Juliet Kono "Sashimi", Li-Young Lee poems

The first question that arose in my mind while reading "Sashimi" was who the "you" the speaker addressed was. I can tell it is someone who is skeptical about the speaker's culture and food ways because they think that eating sashimi is "primitive." This is the first thing the speaker says and after stating this she goes into describing the preparation of sashimi and eating of it. From the language and detail she uses you can tell that the speaker is trying to convey the message that eating sashimi is not primitive at all but a luxury and a delicacy instead. I thought that the "you" could either be a specific person or she could be addressing the majority; a group that is mostly ignorant towards Asian culture and food ways and views eating raw fish as primitive. By thinking that a culture's food is primitive you make the jump to assume that the entire culture is primitive and somehow lesser than your own culture without really knowing any details about that culture. So maybe the "you" in the poem is the American white majority which has a tendency to view cultures with different practices as primitive. When she says "soon you will come to appreciate the years behind my palate" I thought that she meant that soon the majority would come to appreciate sushi and see it as a delicacy and not a primitive food, something that the speaker's culture has known for a long time. She also says that she is patient for the day when this will happen, which leads me to believe that even though she is judged for her culture and her cultural practices she does not dwell on other's opinions because she loves sashimi and is proud of her Asian culture and knows that eventually the majority will understand and accept this.

Li-Young Lee's poems seemed kind of nostalgic to me because the speaker talked a lot about peaches and persimmons and his father and his childhood. The poems focus on the sweetness of the fruit and in "The Weight of Sweetness" the speaker is a child picking peaches with his father. The bags of peaches are heavy to the child and this is the "weight of sweetness" that gives the poem its title. I also think the "weight" refers to the hard labor of harvesting peaches as such a young child. The poem also mentions the "weight of memory" which gives the poem its nostalgic tone because this memory is a powerful one to the speaker and it is one he shared with his father, who I assume died. Because of this he cherishes the memories he has with his father, even though they bring him joy and sadness at the same time. It is kind of like the peaches because they are sweet, but harvesting them is difficult because of the weight of the bags and the labor that goes into picking them.

"Things Chinese" by Adrienne Su

This poem was pretty confusing to read but I think I figured out some of it. The speaker is Chinese, but sees America as a land where people can "make-over" their identity. She sees this as a way to get rid of her Chineseness and become the quintessential American. She starts off getting rid of her grandparents, because they are too Chinese. One pair of them refuses to give up their Chinese culture, and the other pair is marked by their amazing ability to cook Chinese food. Both of these factors set them apart from the general population in America. She was able to exempt parts of her education because she could already speak fluent Chinese. She talks about how she "wiped out their earliest years" in regards to her parents and how she made them into "1950s Georgians." Just like in "Stealing Budda's Dinner" she is trying to hide her native culture so she can fit in with the majority and be the "American" she thinks she should be. She says that "everywhere she went there was circumstance, all of it strangely tainted by my very presence." This is the closing of the poem and it implies that no matter what she does to erase her Chinese background she cannot escape it.

"Stealing Buddha's Dinner" continued

Well I've spent the last few days hiking without cell service or internet access but now I am safe and sound surrounded by the comfort of wifi. Over the past few days I finished "Stealing Buddha's Dinner" and I enjoyed the book very much. It is a perfect read in my opinion for anyone that has ever felt out of place or like an outsider. In the beginning Bich feels like an outsider in America because she does not look like the rest of the white kids, and as she grows older she feels like an outsider among other Vietnamese kids because she can't speak the language and she is unfamiliar with the culture. I liked how Bich resonated with the Joad family from "The Grapes of Wrath" for a few reasons. First of all, its one of my favorite books ever, and secondly, I think it is a very good comparison to draw because the Joad family was searching for security and a sense of home, just as Bich had been doing her whole life. I was surprised that she met her mother in the book because this was something I had not excepted since her mother was hardly mentioned in the book. I also loved how the end of the novel turned its attention towards Rosa and the relationship she had with Bich. For the majority of the novel Bich does not speak very highly of Rosa and does not recognize how hard she works for the kids, but after Bich notices the name Ponderosa she begins to think of her step mother in a new light. She realizes all the sacrifices Rosa has made for them and what a good mother she has been to her and her siblings. Even Bich's real mother is thankful that she was able to grow up with a mother as good as Rosa. I thought Bich's situation was very interesting throughout the entire novel. A native born Vietnamese girl raised in America by a Mexican mother. Bich definitely has a lot of multiculturalism in her life and for awhile she fought it and tried to hide the parts of her that made her different, but she learns to accept and embrace her identity as a whole.

"Stealing Buddha's Dinner"

I think it is interesting how Bich wants to blend in and be as "American" as possible, even if it means denying and being ashamed of her Vietnamese heritage. Because she moves to the States at such a young age to escape the horror of Communism, she does not identify with Vietnam but with the America she grew up in. She is constantly trying to be seen as "normal" and she even romanticized American's processed cuisine. I thought it was funny that her father loved Burger King and it became a speciality in the eyes of his daughters. Although, Bich preferred McDonalds to Burger King because it was the quintessential American food. She even goes so far as to say that she wants to be a "real person" like the white kids she goes to school with. She sees food as a way to express your culture and background and she is ashamed of her cultural cuisine because it marks her as different from the majority. She talks about how all she ever wanted was to be invisible because she was forced to grow up in a place where she was constantly identified as different and foreign, even though she was as "American" as the rest of the children growing up around her.

