As the pink sun is setting over Las Croabas Park, past the breathtaking El Yunque rainforest, and over an hour drive east of San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital, children are still playing in the ocean watching the waves roll in.

I pay for my savory crescent-shaped cheese empanada in American dollars from a small kiosk nearby before joining a kayaking excursion to Laguna Grande (Big Lagoon). I hear parents calling to their kids in Spanish “Ven aqui” (Come here), holding up enticing bags of churros- traditional Spanish tubular shaped donuts powdered in cinnamon and sugar. Well, I know that I’m in the U.S.A., but it sure doesn’t feel like it.