Brother From Another Mother

My cousin Jerome and I are exactly two weeks apart (I’m the older one) and we have grown up and spent just about every single vacation together. Growing up, he lived in Laredo, and I lived in Brownsville so we really could only see each other on holidays.

Our adventures start way way way back when we would go to Candela, Coahuila for Easter. All of our other cousins are at least five years older, so we pretty much just had each other. Candela is a tiny little Podunk town in Mexico where our grandmama is from. Every year for Easter our whole family would get together there. As the older kids were off doing their shenanigans whether it be playing horse or poker, Jerome and I would beg our grandmama for pesos, walk on over to the town plaza and buy “bolis” (Mexican popsicles).

Jerome’s culinary interest grew right around our freshman year in high school. One summer, we were at his house and I was hungry, so who better to make me food than chef Jerome, right?.... WRONG! We ended up almost setting the kitchen on fire. Jerome had to throw the skillet in the pool and the smoke was so bad I couldn’t see two feet in front of me. We got lucky we cleaned up before his parents got back! (They still don’t know to this day!)

Our senior year in high school we participated in the Society of Martha Washington. This is where young men and women are presented to society as they portray an important person in history. The girls wear a gigantic eighty-pound colonial dress, as the escorts (in my case, Jerome) wear men’s colonial wear as well.

           

Jerome now goes to St. Edwards in Austin, however, we talk all the time. He truly is one of my best friends and has been by my side every step of the way. I do believe that the fact that the rest of my family is extremely close plays a huge role on how close we have grown to each other. I love him to death, and honestly don’t know where I would be without him.

Spanish

Literacy is the key to the door of opportunity. Being able to communicate with society and the community and just having the ability to talk to different people is a huge benefit. Being bilingual and literate in different languages gives one that much more of an advantage.

I spoke Spanish before I did English, and to this day I am still fluent. My eighth grade year I was the new girl at school, and being that I am fair skinned and have colored yes, my classmates did not expect me to know a lick of Spanish, much less understand it. Little did they know that as they were talking behind my back saying some not very nice things, I could understand everything they said and could probably even say it better. Weeks went by until one day I got fed up and answered my softball coach in Spanish. The look on their faces was priceless. That day was the last day I ever had that issue.

Since I now live in an area where English is spoken more than Spanish, in order for me not to forget my Spanish language, my mom makes it appoint that whenever I speak to her, that I speak in Spanish… that includes texting in Spanish.

Being literate in both Spanish and English has helped me so much. Since I do come from a predominantly Mexican area, it allowed me to hold my own and fit in. Now, being bilingual has opened so many doors in the business world. To this day I am so grateful that I was brought up the way I was. And being that we live in such a divers world, knowing a second language would never hurt. 

War on Drugs

Has the violence due to the drug wars in Mexico crossed over to the United States?

Coming from Brownsville, Texas (a border town), I personally believe it has. The amount of drug deals “gone bad” and gang related violence due to drugs has increased throughout the past several years and is all over the local news stations.

Not too long ago, there was an incident here in my hometown, where people that were part of the cartel went into a restaurant, took a man that was eating, and after some time of him missing, the mans body was found about a mile away from the restaurant with a bullet through his head. The underlying cause: Drugs; either someone forgot to pay up, or a drug deal gone bad.

Many of the “top dogs” of the cartel have houses and live at South Padre Island, or a lot also own houses in San Antonio. The Question isn’t has it crossed over, it’s how long until it gets worse?

Now, what can the United States do to help put a stop to this war on drugs?? Well because there are so many factions it is difficult to pinpoint a course of action.

In my opinion the United States should go in in assist form to the Mexican government to try to bring this situation under control, like we have done for other countries in the past.

I also have experienced the violence first had in Mexico, and I do believe this needs to end because it is just going to get worse. 

