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Updated June, 2008 (this site is updated often and sometimes not so often) Welcome! This site is devoted to growing Up Latino in the U.S.A. It focuses on the humor as well as the pain and joy of growing up as an American Latino. Ocassionally the front page will feature a few current events. Some may be related to Latino cultural issue, but some may appear simply because I think they are interesting. The other pages feature articles, stories, and advice. All but four of the articles have been written by me. I hope to soon have more contributions from other points of view. So if you are interested in writing a few things for this website, contact me. |
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Once again I found myself in what was to be the most boring afternoon ever! I had abandoned my ultra-thin, LCD HD, television set at the beginning of the second quarter of what was destined to be the greatest football game ever played! The Texans were about to score another touch down; I could just feel it! But no; I would not get to witness one of the Texan's few victories. I now found myself sitting on the foot steps of the Church building, with camcorder and camera at hand. I was so eagerly waiting for the 12:00 PM mass to end. Mass was running over, and my chances of making the last quarter of the game were almost nil; it was now 1:45 pm. I guess I was lucky; I could have been stuck inside. (No I did not skip church! I had already gone to mass that morning.) For what was I so eagerly waiting? Los matachines, of course. My two girls were members of one of two matachines troupes that were paying homage to La Virgen. I had been "asked" to video tape them after the church service. Finally! The bulging church doors flung wide open, forcibly expelling a few parishioners in great relief. Those few promptly got out of the way to make room for the priest with plumed matichenes in tow. Little boys in white pants and shirts, carrying a .....read more |
Los Matachines (Losing Little bits of Culture) |
My girls after thieir performance |
Out of all the places I could have found a book that is true to the Mexican-American culture in South Texas, it had to be in the young readers section of my local library. Yes, I found this book misfiled in the young readers section. It was among the magical journeys and lost love books. "Brownsville" , by Oscar Casares, is a collection of stories or narratives dealing with the daily lives of Mexican-Americans in the Brownsville area. The stories range from a troubled young man befriending a rotting severed monkey's head to the theft of a prized ruby red bowling ball. You will also read about a voluptuous young woman selling cosmetics at the local grocery store, and a man holding a grudge over a borrowed hammer. The language, descriptions, events, and circumstances written in this book is an accurate representation of Latino life in South/ Southwest Texas. Everything about the book was familiar to me. As I read each story, I just could not believe that I had actually met individuals that were very similar to the characters in the book. This book was published back in 2003. I'm always looking for a good read. If you know of any books dealing with US Latino life, send me an email. |
Brownsville by Oscar Casares A book true to the Mexican-American culture along the Rio Grande. |
Every child knows that moving to a new city, state, or even country can be a very difficult time in there life. And this is what had happened to me. As soon as I found out that my mom and I were moving away from the city we lived in, I felt hate, sadness, and depression. I had a girlfriend! How would I break the news to her? We had been together for about 10 months, and I couldn’t even imagine being away from her. The day of the move was approaching sooner and sooner, and my whole life would start changing from that day forward. On moving day, we packed all of our things in our suburban. The entire truck was full and stuffed with many things, which made the 32-34 hour journey even more uncomfortable. The only thing to do was to sleep or just watch the road going past me. Our final destination was to be Alabama , but some how things didn’t work out there so we just ended up going to Tennessee. Soon, it was time to go to school. I did not know what to expect on my first day of school. I was a simple 12 year old from Texas, and just going to a new school in Tennessee would be chaos. As I got my schedule for all my classes, I looked at it like if I didn’t know what I was holding. Every time I walked into a different class, I could tell everyone was looking at me; so I would just look at the floor letting my hair do its job and cover...read more by Jairo Díaz |
© Steven Pepple - Fotolia.com |
Moving: A young Latino's Experience ( as written by a Junior High School Student) |
As my little boy stepped out of the car, he turned slightly to the left, and stared in awe at the house down the street. He was mesmerized by the banging and clanging of a well orchestrated chaos. There must have been at least ten young men crawling and scampering about the house's steeped pitched roof. Some were balancing shingles and pieces of plywood on their backs as they climbed the sharp incline. Others were furiously banging away, oblivious to the men stepping over them. Still others, were singing to "norteño" music blaring through the worn out speaker of a radio so precariously balanced on a stack of shingles. All the while, my son just stood in the middle of our driveway, enjoying what could be considered a well choreographed show, play, or even opera. I was truly amazed at how such an activity, that is normally taken for granted, had completely sequestered my son's attention. How I wished I could know his thoughts right at that instance. "Could he be wondering how the men keep their balance?" I thought. "Maybe he is wondering how many nails it takes to securely hold a shingle...or perhaps he wants to know who taught those men to shingle a roof?" After a minute or two of observing the show, my son simply turned towards me and asked, " por qué son todos mexicanos?" read more.... |
The Roofers |
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