Luis Rosso – Lancaster, Pennsylvania

“Hopefully, we change the way we move the world, as far as nature. We take nature for granted too much – and that touches on the subject of the Hurricane again – the fact that we had never seen a Hurricane that big. That comes from – obviously some climate change in there – and being the time of year that happened, usually hurricanes at that time of year aren’t that strong. Hopefully, people open up their eyes and minds towards climate and climate change and start taking care of nature…”

“I’m two days away from a month [of living in Lancaster], from Puerto Rico. It’s a big change from tropics to cold weather and thing. Everything’s very nice so far…Well I’m wearing a coat indoors, but I am getting used to it. When we got here it was like 50 degrees and we were freezing. Right now if it’s 50 it’s okay, so I’m getting there, I’m getting there.”

“I’m a kidney donor, so we had an operation due over there on the island. But then, because of the circumstances, no electrical power and such, Penn State hospital was highly recommended from our hospital back home. And so we kinda knew some people already here, so we moved here with the whole family, basically. My family is still there for the most part, but they’ll be coming in shortly after.”

“There is a road that I go by to go home, and there’s all these Puerto Rican flags in every corner, which is nice to see. And also it gets to me that a lot of people ask about the storm – because we were cut off, no power, no TV, no radio – so when you get here and having people ask ‘how was the storm?’ It’s like wow, so a lot of people do know – and it’s nice to see a lot of people worried about it. It impacts you.”

“Born and raised [in Puerto Rico] – believe it or not, I miss Christmas. Even though it’s Christmastime, it’s a different vibe in Puerto Rico. It’s more of a big party all the time and it’ll go out almost till February. I miss that part. And then my family’s back home, even though I talk to them on some occasions – Christmastime is such a big deal back home that I’m kinda missing that. Good thing, I’m kinda with ‘secondary family’ if you will, so it’s not 100% bad, but it’s one thing I do miss. And then the warm weather. Apart from that everybody here is very nice, around, like everybody – I haven’t met anybody that’s not nice. Everywhere you go, everybody’s super nice, so I love it here, love it.”

“I got this job, I think it was four days after I got here. And I felt very under-dressed, because I brought basically what I could, so I had no dress shirts, no nothing. And when they interviewed me, they were so welcoming, and they were so understanding – and that’s how everybody has been. Everybody, even before I mention I’m from Puerto Rico, everybody’s really nice and very welcoming. I don’t know, I guess, moving to a new place, you kinda feel a little bit like you don’t know what to expect, but I guess you’re never expecting everybody to be so nice and welcoming – I think that comes with the territory of Pennsylvania and Lancaster – everybody has been super nice.”

“One thing is that no matter where you go, you can talk to somebody. That’s one thing in Puerto Rico: wherever you go you can find somebody to talk to – a random stranger and you can ask him a question and he’ll answer it…that’s one thing – we’re kind of used to that on the island. Like if you need directions to somewhere you just ask somebody randomly. Other places I’ve visited, that hasn’t been the situation, they kinda turn their back on you or they keep walking. Here [Lancaster] you get that, so that’s good to see.”

“Everybody keeps asking me what it was like. I had already been through two which were considered one of the worst ones – that was Hugo and George – but every time I try to put this storm into words, I can’t, I can’t. And no matter how old you were or how many hurricanes you’ve been though – an example, my mother, she’s been through a few and she had never seen anything like it. That was the constant theme: nobody had ever seen anything like this. So, I would like somebody to put that out there. That would be the one thing, because it’s so hard to put into words – no matter how you try, nobody will ever understand, nobody.”

“Don’t miss out on opportunities that don’t present themselves as opportunities. Sometimes you see something and you kinda think for a second ‘I might want to try that’ and then you just keep going and don’t try it at all – so, don’t do that. Whichever opportunity you see, if it crosses your mind ‘I want to try that’ – go for it, or ‘I need to go there’ – go there. Don’t put off whatever you might think is silly, because then you’re gonna be wishing you had.”

Limited edition print available (alpha edition):
Giclée (Archival Inkjet) print w/ quotes hand-lettered on mat in silver pen.
1.25” Matte Black Frame, 2.5” Black Mat, Archival Hinge Mount, UV Glass.
20″ x 14.5″ (Framed: 27.5″ x 22″)
$1799

Luis - Limited Edition Print, Alpha Series
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