’re gonna live, how you’re gonna deal with aging parents, like these are all part of that, those conversations that eventually become realities.

[24:31] And if you don’t know what the other person’s thinking or they change their mind and don’t communicate, that’s hard as a married couple to weather. So tell me details.

The (Childfree?) Wedding

[24:40] Paulette: Are you getting married on the island? Are you getting married back home? What’s that look like?

[24:43] Bianca: Yeah, so we decided that we definitely wanted to get married here in Puerto Rico where we met. Mm-hmm. And so a huge component of what we wanted is to do everything local, like support all our, all the local businesses. And I, I’m excited. And I’m more excited because literally all our vendors are like local and I just, I love everything about here, like the music, you know, I didn’t even get to talk about like, the music that also keeps me here.

[25:08] Mm-hmm. Like just the, the happiness and just the vibes of, of everything. And so, yeah, I’m looking forward to next year in February, we’re gonna get married on the 15th.

[25:18] Paulette: Oh wow. So right after Valentine’s Day.

[25:21] Bianca: Valentine’s Day, yes. I’m a sucker for love. I always say that. So ideally we were looking at February 14th.

[25:29] Mm-hmm. But as you can imagine, because it’s such a commercialized holiday, yeah. Everything was was taken, or they just don’t do like events that day. But I’m like, you know what? It works the next day and the following day is President’s Day. So people can make it a three day weekend.

[25:43] Paulette: Oh, how convenient. See you always talking about your guests. So let me ask you the big question when it comes to childfree and weddings. Are you planning on it being childfree?

[25:53] Bianca: Yes. A hundred percent yes. No, that was a non-negotiable, like from the beginning. And, and I will say this, and I, because two of my sisters are newer moms when, um, they’re one just turned 1-year-old this past weekend, and then my other sister is, her baby’s six months.

[26:09] And I had to tell him from the beginning, and I think I did it wrong, I’m gonna preface it. Like I think I should have done it a little bit more nicer now that I think about it. But, then I approached it and I apologized because again, I don’t mean any ill from it, but I’m like, I want you guys to enjoy it.

[26:26] Yeah. Like I genuinely don’t think parents enjoy themselves when you know they have their child with them. And it’s okay to have like just a couple hours to go. I was like, to my sister, I was like, don’t you want to enjoy like my wedding to the fullest and be with your husband? Present there. And so I think after having that conversation, I think it opened like their eyes more.

[26:46] And then plus, since I’m giving them so much time in advance, I’m like, invite your mother-in-laws. If you wanna trust somebody real well with babysitting. Like do that. So I have told all my guests that’s gonna be childfree. And so, and most of my sorority sisters are like, heck yes. Thank you. Like, you know, so I, I mean, I love it.

[27:04] I want the parents to come and enjoy their time and to be present.

[27:08] Paulette: You did it right in that you let everyone know. Yes. It wasn’t a surprise when they receive the invitation and Yeah. I get it. And also it’s kind of a destination for everyone else. Mm-hmm. So it’s like the fewer people you have to travel with, or if you are gonna bring a sitter.

[27:22] Might as well make it mm-hmm. A family vacation, right?

[27:26] Bianca: Yeah. It’s hard for our culture. Right. I thought I was gonna get a lot of pushback from my mom, especially. Mm-hmm. Because she’s the new grandma. But no, she, she understands, uh, you know, where, where we stand and, and again, I just don’t think they’ll enjoy themselves to the fullest if the babies are there.

[27:41] Paulette: And let’s face it, because things are so gendered, it would be on your sisters to be responsible for the kids, not their husbands.

[27:49] Bianca: Yeah, a hundred percent. And so I’m like, no, I want you guys to enjoy the open bar that we’re gonna pay for nicely. I want you guys to enjoy the music the batucada that’s coming at, you know, at 10:00 PM Like, I, I want you to enjoy all that.

[28:02] So now they’re, they’re understanding more. We’re just now waiting to when we’ve finally put the invitations together. But we sent our save the dates, and I’ve talked to my sorority sisters who have kids, just to let them know ahead of time, like you said, ’cause now they have no excuse. Right. They have a long, long time to prepare.

[28:18] Paulette: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. You did everything right. Even if it wasn’t like mm-hmm. Perfectly executed. It sounds like you had all your ducks in a row and nobody can complain. Yeah. What about his side of the family? Any pushback there?

