A bit over 6 years ago I accepted a new position within the federal government, transferring from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland over to the Department of Veteran Affairs in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Career-wise it was a small step, but geographically and culturally it was a giant leap for Pat & Jenn-kind.
My first day in the office I was greeted by my new boss, Ivan Rosado. He took me around and got me acquainted with the campus. From the get go, he seemed like quite the character and my instincts were not wrong. Next we went to the office to meet the rest of the team. As the door opened, the cacophony of voices hit us and it was difficult to discern whether multiple of my future colleagues were having a passionate argument, just having a laugh, or something in between… almost always it was something in between, but always passionate. It turned out that this would be a pretty common, if not daily, scene and usually would involve 5 to 10 people talking at the same time but somehow making it work. It wouldn’t be long before I’d also be part of it and contributing in my own broken Spanglish.
I’m very grateful and genuinely feel lucky that my new office welcomed me so warmly and took me in as part of the team without hesitation. Our project, was extremely complicated and I like to believe that my contributions were significant. At the very least I got the mosaic (below) relocated from the original 1965 bedtower (seen behind me in one of my first posts) and reinstalled in front of the hospital entrance. I feel particularly indebted to Arq. Francisco Jayo who showed me the ropes in my new position as well as Orlando Casillas who always looked out for me as my 2nd supervisor (also he makes some tasty BBQ). Though I certainly have learned much from everyone in a professional capacity, in probably a more invaluable way they taught me a ton about Puerto Rico and the culture in general. I still have a lot to learn but I certainly have got some of the Boricua influence and have a better understanding of the island. For that I’m eternally grateful to all of them.
There are plenty of others that were part of our team that are not in the above photos and certainly influenced me, mostly for the better, but on a project this size it’d be too many to name. I’m sure some of them will pop up in future posts as I hope to stay in touch with many of the guys.
So essentially this all has been a very long-winded way of saying that I’m leaving the VA and federal government to go out on my own. My thoughts and reasons for doing so are complicated and more appropriate for discussion over drinks than an internet blog post, so feel free to come find me if you want to pick my brain.
We’re not leaving the island, I’m just doing some professional transitioning. Maybe I’ll even have some more time to update our website. I hope all the best for everyone that worked alongside me and will always reflect fondly on the time we spent working together.
P.S. if you need an Architect in Maryland, DC, or Puerto Rico, send me a message ;D
Los Dulanys 