Latest / Locatora Radio [A Radiophonic Novela] / Capítulo 053: Maritza Alva

Transcript

Capítulo 053: Maritza Alva · Locatora Radio [A Radiophonic Novela]

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Speaker 1: Radio Radio Radio Commies, a Myth and Bullshit. A radio
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Speaker 1: phonic novella Local Radio hosted by Malamo. Hello, Hello, Hello,
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Speaker 1: welcome back to local radio. Welcome back, Welcome back. This
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Speaker 1: is Mala and this is Dios and we are Last Radio.
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Speaker 1: A radio phonic novella coming to you once again from
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Speaker 1: Radio Espasio over here in Boil Heights. Look at Radio
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Speaker 1: is a radiophonic novella archiving the legacies geniuses and brilliant
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Speaker 1: of women and fems of color. This is Ca and
0:51
Speaker 1: there we are, Here, we are, We're back here again.
0:53
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us, Thank you for sticking with us,
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Speaker 1: Yes on this journey. Yes to shout out to all
1:00
Speaker 1: our new local motives. We recently did a little flashback
1:04
Speaker 1: Friday post on the Instagram, and so many of our
1:07
Speaker 1: local motives left their favorite memories and their favorite cap
1:11
Speaker 1: laws and that they've been listening since day one and
1:13
Speaker 1: it's been really sweet and one hell of a ride.
1:16
Speaker 1: There were a lot of really cute memories. Look at
1:19
Speaker 1: the memorials that were left in the comments. So Bona
1:24
Speaker 1: wrote that her favorite memory, look was when we femcied
1:28
Speaker 1: her um ep release. Yes, that was one of our
1:32
Speaker 1: first FEMC events. Absolutely, that was a lot of fun
1:35
Speaker 1: back queer Chicano cheese man. Yes, rubn Um. One of
1:39
Speaker 1: our listeners said that she met her partner, her current
1:42
Speaker 1: partner at look At a live a podcast party. Right,
1:46
Speaker 1: we are look at love connection, y'all. Exactly exactly, look
1:51
Speaker 1: I thought hearts, look at our lonely hearts no longer? Right,
1:55
Speaker 1: people are making connections and finding love and friendship. Right.
1:59
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. It's cute times. Yes, So,
2:02
Speaker 1: once again, thank you for tuning into Another Capital Radio.
2:06
Speaker 1: Last time on look at Our Radio Radio, we interviewed
2:10
Speaker 1: Ma Da Delaya and it was one of my favorite
2:13
Speaker 1: interviews to date. Absolutely, that interview was really important, so important.
2:19
Speaker 1: Like one of our listeners actually commented on the Instagram
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Speaker 1: that you know, she grew up on my DA's poetry
2:27
Speaker 1: on YouTube, and I think that that was like the
2:30
Speaker 1: spirit of the interview. Yeah yeah, like we were raised
2:32
Speaker 1: on her poetry. Are our sort of journey to understanding
2:36
Speaker 1: Latini Da and her womanhood. She played a part in
2:40
Speaker 1: that with her art. Yeah. Absolutely, so I feel so grateful,
2:43
Speaker 1: so blessed that we were able to interview someone so
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Speaker 1: incredible and talented and has been doing the damn thing
2:49
Speaker 1: for so long. Yes, and and you know, um, we
2:53
Speaker 1: wanted to keep thriving, so make sure you check out
2:55
Speaker 1: her book, her book, A Southside Girl's Guide to Love
2:58
Speaker 1: and Sex by my La davy It. And yeah, since then,
3:02
Speaker 1: since the interview, we've been up to a bunch of
3:04
Speaker 1: stuff as always per usual, So we haven't actually posted
3:08
Speaker 1: about this, but our listeners will be the first to know.
