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“Mojado”– The Word We Were Supposed To Be Ashamed Of
Border Crossing Ustedes no son mojados, my parents would say – as in “wetbacks,” “illegal immigrants,” “undocumented aliens,” which ironically a lot of people just assumed we were. Especially when we...
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Rata De Dos Patas, And Other Scorned Love Worthy Songs
Artist rendering - anonymous I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Para una corazón roto there’s definitely nothing like a Spanish song about despecho. That feeling that you get after a love...
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Growing Up, Growing Old, and Holding On to the ‘Niño Terco’
That was me then... (in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas) Get up. Get ready. And go. That’s the way we always lived life. Never having any time to really stand still, at attention, free, just to...
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Burla: The Act of Laughing at Oneself… and Others
¡Burlona! La Chupitos There’s a time to play. And there’s a time to stop. That line you cross when you’re no longer laughing with someone, but laughing at them. When it stops being funny, and turns...
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The Immigrant Advantage: An Inspirational Slice of American Culture -Book Review
Lessons for everyday life. A couple months ago I got the email. It was author Claudia Kolker and she wanted to get together to catch up and talk. We did, and what she had to tell me in that very fast...
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De Paisano a Paisano: Una Calavera – Day of The Dead
A 2008 Rose Parade float celebrating Mexico's Day of the Dead, built by Tim Estes for Santa Fe Springs, Calif. [Photo by Brent FultzSo today my good friend Sue Valencia dedicated a special calavera...
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No Estamos En México, Pero…
We sure like to make it look like we are. This weekend as we were driving out of the flea market we couldn’t help but notice how Mexican everything looked. Yeah, we were in the Lone Star State, dentro...
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Ask Juan: What is it with all of that hot sauce?
Bien Picante: Chile Quipin - My all time favorite! Anywhere I eat, no matter where it is, whenever I sit down, after serving myself a healthy-man-sized portion of food – always healthy-sized – people...
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Ask Juan: Why are all Latinas on Spanish-language television so “HOT”?
The infamous dance. There’s a reason my television at the office is never tuned in to one of the Spanish-language networks. Only when it’s late at night or there is nobody else in the building will...
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Miracle in Edingburg, Texas
El milagro de tres carritos. Whether it had been a particularly difficult year only my parents knew. We’d still managed to make it to school everyday like we normally did. On Saturdays like clockwork...
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Ask Juan: How to tell if you’re at a Pachanga?
¡Charanga, Pachanga, Charanga, Pachanga! It should be pretty simple to tell. I mean you can’t pass off a tamal or a torta for an hors d’oeuvre, much less frijoles pintos or asado… though in all...
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Pan-Tuflas: Comfort Shoes
Pantufla – zapatilla sin orejas ni talón para andar por casa. Or house shoes in English, pa los que no entiendan. After a long day’s work there’s nothing better than getting home, kicking off your...
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For Hispanic Heritage Month, StoryCorps Introduces The Story Of ‘Facundo The...
He is pretty great. Facundo the Great! I really enjoyed this animated short by StoryCorps. It’s called Facundo the Great, and was recently released in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month....
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Ask Juan: Is It Possible To Speak Spanish Quietly?
Like our cultura, our language is a celebration. So the other day I just happened to overhear this conversation. Believe it or not, I wasn’t even trying to listen. My Metiche tendencies have very...
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The importance of imparting our own stories to the next generation –...
My parents made the choice to raise us here. Here in a country that was not their own. In a place where for many years they were forced to live their lives hiding in plain sight. In the land of...
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Pickles, Calletana And The Coyote
'Retrato de Mujer' de Diego Rivera My uncle had a friend whose name was Calletana. She was short and dark with medium length hair, black, with a wave right at the spot where it ran into her shoulders,...
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My Anti-Presentimiento Remedio-Ritual
Nervous beyond belief... It’s an awful feeling, right there in the pit of your stomach, twisting and turning, telling you “something is wrong, something bad is about to happen,” although you haven’t a...
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Bloopers, ‘Cepillo’ Interview and More Bloopers: Juan & Anjelica
Married people behaving badly. This video started out as a joke. My wife and I had been talking about maybe doing a vlog together. She has the editing system… a little bit more sophisticated than...
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Conversaciones Con Mi Hermano Over Banana Splits
Low Ri-der! He was Yin and I was Yang. Since we were kids, it’s always been that way. Just a whole 15 months apart, my older brother and I have always been polar opposites. He, my father’s right...
