| I'm Gloria and Hispanic Life is my brainchild. If you want to understand Hispanic Life, I feel that you need to learn about me. I was born here in Columbia, SC into a Puerto Rican family. I was raised on arroz con gandules/garbanzos and lechon. I love Puerto Rican food and can cook the foods I like; even though it took me 3 years to learn how to make Meringue cookies!!! I didn't give up. I wrote an ebook of Puerto Rican Recipes and it is my 2nd best seller that I've writen. I've yet to make Pasteles on my own. For one reason, my food processor (yes, I said food processor) broke when I moved and the other reason is with 3 kids under the age of 7 running around it's hard to devote much time since making Pasteles is a half-day to a whole day ritual. Growing up, I participated in parrandas, community celebrations, etc. I love to dance Merengue and my favorite song is El Africano by Wilfredo Vargas. Before I got pregnant with my first child, I spent most of my weekends at the Salsa Cabana (fka The Lotus Club). As you can see in my picture, I look nothing Hispanic. Many people are surprised to find I can understand Spanish fairly well, if you talk slow. LOL My great grandmother who was about 80 years old and spoke no English was caring for me one day. The phone rang and I ran to answer it. I saw my great gradmother coming to the phone and there was a box on the floor. I tried to tell her to watch out but she tripped over it. She had the biggest black eye I ever saw. I felt so bad that I was unable to communicate with her. It was then that I resolved to learn Spanish as best I could. My family didn't teach me Spanish at home. I took 3 years of Spanish in high school and one year in college. I consider myself able to speak it on an intermediate level but speaking in past tense and future tense is not in my vocabulary. I've been married to my Puerto Rican husband for 11 years and we have 3 children ages 8, 5 and 4. I met my husband in 1990 at a Hispanic community event sponsored by Fort Jackson. We travel once a year to Rio Piedras and Cayey, Puerto Rico to visit family that still live there. My kids love it there. I love the weather, food and music. I created Hispanic Life in 2005 after realizing how hard it is to find local Hispanic events or even news for that matter. Additionally, I had people asking me when and where the next Hispanic event is and I didn't know the answer. I was encouraged by many in the Hispanic community who thought it was a great idea. My goal with Hispanic Life is to bring all communities together - Hispanic and non-Hispanic. I also wanted to do something to help the Hispanic community, which proves difficult because many resources for assistance are hard to find. So I hope to be able to provide community resources through Hispanic Life. One issue you will not see in Hispanic Life is politics. One good reason is that I'm just not good with political issues and if truth be known, I just don't see politics promoting positive issues for anyone anymore. I truly believe that if the forefathers were alive today, they would go into depression after seeing what the government politics has created today. That's all I'm going to say about politics. You will find photos and information about local Hispanic children who want to be adopted. If you have the ability to help these children, please do. I also list photos and information for missing Hispanic children in the Southern Region. I am very happy to have given birth to Hispanic Life. It's my way of contributing to the community the best way I am capable of. I love reader feedback so feel free to send us a message. |
 |
 |
| Gloria Heffner Mejias (Editor) with her husband, Angel Mejias. |
| 115 West Main St. - Lexington, SC 29072 (803) 359-2679 |