Takaki "Roots"

I thought it was interesting how Takaki mentions that the Japanese that were placed in internment camps were "stigmatized" for years and felt "shame" because of the experience. This was difficult for me to grasp because I see the U.S. internment camps as an atrocity to humanity and a huge mistake on the part of our government. For me to think about this event as something the victims feel shame for is hard to grasp. I suppose their shame comes from the fact that their loyalty to their country was in question and possibly after months of being told they were disloyal they began to believe it? Its also strange to think that the victims do not want to share their stories with the younger generation that is trying to understand their ethnic history and identity in the United States. I think it is important that we do not forget about the suffering of the victims in the internment camps because if we do not remember there could be the chance in the future that history could repeat itself. I have also never thought about the origin of the word "Oriental" until reading this piece. The word orient means east, so Oriental is referring to a place that is in the east. But east of what? East of Western society and "white" society. It is all about perspective and we have categorized an entire group of people under this single word that makes them seem exotic and foreign to the Western world, the world that we deem as "normal."

Maya Angelou excerpts and Lisa Heldke "Recipes for Colonialism"

The excerpts from Maya Angelou's cookbook made me hungry to the point of nausea. These stories show the role that food can play in human relations. In one of the stories, Maya's cooking lands her a job as a writer. It also brought up certain stereotypes. Maya is expected to be a good cook because she is African American and she is expected to be a Southern cook at that. In the story Phil and the other guests are shocked that she does not serve grits at the brunch, which is a dish everyone can agree is stereotypical Southern. Even though she does not cook grits her cooking allows Phil to reconnect with his Alabama childhood and make him feel at home and at ease. This shows the power of a good meal and how it can transport you back to a different time and place. "Recipes for Colonialism" was very interesting to me. I have always been someone who loved to eat "exotic" foods, but I never thought about the cultural colonialism that Lisa Heldke brings up. I always thought of my experiences with Thai, Indian, or Vietnamese cuisine as simply that: great meals. I grew up eating either thai or vietnamese at least three times a week with my mother who is also an avid fan of these types of food. I never thought about this action as exploiting a certain culture; I always saw it as enjoying a different culture's cuisine that just so happened to be my favorite kind of food. I never liked typical "American" foods as a kid; I refused to eat hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza, cake, ice cream, etc. I suppose certain cookbooks turn certain cultural cuisines into exotic fantasy meals for Americans, but I have never felt this way about oriental cooking or any other kind of ethnic or foreign cooking. I just see unfamiliar foods as a way to enjoy a delicious, flavorful meal that is way better than anything you can get at McDonalds.

Gwendolyn Brooks, "The Bean Eaters"

I think the first stanza is about an old, impoverished couple that usually eat beans together during dinner. The second stanza talks about how they have lived good lives, and although they are no longer at the peaks of these lives they still go through the day to day motions they are supposed to in order to keep going. The final stanza talks about how they like to remember the old times and all the good and bad things that have happened, the "twinklings and twinges." Eating the beans reminds them of the past and it is a way for them to share memories. This poem feels kind of nostalgic but I feel comforted by the fact that they are able to have and share these memories.

Kevin Young, "Ode of Chicken," "Ode to Okra," "The Preserving"

In "Ode to Chicken" and "Ode to Okra" the speaker is addressing the actual foods. I didn't pick up on this instantly so it took me a few read throughs to catch what Kevin Young was doing. The speaker talks about how chicken and okra are so important to his livelihood. I thought it was funny how he mentioned that frog legs taste like chicken because this is something my mom used to always tell me when I was little. Also I've never thought about how we change the names of other animals or meats once they have been cooked but chicken is always simply referred to as chicken. In "Ode of Okra" the speaker talks about how okra was a main part of his diet because his father grew it and they made it into gumbo during the summers. He said he got sick of eating it all the time but it was one type of food security for his family and that was as good as he could ask for. "The Preserving" was kind of confusing to me, but I am not sure why. I realized that this poem is about the family making preserves  and other foods but it also deals with food security and the struggles of the family. All three of these poems deal with foods that most likely play a significant role in Kevin Young's memories of his family and childhood.

ZZ Packer, "Geese"

I thought it was interesting how in the beginning when Dina was talking to Gloria about going to Japan and she tells her that maybe she will come back and be able to understand the owners of the a local oriental restaurant. Dina point outs that the restaurant is a Chinese restaurant and not a Japanese one, and Gloria replies by saying "same difference." This shows how all people, no matter what race, categorize and marginalize people that are different from themselves. I also thought it was funny how in Japan everything with an English name was considered to be "vaguely amusing," like the amusement park Dina first worked at. This shows how some Japanese view Americans as a whole. I liked this story because all of the people living in the house are of different ethnicities and they all share memories of their favorite foods from home. Sayeed comes to live with them and tries to kill Dina, and I think it is because she reminds him of his non-Moraccan wife who left him, or the woman he had been arranged to marry but did not. Because of all this Sayeed was disowned from his family and community and went to Japan to find a new life. This would have been a reason for him to try to seek revenge on Dina. Dina came to Japan in the beginning for its "loveliness" but it was not what she expected. She was forced to live in a small space with a group of people, they all struggled with food security and eventually had to steal, and by the end Dina has sex for money with a Japanese business man. The story closes with Dina comparing herself to a kamikaze suicide bomber because she feels she is doing the same thing to herself.

