Day 4 - What Latino Blog I Recommend

The Alchemist,
movie to come out in 2011

Looking at my Google Reader (and double checked Bloglines, while I still can RIP) I realized quickly... I don't have many Latino Blogs that I follow... most people I know have heard/read Latinegro's blog so that recommendation is set. The Coffeehouse (ahem) has been inactive under protest.. ha. Many of the blogs I read focus around technology or education which are probably two of my biggest passions. (I won't mention the entertainment gossip blogs... those don't count!) That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate Latino writers or blogger - but have you tried to read 100 blogs a day?? It's so time consuming. Lately I've also been trying to read more news oriented blogs focused around business and politics - I have a decent amount of career goals ahead of me soon ;)

The only other blog that falls under this category I would recommend is Paulo Coelho's blog. He has been one of my favorite writers since college and I've read nearly every one of his books. He's someone who has the ability to make you view life in a way you never thought you could. He tugs at your heart strings about love, friendships, families and quality of life. I'll leave you with this recent post that really stuck with me:
 
A man knocked at his Bedouin friend’s door to ask him a favor:

“I want you to lend me four thousand dinars because I have a debt to pay. Can you do that for me?”

The friend asked his wife to gather together everything they had of value, but even so it was not enough. They had to go out and borrow money from the neighbors until they managed to get the full amount.

When the man left, the woman noticed that her husband was crying.

“Why are you sad? Now that we’ve got ourselves in debt with our neighbors, are you afraid we won’t be able to repay them?”

“Nothing of the sort! I’m crying because he is someone I love so much, but even so I had no idea he was in need. I only remembered him when he had to knock on my door to ask me for a loan.”

- Why are you crying? Paulo Coelho Blog

Day 4! HOLLA! ;)
Z

Part of the 30 Day Latino Blog Challenge

Day 3 – Favorite Latino influenced ;) food

Pernil Asado

 There are plenty of foods I do not eat. I hate chick peas. Mustard can die slow. Don't even get me started on sea food. I respect people's choice to not eat meat, or even be vegan. I do. In Syracuse, the first dorm I lived in, Flint/Day, was known as the place to go for the best salad bar, the most in vegetarian/vegan options of any dining hall and so many types of bread! But, I am someone who cannot live with meat in my life - my favorite is pork - chuleta, pernil, masita de cerdo, sandwich cubano. I could eat it all! When I was younger beef was my favorite but my parents decided to stop cooking it (trying to be healthier in diet) and my stomach grew increasingly intolerant. However, I'm grateful for the shift because red meat is pretty harsh for the tummy. Of course, who doesn't love chicken and turkey burgers are a delightful alternative to red meat.

Chuleta Frita

I hate to admit it, but being away from home and in Syracuse made me realize that the world did not live off of rice, beans, a side of meat, and depending on how Papi felt that night, a bonus of peas, sweet corn, or if we were really lucky tostones or maduros (fried or sweet plaintains). I was genuinely freaked out to find no rice, no meat resembling the cooked meat I grew up with... what was I going to eat?! Pasta for 7 days? Burgers for 7 days .. (yum, but hello freshman 15)?

In our family, turkey is not the meat of choice for holiday - Pernil is the centerpiece for our dinner. For the past 2 years or so I've taken the chef's hat and have made our holiday meat. It has been important to me for the past few years to extract cooking knowledge from my mother so that I can continue the tradition. No offense to the turkey, but there's something about the smell of roasting pork shoulder in a house that beyond amazing!

Hungry now...
Z

Day 2 – What Latin American Country/Island I would love to go to.

Blogging everyday has already proven to be a challenge so I may have to start blogging in advanced and scheduling these bad boys...

It would be easy to say Ecuador (given my last post) since this is where my birth family is from ---- however I think I would rather go with an acquaintance or even by myself! I view traveling the way I view living with someone ---- it's just not recommended to live with friends... the bad side of people's habits and tendencies come out QUICK. For me, I think staying in one place for too long is no bueno! I'd rather just take a month or 3 off and visit every country in South America! It's just such a different world down there and every country is so different I feel like I'd be in heaven to get it all in one gulp :)

Besides South America, I would have to say Cuba. And yes, it's totally because of the risk and the thrill of being in a forbidden country! Why the hell not! I learned late in life that you cannot always believe what you see in the media or even in textbooks - therefore the antagonized politics of Cuba is one that I love to debate about for hours & learn more about. In fact, my blog may even be blacklisted by the government as we speak~ However, Cuba's history and culture is a fascinating one, and I can only imagine how beautiful their land and beaches are!

Anyway, my coworker and soon to be blogger (hooray!) will be leaving us to fullfill her life long dream of traveling the world in October! She will be traveling through South America until the holidays and then head to Europe and Asia after the New Year. I'm so EXCITED for her and extremely jealous she will be traveling all throughout South America. HOPEFULLY I can get my life together and do some traveling soon as well! I may even have to track her down over in Amsterdam ;)

Day 2 DONE!
Z