2/17/18

I spent today with the lovely Jess Mies. I love her a lot. Anytime I see her it's always so refreshing. That's the great thing about best friends. I'm so blessed to have her. We exchanged gifts and ate some delicious sushi and I bought a concert ticket. And she made it home safe in the snow. Twas a successful day.

Oh yeah I BOUGHT A TICKET I'M GOING TO SEE TODRICK HALL AT THE FILLMORE IN DTSS IN APRIL I'M SO EXCITED

I went to see La Foto at GALA theatre. It was a brilliant show. Seeing shows about Latinos written by Latinos makes so much of a difference. 'Cause they just GET IT. And then having them perform it and seeing what is essentially your family on stage, ugh, it feels so great. Like you've never met these people but they're just like the people you know. And they play it so well because they have people they know who are just like that. It was great. And easily accessible. And a wonderful time. And I got to go with Jake - sort of an unintentional birthday present. I like seeing theatre with him because we get to actually talk about it and expand on it. I like seeing him in general honestly, he's always so great to talk to and he gets so passionate about whatever it is that comes up. I've always really enjoyed his energy and just getting to spend time with him. Merp. I'm a mess. Tonight was great.

9-18-16

Yesterday was Dia de las Naciones at church! It's a day where we all get to celebrate the lovely cultures of Latin America that fill our congregation, and talk about the missionary work going on and how we can be a part of it. I love this day because you get to see everyone dressed up in traditional attire from their countries. The little kids are always adorable and it's a beautiful array of colors. This year, we were joined by the Bowens! Poor Cristina was so bored during service haha but it always feels so good to have them there. I know lots of people were really excited to see Karla and to finally meet David. So many people wanted to hold him! I think people forget how uncomfortable babies can be when they're passed around too much, or how easy it is for them to get sick. It was still sweet though. And we had a huge lunch filled with lots of delicious foods from all our countries. It was good eatin' let me tell you. The ladies did a brilliant job. And then Jaroll, MVP of the day, played his trumpet during lunch. He played every single national anthem. Of course he started with the United States, the patriot he is. But he played all of them beautifully. They're not easy to play, believe me. Karla, my mom, and I belted the words to the Salvadorian anthem as he played. We're a proud people haha. Honestly, yesterday was so good. I'm glad we could have fun together.

Life is crazy and I'm so glad I'm a planner. I have two things planned in November that haven't been written down. But basically the rest of this month and every weekend in October is booked! Thank God for online editable calendars.

Elena of Avalor

Karla sent me a picture of the ceremony from Instagram during work today. Princess Elena of Avalor, Disney's first Latin princess, has been inducted into the Official Disney Princess Court. We have our first Hispanic princess.

I cried. I actually cried when I saw the picture at work. I know that probably sounds ridiculous. But I don't care. I spent SO. MANY. YEARS. Swearing up and down that there would never be a Hispanic princess. I said that Latin Americans didn't have royalty like that and so Disney may never see a purpose in making one up. At the very least, I doubted it would happen in my lifetime. But wow. I was wrong. I've never been so happy to be wrong.

I cannot express what this means to me or how important this is for young Latinas everywhere. These are such happy tears I'm shedding. Little girls will see a beautiful female leader who speaks their language and has an abuelo and an abuela just like they do. I can't believe this is real. It's happened. And I could not be more proud. I'm just going to cry forever, and I do not care. This is real magic.

Language

You know how the sad truth is the cleaning staff is always Hispanic? Well, no, but the majority of the time it is. Anyway, there were these two ladies cleaning out the trash bins while I was walking from my room to the bathroom (right across the hall, hah!). I heard them speaking Spanish so I said good morning and excused myself. I could tell they were surprised to hear Spanish from me. The truth is most Hispanic girls on campus don't ever speak Spanish because, chances are, all their friends here don't know the language. Well they struck up a conversation with me and they were just mega friendly and sweet. AND as an added bonus, they told me where I can find tamales and tacos and empanadas and all the wonderful things. Homemade. UGH. yes.