Hispanic Heritage

As many of you are unaware October is Hispanic Heritage Month. As I am Puerto Rican, and I want this month to be well known, I am going to be posting stuff about Hispanics/Latinos and other related Hispanic information. I want to spread awareness of this month. Hopefully I won't annoy anyone although if I do feel free to block my statuses for the month of October b/c the majority of my tweets and status updates will be about Hispanic Heritage.
This past Sunday, mom and I went to Soldier's Memorial Park off of 14th and Market for the Hispanic Heritage Festival. We had plans to go Saturday night as we figured when a lot of the bands and salsa music would be played. However, I caught mom's cold and was not in shape to go. So we went Sunday, and our first thing to do: find food. We were starving! So we found Rice and beans with beef and plantains (arroz y frijoles con ropa de viega y platanos) from a Cuban stand. It was sooo good (muy sabroso). We split the plate and listened to some band and then later a girl singing Selena songs (I love Selena and this girl had a great voice). Later we found a Nicaraguan stand and got a Spinich Empanada (Empanada con espinca) and split that...oh that was yummy. For dessert we had tres leches (3 milks) with strawberries. Once we had eaten, we listened to some music and checked out the booths. It was a good festival and we are going to make it a yearly tradition as the festival is yearly. This was our second time and the festivals 5th year. The first year dad went with us, this year he was too tired to go. Otherwise he would have gone as he loves Hispanic food and the culture. Yesterday when I got home from work, mom suprised me by making a Puerto Rican dish- Arroz con pollo (chicken with rice). It was sooo good. She has a family recipe but this particular one is from my Latina magazine that I get monthly. We have lots of leftovers which is great. Next dish I am wanting is Red rice and beans (Arroz y frijoles rojos)- another Puerto Rican recipes of mom's that she got from her family when she lived in New York. Now I know, Arroz con Pollo and Rice and beans is not soley a Puerto Rican dish, they are common all over Latin America; I first had Arroz con Pollo when I was a foreign exchange student in Costa Rica. I lived off of Arroz con Pollo y elote (corn)! Every meal was Arroz con Pollo y elote y Fanta (the best orange soda ever). However each country adds their own spin to the dish, which makes each dish unique. It is mid September, (scary!) yet October is right around the corner and I am ready for Hispanic Heritage month! I will use this to blog more often...as I have been slacking in that area.