Edwidge Danticat "Ghosts"

This short story deals with gang violence in the slums of Haiti. Pascal was a young boy whose parents owned a restaurant that often served local gang members, or ghosts as they were also called. Pascal ends up getting wound up with the gang because of a radio station where he works and he is blamed for a night shooting that results in the death of a guard at the radio station. Even though he gets out of these charges, what I found most interesting about this story was when Pascal was in the holding cell and the guards were hitting him and laughing at him during his interrogation. He is treated very unjustly while under the care of the Haitian government; he mentions that while he is being punished he does not see any difference between the gang members and the police force. This shows how poverty affects all aspects of a society. Corruption comes from poverty and infiltrates the streets and the government equally, even though it often goes unnoticed in the latter. This story highlights the different aspects of poverty and how it affects different social classes on different levels. Pascal was from a middle class family, ended up getting tied up with a gang from the slums, and is ultimately treated unjustly by the system that is meant to ensure order and protection for the Haitian people. It made me think about the nature of evil and whether or not evil exists in all of us and just needs the proper circumstances, like a poverty stricken environment, to show itself.

Essay response to Jim Northrup's "mahnomin"

Nature as a Cultural Identifier

            “Mahnomin” is a poem by Ojibwa writer Jim Northrup. The word mahnomin translates to “wild rice” in English and plays an essential role in this Native tribe’s culture. Rice harvesting is an annual event that has been passed down from generation to generation among the Ojibwa people. Nature as a whole is monumental in this poem and is very closely connected to the livelihood of these people. The title “wild rice” further emphasizes the importance of nature because the word “wild” is so commonly associated with the natural world, something that is often thought to be destructive and untamable, but in this case acts as a gentle companion. The connection these people feel with the natural world expressed in this poem highlights the importance of spirituality, tradition, and kinship in Ojibwa culture.

            Nature to the Ojibwa people is more than merely a setting or an environment, it is a spiritual being or entity that people are as connected to as they are to their immediate family. In the first few words of the poem Northrup offers thanks to the lake for another good year of harvesting. The lake, along with the rice, the sun, and the cedar trees, is personified in this poem. Northrup states that the water “welcomed us” and that the rice heads “nodded in agreement.” By using this personification the natural world comes to life in the eyes of the reader. It also opens up the idea of the natural world being a kind of spiritual force in the poem. Northrup uses the phrase “megwetch Munido,” a statement that expresses the thankfulness the Ojibwa feel for the good harvest and the respect they have for the universal spirit that resides in all things. This idea of Munido, the universal soul in everything, is common among Native American tribes and is what makes the connection between man and nature in this poem so vivid and strong. Apart from helping the Ojibwa stay in tune with the spiritual realm, nature also allows them to stay in touch with their roots and traditions.

            The connection between nature and tradition in this poem in unavoidable; it is obvious from the first read that the speaker’s tribe has been harvesting mahnomin on these waters for centuries. If not obvious enough, Northrup specifically uses the phrase “ricing again” which implies that this is a ritual practice, one that has taken place many times before and will continue for times to come. The ricing tradition feels almost rhythmic to the reader because of the use of action verbs. Northrup uses sensory words and images to engage the reader and bridge the gap between man and nature. He says, “the cedar caressed the heads” and “the rice bearded up” and the “fingers stripping rice,” all of these action verbs evoke the feeling of repetition, a sense that these motions have been done many times before in the same rice field by the harvester’s ancestors. The importance of tradition is further implied through the mention of the seasons. Rice harvesting can only take place during one season of the year, and this makes ricing an annual ritual for the Ojibwa. Northrup mentions how the rice harvest provides these people with many meals during the winter and when the relatives come together they talk of other seasons and share memories with one another. Tradition to the Ojibwa is necessary for the survival of their culture and nature is the outlet that allows their traditions to thrive, while also connecting them to their ancestors and the memories of their people.

            Nature plays a vital role in connecting the present day Ojibwa people with their predecessors. The importance of family and ancestry is a central component of this poem and Northrup emphasizes this importance through the annual act of ricing. The harvest is a time when relatives are able to come together and shares stories and memories. By doing this they are passing down traditions and keeping the Ojibwa culture alive. Without this annual ricing and sharing of memories of the Ojibwa people their stories would eventually fade into myth. The speaker notes the “laughing, gossiping, and remembering” done among the family members during the rice harvest and states that is it “easy to feel a part of the generations that have riced here before” because of the exchanges of laughter and stories amongst his relatives. The history and the ancestry of the Ojibwa people is so cherished by the tribe that the speaker even goes to say that “it felt better getting off [the lake] carrying a canoe load of food and centuries of memories” than it felt to get on the lake when the anticipation of harvest was at it’s peak. “Mahnomin” effectively turns a simple subject, ricing, into a powerful example of the bond of kinship in the Ojibwa tribe and the importance these people place on oral story telling and their cultural history. 

            Jim Northrup’s “mahnomin” depicts the Ojibwa as a people whose livelihood is interconnected with the natural world. Their spirituality, their traditions, and even their relationships with their family members are all dependent on nature. The idea of “megwetch Munido,” or thanking the universal spirit in all things for a successful harvest and respecting the spirit of nature for allowing the harvest to take place, gives insight into just how important nature is to the spirituality of these people. They see nature as a spirit, something they share a connection with in a brotherly way. Nature is the sole reason for their annual tradition of ricing, since rice can only grow in a certain season every year. The Ojibwa act of ricing appears almost natural to the reader because of the sensory images and action verbs used to describe the harvest itself. The “naturalism” of this action seems to be something the Ojibwa are born with, something they have inherited. This paves the way for the importance of kinship and family history because the annual ricing event allows relatives to come together from different lands and share oral stories of their tribe and memories of previous harvests. “Mahnomin” places nature as a central acting force in the lives of the Ojibwa people; from their beliefs to their traditions and relationships it is evident that the natural world and the Ojibwa are intertwined and that these people’s connection with nature acts as a cultural identifier.  

