No matter which way we turn, some new picture meets our eyes.
Wandering along, we peep into doorways, courtyards and pleasant patios. Some of the houses have crosses upon their summits, to show the devotion of the inmates to their religion.
Others have a palm branch twined among the iron bars of their balconies, or placed aloft, to protect the house from evil. This branch was one of those blessed at the cathedral the last Palm Sunday.
A piece of white paper floating from the iron railing of a balcony tells us that the house is to let. Here buildings can be rented by the day or week, as well as by the month or year.
The dwellings and other buildings are of gray stone or brick, stuccoed over and tinted blue, yellow, drab or any other color but pink.
About half the houses are two stories in height, the others one story; but all are flat-roofed and without chimneys. The main or upper story has iron balconies which project over the narrow streets and darken them. The houses have no windows of glass, but the window openings are provided with heavy shutters. We enter these houses through interior courts or patios.
Many of the rich Puerto Ricans have fountains, trees, and flowers in these open central courts; a few have roof gardens. Here the family sits in the evening to catch the cool sea breezes. Others sit on their balconies along the outside of the house, or along the inner court or patio.
The patio is the coolest place about the house during the heated hours of the day. Here the women bring their sewing or embroidery, and chat. It is also the favorite playground of the children, and in its shade the men of the household take their afternoon nap.
There are no yards or gardens attached to these houses. The only green spots to be found are the inner courts, the public squares or plazas, and the garden of the Governor-General's palace.
There is no portion of the city set aside for the rich or the poor. People of means, of education, and of refinement live in the upper stories. The poor live in crowded rooms and patios, and in basements or in dirty alleys.