Traditions + Culture

Being a bicultural Latina raising biracial kids while living 300 miles from our nearest Spanish-speaking family means that any opportunity to celebrate our Latino roots is one I cannot pass up. My 3 year old daughter is becoming increasingly aware of holidays and traditions, so I felt it was imperative to celebrate Día de los Muertos. Before adorning her beautiful face with calaca face paint, Alina and I spent some time talking about the holiday and traditions associated with DayRead More ...

My first memories of Día de Los Muertos was the smell of fresh mole and bolillos (baguettes) that my grandmother made and we took to the cemetery where her parents and siblings were buried, this repeated every November first, it was the most magical event of the year for me. I didn’t really know about Halloween then. Abuelita said that bringing your relatives’ favorite foods to their tomb will bring their souls back to their buried bodies and we will feelRead More ...

Last week a Colombian friend of ours decided that it would be a great idea to have a pre-Halloween party for the kids. She’s always coming up with the best ideas to keep the kids entertained and en español. This time, she came up with the idea of having a comparsa-style party, meaning that the whole family would have to come dressed up under one theme and put together a show to perform in front of everyone. Yikes! As funRead More ...

Almost a month has passed since el quince de septiembre, Costa Rican Independence day. That weekend I set up a meeting point with a good friend, also a tica, gathered up my sons and our Metro cards and we trekked up to the Costa Rican Embassy in Washington, D.C. to check out the festivities, the third year in a row we’ve done so. I can always bribe my children with a ride on the bus or the Metro, because thereRead More ...

For years now we’ve been talking about and celebrating the Day of the Dead festivities on SpanglishBaby, but this is the first year I’m finally going all out with Camila since I feel she can now get a better grasp of what it means. My plan is for us to put an altar together for the bisabuelos and bisabuela she never met. We’re also invited to a party this Saturday where all families have been asked to dress up asRead More ...

It’s October and that can mean only one thing: Día de los Muertos is almost here! In the past three years since we launched SpanglishBaby, we’ve found that this is one holiday we’ve all grown to love and embrace. Not only because it’s a beautiful way to remember and celebrate our loved ones who have passed, but also because the holiday is so rich in colors, foods, traditions and symbolisms that represent so well what makes our Latino culture soRead More ...

The 51 million Latinos who live in the United States, (and those of us who have married into the familia!) know what a colorful, exciting, and beautiful culture it is. Hispanic Heritage Month which runs from September 15th through October 15th each year, allows us to share all the specialness of nuestra cultura with everyone, and gives us a chance to recognize the achievements of American Latinos. Amway, one of the largest direct selling companies in the world, is joiningRead More ...

Today marks the beginning of the month-long celebration known as Hispanic Heritage Month. Today’s also the Independence Day of several countries in Central America, así que ¡Feliz Día a los salvadoreños, nicaragüenses, guatemaltecos, costarricences y hondureños! Tomorrow it’ll be Mexico’s turn and on Sept. 18, it’ll be Chile’s Independence Day, so it obviously made huge sense to have this celebration of all things Hispanic during this time of the year. Now, I’m not going to lie, I’ve never been aRead More ...