Author Archive for Christina Vara

What’s in a name?

Published
by
Christina Vara
on June 10, 2008
in Generally Speaking and Latino Culture
. 2 Comments

My dad’s side of the family is Mexican; my great grandmother came from Coahuila. My maternal great grandfather came over on a boat from Lithuania.

I’m the only one in my dad’s family that attempts to honor any sort of cultura mexicana. I’ve celebrated Dia de los Muertos for several years, complete with homemade sugar skulls, pan de muerto y un ofrenda. I had to learn about this tradition from a project I did in a college Spanish class - not my family. After the death of mi abuela last summer, I brought my Dia de los Muertos supplies home and set up my altar there; it was then that I felt like my family really understood what I was doing and why.

Some of my cousins on my dad’s side dismiss their Hispanic heritage; instead, they claim their mom’s Irish roots. They celebrate all things Irish, and I respect that completely. But a part of me cringes every time I hear them say our last name: they pronounce it “VAIR-uh” instead of “VAWR-uh”.

Okay. I get that a lot by people who don’t know me. I’ve even come to expect that I’ll have to correct people. And as soon as I do, the next sentence out of their mouth is always, “Oh, so you’re Hispanic?” I also get that same comment when I mention my hometown is San Antonio.

But my cousins, who are just as biologically Hispanic as I am, are the ones doing the butchering. So just what is it that makes someone Hispanic?

Clearly more than just un nombre.

Beat the heat with summer traditions

Published
by
Christina Vara
on May 21, 2008
in Generally Speaking, Latino Culture and Latino Food
. 0 Comments

Hola todos,

I’m a new intern at the Mambo; I like to write about random musings that translate into bigger cultural ideas.

The blistering heat that swept across Austin yesterday got me thinking about what I used to do as a kid to combat those hot Texas summers.

When that magical mix of leather and sweat begins to paralyze you to your car seat, you know there’s nothing powerful enough to break that superhuman bond like a snow cone. With a sparkle in his eye, my dad would sing, “Who wants a raspa?!” before veering off the road to our local snow cone stand. Leche canela always trumped other flavors.

Mi abuela had her own concoction to ward off the heat: vanilla ice cream and crushed fresh strawberries topped with sweetened condensed milk. One styrofoam cup of that and it was off to the backyard once again.

My great grandmother didn’t have air conditioning in her lime green house, so she created her own: lo ultimo homemade iced tea. Sorry if you’re drooling.

We’d sit in her tiny kitchen, eat Nacho Cheese Doritos and play a round (or two) of dominoes.

This summer, seek out the cositas that help you beat the heat. Chances are, when you think back, it’ll be the memories that stick out in the forefront. And the heat, just a distant detail in the background.