My learning of the Spanish language and culture doesn’t stop in the classroom. This semester and so far this Summer, my boyfriend and I have traveled to many different places and have indulged in the Hispanic culture. Our main goals were to learn more, experience more, and live in the moment (hint the small amount of pictures). My favorite trips have been to Houston, Texas, and Indianapolis, Indiana which is my hometown. The picture below of us was from our flight to Indiana. Before going, I told my boyfriend about the neighborhood I used to live in and the nice Hispanic lady who sold homemade food from her van. That is how I was introduced to the basics of Hispanic culture and that’s when I found my love for elotes. Since my boyfriend speaks fluent Spanish, he wanted to travel to that area and try some of the food. When we got there and found the lady, she gave us plates with so much food on them. A lot of foods that I couldn’t name but they were delicious. I wish I would have gotten pictures of the food us eating. We had so much time being in the moment that we barely took pictures. He loved that trip and he loved the food. He had so many conversations with a lot of people in the community. They spoke so fast that I couldn’t catch up! It was nice to be in a different place and experience new things. When we went to Houston, we had a chance to learn from a Hispanic community by being deeper in it. We met so many people and had a chance to go to a bodega! I wish to do more things like this in the future and hopefully by then I will be speaking the language better.
In the next picture is an ingredient that the abuelas in Texas raved about called Sazon Goya. They kept mentioning it over and over. I had a chance to try a dish that contained it in it and it was amazing. It was arroz con pollo and it was topped with cilantro and red peppers. I made a joke that Sazon Goya is the Hispanic version of Nature seasonings! I called my nana to tell her about it and she was just as intrigued as I was.
Finally the video is from a restaurant we ate at in Cincinnati, Ohio before we went to Indiana. It was called Mazunte Taqueria. A lot of Mexican restaurants are very similar but this one was unique. We told our waitress that our occasion for traveling so far was so that my boyfriend could meet my family before we get engaged. Her reaction was so genuine and she started to sing in Spanish. My boyfriend said it was a song about young love. Other waiters and waitresses joined in and it felt like a party! One day, I want to take all of my family there so it can feel like a huge fiesta!
Although there aren’t many pictures, being able to learn for me the ‘behind the scenes’ of different Hispanic communities was the best. I will always encourage people to do what we did or even more. I think it helped me connect more with the culture and with my boyfriend because he had a lot in common with the people we met. They sang songs while he played the guitar and we got to dance the nights away.
