LatinaLista — Know what tiki tiki means?
Well, if you’re Cuban-American you might already know it means a constant conversation — complete with talking fast, constantly moving hands and not taking a break between conversations on (and the number varies here) at least 17 different subjects or people.
But what does tiki tiki mean in the blogosphere, you might ask.
It means that there is now a new blog in cybertown called “tiki tiki.”
Billing itself as a site where visitors share stories of what it’s like “living Latino,” tiki tiki is founded by a group of enterprising Latina women — of which the majority happen to be Cuban-American.
Needless to say, the majority of stories, recipes, essays, etc. will all deal with life as a Latina/o with the sometimes added twist of being Cuban-American as well.
As all Latinos already know, not all of us are Mexican or Cuban or Puerto Rican or — you get the idea.
To underscore our differences, one tiki tiki founding editor honestly writes in her post:
One of the first things that I noticed here in California was that because we spoke Spanish, people assumed we were Mexican. That was new. I knew nothing about Mexican people or their culture or their food. And as we made friends with many Mexican families, I quickly learned that Mexican food was so NOT Cuban food.
The contrasts were many: Cuban food was flavorful with garlic, mild peppers and onion for spices. Mexican food was just spicy. Their peppers were nowhere near mild. Our food has a more Spanish/European influence. Mexican food seemed much more Indian. I was about 12 when I grew brave enough to try a taco. Sorry, but I didn’t immediately love it.
One of the many good things about the tiki tiki blog is that while we all can enjoy the interesting and informative posts on the site, we can also get to know the Cuban-American culture better as well and know there’s more to it than Cuban sandwiches, mojitos and conga dancing!
