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				About Puerto Rico Puerto Rico is an island, which means it is completely surrounded by water. Have you ever been on an island? Puerto Rico is located many miles off the coast of Florida.   Many years ago, a gentleman named Teodoro Vidal became a collector in Puerto Rico. He traveled all over Puerto Rico collecting artwork, furniture, toys, and much more. He collected many of the carnival masks and santos that you will see in this activity guide.   Map of the Caribbean. Can you find Puerto Rico on the map above? Remember, Puerto Rico is an island, which means it is surrounded by water!   The map below shows some of the places around the island of Puerto Rico where Mr. Vidal collected masks, costumes, and santos!   A place where Mr. Vidal collected carnival objects such as masks and costumes. A place where Mr. Vidal collected santos. A santo is a wood carving of a saint or religious person in the Catholic Church.   You can find out more about carnival objects in Lulu Delacre's book, Vejigante Masquerader.   Mr. Vidal collected objects because he wanted to share the history and culture of Puerto Rico with other people. In 1997, he gave some of his collection to the National Museum of American History, Behring Center, in Washington, DC.   You can learn more about collecting and making Carnival masks by downloading the activities on this Web site! back to A Puerto Rican Carnival back to top
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