family

It´s been a little over a year since the last time we came to El Salvador. That time Camila celebrated her third birthday with her familia Salvadoreña. She also spent three weeks completely immersed in a Spanish-only preschool during the weekdays. Her Spanish was flowing beautifully since it was the language she heard the most since she was born. Aside from strengthening her Spanish skills and connecting a need to it, the bonds she made with her cousins, abuelita andRead More ...

During last week´s #MexicoToday Twitter party I co-hosted, I noticed that many tweeps (myself included) were using the words “magical” and “mágico” to describe México and their experiences in this country.  It´s difficult not to include the word magical when talking about a country that exudes so much mysticism because of the force of its natural beauty and the juxtaposition of ancient, colonial and modern cultures all at once.  The unexplainable and unattainable becomes magical for a loss of aRead More ...

Once we were married, my husband and I had put the worst behind us. Our families ended up showing for the wedding, despite our being interracial and interfaith, and that was a triumph on its own. Not long afterward, we were due for our daughter, Lilyana. We waited anxiously to find out what she would act and look like and how her beautiful little voice would sound. But, the news of our coming hijita brought new challenges in dealing withRead More ...

No better place to start 2011 for us than in tierra Azteca–México.  Last week I shared a post from our first weekend in México City and promised to share more, but fell short on that promise because my daughter got a severe cold and double ear infection and I got hit with the flu.  We had to take it easy for days and missed out on many of the sights we were looking forward to having Camila experience:  el ZócaloRead More ...

I’ve been thinking about two things lately: my daughter’s name and her linguistic environment.  When we named her Marisol, we intentionally chose a Spanish name, including that rolled “r.”  We knew it would be butchered often, but loved it anyway and it became her name.  Her middle and last names are also very clearly Latino names as well.  Throughout our days, though, I wonder if her name will make her feel out of place, or self-conscious because it is soRead More ...