San sebastian del pepino puerto rico: San Sebastian, Puerto Rico – St. Sebastián Del Pepino
After Months Without Power, A Puerto Rico Town Strings Its Own Lines : NPR
After Months Without Power, A Puerto Rico Town Strings Its Own Lines The Pepino Power Authority of Puerto Rico is a volunteer band of citizens restoring power on their own. The island’s electric utility says their work is illegal. Residents don’t care.
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After Months Without Power, A Puerto Rico Town Strings Its Own Lines
Rosa Cruz and Luis Felipe Colón standing beneath the newly illuminated light on their front porch. The couple had been without electricity for four months.
Adrian Florido/NPR
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Adrian Florido/NPR
Rosa Cruz and Luis Felipe Colón standing beneath the newly illuminated light on their front porch.
The couple had been without electricity for four months.
Adrian Florido/NPR
Four months after Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico, nearly 40 percent of the island’s electricity customers remain without power.
Rosa Cruz and her husband, Luis Felipe Colón, both retired, are among them. They’ve eaten mostly canned food and prayed that Rosa doesn’t have an asthma attack, because they can’t plug in her nebulizer.
Their little house in a rural part of western Puerto Rico sits on a hillside. From their porch, they look down on the town of San Sebastián.
“When there was no electricity,” Colón says, “it looked really beautiful at sunset.”
But slowly, the lights are coming back on. Colón says as power is restored to the town below, it’s looked even more beautiful.
“I tell him, ‘look there’s light down there,’ Rosa says. ‘It’s getting closer to us!'”
This morning, the couple woke up and saw that a crew had re-hoisted the downed utility pole in front of their house.
Colón says he literally jumped.
“What joy!” he said. “It’s our turn!”
Volunteers with the Pepino Power Authority repair electrical lines on the outskirts of San Sebastián de las Vegas del Pepino, Puerto Rico.
Adrian Florido/NPR
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Adrian Florido/NPR
Volunteers with the Pepino Power Authority repair electrical lines on the outskirts of San Sebastián de las Vegas del Pepino, Puerto Rico.
Adrian Florido/NPR
San Sebastián takes charge
The men working out front were not with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the island’s sole utility.
Nor with the Army Corps of Engineers. Nor any of the official government crews working to restore electricity to Puerto Rico.
They were San Sebastián’s police chief – a retired employee of the utility – and a bunch of other men from this municipality, all volunteering to restore power to their town.
San Sebastián’s city hall is on a picture-perfect plaza with a fountain and a church. In his office, Mayor Javier Jiménez says that back in November, after nearly two months of waiting for the electric utility to start grid repairs in his town, he couldn’t take it anymore.
“The first thing I did,” he says, “was find out which of our employees were electricians.” Jiménez said he then put out a call for help for linemen and others who used to work for the utility but were now retired.
“And so we started these brigades,” he said. The volunteers gave themselves a name: the Pepino Power Authority, the PPA, after the town’s full name, San Sebastián de las Vegas del Pepino.
They designed a logo and slapped it on their helmets and utility trucks.
Official logo of the unofficial Pepino Power Authority. Pepino is Spanish for cucumber.
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Official logo of the unofficial Pepino Power Authority. Pepino is Spanish for cucumber.
Adrian Florido/NPR
The Pepino Power Authority (pepino is Spanish for cucumber) started fixing electric lines in the center of town, and has been working its way out to the hills.
They have met resistance. The The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority accused Jiménez of circumventing its monopoly.
He admits he did. But he objects to another accusation — that what he’s doing is unsafe.
“One of the first things we did,” Jiménez says, “was establish a safety protocol, and we brought in a government inspector.”
Pressure builds on the government
Across Puerto Rico, mayors still waiting for repair crews to arrive in their municipalities have started pressuring the governor to allow them to legally restore their own power. So this week, the legislature announced a bill that would permit cities to hire their own contractors.
In San Sebastián, the Pepino Power Authority has already restored service to about 2,500 homes. Joaquín Cruz, a volunteer, says the goal is to restore 100 percent of the town’s homes before the end of January.
“Yesterday we did between 60 and 80,” Cruz says, “and today will be the same.”
One of those is the little hillside home of Rosa Cruz and Luis Felipe Colón, who’ve been watching the progress from their porch all day.
Every time the workmen of the Pepino Power Authority are ready to turn the power back on to a new home, they get giddy with excitement.
Félix Avilés, the police chief turned electrician, races up to the house, switches on the breaker and then flips the switch for the porch light.
It turns on.
“Thank you!” Rosa Cruz tells the workers. “We’re so blessed!”
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San Sebastián
San Sebastián (Spanish: [san seβasˈtjan]) is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northwestern region of the island, south of Isabela, Quebradillas and Camuy; north of Las Marías; east of Moca and Añasco; and west of Lares. San Sebastián is spread over twenty-four barrios and San Sebastián Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is a principal city of the Aguadilla-Isabela-San Sebastián Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The permission to found the town was officially given in 1752, under the leadship of the founder, Captain Cristóbal González de la Cruz, who among other neighbors had an interest in converting some cow farms into an agricultural village.
