Monthly Archives: February 2024

During the summer my family and I would travel to Ecuador to visit my grandparents and my aunts. Whenever we did my aunts would cook cuy. It’s their way of greeting us because most of my family comes down to Cuenca to greet us and to catch up. Cuy is one of the many traditional foods in Ecuador and it’s normally served with rice, potatoes, and mote. Eating cuy in my family is normally for special occasions for example Christmas, birthday’s, and my family coming or leaving Ecuador. This year, I was able to eat cuy on my birthday and I was able to help my mom cook it and prepare it. So whenever I eat cuy it reminds me of family and the times I’ve spent with them.

A core memory I have that involves food would be my babysitter feeding me in pre-school. Everyday after school, the school bus would drop me off at her house while my mother worked. I have this one memory of me sitting in the living room watching a Barbie movie while she fed me; I’ve never had the biggest appetite so she had to get creative in order for me to eat. She use to separate the food on the plate, which was usually rice and beans, into little piles that we would dedicate to someone. There was one for my mom, one for my dad, one for my aunt, and so on. This actually really helped me eat and is something I continued to do whenever I needed to finish my food. 

A memory of a recent past meal i had was when i was eating outside with friends. We went to hotpot. Hotpot is like everyone throwing in things in one boiling pot and then taking it out, putting it in you’re own dipping sauce. The most fun part of it is sharing the food and everyone sitting together like a warming gathering. I remeber we had a pot of tomato base and spicy base. I like cooking beef and noodles in the pot along with some vegetables. I love spicy so i cooked it in the spicy base. I remember it being really spicy that day but my sesame oil dipping eased it a lot. It was a friend’s birthday gathering and it was significant to me as we havent been able to gather with everyone in the friend group present in such a long time.

It would be a cold morning in August where I would receive a message about a coffee shop that serves cups of iced or hot drinks for only 2.50. I thought finally a source of warmth that didn’t cost an arm or leg, but I doubted it. I tried it on this cold morning which proved to be a dull drink that was cheap. Months go by and I think back to the idea of that coffee shop, maybe if I can find ” the one” I will finally have good mornings. After another cold month of trying different drinks, I decided I would try a hot chai latte with half and half. The second the spice of chai mixed with the thickness of half and half with the taste of cream, I knew I found the one. This discovery shaped my cold commutes into warm mornings. it wasn’t long before I found an option to add additional shots of flavor to the drink, it would take 2 and a half weeks for me to go through all the flavor shots. Sometimes two separate cups every two days a week I would add and enjoy Vanilla, Hazelnut, Caramel, French Vanilla, Sugar-Free Vanilla, pumpkin, chocolate, and strawberry Syrup(in order of most to least favorite). I have it almost every day and yet it still never gets old, like if it was the same morning i first found it.

Every Saturday night after volleyball or even just for a quick meal/hangout we would stop by at Taco Bell at 9 P.M. Whomever is free would decides to engage in the meal. We would talk about things we did through out the week and anything new that we discovered. We also make fun of each other and tell funny moments till it 11P.M. It like if we are a big family and we came back from a long trip. Is that nostalgic of living in the moment that make us so lively and happy. Occasionally we would all order bunch of food and have a mini feast on the big round table. It our go to spot every time. We knew that this isn’t going to last forever so we devoured the last bite that it offered. One year later, I am still reminiscing about the moment and it still haunts me that I am eating at the hangout spot alone with a beef taco in my hand.

One of the memories that I cherish a lot is that I wasn’t a person that would love to eat breakfast so when I was in middle school there wasn’t a day that I ate a meal in the breakfast. Still, my dad always didn’t like how I didn’t so when he had time in the morning he would make me mantou( Chinese milk bread) with steak and milk, that is one of ever memories that my dad made me meals, he mostly busy so I never really the food he makes, but the food he makes was delicious.

A meal from the past where I value it a-lot is when I used to go to the supermarket with my mom and my older brother and we would pass by the frozen food section. Me and my brother would get this frozen meal called “kid cuisine” and just seeing the box would make us excited as it over exaggerated how the food was presented. The box was very colorful and we would each get our own and when it came down to eat, it was good then but now that i’m older, I know it was very a very bad choice of meal. This little memory made me realize that something as small as food even if it wasn’t necessarily good for us made us happy and it probably made my mom happy too knowing we enjoyed it at the time.

A meal from the past that holds a lot of significance and value in my mind came on February 1st, 2023. It was my best friend’s birthday and me and some of our friends went to Buffalo Wild Wings to eat together. It was raining heavy that day and I had been extremely sick the previous week. My energy and morale was low but I still had to show up since it was his birthday. This was the first time we all went out as a group together to eat. This was my first time eating Buffalo Wild Wings in my life so I was excited. I ordered the bacon cheeseburger, with fries, 6 boneless bbq wings, and a strawberry lemonade to drink. Once I started eating and socializing with everybody at the table, I had seemed to forget about being sick and tired. I was having a blast with my entire friend group. There were a bunch of tv’s in the background showing NBA basketball so we all started watching the games as well. This is a core memory that I will always remember.

Hello, my name is Ramon Vallarino. My intended major is Finance, but it is subject to change in the future. I was born and raised in Queens, and I am the oldest of four siblings. My sister is 16, my brother is 12 and my other brother is 6 years old. My mother is from Ecuador and my father is from Peru. My mom immigrated to the United States in 2001, two months before 9/11. She came here to work hard to provide for my family back in Ecuador and ensure their well-being. I have a seasonal part-time job as a soccer referee near my neighborhood and it’s just something to do. I am mainly just focused on my studies and am doing everything in my power to make connections and keep my grades up. I have a lot of hobbies, as I enjoy playing soccer (I used to be in a team pre-pandemic), I play the guitar a lot and I am an avid music listener. My favorite band is the Beatles, I even went to a Paul McCartney concert back in 2022. I also enjoy playing pool and hanging out in the city with my friends. Lastly, I enjoy playing video games like Call of Duty and Minecraft. As far as food goes, I used to be the type of guy to only eat chicken tenders and fries wherever I would go. As I’ve grown older, I realized what I was missing out on and expanded my taste in food. I enjoy many cuisines, but my favorites are Peruvian and Italian. Peruvian food is just so diverse, and my personal favorite dishes are Anticuchos (beef heart), Papa a la Huancaina, and Peruvian chicken with green sauce. As for Italian food, I like Gnocchi, Fettuccini Alfredo and… Pizza. I also cannot forget about my Ecuadorian side, I enjoy Seco de Pollo and Ceviche de Camoron, since my mom makes both of these, I just had to include them they’re so good.