            

Lucille Clifton, "cutting greens"

Collard greens and kale are typical African cuisine, because greens grow very well in the region. The speaker is washing and cutting the greens. She mentions how the pot is black and the cutting board is black and then draws a comparison to her hands, which are also presumably black. The speaker states that for a minute the greens "roll black under the knife" and she tastes her "natural appetite" and feels the bond of "live things everywhere." The connection she feels while preparing these greens shows the connection between her and her ancestors, who also ate greens. She feels connected to her heritage and to all living things by this simple act of cutting greens.

Rita Dove, "Parsley"

This poem discusses a Haitian sugar plantation massacre of 20,000 slaves because they couldn't roll the "R" in the latin american word "perejil" which translates to parsley. The rolling "R" is typical of latin American dialect, and because African Americans failed to adapt to this new form of speaking they were viewed with even more disgust by the general. He is haunted by the death of his mother, and he is frustrated by the mispronunciation of the word parsley by the slaves. He compares them to the parrot, an animal that is capable of the word's proper pronunciation. Through this comparison the general writes off the slaves as being less intelligent than a bird, giving them a subhuman status in his eyes. This is a beautifully written piece that truly highlights the atrocities of slavery and how slaves were viewed as less than human because their cultural background made them so different from people in the Americas.  

Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, "The Gospel of Barbecue"

The poem opens talking about Uncle Vess and his barbecue, which was the leftovers from the hog used by the Master. The entire piece is done in a very southern style dialect, which is often associated with slavery and African Americans. Uncle Vess has high blood pressure and dies, but not until he writes the five verse "Gospel of Barbecue." The first verse is very blunt and to the point: "somebody got to die with something at some time or another." This could be referring to Uncle Vess' own death, or it could be explaining an overview of slavery as a whole. Even though these slaves lived under horrible and harsh conditions, death was inevitable either way. The verses also talk about how you can't trust a white person to cook for you, and how food you were beaten for always tasted the best. The last verse has a more optimistic tone. The speaker talks about all the leftover hog the slaves are given from the master and how even though these are normally parts of the animal that would be discarded, the slaves learned to make use of them with different peppers and seasonings. Even in the tough times of slavery there is a sense of optimistic survival and the urge to make the best of what you have in this poem. The speaker closes by stating, "survival ain't never been no crime against Nature or Maker. See, stay alive in the meantime, laugh a little harder. Go on and gnaw that bone clean." I loved this part because it shows the endurance and resilience of the slaves, even though they are treated as less than human by their masters they are able to realize the good things in life like laughter and the importance of survival and good food.

Psyche Williams-Forson, "More than Just the 'Big Piece of Chicken'": The Power of Race, Class, and Food in American Consciousness

I found this reading eye-opening yet somewhat complex. I have recognized the connection between food and specific cultures and how it plays a role in identity, but never have I so deeply considered the connection between food and aspects such as race, gender, power, stereotypes, and how people play into these certain stereotypes as a style of "performance." The opening of the essay discusses a comedic performance from Chris Rock and he actively feeds into the stereotypes surrounding "what it is to be black," in a somewhat satirical tone. His focus centers around a cuisine commonly associated with black culture: fried chicken. The essay goes deeper into explaining the history behind African American's association with chicken through a bartering system during the pre-Civil War era where blacks would trade chicken, a game that had not been cultivated at the time, with white slaveholders in exchange for bacon or other commodities. Since this time chicken has served as something the majority identifies African American culture with as a whole. While reading this essay I couldn't help but think of other images of African Americans portrayed as "masters" of typically Southern style cuisine. Most of us, especially in the South, are familiar with the image of Uncle Ben on a carton of rice and Aunt Jemima plastered on the front of a bottle of syrup. This essay also made me examine an "authentically Southern" restaurant in my hometown of Columbus, Ga. If you are a native to Columbus there is one thing you know to be an absolute truth: Dinglewood has the best scrambled dogs in the South East. The maker of these magnificent dogs is the even more famous "Lieutenant." He is an old African American man that has a knack for making unbelievable chili poured onto a plain hot dog. His face is shown on all Dinglewood cups, an image of a jolly old man with a huge smile wearing a hat that has Lieutenant on the front. The image is designed in an old fashioned style that feeds into the stereotype of "blackness" depicted through an old, jolly, African American, who is over joyed to be serving you the finest scrambled dogs in the land. The essay really made me think about how relevant stereotypes are to this day, even if many people are unaware of them, and how even the group being stereotyped often play into these stereotypes as a type of "performance" or as a way to achieve acceptance by acting a certain way that the majority deems as right.

Adrian C. Louis "The Night Beans Talked to Old Bear"

The fusion of food in this tribe's culture really stood out to me in a few ways. Old Bear's first wife was notorious for drowning everything she consumed in ketchup (a nontraditional Native food), which Old Bear mentions as one of the possibilities of their divorce. But there is also a deep sense of scarcity in the area. Scarcity even to the point of health care; obviously Old Bear would definitely benefit from dental or some other type of medical treatment, but because he lives on the reservation medical care is known to be of poor quality. And that's a question many Native American are forced to face: should they risk possibly decreasing the health of an already diseased person? Old Bear takes to extremes, risking his health by placing an aspirin directly into the cavity-- something that would most likely lead to a path outweighed by cons rather than pros. The role of food comes into play as he sits in bed and romanticizes the foods he can only conjure in his imagination.