3:11
Speaker 1: We actually hosted or yeah, we hosted. We facilitated a
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Speaker 1: discussion with representatives from Adidas, right, and we talked about
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Speaker 1: film defense, street harassment and podcasts, podcasting and women of
3:26
Speaker 1: color films thriving. And it was incredible, It was incredible. Um,
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Speaker 1: you know, Adidas reached out to us. They're like London
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Speaker 1: office reached out to us because they were putting together
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Speaker 1: basically a day of talks and workshops and discussions from
3:42
Speaker 1: different like creators and artists and you know, people with
3:47
Speaker 1: projects like us um to come out here to meet
3:51
Speaker 1: with the Adidas folks in l A and sort of
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Speaker 1: give them a taste of of what the creatives are
3:57
Speaker 1: up to. So we were like the podcasters and it
4:00
Speaker 1: was really interesting, actually, it was a really interesting evening,
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Speaker 1: lots of white men, lots of white men. We were
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Speaker 1: the only Angelina's, Angelina's, the only latinas, only women of
4:12
Speaker 1: color presenters. Yes, um, so that was at least in
4:16
Speaker 1: our group that we presented in. It was very interesting
4:19
Speaker 1: to say the leads. And once again everyone like there
4:22
Speaker 1: were so many people there, like with clearly like British accents,
4:25
Speaker 1: and once again like we're in these industry type events
4:29
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles, but nobody's from Los Angeles. We're always
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Speaker 1: the only Angelina. We're the token Angelinos. So it's just
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Speaker 1: like the token Latina and always the youngest ones, always
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Speaker 1: the youngest ones, which is also really interesting too. It's
4:43
Speaker 1: an interesting dynamic to see play out. But yeah, once again,
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Speaker 1: thank you to the folks that invited us. It was
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Speaker 1: a really great conversation. It was a great conversation, conversation,
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Speaker 1: great experience. Um, invite us back, send us some Adidas.
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Speaker 1: It was so funny. My mom she goes Adidas eight black,
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Speaker 1: and I'm like, Mom, I'm not at the headquarters, Like
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Speaker 1: I don't just have access to all these Adidas like
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Speaker 1: so funny, but she was ready sending me her sizes
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Speaker 1: and everything. Um. Yeah, and then after that UM, I
5:18
Speaker 1: actually tabled at Fall into Literacy, which was presented by
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Speaker 1: a United Way. I've tabled for the both of us
5:26
Speaker 1: for and they put on this yearly Fall into Literacy
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Speaker 1: event to promote UM, to promote communities of color like
5:37
Speaker 1: engaging in literature, especially at starting at a young age.
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Speaker 1: So it was like really just like a kid's resource center,
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Speaker 1: which was really cool, like a resource fair, I mean,
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Speaker 1: And it was really interesting, really cool, and I like
5:49
Speaker 1: engage with the little children, asking them about UM their
5:53
Speaker 1: favorite TV shows and if they could have their own
5:55
Speaker 1: TV show or their own radio show, like what would
5:57
Speaker 1: they call it? And one of them was like Sam's
5:59
Speaker 1: broad cast. It was super cute. And then another girl
6:02
Speaker 1: told me that she would not tell me the name
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Speaker 1: of her YouTube channel if she would create it, because
6:07
Speaker 1: she'll tell me once it's live. I love it. She's
6:10
Speaker 1: so smart. It was like, yes, protect your intellectual property girl.
6:14
Speaker 1: It was so cute. She knows that people are out
6:16
Speaker 1: here plagiarizing literally literally. It was so funny. UM. But yeah,
6:20
Speaker 1: it was such a good of it. UM a good event,
6:22
Speaker 1: and it was nice to be in the South Bay
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Speaker 1: in that community. Also ran into a few a few
6:27
Speaker 1: listeners that were there. Um, so to shout out to
6:30
Speaker 1: you listeners, it was really cute running into them. Love
6:33
Speaker 1: that sometimes sometimes you know, like schedules interfere and we
6:38
Speaker 1: sometimes have to like represent the podcast. Yes, it's not
6:42
Speaker 1: like our preferred method of doing things that sometimes like
6:46
Speaker 1: we had committed to this already, you know, and Mama
6:48
Speaker 1: wasn't able to make it for personal reasons. So it
6:51
Speaker 1: just so many many reasons, lots of things she was
6:55
Speaker 1: not But it was totally fine and it was pouring
6:57
Speaker 1: raining bad day. Yeah, but anyway, shout out thank you
7:01
Speaker 1: United for inviting us. Um. So we started carrying our
7:07
Speaker 1: look at poppy hats in pink and black here at Espasio.
