NOTE: This article was originally published in LatinoMetro on June 7, 2012, three years ago today. Daniel and I later joked that I had unintentionally written myself into the article. Little did I know that I had literally written myself into his life. We’ve now embarked into a new chapter, where we collaborate on creative projects, as well as the great project of living life on this earth.
***
Several years ago, I ran across the written work of Daniel Reyes, when I started to get serious about my own blog – Chronicles of Undercover Mexican Girl. I was curious. Who was out there? Was there anybody else like me? Were there any “Latino” writers trying to make sense of their cultural identities, re-capture childhood experiences, document present-day adventures?
When I first read Daniel’s writings, it was before the big explosion of Latina blogger collectives, LATISM (Latinos in Social Media), and social media for anything beyond keeping up with friends. Back then, Daniel’s blog was called linguisticPOZOLE. I’m not even sure if he had an email contact on his website, and if he did, it never occurred to me to connect with him, a virtual stranger.