I found the ending of this excerpt very interesting:
"Old Bear became heaven. Old Bear became God. Old Bear became the nacreous gas of space before the Bing Bang"
- Old Bear says this after facing starvation and then consuming a pot of beans.

A little side note since I'm always interested in the connection between humanity and the natural world: "Old Bear", even though its just the name of an individual,  metaphorically  shows how Native tribes highly identify with nature and believe in the connectivity between man and all living things.

Louise Erdrich "Almost Soup"

I liked this short story even though I was terrified the whole time that the people would actually end up eating the dog, who barely escaped that dismal fate and walked away with the name Almost Soup instead. This story shows the importance of dogs in Native American culture, especially to the Ojibwa tribe. The dogs are used as offerings to the spirits whenever a human dies in some type of accident. Dogs are also important because of the companionship they offer. In this story Cally, a little girl, saves Almost Soup from being soup when he is just a puppy. Cally loves Almost Soup and vice versa. When Cally catches sick Almost Soup is there with her the whole time and even accompanies them to the hospital. Towards the end when they are in the hospital Almost Soup says he put Cally's life back inside of her, and he says that he took it to keep it safe until Cally recovered from her illness. This concept of a dog being able to hold onto someone's life and keep it safe while they are ill shows the Ojibwa's belief that they are connected to nature. They view nature and humanity together, connected by one large universal soul that embodies everyone and everything. That is why they offer animal sacrifices, and that is why Almost Soup was able to hold onto Cally's life while she was sick to keep it safe. Cally saved Almost Soup from death when he was a puppy, and now he is returning the favor to keep Cally alive and safe.

Jim Northrup "Ricing Again"

This is the second piece of Jim Northrup's that I have read that deals with harvesting rice. So obviously this is a huge part of his tribe's culture. In this short story the main character, Jim, and his new rice harvesting partner, Dolly, go ricing with the other members of their community, the majority of which are Luke's relatives. Harvesting rice is a communal ritual, something that brings relatives together and is a time to appreciate the joy and abundance of life and to be thankful for a good harvest. Luke lives on a reservation, and it is common knowledge among many people that alcohol abuse is very common on Native American reservations. Luke wakes up to morning of the harvesting with a major headache from drinking too much the night before. His partner Dolly is feeling the same way. However, they manage to have a successful harvest and Luke's interests spike in his new harvesting partner. This story shows how traditions, like ricing, keep communities and families well connected on the reservations and how essential ricing is to this culture.

Jim Northrup "mahnomin"

On the surface this poem is about rice and harvesting rice. The Native Americans harvested rice from the water on boat, and in this poem the speaker talks about how harvesting rice was a communal activity. It was something relatives came together to do, and this resulted in story telling, and gossiping, and basic interaction among the harvesters. This story telling and remembering of the old ways connects the new generation of harvesters with their ancestors that harvested the rice in the area before them. The speaker ends the poem by saying "...carrying a canoe load of food and centuries of memories." This shows how valuable the speaker holds these memories of his ancestors that were shared with him on the water. Harvesting rice is a way for people of this Native American culture to connect with their ancestors and learn about the old ways of their culture, and it is through this tradition of harvesting and story telling that they can keep their culture alive.

Nora Dauenhauer "How to Make Good Baked Salmon from the River"

This is a recipe written in a poetic form. The speaker ties spirituality into the process of making a salmon, which is something that makes Native American literature unique in my opinion. A simple recipe gives the reader insight into the spirituality of a group of people and shows their connection to nature. The process of preparing a salmon in this poem is more than merely cooking the salmon, it is enjoying the beauty of the aromas and the look of the fish itself while being appreciative of your surroundings and the abundance of life. The speaker expresses their belief that the salmon, among all other animals, has a soul and should be treated with respect. The speaker gives instructions aimed at two groups of people; one set of directions is from her ancestors who lived on their indigenous lands and fished from the wild, and the other set applies to someone working from a kitchen. Even though times have changed for many Native Americans and they may not be able to follow traditions exactly the way their ancestors had, this poem shows how they keep these traditions alive and how they still have the same beliefs about spirituality and an appreciation for all forms of life.

Linda Hogan "Bush's Mourning Feast"

I found this story kind of confusing. In the beginning the great-granddaughter is cooking and she says she can sometimes hear the voice of her great-grandmother, Agnes. Then the speaker shifts and the font is italicized. This is the voice of Agnes speaking. She talks about Bush, who is the wife of her son Harold, and Bush's mourning over losing someone the speaker addresses as "you." I am guessing this "you" is the great-granddaughter that Agnes, the speaker, talks to. I am not completely sure why Bush and the other company is mourning, but I think it is because the child is being taken from the reservation and put into one of the boarding schools. The speaker also mentions Bush's spirit is bad and cannot be saved. She explains this by explaining a dream where she saw Bush under the frozen lake, meaning that her heart was frozen and could not be thawed. I suppose this is because Bush feels lost and helpless after knowing that the child is going to be taken from her. I really liked this story because of its imagery and detail, but I cannot seem to figure out the family tree. Agnes is the speaker and the great-grandmother to the person that is cooking the meal in the beginning. The person cooking the meal is the child that was taken from Bush. And Bush was the wife of Agnes' son Harold. So I would assume that the child is Bush's daughter, but this is not explicitly stated in the text. Again, I found this story confusing but very enjoyable.