[28:30] Bianca: Thankfully no, because he is like, the oldest and his two brothers are in college or one, one is in college and then everybody else doesn’t have younger kids.

[28:41] Uh, there’s one family member, I’m pretty sure they’re gonna either bring like a, a sitter or hire the sitter that I’m gonna provide in my website. Mm-hmm. I think the only thing now, because his friends are either some of them are expecting, or some of them are getting married. So we haven’t had that conversation where I’m like, you need to tell, you know your friend that this is childfree.

[29:02] Paulette: Yeah, yeah. No exceptions.

[29:04] Bianca: Yeah. So that’s like the one, I think thing that I’m trying to think of. But no, other than that, most of, actually, most of his friends are childfree and if they’re not, like, yeah, they know that, you know. No, no kids at at the wedding.

[29:16] Paulette: That sounds awesome. I’m so excited for you.

[29:18] Bianca: Thank you.

[29:19] Paulette: It sounds like despite all of these difficulties, the first gen expectations, the moving to Puerto Rico, the all of the things you’ve seen and done, it all sounds pretty magical in the end. Sure. There’s been a lot of really shitty things. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You just lost your job. Yeah. And this administration is a dumpster fire.

[29:39] The world’s on fire. There’s still so many beautiful things that you get to experience and you get to look forward to, and that in and of itself is what keeps us sane, right? It’s what keeps us moving forward. We are still allowed to experience joy. We are still allowed to celebrate. Do you feel slightly removed?

[30:01] Now that you’ve processed being RIFed. Mm-hmm. Do you feel a little bit removed from what’s going on here in the continental US versus Puerto Rico on the island?

[30:12] Bianca: I would say yes and no. Only because, yes, in the sense that. I being in Puerto Rico already, you feel alone? Yeah. Like in the sense that, you know, I was the only one on my team here because I was working full remote.

[30:29] But then again, no, because everybody on my team was remote. So in that sense, no, I, I, you know, I don’t feel alone. But I also do, it’s just, it’s so complicated. Yeah. I think that would be just my final answer. That is just a complicated feeling. ’cause there’s some days where I, I wake up and I am in disbelief, uh, that I’m in, I’m still grieving and, and they literally took a career that I worked 10 years mm-hmm.

[30:56] That I worked my butt off. This is something that I haven’t shared yet, but, you know, I started with the federal government. At the lowest position. Mm-hmm. That you can imagine like a GS five is like a $20,000 salary with a master’s degree.

[31:08] Paulette: Ooh.

[31:08] Bianca: And to be now at a stage where I was a GS 13, which is right underneath supervisors, like I was gonna apply to supervisor positions this year because there’s such a lack of Latinas, of women of color in these positions. And so I was like, this is my, this is why I’m here. Mm-hmm. I’m here because there needs to be leadership and people that care about the community and people like me, right. In these positions, so it’s just frustrating that they’re taking that opportunity away from me.

What’s next for Bianca’s career?

[31:37] Paulette: Right. Yeah. Have you figured out what your next step is?

[31:41] Bianca: I have a lot of things that I wanna do, so I always, that’s, that’s the good thing that I, I’ve always kept my plate too full, so I’m like, there’s always work true, whether it’s, you know, personal work or anything. But I am very excited that I’m working on my brand fully.

[31:59] I get to wake up and fully think about that. And that I think is a blessing. I wanna really put my speaking engagements up to par. I worked with the Penn State University in March. Mm-hmm. To bring a group of all students here for alternative spring break. And it was so successful, and I think that’s a calling of mine to bring students here so they can learn about the culture.

[32:23] It, it’s like a twofold, like you’re teaching them. But you’re also investing in the island because you’re supporting all local organizations. Like we were in a junta, so we were in Ponce, we were in Cabo Rojo working with, with the shelters. You know, so it’s just like, that’s, I feel like a, a big calling that brings me happiness and joy.

[32:40] Wow. So I wanna continue that. I wanna continue invest in that, learn what opportunities that I can build my business full time. But then a part of me also is like, ah. I wanna go back into public health, but I refuse to work for a pharmaceutical or a company that doesn’t align with my vision or my purpose.

[32:59] Yeah. So I just, you know, I have to lay it out. I started working on my resume, so I’m proud of myself. Yeah. Because it has, you know, like I said, it’s been like almost five years since I started this. Past role that I was in. So I’m like, all right. I started at least my resume and I’m thankful for my community and my network.

