Celia Jarel Narrative

On one of the most fear stricken attacks on the United States, we are interviewing

On February 28, 1998 at 11:50 p.m. a baby was born in Moultrie, Georgia. Who was that baby you might ask, well that baby was me. At three pounds and four ounces, and almost a leap year baby I was born into the world as Iesha Monika Williams. I was the first child to parents, and the only girl as the time went on. Even though I was born in Moultrie, Georgia I was raised in Thomasville, Georgia and have been here ever since. I have two younger brothers, the ages of sixteen and seven, name Trey and Jamari. I have a puppy name seven or seven-eleven, he answers to both. I also have two parrots name pinky and binky.

I could sit here and share with the board a sad story of a young child whose single mother worked the graveyard shift every day of the week, just to provide for her four young children. I could also share how despondent that I felt growing up, and how my mother shopped for my clothes from thrift shops, how she would get excited when she found something named brand for us. But I won't do that, instead I would like to introduce you to a delightfully chaotic little girl named Audriana- Faith. On August 15, 2012 Audriana-Faith was born at 1:41 am, weighing in 6 pounds and 12 ounces. The day my daughter was born was a day embedded in my memory, but it was not the best day of my life. I know that's what you're supposed to say, but becoming a mother

I, Lauren Lee Svatos, was born on August 4, 1998, at 4:04 P.M. to Chad and Brenda Svatos. My mom, Brenda, was working a night shift at the hospital the day before she was supposed to be induced. The next night she went into labor around midnight. My dad, Chad, drove my mom from Lake Andes, South Dakota, all the way to Gregory, South Dakota, to have me. Once at the hospital, the agonizing sixteen hours of labor began with my dad along for the ride.

I always told my parents that if either of them died while I was younger, I wanted to be adopted by my other mother: Jody Harvey. For the past fifteen years, Jody and her family have become a second family to my sister and I. In retrospect, she has been a positive influence in various aspects of my life—whether it was from our tight nit home-school group, to religious 0awareness, to folk music, or eating foreign southern cooking. It is evident that what little southern culture that has infiltrated my life takes root from her. Mrs. Jody is a fifth generation southerner, and native to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Growing up she indulged and found importance in family, adventuring the outdoors, and music.

Celia Cruz was one of the most famous Cuban salsa singers. She was nicknamed the Queen of Salsa, with more than thirty-six albums, recorded with some other leading singers in Latin music. Celia worked as a singer for more than forty years, and during that time, she became well known for her vigorous work, great personality, and her emotional way of singing. During her performances, she was well known for being able to improvise lyrics. She was an artist with over six decades of success making her an inspiration to the Latin community as well as the rest of the world.

Thirdly, I choose to write about her because the day she died on is my birthday. When I began my research about Celia Cruz the number of awards, Grammys, and titles she earned amazed me. The more I continued to learn, I learned she was a hard worker and never gave up her dreams. If I were endeavoring to become a well-known celebrity she would be my role model. Not only did was she successful in her dreams, but she also pursued her Father’s.

  My immediate family built the basis for my knowledge of food with the atmosphere they created by gathering different descendants of my family to indulge on the cuisine of our cultural

On the night of December 19th, 2003, a baby is born. Her mom’s a social worker, her dad’s a nephrologist, and she has one older sister. Her name is Sophia Galoustian, although later she will wish to be called Sophie. After two years of living in Maine, the family moves to California, where Sophie will grow up.I am Sophia Galoustian, and this is part of who I am.

I was born July 18, 1999 to my parents Joel and Kathy at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I was a month early, but I was such a large baby that the doctor said “if he came on time he would have driven us home”. My mom was thrilled to have her first and only child; she named me Dylan, after the son of Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee. My name was strongly debated by my Irish Catholic Great Grandmother, who insisted I be named after a saint. After a failed attempt by Father Tommy Conway to convince her of the great Saint Dylan, my mother agreed to give me the middle name Thomas.

On October 17, 2002 at 7:58pm at Riverside Hospital in Newport News, Va., Mr. Corey and Mrs. Annise Herbin had their first and only baby. Before I was born my parents thought of several names for me. My dad wanted to name me Leslie and my mother considered Sydney and Briana. They decided to name me Layla Camille Herbin, which means dark knight and silent warrior. After seeing the boxer Laila Ali on television, my mother fell in love the name. My parents told me that immediately after I was born, my father took me from the doctor and raised me up to dedicate me to God. They describe it to me like the scene in the movie Roots.

The narrative written by Judith Ortiz Cofer discusses some of the many experiences she has encountered throughout her life dealing with stereotypes and common misconceptions of Latin American women. To further engage her audience in the story, she provides detailed past experiences that have stood out to her the most. In order for the readers to fully understand those past encounters, some of which are cultural and common among Latinos, Cofer explains them in careful detail. For example, Cofer explains the concept of piropos which are poems composed on the spot by men to women as a form of admiration. This helps her introduce the audience to her own experiences with piropos and how she has dealt with them throughout her life. One of the

Eating brings people closer together everyday, and for everyone, there are important memories that have been created because of food. Whether it’s a formal dinner, or an informal picnic, there will always be special bonds between people because food was involved. We need to have traditions with food because they form and strengthen the bonds between us.

Food brings everyone together no matter what culture you are in. Culture is a way of life shared by a group of people, beliefs, customs, symbols and etc. Many families can spend time with each other by preparing and eating dinner at the table, going out for dinner or just celebrating holidays.