The foundation of the town from the religious aspect, was consummated in December 1762 by Mariano Martin, the island catholic bishop at that time. At the beginning, by 1700, San Sebastián was a conglomerate of a few cow farms, owned by some residents of the Partido de Aguada. Las Vegas was the former plain site of one of the first cow farms located by the Guatemala riverside at the north. Also, another of those cow farms was Pepinito (today’s downtown) that was a low green mountain with a white calcium carbonate face. On the north side of the town it can be seen some of this “pepinos” (cucumbers). These two cow farms gave the town its first name. From these geographical accidents come the first names of the new village: Las Vegas del Pepino (Cucumber Fields). In 1865 it is documented as San Sebastián de Las Vegas del Pepino.
At the beginning of the 19th century, wealthy Spanish families arrived in Pepino, fleeing the revolutions of Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. Later, by 1850, several families from Catalonia and the Basque Country in Spain joined the large number of isleños (Canary Islanders) that had made El Pepino their home.
These people, after taking over the local political power, developed a coffee industry and brought some material progress to the town. The resident Basques in the municipality, in remembrance of their home region and its religious patron, saw the need of upgrading the old traditional Pepino used by the Canary Islanders to the new and “up-dated” San Sebastián, promoted and thus got the name formally changed by the central government authority. Nevertheless, the citizens of San Sebastián are called “pepinianos”.
San Sebastián Mártir (Spanish for Saint Sebastian the Martyr) is the patron saint of archers and was chosen to be the patron saint of the town since its early history, first brought by the immigrants from the Canaries and later confirmed by the Basques, with the town name changed in 1869.
Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017 triggered numerous landslides in San Sebastián with the significant amount of rainfall. The hurricane winds knocked all the power out and the town was left in the dark.
The 40,000 residents of San Sebastián were left without electrical power. Two weeks after the hurricane decimated the island, Javier Jiménez, the mayor at the time, noticed that help was not on the way. He decided that San Sebastián would not wait for the AEE brigades to come. He assembled an ad hoc team of volunteers, some who were retired AEE electricians, set safety protocols, and their mandate was to get the electrical power back up and running for the people of San Sebastián. Four months after the hurricane, they had restored power to 2,500 homes and continued to do about 60 homes each day. A monument honoring the accomplishments of the Pepino Power Authority, as they were quickly named, was erected in Plaza de la Identidad Pepiniana in San Sebastián barrio-pueblo.
Geography
San Sebastián is on the northwest.
Water features
- Guajataca Lake
- Río Grande de Añasco
- Río Culebrinas
- Río Guajataca
Barrios
Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, San Sebastián is subdivided into barrios.
The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a barrio referred to as .
- Aibonito
- Alto Sano
- Bahomamey
- Calabazas
- Cibao
- Cidral
- Culebrinas
- Eneas
- Guacio
- Guajataca
- Guatemala
- Hato Arriba
- Hoya Mala
- Juncal
- Magos
- Mirabales
- Perchas 1
- Perchas 2
- Piedras Blancas
- Pozas
- Robles
- Salto
- San Sebastián barrio-pueblo
- Sonador
Sectors
Barrios (which are like minor civil divisions) in turn are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores (which means sectors in English). The types of sectores may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.
Special Communities
(Special Communities of Puerto Rico) are marginalized communities whose citizens are experiencing a certain amount of social exclusion.
A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of the commonwealth. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in San Sebastián: Guació barrio, Boquerón, Chinto Rodón, Estalingrado, Paralelo 38, Parcelas Perchas II, Pueblo Nuevo, and Tablas Astilla.
Tourism
Landmarks and places of interest
Established in 2016 is the Veredas Sports Complex in barrio Guatemala. The complex which consists of a modern skate park, a sand volleyball court, a zipline with four stations, a climbing and rappelling wall, an outdoor gym, a rope bridge, basketball and tennis courts, and walking paths, is set within an urban forest of about six thousand trees. Hacienda La Fe, an agriculture museum is located at the complex. Other landmarks and places of interest in this municipality include:
The Robles Waterfall (also known as Gozalandia) – It is a favorite with the locals however, several deaths have occurred at Gozalandia, including tourists
Church of Saint Sebastian the Martyr on the US National Register of Historic Places, is located in the Pueblo of San Sebastián.
There is a farmer’s market held every Friday at the that sells local agriculture as well as souvenirs, for tourists.
Other sites include:
- Casa Doña Bisa and Museum – facing the Public Square
- Guajataca Lake
- Luis Aymat Cardona Coliseum
- Collazo Waterfall
- Hacienda El Jibarito
- Hacienda La Fe
- Juan Jose “Titi” Beniquez Stadium
- Luis Muñoz Marin Ground
- Guajataca Scout Reservation
Culture
In the town is a Fine Arts and Convention Center called Centro de Convenciones y Bellas Artes, which was in the last phase of its construction, as of February, 2019.
