We were in Puerto Rico when my dad was in the military-other than a few differences in words for some food items and the fact that they talked a bit faster than us Nortenos, none of us had any problems with conversation-the people I’ve known from Cuba spoke Spanish even faster, though...
I haven’t been to Mexico in about 15 years-since it became too unsafe to get into my Suburban on vaca time and wander around going to archaeological sites and visiting friends and relatives-but in the interior there were still dialects spoken only in certain areas-difference in accent, slang words, idiomatic expressions, more formal speech etc-I’ve always found the way a language develops differently over an area fascinating.
Oh I agree, I love language.