"Tortilla Soup" 2001 film

I had never seen or even heard of this movie before, so I was excited to watch something new. This movie really highlights the distinct features of latin American culture. They value family; the family in the film has dinner every Sunday together. They also value food; the dinner's served are always fresh and extravagant. The father uses traditional Mexican ingredients in his cooking and he is also a professional chef, just to emphasize how good his dinner's must truly be. A major part of this movie is focused around the three daughters, all grown women, breaking out of the traditional roles their Mexican culture would have had them follow and finding themselves in the unconventional America that their father does not see as valuable. Their father was a Mexican immigrant, so these three women are first generation Americans. Karen and the youngest daughter are the type to steer away from their Mexican traditions, while the other daughter, Lilita, is very strict and traditional. The movie takes Karen from being the rebellious type in the beginning, to turning down her job in Spain to stay home and be with her family. Lilita does the opposite in the film; she starts as the one that follows all the rules and then she meets Orlando and gets married in Las Vegas, an action totally out of character from the person we meet in the beginning. In the end we learn that family is still the most important value among these people even if it is not the traditional Mexican family, and families are brought together best over a really great dinner.

A culinary experience of my own

Not Your Typical Tuesday

I plan my Tuesdays around one, and one thing only. It has been a part of my weekly routine for a few months now, and I like to call it “Taqueria Tuesday.” For those unfamiliar with this term it simply translates to the fact that I eat Taqueria del Sol every Tuesday of every week after I get off work no matter the circumstances. On this particular Tuesday, June 17^th, I woke up and went about my daily routine. I wake up, shower, make coffee, scrounge for something to eat, and relax until my class at 11:45. Normally I manage to eat before going to class, but on this day I woke up late and threw off my entire schedule. The harsh reality of knowing I would be running on an empty stomach from class through work until five set in as I made my way out the door. It looked like the start to a pretty rough day, but at least I knew I would have Taqueria del Sol to help me eat my way into a full-bodied food coma when 5:15 came around, or so I thought.

It was 2:00 and I had been at work for around 30 minutes. I work at a local law office for a lawyer who just so happens to be on vacation this week, so my days consist of reading and answering the occasional phone call. Around 2:00 was when it really started to hit me. It came from somewhere deep inside my gut like a wrench grinding open an old, rusted bolt. From this point on I knew the rest of my day would be spent in anguish, floating somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness, due to extreme hunger pains. If I had had anything to focus my attention on it might have lessened the pain and maybe even quieted the growls, but I had absolutely nothing to do alone, in an office, except read Kurt Vonnegut’s “The Sirens of Titan” and stare hopelessly at the clock.

I then went down the dangerous path of daydreaming that often comes when you’re feeling on the brink of starvation; the daydream of what food will save you from your misery. I started imagining the crispness of the chicken in a fried chicken taco, its secret heavenly sauce and freshly diced lettuce and tomatoes wrapped in a simple tortilla. I could see myself pouring the salsa carnita along the crispy strip of chicken, adding a deep, bold, smokey flavor to the mix. It all came together and I lifted the taco to my mouth and took a bite, chewing slowly as to absorb all the flavors. It was pure bliss.

At this point I’m pretty sure I snapped out of it due to the fact I was drooling at my desk and gazed longingly at the screen, practically begging the minutes to pass by.

Three hours and however many chapters later, I was finally free. I turned off the lights, grabbed my phone and purse, and locked up the office door. The very instant I heard the click of the knob into the socket my throat clenched, my heart stopped, I was overcome with regret and almost completely knocked off my feet by my idiocy. I had left my keys sitting inside, right on my desk, right through the door that I had just locked. I was absolutely befuddled. Here I was, locked out without my keys, to an office whose owner was on vacation, with a stomach that was minutes away from crawling up my throat and strangling me. I turned to the only person I knew that could save me at this point. “Siri, where is the nearest locksmith?” My little robot went to work and brought up a few different links. I called the first one I saw and a woman answered and said she would send someone over in approximately 10 minutes. The next 10 minutes for me were spent sitting there on the office steps with my head in my palms having accepted that this was just “one of those days.”

A man in an all tan jumpsuit, like one you would imagine someone working under the hood of a car would wear, walked up with a few small tools in his hands. “Are you Mary?” the stranger asked. “Yes,” I replied, “that’s me, and it’s this door right here.” I pointed in the direction of the lock that stared at me in an almost condescending way.  He fiddled with his little metal tools and in about two minutes the door was open. I ran inside and grabbed my keys; they were sitting right on my desk where I had forgotten them. I gave the stranger my card and paid my expenses, hating myself for being so forgetful the whole time. When I saw the total cost of this two-minute procedure I almost threw up, and that would’ve been quite a feat considering I had nothing in my stomach. I won’t go into details but just for future reference and knowledge in case you are locked out somewhere: unlocking corporate buildings costs far more than you would imagine, my personal suggestion is to break a window and pay for that instead.

            I was finally in my car, somewhere lost between anger and desperation, and I had come to the sad realization that because of the hunk of money I had just lost even the two dollar and thirty-nine cent chicken tacos were out of my price range. I drove back home feeling defeated, trying to take my mind off Taqueria and focus on what I was actually going to put into my body, because having food at this point was absolutely essential. I went home and checked my pantry. I had a box of Rotinni pasta and a can of tomatoes. I will admit I’ve never been a very good chef, but I thought I could conjure up something at least somewhat edible. I began to boil the pasta and put the can of tomatoes into a small pot. I searched around for spices and anything that seemed like it would add to my culinary creation. I hit gold when I found an onion and chopped up a good bit into the tomatoes. Then I found basil pesto and added a few scoops of that as well. With a little salt and pepper and a few dashes of oregano with a spoonful of minced garlic, my work was well on its way. I let the mixture simmer and the flavors vaporized into smells and I thought that maybe dinner wouldn’t end up so bad after all.