Festivals and events
San Sebastián celebrates its patron saint festival in January. The is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.
The Heifer Festival (), celebrated every year on the first Sunday during the patron saint festival, is San Sebastián’s largest festival attracting thousands of people.
The celebration features carnival rides, the diverse music of Puerto Rico, cows decorated with flowers, floats and Puerto Rican cuisine. In January 2016, the town celebrated its 40th Heifer festival.
Other festivals and events celebrated in San Sebastián include:
- Three Kings Day Festival – January
- Children’s Festival – January
- Hammock Festival – July
- Lighting of the Christmas tree – November
- Cultural evenings – third Thursday of the month
- Farmers’ market – every Friday
Symbols
The has an official flag and coat of arms.
Flag
It consists of a rectangular flag of the usual proportions, crossed by a white waved band that separates its red superior part from the inferior one, which is green.
Coat of arms
The Mountains: With silver-plated borders, represent the characteristic mountains under which the vegetable namesake of the town grow (Pepinos) The Crown: Is the heraldic standard used to identify towns, villas and cities.
The Sugar Cane and Coffee Branches: They represent main agricultural products.
Notable people from San Sebastián
- Juan Beníquez, a former center fielder in Major League Baseball
- Ángel Mislan, (1862-1911) musician and composer of danzas “Sara” and “Tu y Yo”.
- Nilita Vientós Gastón, (1903-1989) an educator, writer and journalist and the first woman president of the Puerto Rican Athenaeum.
- Luis V. Gutiérrez, first Latino to be elected to Congress from the Midwest.
- Nathan Lebron, first Latino to run for mayor of Albany, NY.
- Abimelec Torres, contestant on the second season of Idol Puerto Rico.
- Oscar Lopez Rivera, political prisoner.
- Luz Maria Villafañe, Co-Founder of the ‘La Fogata Restaurant’ franchise in Houston, Texas.
- Andrés Méndez Liciaga, made the Boceto Histórico Del Pepino
- Walter Cardona, wrote San Sebastián Del Pepino, Notas Para Su Historia
- Eliut González Vélez, La Fundación De Las Vegas Del Pepino and La Formación De La Etnia Cultural Pepiniana
- Ismael Nunez Pratts, Singer
- Edgar Arvelo, Singer/Announcer
- Marciano “Rocky” Duran, Singer
- Pedro J.
Toro, Singer/Manager - Altemio Sanchez, Rapist and Serial Killer
- Nena Rivera, Singer/also did Theater
- Junior Arroyo, Singer/Announcer
- Raphet Rosado, Singer
- Rosa Haydee Rosado, Singer/Actress
- Margarita Castro Alberty, Opera Singer
- Luz Odilia Font, Telenovela, theater and film actress
- Estefania Soto Torres, Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2020
Toro, Singer/ManagerExternal links
- San Sebastián and its barrios, United States Census Bureau
- Puerto Rico Government Directory – San Sebastián
- San Sebastian Official Municipality page on Facebook
- Discover Puerto Rico – San Sebastián
Text taken from Wikipedia – San Sebastián, Puerto Rico under the CC-BY-SA-3.0 on July 29, 2021
Valledupar – Santiago, distance (km, miles), route on the map, time difference
Valledupar – Santiago, distance (km, miles), route on the map, time difference
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Valledupar – Santiago Distance
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1118 km
693 miles
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Valledupar – Sucre Valledupar – El Carmen de Chucuri Valledupar – Barrancas Valledupar – Pueblo Bello Valledupar – Las Palmas Valledupar – Pupiales Valledupar – San Andrés Valledupar – Libano Valledupar – Seret Valedupar – Marulanda Valledupar – Belen Valledupar – Belen Valledupar – – Rovira Valledupar – Leiva Valledupar – La Jagua de Ibirico Valledupar – La Playa Valledupar – Arenal Valledupar – Fukene Valledupar – Ricaurte Valledupar – Herico
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Santiago – Valledupar
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Distance by car
Distance between Valledupar, Cesar, Colombia and Santiago, Putumayo, Colombia on a car is – km, or miles. It will take a minute or an hour to cover this distance by car. The road is marked with a blue line on the map. By moving the markers, you can lay a new route through the points you need.
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Distance by plane
3 miles. It is marked on the map with a gray line (between two points in a straight line).
Flight time
Approximate flight time of Valledupar Santiago by plane with a cruising speed of 750 km/h will be 1 hour and 29 minutes.
Direction of traffic
Colombia, Valledupar – right-hand traffic.
Colombia, Santiago – right-hand traffic.
Time difference
Valledupar and Santiago are in the same time zone. There is no time difference between them (UTC -5 America/Bogota).
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This distance is approximately 2.8% of the total length of the equator.
The percentage of the population is clearly shown in the graph:
Valledupar – 308.242, Santiago – 2.716 inhabitants (less by 305.526).
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