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The Witches Of Hidalgo County
Y el who, who, who... For the longest, as adults, we’ve had the ongoing debate with my mother that the owls who used to surround our house in Hidalgo County were actually witches. She says they aren’t...
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Remember The Good Old Days Of Tejano Music?
Lo mejor de Tejano Ultimamente, for some reason, everyone seems to be interested in talking about the whole Tejano – yes with a “J” instead of an “X” – movement that took place here in the Lone Star...
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Mujeres, Your Man: ¿Machote or Metrosexual?
¿Cuál de los dos? Beginning today, every Friday on Juan of Words I’ll be offering a weekly vlog series titled Viernes Vloguero. Why? Just for fun… and because I’m hoping it will be a good kickoff to...
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Raising A Bilingual Kid: Pozole, Frijoles and Indian Curry
Niño disgustado Every time we sit down to break bread it’s always the same thing. I don’t want that. What is that? I don’t know what that is, so I don’t like it. If we happen to be eating something...
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Himno De Un Pobre Pendejo
Feeling a little inspired by the narco-corridos on La Reina Del Sur, I’ve come up with my own variation of this musical genre. I’m calling it ‘El himno de un pobre pendejo.’ Just for fun, and my own...
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Lessons From My Mother
Mi Madre My mother has always been a strong woman. Much stronger than any of us could have ever imagined, I think. She was the one who crossed the Rio Bravo with a child on each arm, my brother Chuy...
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Translating For My Parents
¡Ay, Ay, Ay! At times I didn’t want to translate. It was embarrassing to be the interpreter. To not understand what that person was saying or how exactly it was my parents wanted me to convey their...
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Cellphone Fotos
This will be the blog that never ends. “Yes it goes on and on my friends…” Sorry, couldn’t help myself with that Lamb Chop reference there, LOL. It was too easy. Okay! In all seriousness now, this...
View ArticleLa Pura Neta / Nothing But The Truth: Q&A
Not much of an intro is needed for this video, creo yo. You asked the questions, and well, I answered them. Thank you all for participating.
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Una Piedra En El Camino, Me Enseño Que Mi Destino
Las piedras... Las piedras en México tienen historia. They’re jagged and rough. Shapely in all sorts of colors and sizes. Smooth to the touch. Rough to the grasp. Sturdy. They tell the story of...
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El Pleito De Los Trastes
The Age Old Battle It doesn’t matter who you are, where you are in your relationship, or how much or little you do outside of this highly detested chore, the infamous battle over who’s washing the...
View ArticleEl Día E
Spanish is actually my first language. Y a pesar de haber estudiado y vivido toda mi vida aquí, nunca deje de hablar el español. My parents wanted us to speak both languages and made it their job to...
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La Vergüenza de Mi Primer Carrito: Viejo y Feo, Pero…
Okay, it wasn't nearly this bad... but it felt pretty close back then “When the bell rings you better hurry up and make it to the car. If you’re not there by the time I get there, I’m leaving you!”...
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Favoritos P’al Verano
“Sigamos juegando”, decían Kiko y El Chavo anoche, después de que no pudimos hacer funcionar el Playstation para ver una película yo y Edgar, y optamos mejor por ver unos capítulos antiguos del ‘Chavo...
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Raising A Bilingual Kid: Quinceañera Talk
Quinceañera by Carmen Lomas Garza The question was really meant as a joke. Are you going to have a quinceañera when you grow up? What really caught me by surprise was his response (as you’ll hear in...
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Did I ever tell you about the day I was born? – A Guest Post
Secundino Guerrero, wife Dora, and children Patsy and Dolores (L) I was very fond of my Dad and we were very close. For several years on my birthday, he would tell me this story about the day I was...
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Blogger vs. Blogger – Juan of Words vs. Latinaish
Remember the comic strip Spy vs. Spy? Well this is the Blogger version of it, and who better to help me inaugurate this very fun and virtual challenge than the one and only Latinaish. I couldn’t have...
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Pomp and Circumstance: The Day our Dog knocked us back down into Reality
The Snob We had never lived in a neighborhood like this one before. There were rules about almost everything: how high your grass could get before you’d get one of those friendly little reminders in...
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Los Castigos De Nuestros Padres
Yup, I'd agree with the kid. It’s no secret that our parents (Latino moms and dads) do not play when it comes to discipline. My mother and father, papá especially, didn’t have to do more than give us...
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The Harvest / La Cosecha: U.S. Child Migrant Farm Workers
There are some things you just can’t deny, and one’s own personal history is definitely at the top of that list. A few days ago I received an invitation to review marketing materials for a new...
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