[33:15] Yeah. That I will say is some a beautiful gift. And I know you can relate to having so many beautiful people in your community too. So it feels very nice to have that support. Yeah. Even though right now, you know, there’s days that I, I don’t know what I’m gonna do, but then, you know, I’m like, I’m, I know I’m not alone.

[33:32] Mm-hmm. And I think that’s the beautiful feeling through this journey.

[33:35] Paulette: Yeah. I will say that, the very first meeting we had as a community from Latinas In Podcasting was the day after that election, right? Last November. Mm-hmm. And I remember you being there and I remember you being upset. But it, it touched something inside me because I had been back home for under a year at this point and still feel like this heartbreak for having to have left Puerto Rico. And even though we didn’t get to meet in person. Yeah, while we were both there, I know there was still this like connection to you specifically that I felt because you were the only other podcaster I knew there.

[34:16] And as horrible as the conditions were under which we had that meeting, that gathering, it still felt like we were connected in a way. I don’t really know how to describe it. Maybe you felt something similar, but it just felt nice. Even though it was a terrible circumstance that brought us together, nobody in the room was happy about that election.

[34:39] Mm-hmm. We still had each other. And that sounds like what you’re saying is like you have your community to lean on and sometimes you’re the one that gives support and sometimes you’re the one that gets support. And that’s the beautiful thing about community and why we all need them. I mean, humans are pack animals.

[34:55] We are social individuals. We, even if you’re an introvert, you still need people around you.

[35:00] Bianca: A hundred percent. Yeah. No, and I do remember that call ’cause I, I was so sad, mad, and it was just nice to be in that room filled with women who align with what you’re thinking, your thoughts. Mm-hmm. Your feelings.

[35:15] Uh, um, because, you know, we’re, we live in a day when times where everything’s on our phones, and sometimes when you log in and you see things you’re just like. What, like, and just to be present in those moments, uh, it’s a beautiful thing. So I applaud you also for having that space in these communities ’cause it’s much needed.

[35:36] Paulette: It is. It is. And I, thank you. Thank and thank you for being a part of the community. Thank you for being part of the support I can seek, because without people like you, what am I doing? A community is based on its members, not its founder, and otherwise it’s a cult. I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna be in charge of a cult.

[35:56] I wanna be part of a community. Those are two very important distinctions.

Education in PR

[36:02] Paulette: But going back to the education piece, it’s interesting that the educational system is not as good as it could be given that there is a lot of universities on the island as well. It’s such a strange contrast.

[36:17] Bianca: It’s so complicated. Like it’s a whole other thing, like when I think of the school system, because I’m not a teacher and I mm-hmm. I’ll be like, straight up, like a lot of the, the schooling or the, the people that I know that have kids, they are federal employees. Mm-hmm. And so because they’re federal employees, they have the advantage of getting, um, the military school for their kids.

[36:38] So they have that privilege. And that is something that my partner and I have talked about, like if that, you know, availability would even be available because to be honest, like I feel like they’re gonna take that away, especially with this administration. Yeah, I hundred percent. I would be surprised. Yes.

[36:53] So it’s like, well now most of the people that I know that have kids have been in that system. But the people who aren’t, the public schools here, like it’s not okay. Again, I keep feel like I’m repeating like a broken record, but yeah. It makes you think like why, why aren’t the schools up to par if there are so many great universities?

[37:13] And that’s the other crazy thing, like I have friends who have gone through med school here who have become lawyers, and the schools are amazing and they get brilliant degrees in the sense, bilingual at that. Mm-hmm. But then they decide to leave, right? Because again, there’s no money here, there’s no like, you know, they can’t survive being a lawyer on a $40,000 salary. Mm-hmm. Like, you know, that’s just not Okay. So…

Can PR free itself under Trump?

[37:36] Paulette: You mentioned something really interesting about how under this administration, wouldn’t this be the right time for Puerto Rico to rip itself out of their racist hands? They don’t want brown people to be citizens, so why not make that a reality now?

[37:53] But I don’t think that the people who pull the strings would want to give that up.

[37:58] Bianca: And at the end of the day, Puerto Rico gives them so much money, Paulette. That’s what it comes down to. Yeah. Because like everything that gets imported here on the island has to go through the United States ’cause of the Jones Act.

[38:10] Mm-hmm. So they get so much money through that. Mm-hmm. And then it doesn’t help that the current governor here, Ms. Jennifer, is like best friends with Mr Up There. Oh. So it’s like we’re putting people into power that really don’t have the best interest of the community, of the people. Right. So it’s, there’s just so many, you know, layers to the the why.

