Et Cetera
This is a tumblelog, kinda like a blog but with short-form, mixed-media posts with stuff I like. Scroll down a bit to start reading, or a bit more to read more about me.
I Want You So Bad cover by La Santa Cecilia
This is the best Beatles cover I’ve ever heard.
People seem to have lots of questions about Latinos but the answers floating online don’t really answer these questions well. One thing that is obvious is that most Americans don’t know shit about Latin American history, Latinos in the US or their respective countries.
The question “Why do latinos look ______” is not a difficult question but it would require understanding the history of the Pre-Columbian era and colonization era of Latin America.
Some of these questions reflect the how people view Latinos. For example “Why do latinos drop out of high school” or “why do latinos have so many children”. Those are some negative stereotypes Latinos do have in the US and it’s awful to see that people are googling that. Within our own group we know that stereotypes like these don’t define us but it certainly is unfortunate that people believe it. What could be done to ameliorate the Latino image? Lots, but I’ll leave that for another tumblr post.
There are some questions that I flat out don’t know the answer too. One of those is, “Why do latinos love Morrissey”. I didn’t know that latinos loved Morrissey so much or that loving him was an exclusively latino thing. I’m not sure where that question is coming from but some people want the answer.
This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa.
Download here.
always reblog
Can someone please tell me how to use this to improve health?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events
A few more apocalypses predicted for the future, and a long list of past apocalypse predictions. Thanks Wikipedia, this kept me entertained for several hours.
Get to know the Brazilian artistic movement of Tropicália in a 12-song playlist from World Cafe’s Latin Roots series.
Anonymous asked: What Is Your Favorite Bossanova song?
That’s a tough question. A tie between “Apesar de Voce” by Chico Buarque and “A Felicidade” on the Orfeu Negro sountrack.
My 16 year old cousin just texted me to gloat about her new driver’s license. I’m 23 and I still don’t drive.
I feel like I could fill up an entire antifeminist bingo card just from this one post.
Oooooo I’m so glad that I don’t know that person.
First Week of Work
I’ve been unemployed for the last 3 months. I had a nice routine that included waking up around 11am, drinking coffee while listening to bossanova, watching documentaries or cat videos, and during my breaks, I would send resumes and cover letters. It did get boring but I knew how to entertain myself.
Now I have to readjust to having a new schedule that involves waking up at 6 am to be at work by 7:30am. I work as the Parent Liaison at Gar-Field HS. It’s a little weird because I was just a student there 5 years ago, but the work I get to do is awesome. I help Latino parents who speak little English figure out which resource or what information they need. School administration can be intimidating or a hassle to deal with when you can’t understand the language so it’s my job to help reach those parents.
The only down side is that I usually work with parents when their student is performing poorly so I’m sure parents will soon dread receiving my phone calls. Also, I’m trying to figure out a way to reach out to the students. I want to have a good group of students who I regularly check in with and have a good relationship with. So far most of my work has been making phone calls for teachers who can’t speak Spanish and translating in meetings. What I want to do is work more with the parents and students.
Plus my work can get a little heavy at times and I am a little too emotional. I’ve almost cried twice at work. The first time was because a mother was frustrated and crying. I can’t see mothers cry, they break my heart. The second time I nearly cried was when I was trying to help a student and there was no good solution. As the weeks go by I think I will get better at managing my emotions, or at least I hope so.
