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chewiewrites · 4 years

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@kishimotowrites asked : 7, 13, 15, 24, 26, 29 from ur abuelita xoxo

( thank u, queen for sending this . and big DISCLAIMER: puerto rico is a usa territory, but in my head, i distance and separate the two as culturally growing up in puerto rico is vastly different from growing up in the states ! we are a estado libre asociado, which has been the biggest joke since uh.. the 1950s, thanks for coming to my ted talk! that being said, puerto ricans ARE americans so i may have just played myself but let me live pls . ) trigger warnings : food (mention and description), and i think that is all!

QUESTION 7 : three words from your native language that you like the most?

okay, so this is difficult because i don’t really think a lot about spanish, especially since i just read and talk in english constantly because of school.. so this was a Journey.

1. boricua - so is it super patriotic of me to love this word? maybe so. the origin of boricua stems from the word borinquen which was how puerto rico was known for before we were colonized. the taínos gave it that name, and i’ve always found it just super comforting? i prefer to say boricua than puerto rican, if i’m honest, even though they refer to the same entity, i suppose. anyways, back to the main point. boricua refers to a person from borinquen / puerto rico.

2. ñame - this word is not special at all in its meaning, it literally just means yam. like it refers to a verdura. but! i call my grandpa this as a nickname so the word always makes me really happy even if it isn’t special. i also like the pronunciation of ñ a lot.

3. bacalao - this is random as well, sorry. bacalao/bacalado is basically a type of fish and we eat a lot of it with verduras and it SLAPS. i like this word because i started calling my nephews and nieces that whenever i got upset at them (they are like toodlers) so it was funny for them, and hence calmed me down. it just breaks away the tension when you say it around kids. just a fun word, and a great dish to eat. i know portugal also eats a lot of bacalado, at least in some areas i don’t wanna like generalize it.

QUESTION 13 : does your country (or family) have any specific superstitions or traditions that might seem strange to outsiders?

i’m not superstitious at all, and i don’t think my family is either. i don’t know if growing up christian kinda affected that, but tons of christians have superstitions, so i really don’t know. i can’t think of any superstitions at the moment, so sorry! as for traditions, i’m also going blank. i know we celebrate el día de reyes, but other countries celebrate it as well. the states doesn’t though. as far as traditions puerto rico has, i can’t think of anything that would be strange? i mean, i don’t find our traditions strange, so maybe i’m just an unreliable source. my family does have this tradition that when holidays come around, we always eat the same thing. my mom always cooks the same dishes such as rice (arroz con/de cebolla) and lasagne some days. we try to have pasteles. she always cooks these tortitas de harina de maiz y harina regular on christmas day, it’s always our first meal. so that’s a tradition we have, especially since we don’t see each other often coming together for the holidays is good and we get that nostalgic food.

QUESTION 15 : a saying, joke, or hermetic meme that only people from your country will get?

i don’t know why i’m being so political right now, but i have this sticker on whatsapp that says “FBI joined the chat” and it’s a reference to the scandal we had a couple months back regarding our former governor. that scandal caused all hell to break loose, and i -having a dark sense of humor- love using it for various occasions. honestly, puerto rican memes especially stickers are just fucking hilarious. i also made a sticker for whatsapp about a news ancher who said: avemaria, que mucha mierda hable (rough translation: man, i talked a lot of shit today). and honestly, peak comedic genius. he said it while the cameras were still rolling, i think? or like you heard him say it as the news ended, iconic.

QUESTION 24 : what other nation is joked about most often in your country?

i’ve noticed that puerto ricans have a lot of prejudice towards dominicans. to me, it’s kind of similar to the hatred some americans give to immigrants. dominicans often immigrate or move to puerto rico for jobs, better lifestyle, etc. and puertoricans can be real assholes to them. there’s definitely a lot of jokes regarding them. i can’t think of any and even if i did i wouldn’t see the need to share them as it all comes from a discriminatory and prejudiced perspective.

QUESTION 26 : does your nationality get portrayed in Hollywood/American media? what do you think about the portrayal?

i feel like this is hard to answer. i can’t name five puerto rican characters that i know in large franchises. i know michelle rodriguez and adria arjona have made significant impacts in franchises. michelle in the fast and furious films. adria arjona in good omens, and different projects. obviously, we all know jennifer lopez, a fucking icon. i am not fond of the fast and furious films, therefore, i am not able to explain the representation of michelle rodriguez. i have not seen any of adria’s projects so i can’t speak about her either. i feel like puerto ricans aren’t really present in hollywood. i could be wrong, because i am not into films and am incredibly picky with tv shows, so maybe i’m missing out on a lot of things. i don’t think there’s a lot of puerto rican representation, in fact, i feel like we aren’t part of a lot of storylines so it’s hard to find one portrayal of us. that being said, the latino/latina/latine/latinx community does get the same stereotypes and conventions. women from pr or other latin american countries tend to be oversexualized, you’re more likely to see us portraying gang members or drug dealers than ceos, or teachers, etc. these conventions can be incredibly taxing, obviously, and i hope they just fucking stop presenting the community with such a lense. lately, we’ve been getting different break throughs with some shows and movies, etc. overall, this is a big way of me saying i don’t know enough about hollywood to fully answer the question but i can give you a general opinion on it. something i do like is the fact that the puerto rican actors i know are mixed. puerto ricans don’t look a specific way, we don’t have the same ethnic background at all; we are all so incredibly mixed and different. it makes me happy that michelle rodriguez, adria arjona, victoria justice, and other puerto rican actors that get good screen time or are involved in known projects, are mixed, and their ethnicities are different.

QUESTION 29 : does your region/city have a beef with another place in your country?

i’m from a pueblo, so a small town, and let me tell you, i don’t know any other town or city we have beef with. what i can tell you is some conventions we have over other regions and cities. bayamon and guaynabo have a shit ton of conventions and stereotypes, and i just find them hilarious. i do feel like ponce gets a lot of shit. the south of puerto rico (or the main island of pr) feels so different from the rest of the place. i don’t follow a lot of sports but basketball (especially back home) slaps (just bc of emotional attachment not bc the sport is any good or fun lol rip). and i do feel like the basketball team of ponce is just a big fucking mess, they cheat constantly and if you wanna fight me on this, please do, because i have receipts.

anyways! this got long as fuck, i am so sorry. never let me speak again.

#// leave it to me to get political with an ask like this but jbtriujo we have opinions thats all #( answered. )#( abuelita / shika. )#// i went OFF with the formatting but i had fundbtrhijo so ty

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