Easier as a Latino? Actually... (Rosie Perez ad)

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1. Rosie!

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2. I'm not usually a big Rosie fan,

but I thought she did a great job on this video!

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3. She reminds me of when I was younger...

... I used to live in a place with lots of Puerto Ricans and quite a lot of Dominicans.

I even spoke learned to speak Spanish...
... even had a near proper accent....
... when I spoke Spanish, I was mistaken for Dominican quite a lot.

I miss my youth and the way the neighborhood used to be.

Everything she says is totally spot on.

But for me... hearing her accent... seeing her again after so many years.... makes me totally deeply yearn for the time of my youth.

Now, the neigborhood has changed.
Almost all of the Puerto Ricans are gone
I can only read Spanish now... can't speak anymore... too much Japanese in my head now.

When I went back to America a couple of years ago, I went to a supermarket in a different town.
By luck, they happened to be selling plantains.
It had been years since I'd had one --- can't find them in Japan really.
When I went up to the register, I asked about the price.
Instinctively, like a person from my neighborhood, I called them "platanos" instead of "plantains".
The lady behind the register told me the price, then mentioned something about how to prepare them.
I mentioned something back.
Then she said something like: you're from that town aren't you... I am, too.

We are not Puerto Rican at all.
I'm Black... no Latin roots at all.
She was White... no Latin roots at all.
Growing up there quite a lot of Spanish words were the default... and you spoke some Spanish because that was what you did to have lots of friends.... and to be polite to your friend's parents when you were over and they offered you something nice to eat.

Anyway... I am rambling.
Just had a few glasses of wine a bit before I saw that video... so I guess I am a bit emotional or something.

Rosie is spot on of course...
... but for me...
... seeing her...
... is more...
... it almost makes me want to cry for the past that I miss...
... the one that I can never return to.

I totally miss the way I grew up.

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4. Great that you had a great childhood.