Esmeralda's Road

I recently heard that phrase on a random commercial. Rich tapestry of cultures. It really got me thinking about the series of cultures that blend together to make me, me.

EL SALVADOR

My parents are both from El Salvador, Central America. My dad was 18 when he sought refuge in the US when ES was on the cusp of a bloody civil war. He made the trek to California through Central America and Mexico (which is North America) into the U.S. on his own with a group of others led by the coyote. He quickly realized that no one would hand him a job and made his way through jobs until he found taxi driving. He made his way to Los Angeles where he gained a few years experience before taking the leap to New York where he’d heard the real taxi money was at. 

While he was going through the process of acquiring his permit/license he started working at a pizza place. It was there that he met my mom’s cousins. 

But that’s another story for another time…

My mom was in her early teens when she flew across the Americas to Texas where she, her sisters and my abuelita landed in some hot water. They were caught by immigration and they had to wait in jail while her brothers mobilized to gather the necessary paperwork to bring them to New York. My mom has three older brothers who’d paved the way for their mother and sisters to have a relatively smooth transition to their new home. 

NEW YORK

My parents met at a birthday party in the Bronx. My sister was born May, 1986 in Queens. I came into the world March of 1988 in Brooklyn. Several years ago I went around NY filming somewhat of an autobiography, I stopped at the building where the party they met at was. But that’s another story for another time…

But that’s another story for another time…

LOS ANGELES

When I was still an infant, my parents decided to uproot our lives and move to LA. Picture a 23 yr old immigrant mom with an infant and a toddler just shy of two in EIGHTIES New York (not that 90s LA was a walk in the park LOL!). The chaos of the bustling city would have made raising my sister and I exponentially more difficult. Since my dad had already worked as a cabby in LA they felt confident enough to make that move. But that’s another story for another time… All I’m going to say right now is that in 20yrs living there we lived in 10 different apartments/houses. 

But that’s another story for another time…

MIAMI

My abuelita eventually traded in New York’s brutal winters for Miami’s year round tropical vibes. She and my mom’s two older sisters set down roots in Hialeah (305!!) in the 90s. They each bought a home across the street from the other. We visited them often in my elementary years. When I moved to Atlanta, at 20, in 2008 I started flying and/or driving there several times a year. 

But that’s another story for another time…

ATLANTA

My dad bought a house in LA when I was a sophomore in HS (2004ish). It was on 48th & Crenshaw in what was once South Central LA. One of the 2008 financial crash traits was predatory lending. My dad bought a beautiful new house in an Atlanta suburb (Gwinnett County near ATL, don’t come for me) in 2007. Once the crash happened he had to make a choice; keep the 3bed 2 bath LA house next to Crenshaw HS (built 1940s) or the 5 bed 3.5 bath suburban home.

My parents left in March of 2008. I made it to August 2008 before having to follow them out there. Again, so much more to this (5 months, 5 apartments and a gun) for another time. My first ever one way ticket. I cried the entire flight. “Ughhh ATL is such a smallll, [southern city]!”

At 20, I took my time settling in, and got my bachelors at Georgia State in 2014. But that’s another story for another time…

But that’s another story for another time…

BRAZIL

I majored in Marketing & International Business with a focus on Spanish Lit. I’d always wanted to travel and studying abroad felt completely unattainable in the wake of the crash. Luckily, one of my professors introduced me to the student-run organization AISEC, originally the International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences [in French]. 

I ended up at a year-long marketing internship at a language school in Itajubà, Minas Gerais, Brazil. It was a town with just under 100k inhabitants. Now THAT was a small “city,” a random industrial college town “no sul de minas” (southern MG). LOL in adding link google called it “a human settlement in Brazil” LOLOLOL

The marketing internship turned out to be a glorified English teacher role. They called it marketing when it was really just them advertising a native English speaking teacher. I did not sign up for that. Nevertheless, I stuck it out for the entire year. There is so, so much to tell here as well OBV. . 

I was leaving in late May 2015. In March I met Salvatore, but that’s another story for another time…. He was originally supposed to come to ATL, but for visa reasons he wasn’t able to come so I came here and the rest is history.

But that’s another story for another time…

ITALY 

This decade of my life requires its own separate article(s). I’ll keep ya posted when I get around to these.

I’ve got an intimate relationship with Florence in central Italy as well as with Fuscaldo, Paola and San Lucido on the Tyrrhenic side of  the Mediterranean.