            By the time the pasta was done and the sauce had released its various aromas, both of my roommates had emerged from their rooms and made their ways to the kitchen driven by their curious noses that were forcing them to investigate the sensational smell down the stairs. I mixed the two dishes, the pasta and the sauce, into one large bowl and piled on the Parmesan cheese. Both of my of my roommates stood staring for a moment before diving towards the bowl to help me devour the heaping pile of pasta before us.

            We all sat down together and enjoyed one of those original creations that only exists in the kitchen of a poor college student who scrounges to make something edible with a weird conglomeration of ingredients from a practically empty fridge, and it was great. I wouldn’t call it a culinary masterpiece at all, and I still wouldn’t go so far as to say “I can cook,” but I did realize that I can get by, and pretty well at all. The aromas of basil pesto, onion, garlic, and Parmesan cheese filled our house as we all sat down together for a few good episodes of Family Guy. It had been a rough day at that, but the meal to finish it off really brought things together. Not every Tuesday can be a “Taqueria Tuesday,” and sometimes its better to scrounge with what you’ve got and make the best of it with the people around you.

Simon Ortiz "How to Make a Good Chili Stew"

"How to Make a Good Chili Stew" not only gives an in depth description of the process of making a traditional Native American stew, but also shows how cooking in this culture is a kind of ritualistic practice. The Speaker longs for the traditional ingredients that were used in the past but are no longer available to her because she was removed from the land she had always known as home. Thinking of Native Americans as a "ritualistic" people is a common stereotype: we can all conjure up an image in our minds of a tribe dancing around a fire in elaborate feather headdresses and paint chanting warrior cries. This recipe and Ortiz's frequent interjections are a look into the daily lives of a culture and people most of us are unfamiliar with. And we find that, indeed, Native Americans are a ritualistic culture but not in the way the majority and the media have made them out to be. They take the time to appreciate things many people are blind to. In the recipe under the caption Further Directions to Make it Good the Speaker advises the reader to "Look all around you once in a while" and goes into further description of her physical surroundings, in this case La Plata Mountains in Southern Colorado. Right here we can see that for this culture cooking was more than just that, it was a time to soak in and recognize your presence and place among nature.

Thomas King, "You're Not the Indian I Had in Mind"

This story deals with the idea of "identity" and "authenticity," and what it means to be "Indian" in the American consciousness. King is mixed, only part Native American. However during his life and through his experience he struggled with his identity because he was either being ridiculed for not looking like the stereotypical, Wild West style Indian, or he was playing the part and being praised for it. I must admit I have always imagined Native Americans in my mind as the images in old photographs, the tipis and headdresses and Appaloosa horses. But this is a social construct we have created as outsiders to try and section off this group of people from what we consider to be "the norm." We force Natives to fit into a certain mold of leather, lassos, and fringe because this is what we want the "Indian" to be, we want the race we created through media and Hollywood to exist and we have a hard time accepting that it is a construct and that the "Indian" as we know it is not an accurate depiction of what our Native people are. Will Rogers is mentioned in the story as the type of Indian King wants to photograph because he appears white. No one would know Rogers was a Native American by his appearance, and that is the statement King decides to make with his photographic expedition; he decides to show America the side of the Native American they have been ignoring, the side that looks like the rest of us and walks and talks like the rest of us, without all the cliches trailing behind.

Eduardo Machado, "Tastes like Cuba" (excerpts)

This story is different from the other hispanic literatures covered so far. The speaker is a young, well off eight or so year old.  The beginning is all about food, except this child did not grow up in poverty. The the descriptions of the food are so detailed they almost come to life. The way the speaker describes the morning routine and the process his grandmother used to make cafe con leche reveal how essential food was to the family, but also how sacred it was. Every meal was like some type of ritual. All family members, adults and children, take 3 hours off during the hottest part of the day during lunch, so they have time to eat, rest, and often take a nap. These people were well-off enough to enjoy leisure time. There were also exotic foods and delicacies galore; something much different from the other hispanic readings we have done. Most people think Cuba in the late 1950s and think of The Revolution, and this excerpt allows you to understand how happy and well-off some of the population was before the Revolution, especially the children who had no concept of war. These children were terrified to leave Cuba for America, a place distance and different from the lives and foods they knew as their own.

Junot Diaz "Aguantando"

aguantar: to endure, stand
The title of this piece, "Aguantando", means enduring or standing. I looked this up after reading the short story and it is a fitting title because the young boy who is telling the story has to endure a life of poverty and the absence of his father. The ending of this story is especially sad because Rafa and his younger brother are imagining the return of their father and what it will be like-- except their father is never coming back. He moved to the States to work 9 years earlier and never came back for his family, as he had promised he would. This happens in society today. Men in Latin America leave their families to go find jobs in the States with the hope of one day being able to afford to bring all their loved ones to the States as well; this story is an example of a failed attempt at just that. The father abandoned his family for his life in North America showing how poverty can rip apart any family-- even in latino culture where family is valued so highly.

Judith Cofer's "Corazon's Cafe"

Family. Tradition. Food. So far in all of the latino works I have read either one, or all, of these things have played a major role in the layout of the story. Corazon's Cafe contains all three. Family and tradition are closely connected; for example it was not out of the ordinary for Corazon to marry Manuel at 18 in Puerto Rico-- it was traditional for girls to marry young and begin the process of running a household. Food is also tied into the mix of tradition and family because latino culture values it so highly. Immigrants living in El Building come to Corazon's Cafe because they can buy their traditional foods in an atmosphere that reminds them of home. This is the second Judith Cofer piece I have read, the first being The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica, that contains a central idea: a maternal figure, running a latino shop selling traditional foods to Mexican Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc., immigrants to create a sense of "home." Since Judith Cofer is Puerto Rican I think its easy to see from this that family, tradition, and food are all highly valued in latino culture.