7:12
Speaker 1: So you know, Um, we're not really selling our hats online.
7:16
Speaker 1: We're not you know, like mailing them out, but you
7:19
Speaker 1: can come to Espasio and buy them in person. Um,
7:23
Speaker 1: how much are we selling them for? There are twenty
7:25
Speaker 1: six dollars here at Spasso. Dollars here at Spasio. So yeah,
7:30
Speaker 1: that's that's an update. Yes, if you're able to come
7:32
Speaker 1: out here and you've been looking for a poppy hat,
7:34
Speaker 1: this will be the place to get it. Um. You
7:37
Speaker 1: can also pick them up at one of our events
7:39
Speaker 1: that we will be having in the near future. Um,
7:42
Speaker 1: so we will be having a second large scale event, yes,
7:48
Speaker 1: November sixteen. It's a Friday micro Calendars. There will be music,
7:52
Speaker 1: there will be guests, there will be looks, lots of things.
7:56
Speaker 1: There will be cocktails. There will be cocktails, so there
7:58
Speaker 1: will be dancing Save the day, right. There will be listeners.
8:02
Speaker 1: You have you heard it first? Basically, like we have
8:05
Speaker 1: not advertised it on the pot on the Instagram yet,
8:08
Speaker 1: so somebody posted on the memory like I've been listening
8:16
Speaker 1: to you all when you were just on SoundCloud love
8:18
Speaker 1: it and I was like, only real ones now that
8:20
Speaker 1: we got kicked off of iTunes and had to resubmit
8:23
Speaker 1: literally literally we got kicked off of iTunes for ridiculous
8:28
Speaker 1: phobic reasons. Seriously, it was terrible, but I think it's
8:32
Speaker 1: like now a badge of honor, like, yeah, we got
8:34
Speaker 1: kicked off iTunes, right, and now we're back and we're back.
8:37
Speaker 1: You can't kill us with two thirty nine stars. By
8:41
Speaker 1: the way, so if you haven't left us a review yet,
8:44
Speaker 1: please go leave us a review, leave us five stars.
8:47
Speaker 1: I would love to see us at three hundred. Yes,
8:49
Speaker 1: five stars by the end of the year. Yes, absolutely,
8:53
Speaker 1: And this is something that I think is really important
8:56
Speaker 1: for us to talk about, is loving your favorite podcasts,
9:01
Speaker 1: loving your favorite creators out loud. Yes, love out loud
9:04
Speaker 1: because let me tell you something something that we're learning.
9:06
Speaker 1: I think like as podcasters and as this grows, as
9:10
Speaker 1: our project grows and expands, if you want to help
9:13
Speaker 1: your favorite creators, but you can't like buy directly or
9:15
Speaker 1: give monetary contributions the comments, the ratings, like, as your
9:20
Speaker 1: favorite creators climb and get more opportunities, we need to
9:24
Speaker 1: put things together like decks and press kits and folks
9:30
Speaker 1: and brands and companies like ask for this stuff. And
9:33
Speaker 1: if our listeners have like written something that could end
9:36
Speaker 1: up being really helpful for us in the future, you
9:38
Speaker 1: know what I mean. So never feel like you're bothering
9:41
Speaker 1: or never feel like it doesn't matter, because the comments
9:43
Speaker 1: actually do contribute, and we read every single thing that
9:46
Speaker 1: y'all post, yes literally, and we like take screenshots and
9:49
Speaker 1: send them to each other. So it's super helpful. So
9:53
Speaker 1: you know, if you have the time and motivating, yes,
9:55
Speaker 1: if you have the time, if you feel like leaving
9:58
Speaker 1: us some love, please do so. Some beso, yes, all right,
10:03
Speaker 1: we're really proud of our friend. Oh my god, she's amazing.
