Querido Tommy

Hello Everyone!!

I just joined Hispano Bloggers. I was asked to listen and watch a video by Tommy Torres called "Querido Tommy". To be honest I was slightly reluctant, just because my Spanish isn’t that great and I was worried I would not understand all the words. After some thought, I decided I'd listen to the song. 

My husband is driving while I am sitting in the passenger seat. I plug in my auxiliary cord into my iPhone and the sweet sounds of Tommy Torres come pouring out of my car speakers. I'm listening and watching the video. I LOVE the video. For some of us who are still practicing and learning Spanish. This video is for Us. I love how the words just float through out the entire production. I like listening to Tejano music, my fave is Selena, but I don't listen to much Spanish Pop music. I think Tommy Torres has changed my mind about Spanish Pop. I typically don't listen to it because I struggle trying to keep up with the lyrics, but this song just flows. 

The video is so sweet. The words are flowing over various items, from a room to outside. Every lyric is up for display which is amazing for us who are still working on our Spanish skills. 

As I was listening to Tommy's Sweet voice, I turned to my husband and asked... "Honey this reminds me of a band." Soon after "Meet Virginia" by Train begins to play. I thought BAM thats it!! Tommy Torres's voice and music reminds me of Train. I LOVE TRAIN!!

I STRONGLY recommend checking out Tommy's new song Querido Tommy. It may strike a cord with you and will definitely be a song I will be adding to my iPhone shuffle list.

Congrats Tommy Torres on another GREAT Song!! I hope this will win you your next Grammy!! 

Leaving Your Coat at the Door

I was driving home with my hubby this afternoon, just checking out twitter. When I first started blogging, I had a mission. I wanted to try and talk about what it felt like to be Hispanic and American at the same time. I kinda forgot about my reason, but I'm BACK! 

As I was reading my twitter feed tonight @nohablasespanol-- I am following lots of Latino causes, media, etc. I began to think... Do Latinos check their "Coat" at the door? Are we put into situations where we have to literally  can't be who we truly are. I know I've been in situations where I felt that I couldn't be who I really am because I was "Ashamed" or "Nervous others wouldn't accept me". When I first met my husbands family (BTW He's a Gringo) I think I did that. I've fallen victim of this before. I was afraid they wouldn't accept me. Fast Forward 7 years later and I don't have to do that. They accept me for who I am. I think we get so caught up in our minds worried about being accepted.

Maybe we subconsciously do it, we just "psych" ourselves out.  Paranoid of what others may think. Could it be that we are the only ones who feel we must be different to fit in?

This is just my rambling thoughts.... Has there ever been a time where YOU felt you had to do just that.... 

Thanks for Reading!! Please leave me a comment or two! 

Que Rico...

Hello!

I've been spending most of my off time flipping between food network and HGTV. Watching the chefs cook some amazing meals has gotten me energize to cook more. (My hubby likes my new found energy). Its a chance to be creative with types of flavors and seasonings. Growing up the only real spices we used were.....

• Garlic Powder
• Cumin
• Onion Powder
• Lemon-Pepper-- Once in a blue moon.

That was it!! Now as I've gotten older I find myself still using these same staples in all food I cook... 

My topic of the day is watered-down food.... 

What does this mean? Well, the hubs and I eating dinner one night, his fave  meal spaghetti. 

(I grew up eating "American Food" Hamburger, Hotdogs, Spaghetti, and Chinese Food. It was awesome some of my favorite meals my mom cooked were not Mexican dishes. 

PS My mom makes the BEST HAMBURGERS on the PLANET!!! ) 

Well I looked at him and said I am tired of ALWAYS  making YOUR FOOD! I'm going to start cooking MY food too! The only Mexican food I cooked was tacos. I love tacos. They are a quick and simple thing to cook. I was tired of just making tacos, I wanted to make enchiladas, chalupas, fajitas, tacos al cabon, and carne picada, which is one of my faves.) I was always afraid of cooking these foods because I wasn't sure if he would like them. I started off slow with fajitas... HE LOVED THEM! I then introduced enchiladas... He liked those. Over time I started cooking what he liked and what I liked. I was so afraid of cooking things that were very comfortable to me and shared what I grew up eating. 

Its awesome to see that he likes the what I've cooked, or just doesn't have the heart to tell me he hates it.. Whatever the case maybe its a great feeling!! 

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Disconnect

Hello!!

Its been a while since I've blogged. School has been occupying most of my time. Its like I come home only to eat and sleep to be back up and doing it all over again. I love being busy and the hours of driving I'm doing allows me some times to think and reflect on life.


 While I was home, I had an interesting convo with my little brother. He is a 16 years old high school student. He plays football, baseball, and does shot put and discus in track. He is in the marching band and is in the process of learning a second instrument. He is very intelligent and is in all Advanced classes. Can we say.. NERD ALERT!!! 


We had a chance to catch up. The convo started when he told me, "Rosie... I want to move in with you and Will." I then followed up with.. "Why?" He went on to explain to me how he feels different from the family. All they care about is how well he is doing in sports, but when it comes to band or school it really doesn't matter. I told him I know exactly how he felt. I was always a nerdy kid. I'd rather be inside reading a book or watching TV than outside playing sports or in the dirt. I've always prided myself on doing well in academics!! As we were talking I thought WOW maybe this little boy who got on my nerves as a child is more like me than I originally thought!! Maybe I'm not so WEIRD after ALL!!