[38:32] But I do understand, like you would think like, okay, let’s get our act together PR and let’s just fight this revolution. Mm-hmm. Because clearly, you know, they don’t, but then you also would be surprised there’s so many people here on the island that are for this administration. It’s just wild to me. I’ll never understand that, but there are a lot.

[38:52] Paulette: People, people who are native porter.

[38:54] Bianca: Yes.

[38:54] Paulette: Okay. So I had an interesting interaction when we were there scouting a place to live. So this is before. Mm-hmm. We moved there fully. We took an Uber from Viejo San Juan back to Santurce, and our driver did not speak a lot of English. We started talking about Trump and this was before he got reelected, so a co.

[39:15] A few years we were still under Biden’s administration and I thought it was an anomaly that he was so supportive of Trump. I was like, do you remember the paper towels? And this whole conversation’s happening in Spanish. I was so appalled. Like, I, I really could not make sense of this. And I’m like, am I understanding this correctly?

[39:31] And I really thought he was an outlier. Because in my time there, thankfully I didn’t run into those people. And yet here you are saying no, it wasn’t an outlier. This is a, a contingent of people that really support this administration. Yeah. Wow.

[39:47] Bianca: I mean, you see the numbers. The governor who ran, she won.

[39:51] Again, popularity vote in the, the party that she falls under PNP. And a lot of them believe in this administration, like, I don’t know, even after being called, uh, a garbage a, a piece of

[40:04] Paulette: Floating island of garbage.

[40:06] Bianca: Yeah, that. Or even just being a minority. Mm-hmm. Like I will never understand. But yeah, I usually don’t like to, you know, reply to people on social media stuff.

[40:17] But this one individual really got under my skin. And I’ll never forget like what he said. He was just telling me basically, here we are to make Puerto Rico great again. Like there are, there’s, he literally said that and I laughed, but then I also was like this piece of mind, I was like, my fiance was like, Bianca, calm down.

[40:35] And I was like, I just. You know what I should monetize and really like blow him up because then you look at his profile and he’s an open like L-G-B-T-Q individual, so I’m, yes, so that’s why I’m like, I like is he, this person’s confused, like that’s what he is. If he goes by he, but like I’m like, you are very confused, sir.

[40:58] Paulette: Was it a real person or was it a bot?

[40:59] Bianca: Yes. No, it was a real person. Oh. And with a huge following. So that’s the other thing. And I’m just like, I don’t, man, that’s a, that’s all I can do. Because then at the end of the day too, I’m not changing people’s minds. Like I, I’ve learned that like once they believe that, once they’re in that Kool-Aid, unless it gets affected by them or something in their family or even themselves, because I don’t even think in their family, like, they’re not gonna care.

[41:25] Paulette: Right.

[41:25] Bianca: And so I think it’s just, you know, it’s just really disheartening and all I can do is just try to just conserve my space, protect my peace. Mm-hmm. That’s, I feel like what I do, but, but it is hard because it does exist here on the island and it’s, um. Again, something that I, I’ll never have an answer for.

Voting for President

[41:43] Paulette: Yeah. Wow. Are you still considered a citizen of Virginia or are you a citizen of Puerto Rico? So have you given up your ability to vote for president?

[41:53] Bianca: Because I worked for the federal government, it’s, it was a little bit complicated. So I technically, my locality and my residency is in Puerto Rico. ‘Cause I pay Puerto Rico taxes.

[42:03] Mm-hmm.

[42:03] But my license is from Virginia. Mm-hmm. So I never changed my license because I didn’t know mm-hmm. Whether I was gonna move or not. Mm-hmm. And then with the whole like real ID catastrophe that happened a year ago. Like they didn’t know if Puerto Rico was gonna fall under that. I was like. I’m not gonna change my license.

[42:20] So I technically have voting registration in Virginia, but because I was a federal employee, I could get in big trouble if I voted for presidency because I reside in Puerto Rico. Does that make sense?

[42:33] Paulette: Yes.

[42:33] Bianca: I mean, technically I could vote here in Puerto Rico. Yeah. But as you can imagine, I mean, you know this, you went through probably CESCO or any of the big like departments to get anything.

[42:42] Mm-hmm. To get a voter registration card here, people were lined up for like three days.