10:09
Speaker 1: She is on she made it to the Moon. You
10:15
Speaker 1: can watch her on on Sundays. I believe at it's
10:19
Speaker 1: like yes something like that. Um so yes, also follow
10:24
Speaker 1: the or follow the Latina and seriously like leave love,
10:29
Speaker 1: like leave this is another example, like leave love. She's
10:32
Speaker 1: this is the first time the Latina is doing. Meaning
10:37
Speaker 1: Vanessa is the first quote plus size contestant, and she's
10:42
Speaker 1: also one of like the only ones that you can
10:46
Speaker 1: It's obvious that Spanish is her second language, right, and
10:49
Speaker 1: so she has like that botch Spanish, which we love
10:51
Speaker 1: and we support, so show her some love. In the beginning,
10:54
Speaker 1: she was like getting some hate from some people saying one, okay,
10:59
Speaker 1: not in talent, which my response is like, you obviously
11:03
Speaker 1: have never booked a photo shoot and you've never modeled
11:07
Speaker 1: fucking anything, and they think that that's not talent and
11:09
Speaker 1: that's not warm. You've never served a look sweetheart, Honestly,
11:12
Speaker 1: this I know for certain. Also, like Latina speak tons
11:16
Speaker 1: of languages, right, is not our only language. So also
11:21
Speaker 1: there's another thing. So there's just one more thing, right,
11:24
Speaker 1: So just a reminder, Vanessa was on, she was as
11:29
Speaker 1: an interview guest. And I think this is part of it, right,
11:33
Speaker 1: we are having the brilliance and legacies of women in
11:35
Speaker 1: terms of color, Like we interviewed Vanessa and here she
11:38
Speaker 1: goes like she's going on to do amazing things, and
11:41
Speaker 1: I'm just so proud to be part of that. Just
11:43
Speaker 1: a little step of yeah, her trajectory an interview on
11:46
Speaker 1: look at Radio. Yeah we knew her when, yes, we
11:49
Speaker 1: love her, when yes, I love it. So just this
11:52
Speaker 1: is another example to love out loud, you know, go
11:55
Speaker 1: comments like tag her, say how much you love her
11:58
Speaker 1: as a contestant, say that you want to see her
12:00
Speaker 1: as the next Latin. Because what I've noticed is all
12:04
Speaker 1: the other people, all the other contestants, like their fans
12:08
Speaker 1: are showing up for them, you know what I mean.
12:10
Speaker 1: And it's important that we do that too, especially because
12:13
Speaker 1: this is like historical in a way that they're doing
12:15
Speaker 1: the right you know. Rihanna has her navy, Beyonce has
12:21
Speaker 1: the bee Hive, We have our locomotes. Yesica has a
12:24
Speaker 1: Mingo mafia. So Vanessa needs her, she needs yes, yes, yes,
12:30
Speaker 1: so yes, go forth, go forth. Yes, Um, we talked
12:33
Speaker 1: about our save the date. I have, um a weird
12:36
Speaker 1: things white women did this week contribution tell us so
12:40
Speaker 1: as you all will remember, this is one of our
12:42
Speaker 1: newer segments that we don't necessarily bring in unless something
12:46
Speaker 1: has happened. White women don't necessarily do weird things all
12:50
Speaker 1: the time. You know, more often than not, they do
12:53
Speaker 1: these remarkable things. These are exceptional things, right right, So
12:57
Speaker 1: this morning full disclosure. Um, I went to Plant parenthood,
13:02
Speaker 1: to go to pepsmeir right, shout parenthod, shout up on parenthood.
13:06
Speaker 1: We love and support, we appreciate. Shoutout paps mars. Yes,
13:09
Speaker 1: so important. Literally, get you get your paps mir very
13:12
Speaker 1: good for you. Um, if it applies, go do it.
