“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