[42:46] Paulette: That was the other thing that was a real culture shock, that the inefficiency of bureaucracy on the island seems to be a feature, not a bug. And you know, you say that and you sound like you just don’t understand the culture.

[43:02] It’s not that I don’t understand the culture. It’s just that the more middlemen there are, the more someone’s able to fleece the end user. And as the end user, maybe we shouldn’t stand for that. And these are actual conversations I had in Puerto Rico where I’m like. Why is it like this? Oh, you just don’t understand.

[43:21] But it doesn’t have to be like this.

[43:24] Bianca: A hundred percent. They make things way more complicated than it should. Mm-hmm. And I will say that they have been getting better in certain systems. Like now I can pay my marbete via app. Oh. Which, you know, I don’t know. Yeah, I don’t, yeah. So I didn’t know if that was happening when, when you were still here.

[43:38] So that was relatively new. So I don’t, I don’t have to go into CESCO, which is the DMV. Mm-hmm. So I’m so glad with that. Um, but there’s still a lot of things that are so slow. Yeah. It’s that mindset of like, oh, well it’s worked for so many years, but I’m like, no, we need to change as well.

[43:58] Paulette: And it’s not so much change. It’s adapt and evolve.

[44:01] Bianca: Yes, you’re right.

[44:03] Paulette: It’s not change for the sake of change, it’s the change. Mm-hmm. To adapt and evolve and become better. Yeah. I mean, Puerto Rico’s so beautiful and yeah, unfortunately the day-to-day living is tough. Yeah.

Bianca’s 3 travel gems

[44:15] Paulette: Is there anything else you would like to share with the audience, Bianca?

[44:18] Bianca: Yeah, I’ve been doing a lot of mind work now that I have a lot more time. Mm-hmm. With, you know, just the concept of traveling and healing and I just wanna leave the audience with, as a proud first gen Latina who’s been to six out of the seven continents, I want to encourage you to take these three things when you remember to travel. One.

[44:37] To trust yourself, you know, to go to these places, get that credit card that you may not think you know you deserve, but you know, be smart. Take those trips. Um, two take up space, uh, like we deserve to be in all those countries and all those places and all those luxury hotels and all those, if you wanna do hostels, it’s fine, but take up that that’s space.

[45:01] Like you deserve to be there. And then three, tell your story. That’s why I started This Latina Travels. I wanted to start, you know, documenting where I’ve been so more people can relate and can say I can do it too. Mm-hmm. So post that funny video, post those pictures of your travels. Tell the world that we’re here because we’re not going anywhere.

[45:22] Paulette: Amen. Amen. That was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful and totally on brand for you. How many countries have you been to?

[45:31] Bianca: I think I’m at 42 now. Ooh. Yeah. 42. Yes. Yeah. So it’s, it’s getting there. I, I just, I know there’s so many countries that I need to go into, into Europe. Mm-hmm. Into Asia. But I’m really proud that I could say, I’ve been to six outta the seven continents.

[45:45] I just need Antarctica.

[45:47] Paulette: Yeah.

[45:47] Bianca: Like,

[45:47] I’m manifesting that that’s gonna be a sponsored trip. I think we’ve talked about that. Yeah. Um, we’re putting that into the universe. Okay. Quark Expedition, or anybody from Antarctica listens to this, I wanna go. Sponsor me.

[46:01] Paulette: And she would be an excellent person to have come visit the penguins.

[46:07] Yes. Yes. Well, Bianca, I wanna thank you so much for sharing all of these things with the audience today. You’re so brave. And I know that you’re in the middle of a healing journey, so I really appreciate that you just put it all out there, that you’re being vulnerable. I know that’s not easy, so I really wanna give you your flowers because you showed up and you’re just who you are, and that’s all I ever ask of someone.

[46:29] But to actually do it isn’t necessarily easy. So I appreciate you, appreciate your time. I appreciate your story. I’m so excited for your wedding next year. I hope that all goes off beautifully.

[46:41] Bianca: And that’s a burrito.

[46:43] Paulette: Hey mira, if this episode made you feel some kind of way, dígame! DM me on Instagram. Or send me a text. You can do that right from your phone.[46:55] If you wanna be a guest on the show and put your story out there too, check out the guest form on my website at Paulette erato.com/guest. Yep. Just my name, Paulette erato.com/guest. Y no se te olvide que hay más perks when you join the newsletter. Todos estos links estan en los show notes. Muchísimas gracias for your support y hasta la próxima vez, cuídate bien.