13:15
Speaker 1: You know. So I go and I'm pulling up to
13:18
Speaker 1: the pH um to the parking lot, and there's like
13:22
Speaker 1: this group of white ladies protesting outside of plant parenthood.
13:25
Speaker 1: Now I know that people protest planned parenthood all the time.
13:28
Speaker 1: I personally have not experienced it, you know, in person,
13:32
Speaker 1: in my my numerous visits to plant parenthood throughout my life,
13:36
Speaker 1: right the same. So today I'm like, are you fucking
13:40
Speaker 1: kidding me? And so they're trying to give me like
13:42
Speaker 1: flyers and they have their signs and all this stuff,
13:45
Speaker 1: and I'm like, why are you protesting my popsmere? Did
13:48
Speaker 1: you say anything to them? No. I was like in
13:51
Speaker 1: my little car with my sunglasses, and I'm just like
13:53
Speaker 1: with my window, I'm like slowly rolled up my windows.
13:57
Speaker 1: Stay away from me, right right right? I have never Yeah,
14:02
Speaker 1: leave us, leave us alone alone, Like cervical health is
14:07
Speaker 1: very important, it's very important to all of us. It
14:09
Speaker 1: should be you should be thanking me for getting a
14:11
Speaker 1: PAP smear. Honestly, I've also never seen probably because we're
14:15
Speaker 1: in l A. But I've never seen myself protesting outside
14:19
Speaker 1: of a planned parenthood. I've worked near one um and
14:22
Speaker 1: I've been to several different locations, and I've never seen one.
14:26
Speaker 1: Contrary country, where I live, there's a women's clinic and
14:30
Speaker 1: there's constantly protesters on the weekends, like all the time
14:35
Speaker 1: Everymber in high school, and I would like run Saturday
14:37
Speaker 1: morning through my city like that was. I would always
14:40
Speaker 1: notice that. And now as an adult, I get like
14:42
Speaker 1: so fucking enraged. But I see it, and I'm just like,
14:45
Speaker 1: are you going to like fund for my child that
14:50
Speaker 1: to have this? You know? You know what? I mean, like,
14:51
Speaker 1: are you going to provide me the resources that I
14:54
Speaker 1: would need to raise a child? You know what, I
14:57
Speaker 1: probably not, So let me make my decisions, like are
15:02
Speaker 1: you going to pay for whatever whatever other like medical
15:05
Speaker 1: care I'm receiving at this clinic, or you're just going
15:09
Speaker 1: to protest every all the services, everything, all the health checks, everything,
15:13
Speaker 1: all everything. I can't have any of it now. Abstinence
15:16
Speaker 1: is the way, girl, apparently, the way, the truth and
15:19
Speaker 1: the life. Please please get me out of here, right, no,
15:23
Speaker 1: thank you. Anyways. Anyways, so that that this has been
15:26
Speaker 1: weird things white women did this week, I kept trying
15:28
Speaker 1: to think of one to contribute, but I feel like
15:32
Speaker 1: you have to you, in particular, maybe have to go
15:34
Speaker 1: out of your way to interact with white women in
15:36
Speaker 1: your current life setup. Yes, I really you're surrounded. I
15:42
Speaker 1: really like work mainly with Latinas Latin X folks. Where
15:47
Speaker 1: I live is mainly Latinos Latin X folks where I
15:53
Speaker 1: spend my time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's like one s
15:56
Speaker 1: in a blue moon. You're in your little all brown
15:59
Speaker 1: all around. Yes, it's very nice, it's cute, it's compy,
16:02
Speaker 1: it's cozy, it's very compy. But then we end up
16:03
Speaker 1: on the West side on special occasion, special ecasions, and
16:07
Speaker 1: we're like, what they are different? They really are different.
16:12
Speaker 1: They are they really have their own way of doing things. Okay, anyways,
16:18
Speaker 1: so this time on look, I thought our radio, I
16:20
Speaker 1: thought our radio. Three. We're so excited to interview our
16:26
Speaker 1: next guest. We have Maritza Alva in the house today
16:31
Speaker 1: and she isn't. She is an l a based Betwana
16:33
Speaker 1: that advocates for and works with unaccompanied miners and migrant children.
