Roxana’s Blog

This took me completely by surprise, but as soon as Vanessa tried chicha morada for the first time, she was hooked. Wherever we’d go during our recent trip to Perú, she’d ask for a glass (or two) of this deliciously refreshing Peruvian drink made from maíz morado. It was surprising because, as a child, whenever someone who knew me well planned on serving chicha, they knew they might as well prepare a separate batch sólo para mi. Such was myRead More ...

I recently found out that Latino children are 60 percent more at risk than white children to have asthma attacks. I also found out that Latinos are three times as likely as whites to die from asthma. (If you’d like to know why, please check out this article). And, I freaked out because my own daughter, Vanessa, was diagnosed with asthma almost two years ago! Were you aware of these numbers? I wasn’t and I felt guilty. But I’ve decided to turnRead More ...

We’re baptizing our son, Santiago, on Saturday. I feel terrible that we’ve waited this long (most Catholics do this right after a baby is born). His sister was baptized when she was barely 2 months old. Santiago is 19 months today. I can come up with a handful of reasons why we’ve waited this long, but the truth is that I’m really happy we’re finally doing it. I’m also really happy because Ana — who is Santiago’s godmother — andRead More ...

I’ve never had a problem admitting it: Soy una cachivachera. I’m a pack rat…of the worst kind, at that. I collect all kinds of cachivaches and I always find some kind of sentimental reason why I shouldn’t get rid of even a piece of paper con un garabato. I have boxes, drawers, bags, envelopes and trunks filled with years worth of all kinds of greeting cards I’ve received; ID cards from school, gyms, libraries and all the jobs I’ve everRead More ...

My daughter has show and tell every Monday at her preschool. Recently, she wanted to take the Pillow Pet she got from her padrino for Christmas and which she absolutely adores! But on the way to school, and with her Chanchi by her side, her daddy convinced her that her pink pig pillow was too big for show and tell and that most probably it’d get pretty dirty from all the kids touching it! So, she found herself without aRead More ...

It’s finally here! My son’s passport just arrived in the mail which means we’re all set to go on our trip back home to Perú in 9 days! As I opened the envelope from the U.S. State Department and took my first look at this small blue book, I couldn’t help but think of all the people who’d give anything to have one of their own, too. I stopped to think about the unimaginable risks people — including thousands ofRead More ...

Just before our state was paralyzed thanks to the most frigid temperatures I’ve ever experienced in my entire life, we were actually enjoying beautiful weather here in the Rockies! In fact, last Sunday, we took a trip to Red Rocks – a must-see if you ever visit Colorado – which is a wondrous open-air amphitheater where music concerts are performed on a regular basis. The Beatles played there! On a clear day, you can actually see downtown Denver from theRead More ...

Last Saturday, I had the enormous pleasure of taking my daughter to an absolutely wonderful bilingual cultural event in Denver: Cuéntame un Cuentito — storytelling at its best! Four actors/musicians took the stage and they took turns bringing to life several popular Latin-American tales by reading, signing and/or playing an instrument. Some of the stories were performed by two actors, one reading in English and the other one in Spanish. There was also one guy who would play the congasRead More ...