Cafe y Chisme Corner

Stories, cultura, and gift guides rooted in real Latino family life. Read, share, and find something that feels like home.

Cafe y Chisme Corner

Milagritos: The Tiny Charms Latino Catholics Pi...

My abuela kept a cigar box of tiny metal charms in her nightstand drawer — a leg, an eye, a heart, a little dog, a house no bigger than my...

Milagritos: The Tiny Charms Latino Catholics Pi...

My abuela kept a cigar box of tiny metal charms in her nightstand drawer — a leg, an eye, a heart, a little dog, a house no bigger than my...

Papel Picado: The Paper Banners That Turn Any P...

Every October, my mother climbs onto a kitchen chair with a roll of masking tape and a shoebox of paper banners she's kept folded in tissue since I was a...

Papel Picado: The Paper Banners That Turn Any P...

Every October, my mother climbs onto a kitchen chair with a roll of masking tape and a shoebox of paper banners she's kept folded in tissue since I was a...

Alebrijes: The Wildly Colorful Creatures That S...

My grandfather kept a small paper-mâché creature on his dresser for as long as I can remember — a dog with butterfly wings and the face of a fox, painted...

Alebrijes: The Wildly Colorful Creatures That S...

My grandfather kept a small paper-mâché creature on his dresser for as long as I can remember — a dog with butterfly wings and the face of a fox, painted...

Being Called 'Whitewashed': An Honest Look at a...

A cousin said it to me at a quinceañera, half-joking, over the DJ's bass line: "You're kind of whitewashed, aren't you?" I laughed because that's what you do, but I...

Being Called 'Whitewashed': An Honest Look at a...

A cousin said it to me at a quinceañera, half-joking, over the DJ's bass line: "You're kind of whitewashed, aren't you?" I laughed because that's what you do, but I...

The Kid Who Translated for Their Parents: What ...

I was nine years old, standing next to my mother in a fluorescent-lit clinic, when the nurse looked past her and asked me if my mom had "any history of...

The Kid Who Translated for Their Parents: What ...

I was nine years old, standing next to my mother in a fluorescent-lit clinic, when the nurse looked past her and asked me if my mom had "any history of...

Reclaiming Your Spanish as an Adult: It's Not T...

I called my tía Rosa last spring to ask about a recipe, and forty seconds into the conversation I switched to English because I couldn't remember the word for "whisk."...

Reclaiming Your Spanish as an Adult: It's Not T...

I called my tía Rosa last spring to ask about a recipe, and forty seconds into the conversation I switched to English because I couldn't remember the word for "whisk."...