16:38
Speaker 1: Maria is also a member of the Mummy Collective. So
16:40
Speaker 1: shout out to the Internet for bringing us together. Rosa
17:05
Speaker 1: and um um um of it and little ship and
17:30
Speaker 1: we're back with our guest, Mariza. Thank you for being here.
17:35
Speaker 1: Can you say hello? Hello? Hello? Her look at Motris Hello, hello, hello.
17:39
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited.
17:42
Speaker 1: I'm really excited to be here to share this same
17:44
Speaker 1: with you. I haven't. We don't see each other off
17:46
Speaker 1: to them, No, we literally only see each other for birthdays. Yeah,
17:50
Speaker 1: it's kind of sad. It's kind of sad, but um,
17:53
Speaker 1: we're busy. The Mommy Collective like had it's like glory
17:56
Speaker 1: days or we were like out every single weekend, multiple
18:00
Speaker 1: times a week, right, and we were at everything and
18:04
Speaker 1: that was like such a fun and cute time. But
18:06
Speaker 1: you know what, like it was about a year. The
18:08
Speaker 1: life goes on, but the friendship remains, you know what
18:12
Speaker 1: I mean, Like we have to adapt to our life changes. Yeah,
18:16
Speaker 1: and I mean, um, Mariza, you know you have a
18:20
Speaker 1: lot going on. Your work is really important. You've got
18:23
Speaker 1: your relationship, your social life, your travels, you know. Um,
18:28
Speaker 1: and I think that's one of the reasons why we're
18:30
Speaker 1: really excited to have you on the show, yes, to
18:32
Speaker 1: talk about all those wonderful things that you do. Mony
18:34
Speaker 1: sent us such incredible work, um, which we're going to
18:37
Speaker 1: talk about in a bit, But before that, we're going
18:39
Speaker 1: to do a short segment of oyelokas with our beautiful,
18:42
Speaker 1: beautiful guest to Moneys. Alright, Okay, so Mama, do you
18:46
Speaker 1: want to actually pose this question? Yes? So, um, two
18:51
Speaker 1: out of the three of us here in this in
18:53
Speaker 1: this room are in long term relationships, committed relationships, and
19:00
Speaker 1: so the question is, like, as sexual beings, right in
19:07
Speaker 1: relationships with other sexual beings, how does that maturity and
19:11
Speaker 1: change in like the sexual life, Like, what does that
19:14
Speaker 1: look like you know from when you first meet too,
19:17
Speaker 1: now you have some time under your belt as a couple,
19:20
Speaker 1: and how does the sex life grow or change or
19:22
Speaker 1: like what's you know, what's good with that? I'm prying completely.
19:30
Speaker 1: No one knows both of our partners because I already know.
19:33
Speaker 1: I just I want to know the details, like what's
19:37
Speaker 1: new and sex. That's essentially the question. Um, it's been great. No,
19:46
Speaker 1: I have no complaints on my end, and I think
19:48
Speaker 1: we talked about it a little bit before the segment. Um,
19:52
Speaker 1: how just as you start getting to know each other
19:55
Speaker 1: more and start getting to be more intimate on just
19:57
Speaker 1: various levels like that intimacy, everything just gets better. You
20:02
Speaker 1: get to know each other, you get to know each
20:03
Speaker 1: other's likes, and just like you get to know each
20:05
Speaker 1: other's bodies, you get to know each other's energies, like
20:09
Speaker 1: all of it all about the It's beautiful absolutely, Um okay,
20:15
Speaker 1: I would say that for me being now in a
20:18
Speaker 1: long term relationship also my first long term relationship with
20:21
Speaker 1: a man um, so there's definitely been some like adjustments, right,
20:29
Speaker 1: some like obviously like going over boundaries and like talking
20:33
Speaker 1: about consent and he's like really great about checking in
20:36
Speaker 1: like with me during like does this feel okay? Does
20:39
Speaker 1: this feel good? Blah blah blah, all the stuff that
20:41
Speaker 1: you should be asking important questions. I would say the
20:44
Speaker 1: difference now is that one. It's a lot better because
20:48
Speaker 1: for similar reasons what what Moneta said that, um, you
20:51
Speaker 1: just you know each other's bodies more, and you know
20:53
Speaker 1: what you like and dislike and all that stuff. But
20:56
Speaker 1: I also feel that there's more of a spirit chill
21:00
Speaker 1: connection when you're having sex, right because it's literally like
21:05
Speaker 1: when you're having casual sex. It's like it's casual, it
21:09
Speaker 1: feels good. Maybe it doesn't. There's no really need to
21:13
Speaker 1: learn more about what the other likes, because you might
21:16
Speaker 1: not hook up with him, you know what I mean.
