by Cristopher Rubio
A couple weeks ago, I was outside of my school’s gym waiting for the last student to get picked up after basketball practice (there’s always that one last kid…), when a retired school employee (that I’ve never met) came up to talk to me. After a couple minutes he pointed towards the soccer field and said, “You see that guy out there. I hate his guts, that [insert favorite curse word].”
by Cristopher Rubio
A couple of years back, some friends and I decided to head out for some dinner and drinks after a long week of work. Of course, one of the guys showed up over 45 minutes later than we had agreed upon (and no, he wasn’t Latino). “Sorry I’m late, my GPS took me to the old location in midtown,” said my friend.
Normally “getting lost” is reason enough to forgive someone for being late to a casual meeting. But not this time, I was heated. I mean, I told him the place was right by my house and even gave him general directions. Rather than listening to me (and his common sense), he went on the advice of a piece of technology that took him to the opposite side of town.
by Cristopher Rubio
“No lo toces porque te vas a quemar la mano.”
Let’s just say that one of my earliest memories with a BBQ pit wasn’t a very positive one. Luckily though, every other experience with a BBQ pit has been great. In fact, very few things in life put me at peace the way the grill does.
If you’re nodding slowly as you read that last paragraph, then you probably understand the power (and beauty) of the grill. And if your experiences are anything like mine, that grill is a huge part of your life.
by Cris Rubio
Someone once said, “Time is irrelevant.” I’m not 100 percent sure if Einstein said it or not, but somewhere down the line Latinos have taken it as some kind of truth (if you’re thinking, “well we aren’t the only ones that are never on time,” you’re right; but this is Being Latino so we’ll just go with that). Come on, you know what I mean:
by Cristopher Rubio
Perhaps the greatest stories to tell are the ones that should have never happened in the first place. Lionel Messi’s story is no different. Born on June 24, 1987 in Rosario, Argentina, a young Messi was diagnosed with a hormone deficiency that restricted his growth. Treatment was very expensive, but fortunately for Messi, his talent would help pay for treatment. At 13, Spanish club Barcelona offered to not only give Messi a chance to play for the club but to also pay for his medical bills. His family soon moved to Spain.
The rest, as they say, is history…
by Cristopher Rubio
Just last week I was sitting with my cap, gown (and hood!) at the University of Georgia for my graduation ceremony honoring my Master’s Degree in Educational Administration and Policy (the best part of it all was sitting next to my fiancé who was also graduating). For some time now, I had imagined the day and how great it would feel to finally be done. My family would be there, I’d take pictures with my fiancé in our regalia, and we’d all go out and celebrate the fact that we were that much more educated.
by Cristopher Rubio
…you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military… –Rick Perry
As a Tejano, I shouldn’t be surprised by many of the things that Perry says or does, but the last few months have even me scratching my head (and somewhat ashamed when friends remind me that he’s the Governor of Texas). I mean, how many dumb things can someone say and still expect to sit in the Oval Office (oh, never mind, I forgot about the Governor of Texas that preceded him)?
by Cristopher Rubio
On November 10, Puerto Rican duo Calle 13 broke two records at the 2011 Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada: most Latin Grammys won in a single night, and most ever all-time. It was a night, from beginning to end, that was fully theirs (and rightfully so).
The group opened the show with a goosebump-inducing rendition of their hit, Latinoamérica. They would end up taking home nine awards that night, all the while using their acceptance speeches as a platform to present their own social commentary. By the end of the night, Grammy organizers had enough: they cut them off during their final acceptance speech for denouncing ‘payola,’ the practice of illegally bribing radio stations to play certain musical artists. But even silenced microphones could not hide the obvious: Calle 13 is damn good and they are here to stay.
by Cristopher Rubio
A couple weeks ago, I read on Twitter that Nickelback was playing the halftime show at the annual Detroit Lions’ nationally televised Thanksgiving game. Well, this really ticked off a loyal Lions fan. In fact, the dude hates Nickelback so much that he decided to create an online petition to prevent the Canadian rockers from playing on Thanksgiving Day.
by Cristopher Rubio
It’s early November and I’m less than eight months away from my wedding day. The big things like the venue and catering have been taken care of, but the most stressful thing, the guest list, is still in the works. If you’ve ever planned a wedding, you already know that you can’t invite all your homies. There just isn’t enough space (or money) to have them all there. And with a family like mine, menos.
See, like a lot of Latinos, my family is big (don’t have a fancy link to prove this, but we all know its true). My maternal abuela had 10 kids and my paternal abuela had seven. For a venue that holds less than 200 people that means that most of the attendees are going to be my relatives and my future relatives. Is that a problem? I don’t know if I’d call it that, it’s just something that comes with the territory of being from a big family.
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