{"id":13695,"date":"2017-11-02T20:36:41","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T20:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/11\/02\/in-puerto-rico-a-couple-of-hours-of-normal-during-the-world-series\/"},"modified":"2017-11-02T20:36:41","modified_gmt":"2017-11-02T20:36:41","slug":"in-puerto-rico-a-couple-of-hours-of-normal-during-the-world-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/in-puerto-rico-a-couple-of-hours-of-normal-during-the-world-series\/","title":{"rendered":"In Puerto Rico, A Couple Of Hours Of 'Normal' During The World Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Quil Lawrence<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Puerto Ricans who could find a TV screen connected to a generator and a satellite link took advantage of the final game of the World Series to get a much needed diversion. Six weeks after Hurricane Maria, only about a third of the territory has power.<\/p>\n

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Quil Lawrence\/NPR<\/p>\n

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At the end of a dark pitted street in the center of San Juan, the light from the flat screen beckons. Locals flock toward it like a lighthouse, following the siren song of a rattling diesel generator. Six weeks into the nationwide blackout after Hurricane Maria, the final game of the World Series is playing at a popular dive bar called Esquina Watusi.<\/p>\n

In the top of the first inning the gas runs out, and the screen on the outside wall of the bar goes black; by the time the barkeep gets it running again and reboots the satellite TV, the Astros are ahead 2-0, and dozens of Puerto Ricans from all walks of life pull up lawn chairs and stools in the middle of the street.<\/p>\n

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In reality, the Astros had a 3-1 lead before their first pitch: Three Puerto Rican nationals play for Houston, while the Dodgers have to get by with only one boriqua:<\/em> Enrique “Kik\u00e9” Hern\u00e1ndez.<\/p>\n

“I’m going for the team with the Puerto Ricans,” says Liz Cruz, who points out that Hern\u00e1ndez hasn’t appeared yet for the Dodgers.<\/p>\n

She is sitting with two of her girlfriends, Tahiri Berrios and Camilla Axtmayer. None of them are big Houston fans, but that’s not the real the reason they are here.<\/p>\n

“I haven’t been going out because you know other people are in misery. This is the week that I first went out, socializing and seeing people. It brings your hopes up a little bit,” says Axtmayer. She then passionately announces she is supporting the Dodgers. Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez has emerged from the dugout and Axtmayer proclaims her undying love for him.<\/p>\n

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\n Tahiri Berrios, Camille Axtmayer and Liz Cruz watch the final game of the World Series in the street outside Esquina Watusi, a bar in central San Juan.<\/p>\n

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Quil Lawrence\/NPR<\/p>\n

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The crowd is varied: a luxury car salesman, a marine biologist, a hardware store manager, a day laborer. None of them has city power at home though some have their own generators. Some still don’t have running water. Many lost their jobs since the storm. Others have been working nonstop.<\/p>\n