21:18
Speaker 1: So it's just like okay, well on to the next. Um.
21:20
Speaker 1: But I feel for obviously for this relationship since we've
21:23
Speaker 1: been in it for over a year now, I would
21:26
Speaker 1: definitely say it feels like sometimes feels like very intense,
21:30
Speaker 1: like in a very emotional way. At least for me,
21:33
Speaker 1: I'm just like, oh my god, this person that I
21:35
Speaker 1: love is like inside of my body's and that's really
21:40
Speaker 1: like and when I think about it in those terms,
21:41
Speaker 1: it really trips me out and it's just like whoaah,
21:45
Speaker 1: Like it blows my mind. Right, It can be very overwhelming. Yeah,
21:48
Speaker 1: Like yeah, I've cried. I've cried during sex before, but
21:52
Speaker 1: because of just being emotionally it's just in it, like
21:56
Speaker 1: overwhelmed by all of it, and you get in your
21:59
Speaker 1: head and like like you're yeah, you're inside of my
22:02
Speaker 1: body cavity, and it's very bizarre. It's very bizarre, and
22:05
Speaker 1: it's also like so much pleasure that is derived from that,
22:08
Speaker 1: So it's like very intense. Sex is very intense in
22:11
Speaker 1: that way, you know. Um, yes, I am like the
22:16
Speaker 1: casual hookups. The thing is that you can't really get
22:20
Speaker 1: as crazy like freak nasty as you really would like to,
22:23
Speaker 1: because you have to have all your barriers and all
22:27
Speaker 1: totally protective factors and like you know, because you have
22:30
Speaker 1: to because you have to be safe. Um, but I'd
22:34
Speaker 1: like no like that. It really is for me one
22:37
Speaker 1: of the major draws to being in like a committed relationship.
22:41
Speaker 1: It's like we can make sure that we're taking steps
22:43
Speaker 1: to be safe and healthy that way, like if you're
22:47
Speaker 1: not using condoms and you're not using like other types
22:49
Speaker 1: of prophylactics, like you're going to be good to go
22:52
Speaker 1: and you can just really just get in there. You
22:55
Speaker 1: can try different things, You can try a lot of
22:57
Speaker 1: different things. Definitely. You also, I noticed that vacation sex
23:02
Speaker 1: it's like the best. It is like way hotter. There's
23:06
Speaker 1: something about being on vacation that really makes you like
23:08
Speaker 1: let loose and like there was one thing that I
23:11
Speaker 1: can't say too much, but there was one thing say
23:14
Speaker 1: that was just one thing that I had been wanting
23:16
Speaker 1: us to try. Um, but I was like kind of
23:19
Speaker 1: embarrassed to like ask for this need. And then when
23:22
Speaker 1: we were on vacation, I was like can you, like
23:24
Speaker 1: can you do this? And then he did and like
23:26
Speaker 1: now we've incorporated it more into like you know, when
23:29
Speaker 1: we have sex. N now you know all the time,
23:31
Speaker 1: you know you were just on vacation. Anythings you tried,
23:35
Speaker 1: let us know, why should we be trying with the
23:38
Speaker 1: vacation sex. I agree with that too. I don't know
23:40
Speaker 1: if it's just like oh, it's a new bed, clean sheets,
23:43
Speaker 1: right environment, let's sunk up, let's market our territory in
23:48
Speaker 1: this room. No, there's something about flying to a different
23:53
Speaker 1: destination to have sex. Yeah, well we low key like
23:56
Speaker 1: are taking this vacation for the sex. Yeah, in many ways,
24:01
Speaker 1: this is one of the main reasons we're even going
24:02
Speaker 1: on vacation. I think so, because when you're on vacation,
24:05
Speaker 1: you definitely unplug and you just connect in different ways.