I felt different around my family this time around. I'm not sure if its because I'm educating myself or its that I'm becoming more aware of my surroundings, since I'm in a Social Work Program. When I first started writing this blog I thought that school was driving a wedge between myself and my family. I still think this has some validity. Could it be rather than just staying in my own cultural box, the more education I  attain the more I broaden my horizons and start embracing other boxes, so eventually I become one HUGE BRIGHTLY COLORED BOX?

Any Thoughts??????  Have you EVER felt a little bright in YOUR family?

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Sacrifices

Hi Everyone,

Its been a long few weeks and this week is SPRING BREAK! WOO HOO!!! I am so excited about having SOME time off and catching up on Ugly Betty. I know the show is cancelled and I am really sad about it. :( As I was watching this show I couldn't help but empathize with what was going on. There is one episode where Betty is so busy doing work stuff and she was "neglecting" her family.
Growing up we were taught that your family comes first before anything else. Since you know your family will be with you through the end! I cherish those teachings, but when is it ok to sacrifice your family to attain things that they may not have been able to? To push yourself so you are can do better than they did. This is a very try to balance.

I miss my family so much and I sacrificed staying home and going to a junior college to move to Georgia to be closer to the love of my life and at the same time doing something for myself, like finishing school. When I was home visiting, I remember saying Good bye to my Uncle and I told him how hard it was to leave. He told me that you had to leave, because had you not you may not have been able to do what you've already done. I'm so grateful to have a fiance who has supported me in everything I have accomplished.


It is so hard to find a happy medium. Your parents push you to become anything you want to be, which may be , if you have to leave home.... and you may have to deal with guilt. This is something that we all may struggle with.

History tells us that Hispanic families tended to stay together for economic reasons. I disagree with this. I think Hispanic families stay close together because we are taught that su familia es primero. I miss my family and know how Betty felt when she had to make the choice to either stay in NY or move to London to pursue her dream.

This was one of the TOUGHEST decisions I have ever had to make.

What do you think about this? Have you ever had to make a sacrifice to pursue your dream?
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A Blast from the Past

Hello!!

Its been almost a month since I've blogged, due to work and school. I've taken a position working with Spanish speaking clients, which has been a challenge. I do speak some Spanish but I am FAR from fluent. I think by working with these clients I have found admiration for people who have left everything that is comfortable to them to start a life in a new county where they don't know the language. Their children enter our school system and start to learn English, which they in turn become interpreters for their families. Most of them are from Mexico. Many of them have a hard time adjusting to American Culture and end up getting wrapped up in the legal/family services system just because they don't know the rules about living in America, or they can't communicate well with authorities.


You are probably wondering about the title huh?? Well I say Blast from the Past because as I am helping these families I can't help but think about what my grandpa went through. He knew English but my great-grandpa didn't. He became the interpreter for his family, he went with his dad to the bank, to pay bills etc. I have so much respect for my great-grandpa, he came here to make a life for him and his family and now I'm a 4th generation American. I am very blessed. For my cultural-competency assignment for one of my classes, I've decided I'm going to explore the education system and ESL/ESOL/English Immersion/Dual-Language Programs to see which are better.


While living here in South Georgia, the emergence of Immigrant families is a new phenomenon to them. They are struggling with how to adapt/cope with this new population of children attending their school and not speaking English, or families going to supermarkets and can't speak English. I think there is some hostility toward them.


As I was thinking abou this, I could not help but think about history. Italians, Irish. etc. immigrants went though the same thing. It took time for Americans to finally adjust to these new populations, and I think generationally Americans will start to adjust to Hispanic immigrants as well.

OMG I'm marrying a WHITE GUY!

I know the title is not very PC. Many people don't think about what happens if you marry an "outsider" I grew up very culturally diverse (I tried to be at least) and even though historically Hispanics are considered White, doesn't mean we are the same. There are two different cultures. Hispanic versus White. When you combine the two, its Magical.... lets hope! After I met my Will, I was so happy and in love then it HIT ME! OMG!! Our kids are going to be Half White and Half Mexican. I didn't think anything negative, but it was like a realization, they aren't going to be my entire ethnic composition. Please do not think this is a bad thing, because its not. It was just that reality set in. I guess I assumed, before my realization, that our kids would be brown, like me. Well they may end up being a lighter brown closer to White. Not only am I talking about our children's appearance, I am also talking about how we are going to raise them. Lets be honest Will and I were raised quite differently. When you raise children, you tend to incorporate some of what you were taught into raising them.

Chemistry-- Mixing two chemicals may lead to an EXPLOSION!!

I grew up fairly Americanized, aka White, and I didn't think much about Will's skin color when we met. But as we started to grow as a couple, I started to realize that our perspectives on things are very different. Even though I moved away from my family, I told Will I wanted to move closer to them. He kept telling me, well it all depends on where I get a job at. I was adamant about moving home. His view on family is that you leave them and do your own thing. My view is you stay close so you are able to be near them and visit. So that was an explosion. Over time I think he is starting to see where I am coming from. This was one of the most major explosions/realizations I've had about marrying a white guy. I'm sure there are more to come, but for now that's it.

Happy Tuesday!!

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