Judith Cofer's "The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica"

"The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica"
Ars: (latin) it is art to conceal art; true art conceals the means by which it is achieved (dictionary.com)
This poem explores the theme of connectivity through cultural heritage that latino immigrants experience. The deli serves as a place immigrants can go to feel at home by being surrounded with familiar foods and a familiar language, spoken Spanish. Its the only little chunk of cultural heritage these latino customers have in the U.S. That's why even though this deli may be more expensive than other options latinos still choose to go there. The deli owner faces the task of "conjuring up products from places that now exist only in their hearts" for her customers. This means she is the one that keeps their latino heritage and tradition alive; without her they would not have the comfort of eating latino food and hearing Spanish on a day to day basis. This poem clearly portrays the "multicultural" America we live in. 

Thoughts on Gary Soto's poems & short story "Like Mexicans"

The Estonian Comes to Dinner:  Soto opens this poem stating "Again I dream..." and then goes into describing a meal that could only exist in his imagination because of his economic stance. This poem sheds light on the poverty stricken culture of many Mexican and Mexican American families. I loved the last two lines: "let the day end and us begin, the fork, the knife, the plate, all useless." This is very powerful imagery to me because he is waking up from his dream of a wonderful dinner filled with cheese, and wine, and bread to the reality that is poverty and that has no use for kitchen utensils.

Oranges: the recurring theme of poverty is present in this poem as well. Soto describes his first outing with a girl at the age of 12. He has two oranges in his pocket, one of which he would have been glad to offer the girl. Instead they end up at a drugstore staring down the candy aisle. She picks out a chocolate bar and he pulls out his change. The chocolate costs a dime, but he only has a nickel to offer. He hands the saleslady an orange and a nickel and she looks at him understandingly and gives him the chocolate. This turn in the poem is very hopeful. 

Salt: again we see this recurring theme of poverty in Mexican culture. This young boy is sent out to find food (some sort of fish or frog) for his family. He fails to find any but on the walk back home him and his friend enter a cow field and lick the cow's salt rock. This shows just how hungry these people are-- willing to belittle themselves to the state of a cow just to receive the smallest amount of nourishment and flavor. He closes with "And what was lost, the salt gave back." Even though this poem is horribly desperate that last line instills a bit of hope in the reader-- something that the young boy needs to carry on. 

Like Mexicans: I really enjoyed this short story. Basically it's about a young Mexican man from a poor family that falls in love with an Asian girl named Carolyn. His grandmother had told him to marry a Mexican girl for a number of reasons, but she left out her main reason which was that he needed to marry someone of his same class, someone poor. He goes to Carolyn's house and realizes she is poor as well and that he can marry her without her worrying about money. What really stood out to me in this story was in the final paragraph. At Carolyn's house there are kittens clawing at the screen window begging for food-- Soto compares them to Mexicans. He mentions cats clawing to get food and cats being shot down with squirt guns. This is a powerful allegory to how Mexicans are treated because they, like the cats, only want food and a better chance at life, but there is a "screen" in the way. This screen could symbolize many things: the hardships of poverty, the struggle to climb out of poverty, the U.S. border, etc. 

"Food Habits & Racial Thinking"

To me one of the most interesting parts of this article is Purcell's recipe for "Chili Con Carne"-- a dish stemming from Mexican culinary traditions but written in the dialect of "Aunt Priscila"who was representative of a female African American cook. The fact that this recipe was written by a white woman, about a dish that was rendered as "traditional Mexican food" by the majority, in the dialect of a Southern black cook shows how white cultural imperialism infiltrated the food industry. Americans enjoy foreign culinary practices, but only once they have stripped them of what made them "foreign" in the first place to make them appeal to the regular American appetite which is perceived as what should be considered normal by the majority. Anyways, I for one will never eat Taco Bell, but I was astonished to learn that cheddar cheese was not part of traditional Mexican cuisine.

"White Privilege"

Peggy McIntosh's article "White Privilege" was relatable because I, too, am a white female. So obviously I was able to resonate with many of the points she made. I think that "white privilege" is behind-the-scenes styled racism. But the two questions this article brought to my mind are:

1. why does it exist in our so called "equal" society? 
2. does this problem have a solution or is racism a part of humanity? and if there is a solution, what is it?  

My natural reaction to question 1 was that "white privilege" exists in our society because America is actually just now starting to treat minorities (and women) the same way white men have been treated since our nation's founding. The Civil Rights movement happened in the 60s: that is not even a generation ago. Obviously old traditional habits/opinions have not died out completely. I believe that they will, and I believe we are heading in that direction, but it will take more than just one generation before we can master true equality. 

I didn't have such a clear, concrete answer to question two... But for some reason I feel like racism is part of humanity since it has been around since the beginning of man. In some way shape or form a certain group has always been discriminated against because they are deemed as "different" (whether it be race, gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexuality, etc). Because we have never known an age with essentially no racism at all, is it even possible? Racism may never be fully extinguished but I believe there are ways for it be lessened. When it comes to white privilege, for example, it would take whites stepping up and recognizing the fact that they are being undeservingly rewarded over their counterparts. This is tough though because how many people are actually going to take steps towards harming their own well being and taking away privileges they have come to believe are their unalienable rights.