Viviana Moreno, En mi ciudad, Miami.
This essay was written by Viviana Moreno, Associate Publicist, Avery & TarcherPerigee.
When I decided to contribute to the open call asking what living Latine means to me, nothing came to mind at first. I was a blank sheet with no thoughts in sight to grasp. In a way, it’s difficult for me to answer these types of questions because I am so entirely entrenched in my culture, in my roots. (As someone born to Cuban and Chilean parents, it’s something I never take for granted.) Being born and raised in Miami meant being surrounded by reminders of my background constantly – so much so that I experienced culture shock when I went away to school in north Florida, and no one yelled Spanish words across a parking lot and bakeries with traditional goods weren’t on every corner.