Argentina to Venezuela and everything in between, I love being Latino, we can enjoy 21 flavors. The people, food, music, language and the individual culture each country has to offer. I guess what I like the most is that we can do it in Spanglish, in America. We can walk into any Latino store or restaurant, wedding or birthday party and have one thing in common, Spanish. We have one more thing in common, English. Most of us (and I’ll spare you the digits) have embraced America. We love this country and the people.

We have contributed greatly to its armed services, work force, economy, culture, and politics and to its diverse development, particularly in the last 40 years. We are lovers of life; we enjoy music and laughter, a joy that is contagious. That is evident in trends throughout the U.S. Restaurants and clubs featuring Latin fusion cuisine and music have sprouted up even in the most unsuspecting communities. The #1 second language everyone wants to speak is Spanish! You cannot call a major company without hearing the press # for Espanol. And yet with all of this, I believe the single most important attribute, is not that we feel comfortable with each other, actually that is quite common, but that we feel comfortable with every American. I have friends or acquaintances from virtually every Latin country, as well as friends from Albanians to African Americans. What a gift, to have the ability to feel at home with such a wide array of people and them with you. I truly feel that this ability to interact (while personal to some degree) is a result of our Latin heritage. A warm, kind and inviting disposition which allows us to appreciate and focus on the positive attributes of a person. So the fusion is not just in food, it’s in the way we greet each other, our dance, and our sense of loyalty, our work ethic and our zest for life. We are having an impact on this country as never seen before. As my niece would say “It’s all good”.