“I am from” poem (adapted from Rubí Orozco Santos)
I am from yuatía,
From concrete buildings of Brooklyn,
and the Puget Sound.
I am from pilon,
tough and essential,
aromatic and sweet.
From vast and demanding,
From Emilia,
and Hector.
from culantro,
and moss.
I am from the caldero,
searing and seasoned,
sofrito,
roots,
and making pasteles.
Hi Everyone, I am Grey Figueroa-Mercado. I am Puerto Rican and most of my family lives in Ponce, Puerto Rico or the southern U.S. states. I am currently living in East Van, in the Chinatown neighbourhood. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, but have spent a lot of my life moving around to all the corners of North America: Ponce, San Diego, Orlando, Houston, Portland, Wrangell (Alaska) and most recently Seattle. I spent 8 years in Seattle working mostly in the coffee and restaurant industry, where I primarily opened new coffee shops/concept. I moved to Vancouver in 2016, where I began working in the beer industry as a restaurant and operations manager. Now I work for a small family-owned brewery in Strathcona doing sales, social media and marketing.
My interests are in film and photography and I am passionate about food. I mostly make desserts and am obsessed with all forms of barbecue. I am always willing to swap recipes and talk tips.
I decided to go back to school 2 years ago for two reasons: I wanted to prove to myself and set an example to my siblings that academics are achievable no matter the time. I am the only Figueroa or Mercado to attend college. Second, to use this opportunity to learn and reclaim my culture and identity. My major is Spanish, and I will likely minor in Film Studies. After my studies, I plan to live in Puerto Rico with my family for some time volunteering in disaster relief and rebuilding communities. I am also working towards opening up my own food truck with my mom where we will bring Puerto Rican sandwiches to Vancouver (and soft serve, because why not).
Other fun facts: I have 7 siblings, my favourite food is apple sauce and soft serve ice cream (sometimes together); I have a pretty big lego collection; I want to make silent short films; I am named after Gandalf and my favourite style of beer is a brown ale.
I just want to say that I am super looking forward to sharing space together with each of you in whatever capacity we are able in these times. I am most excited for hearing people’s own perspectives and experiences on how food intersects in their lives and culture.
-grey
Hi Grey,
It’s amazing to see another person that lived in so many different places in this class like myself. I am also very interested in some of the things you mentioned like, films, beer, barbecue, and coffee.
I definitely want to learn more about how to make my own beer, and I believe Vancouver is a great place to try out so many different breweries.
When it comes to coffee, my main goal after my degree is to learn more about roasting and torrefaction by enrolling into an academy abroad.
I got pulled into movies by my 2 best friends, and I can say that when I first saw a Tarantino movie, my perspective on films completely changed. My other favourite one is David Lynch, he helped me get through quarantine, and often during bad times. It was both a unique and a thrilling experience when I dove deep into his realm of movies, and TV shows during that time.
It’s nice to see so many people who are passionate about food in this class.
– Ata
Hi Ata! Nice to meet you!
We can talk beer anytime! I don’t homebrew much anymore due to school and my apartment size but I do have friends who homebrew, and I am always willing to help (and drink beer!). Vancouver is definitely a great place to try new breweries and Old World/New World styles of beer. I work at a brewery that specializes in mixed fermentation sours and old world ales. We also make our own kombucha and soon cider. Kombucha is my new thing, since it is so easy to produce on your own and a great gateway into brewing homebrewing beer eventually.
And just like beer, Vancouver has a ton of great coffee. As a Seattle-lite I feel like I can’t say Vancouver is best for coffee (but it is). Things are done differently here and there is less emphasis on caffeine content and more attention paid to ethical sourcing, optimum roasting of those beans and overall flavour profiles versus darkness.
Welcome to LAST303, Grey! The contrast between the adjectives in your poem is powerful. I like how you pair unexpected images (“tough and essential”; “vast and demanding”) that aren’t a perfect complement.
Let me know when you get that food truck going… I want to be one of your first customers!
Thanks for your comment Tamara! I think I am about 3-4 years away from the food truck concept but I have spent the whole summer cooking up a storm, trying recipes that would work between two buns. I mostly want to make food that I want to eat since there is no Puerto Rico or hardly any Caribbean food in Canada. The best thing about it though, and a huge motivator for me, is that PR food is pretty similar to a lot of other regional latin cuisines like Dominican and Haitian food. I would love to be the place folks go when they want a taste of home. -grey
I am shocked someone hasn’t brought mofongo to Vancouver!
Hi Grey,
I have to say it’s so lovely and inspiring to hear your story, I also agree it’s never too late to go back to school and improve ourselves 🙂
I’m so excited because you’re the first Puerto Rican that I meet in school! My godmother lived in PR for a long time before moving back to Colombia, and my aunt currently lives in Aguadilla (she hates when we tease her about it but she speaks like a true boricua now and I can barely catch up on what she’s saying sometimes lol). I visited about three times when I was younger and sadly my memory is very hazy, but I’ve always felt connected to Puerto Rican culture. Since then it’s been a dream of mine to spend the holidays in PR and salsa dance into the new year!
My other aunt lived in Queens for 20+ years and I was lucky enough to spend most of my teenage summers with her. I don’t know how familiar you are with the area but I have great memories of the roaring latino culture around Jackson Heights and Corona—I quickly realized it’s a tough life for everyone, including my own relatives, but there’s an authenticity to the struggle and resilience of immigrant neighborhoods that make up the real New York experience.
It’s so nice to have you in the class!
Daniela
Btw, I totally wrote this while listening to the In The Heights OST, I’m so sad the film release got delayed because of covid 🙁