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

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."...

Third Culture Kid, Latino Edition: Not Quite Fr...

At my cousin's quinceañera in Guadalajara, an aunt I barely knew laughed and called me "el gringo" the second I asked her to repeat something more slowly. Two weeks later,...

Third Culture Kid, Latino Edition: Not Quite Fr...

At my cousin's quinceañera in Guadalajara, an aunt I barely knew laughed and called me "el gringo" the second I asked her to repeat something more slowly. Two weeks later,...

Indigenous Mexican Identity: Beyond the History...

My grandmother's neighbor, Doña Refugio, used to sit on her porch in Oaxaca shelling beans and switching between Spanish and Zapotec mid-sentence, depending on who she was scolding or who...

Indigenous Mexican Identity: Beyond the History...

My grandmother's neighbor, Doña Refugio, used to sit on her porch in Oaxaca shelling beans and switching between Spanish and Zapotec mid-sentence, depending on who she was scolding or who...

What It Means to Be a Dreamer, In Their Own Words

I sat with my friend Marisol at her kitchen table two years ago while she filled out a renewal form for the hundredth time, the same forms, the same fee,...

What It Means to Be a Dreamer, In Their Own Words

I sat with my friend Marisol at her kitchen table two years ago while she filled out a renewal form for the hundredth time, the same forms, the same fee,...