Down By The Border

My whole life I have lived in the very southernmost tip of Texas, Brownsville. In my hometown we are very influenced by the Mexican background and their way of life, including traditions, practices, and especially cooking. Our diets consist of high calorie foods along with greasy Mexican tacos, tamales, and tortillas, foods richer in carbohydrates.

Diabetes is a very big issue down in “The 956”, as we like to call it. And it all goes back to the lifestyle we are introduced to and brought up with. The foods are cooked using what is basically lard, as opposed to vegetable oil, or healthier alternatives. Don’t get me wrong, the food is TO DIE FOR, and the first thing I do when I go home to visit is go to the taco store “Ultimo Taco” and order my usual “seis tacos de bistek contodo.” This being said, I don’t overdue it. Which, moderation isn’t a word that is put into practice back at home, hence, a very overweight population, and that’s where the problem is. People do not eat until they feel satisfied, they overdue it and eat until they are too full to function. 

The lack of healthier alternatives is also an economical problem; they tend to be more expensive, where as “manteca” (refined lard) is a lot cheaper. The poverty level is very high and the average per capita earning is low.

Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley with the lifestyle we have and eating the foods that are native to my home, it is very hard to completely rid yourself of the foods and the way of cooking. However it is possible to eat whatever you desire, in moderation with the proper amount of physical activity, and to gradually adjust your diet.

The Naked Truth

The first time I ever heard of Snapchat it was in a positive light. It was an app to send funny face or pictures to friends and those embarrassingly funny pictures would “self-destruct” within minutes. The most popular are “selfies”. I use Snapchat on a daily basis; I send horribly embarrassing ugly selfies of myself to my friends, and my family not concerned about those ever popping up again. However, I have recently heard about people using Snapchat for sending dirty picture to others; “sexting” since the picture will be erased within a certain amount of seconds.

Ann Brenoff blogged about how “Certainly, it's the perfect tool for sexting: You get to show off your privates and there's no evidence left for extortion later.”

            BUT… Do these pictures really disappear? HOW is it that they just self-destruct into nothing? Are they saved onto a massive hardrive somewhere? “In recent months, at least two security loopholes, which would allow recipients to save Snapchat images or clips for keeps, were discovered and made public” blogged Dominique Mosbergen.

My Guardian Angel

How scary must it be to hear the word cancer? Mr. Murphy was not my blood relative, but as the years went by and as we grew closer, he became my “adopted” grandfather. He was a cancer victim, and this is my story about my journey with Mr. Murphy.

            Like us, the Murphy’s had no family living in town, so they adopted both my brother and me as their grandchildren, and we adopted them as grandparents.

            Every Sunday after church we would go to their house to eat lunch. Mr. Murphy always had a prank to make me laugh. A few years back on my birthday, Mr. Murphy gave me my present that was very nicely wrapped up. As I tear off the wrapper I see a box to a digital camera. I really wanted a digital camera that year. Thrilled, I rushed to open the box expecting to see a brand new camera. When I finally get the box opened I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was no brand new digital camera, however there was a Ziploc bag filled with cow manure. From this, I learned to not be so materialistic.

On May 20, 2007, he was diagnosed with liver cancer. I saw him only once before he closed his eyes for the last time. He was in bed, had lost weight and was very tired, but even then he still had his wit. Mr. Murphy was notorious for dirty jokes. I remember walking into the room where he was to say goodbye but he signals me to leave the room as my mom walks in. To this day I don’t know what he told her, but it sure did make my mom laugh. Even on his deathbed he had people in stitches.

On July 10, 2007 at the age of 81, he took his last breath. Mr. Murphy taught me to respect and appreciate older people, especially my grandparents. When I visit my grandparents I help them shred papers, make atole, accompany them to the post office, or work out math problems. I realize that my time with them is also limited.

 Mr. Murphy left me with an infinite amount of happy memories. He lived such an admirable life and helped instill life-long qualities in me that will shape me into an adult with a sense of humor, who is not materialistic, appreciates nature and respects the elderly.