Day 5 - A story about growing up Latino/a

There was a time, my mother said, that I didn't want to identify as anything. Why do I have to be a girl? Easy, God gave you the organs of one. Why do I have to be a little girl? Because you're still little and have a lot to learn. Why do I have to speak Spanish? How else will you learn who you are if you don't know where you came from?

As a Latina, there are plenty of characteristics people are ready to pick on. Thighs, butt, lips, skin tones. There was always one that always drove me crazy and made me both proud and ashamed. My hair.

My hair. I don't buy into this good hair, bad hair concept - however every hair dresser my mother ever took me to would remind me to thank God that I had the hair I had. Remember at this time I didn't know about my genetics so I was still self identifying as Dominican / Puerto Rican. For those who don't know, I have thick, straight with waving tendencies, black hair. Resembling the feature of my Ecuadorian people.

While most of the girls in the salon had rollers and relaxers in their hair, my hair didn't need all that. I wanted it of course - because it just seemed like the thing to do. Like a female right of passage. I couldn't of course because "I didn't need it." All I needed was a good cut and blow. But the catch is - for so long none of these women would cut my hair the way I wanted them to. Either they cut my bangs too short, or my layers too thick, or not thick enough, or they burned my hair. It's not their fault of course, but the truth of the matter is, they didn't come across my type of hair too often. It is what it is. As much as it embarassed me when women would come touch my hair like a side show attraction, it also put me in this weird position of suddenly I'm in a "luckier" position because of it. It made me feel uncomfortable, not glamorous.

Raices: En Su Retrato de Colores
By Micaela Clementina Anaya

One story is this mother and daughter duo obviously talking sh!t about me and were envious of my hair as I got it cut. I could feel my mother getting ready to curse the sh!t right back at them but then, as my hair dresser was putting the finishing touches on my hair, she turned to this mother/daughter duo and said (in spanish, so I'm paraphrasing) "You may think she's lucky with this hair, but her hair is as dead as a chinita, so she won't be able to have pretty hairstyles and get a man as easy as her (pointing to the daughter)." They looked at each other in validation.

Guess I'm lucky that wasn't my only inspiration in life huh?

We didn't go back to that salon. You can't win them all... 

Happy Birthday Michelle! :)

- Z

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