My parents made the choice to raise us here. Here in a country that was not their own. In a place where for many years they were forced to live their lives hiding in plain sight. In the land of opportunity. The land where nothing seemed impossible if you were […]
hispanic
Ask Juan: Is It Possible To Speak Spanish Quietly?
So the other day I just happened to overhear this conversation. Believe it or not, I wasn’t even trying to listen. My Metiche tendencies have very purposely been subdued over the past couple of months. Okay, okay… so not really. I’ve just been kind of too busy to be as chismoso as […]
For Hispanic Heritage Month, StoryCorps Introduces The Story Of ‘Facundo The Great’
I really enjoyed this animated short by StoryCorps. It’s called Facundo the Great, and was recently released in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month. If you’ve ever had your name mispronounced, changed all together, or still have people who cannot even begin to pronounce your name, you’ll understand why. The […]
Pan-Tuflas: Comfort Shoes
Pantufla – zapatilla sin orejas ni talón para andar por casa. Or house shoes in English, pa los que no entiendan. After a long day’s work there’s nothing better than getting home, kicking off your shoes, and throwing on a pair of pantuflas, especially if it’s cold! My own have […]
Ask Juan: How to tell if you’re at a Pachanga?
It should be pretty simple to tell. I mean you can’t pass off a tamal or a torta for an hors d’oeuvre, much less frijoles pintos or asado… though in all fairness, word around the street is that these new gourmet food trucks are doing wonderful things with our comida. But […]
Miracle in Edingburg, Texas
Whether it had been a particularly difficult year only my parents knew. We’d still managed to make it to school everyday like we normally did. On Saturdays like clockwork we’d all pack into the chocolate, our fudge brown colored, four door, rusty sedan, and drive down to the Valley Mart […]
Ask Juan: Why are all Latinas on Spanish-language television so “HOT”?
There’s a reason my television at the office is never tuned in to one of the Spanish-language networks. Only when it’s late at night or there is nobody else in the building will you catch me watching anything on Univision, Telemundo, Telefutura, or any of the other half dozen canales en español that […]
Ask Juan: What is it with all of that hot sauce?
Anywhere I eat, no matter where it is, whenever I sit down, after serving myself a healthy-man-sized portion of food – always healthy-sized – people siempre seem to be amazed at what happens next. If we are at a restaurant I’ll gently ask the waiter or waitress, “excuse me, do […]