I will never forget the first time I had a PB&J sandwich – it was in Tampa, Florida, at the Chamberlain Senior High School cafeteria, circa 1985. Yes, what a strange thing to remember, but for me the discovery of peanut butter mixed with purple jelly at 15 was a memorable one as it marked the first of many new and different experiences I would have during my stint as a foreign exchange student in los Estados Unidos. My parentsRead More ...
An Unforgettable Experience: My Summer as an Exchange Student
Keepsakes to Cherish for Father’s Day
My husband is not huge on Father’s Day, but he loves it when Vanessa (and now Santiago) makes stuff for him, whether it is a drawing or a cookie. Since she is out of school already, there wasn’t going to be any crafts made by her as a gift for him on Sunday. Until I found this really cool and easy-to-do craft to make your own stepping stones for your garden. It’s called Made by Me Stepping Stones Kit andRead More ...
SpanglishBaby Dads | The Best Inheritance: Raising Our Daughter to be Trilingual
Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final essay in a week long series for Father’s Day written by papás who are raising bilingual and bicultural children. We hope you’ve enjoyed all of the essays this week. If you missed anything, you can always go to the introductory post for links to the essays and to our awesome giveaway! Long before our daughter Aylin Carolina was born last October, my wife Deniz and I decided what she wasn’t going toRead More ...
SpanglishBaby Dads | The Pros and Cons of a Language Barrier
Editor’s note: This is the third in a week long series of essays for Father’s Day written by papás who are raising bilingual and bicultural children. We hope you come back to read the rest of the essays this week. If you missed anything, you can always go to the introductory post for links to the essays and to our awesome giveaway! We could get away with everything as kids. Or so we thought. Mom and dad didn’t understand EnglishRead More ...
SpanglishBaby Dads | My Selfish Reasons for Raising Bilingual Children
Editor’s note: This is the second in a week long series of essays for Father’s Day written by papás who are raising bilingual and bicultural children. We hope you come back to read the rest of the essays this week. If you missed anything, you can always go to the introductory post for links to the essays and to our awesome giveaway! A little over two years ago, on a Tuesday night, I poured myself a glass of red wineRead More ...
SpanglishBaby Dads | Spanish is Not Everywhere for my Daughter
Editor’s note: This is the first in a week long series of essays for Father’s Day written by papás who are raising bilingual and bicultural children. We hope you come back to read the rest of the essays this week. If you missed anything, you can always go to the introductory post for links to the essays and to our awesome giveaway! Growing up in Miami, Spanish was everywhere. My Cuban mom spoke only Spanish to my brother and IRead More ...
Should Bilingual Schools Hire Only Spaniard Teachers?
I went to a British school back in Peru where I was taught the majority of my courses in English. The school has been around for a very long time (1938) and even my mother and her sisters went there when they were little. It has a great reputation and it’s undoubtedly responsible for my being bilingual since it was there where I learned English in a formal setting. When I attended the school in the 1980s, there used toRead More ...
Outside Looking In: The Story of So Many Latinos in the U.S.
I struggled a lot in writing this post. Not because it was difficult really, but because this is my husband’s story and it’s one that I don’t take lightly. I really wanted to do justice to the challenges that he’s faced, and ones that we are now facing as a family. I know that we all have different stories to tell and I believe that we all need to be heard. With that in mind, I want to share partRead More ...