24:08
Speaker 1: So it really does allow you to have more of
24:10
Speaker 1: like like that physical touch, one on one time intimacy.
24:14
Speaker 1: Blah blah. I'm sucking dying because this is such We're
24:17
Speaker 1: such like this is such a sex in the city
24:20
Speaker 1: as conversation right now, Like we are at that age
24:23
Speaker 1: where this is like a thing that we do, and
24:25
Speaker 1: I'm just this leads us to our next question. Actually
24:28
Speaker 1: it does, which is all about the different stages of
24:32
Speaker 1: our twenties and how we change and grow and like
24:34
Speaker 1: our likes and dislikes, even down to our clothes, even
24:38
Speaker 1: down to our clothes. Well, I am newly entered the
24:42
Speaker 1: mid twenties club. Yes, um so. I I noticed that
24:47
Speaker 1: when I was actually even shopping for my birthday outfit,
24:50
Speaker 1: I like really struggled because I was like, Okay, I
24:53
Speaker 1: don't want something like Sena esque, right, like something like
24:56
Speaker 1: to like covered up. But then I also I'm like,
24:59
Speaker 1: I'm mom, I was like, look shopping at the boutiques
25:01
Speaker 1: and I'm like, these are like clubbing dresses. These are
25:03
Speaker 1: like little like two piece sets that I'm just like
25:07
Speaker 1: that it's like all leg and like all cleavage. And
25:09
Speaker 1: I was just like, uh, like I want to balance,
25:12
Speaker 1: you know, like I want to show out and I
25:15
Speaker 1: want to be sexy, but I also want to be
25:17
Speaker 1: a little tame at the same time. But you know
25:20
Speaker 1: what i mean, even going out less like is I've
25:24
Speaker 1: noticed noticed that I'm just I'm more drawn to like, Okay, yeah,
25:28
Speaker 1: we can be home. I can be home. Yeah, I
25:31
Speaker 1: know in the past year, I definitely, Um, I stay
25:34
Speaker 1: in a lot. I stay home a lot, and on
25:35
Speaker 1: the weekends I'm home a lot. And Mariita, how have
25:38
Speaker 1: you like the stages of your twenties? Like how would
25:41
Speaker 1: you describe the stage that you're in now? What's interesting
25:44
Speaker 1: is for me, like what I mean, we've been friends
25:46
Speaker 1: for three three years. When I met all of y'all,
25:52
Speaker 1: I was six, so I think, and that at that
25:57
Speaker 1: time is when I was just starting two baby. It
26:03
Speaker 1: was literally I was going so at that age, just
26:08
Speaker 1: when I had just started like going out more and
26:10
Speaker 1: going to the clubs, and like I think it was
26:13
Speaker 1: honestly through all of you that I started to become
26:15
Speaker 1: more comfortable in my body and be like seeing all
26:18
Speaker 1: of you just stressing these beautiful outfits and that were
26:21
Speaker 1: that really inspired me to try to, like, you know,
26:24
Speaker 1: be more comfortable in my own body. And I got
26:27
Speaker 1: there and remember the Green Leader, Yes, I was gonna
26:29
Speaker 1: save money. I can serve a deep plunge hard like, No,
26:36
Speaker 1: that was a really important photo. That was a pivotal photo.
26:38
Speaker 1: It really was the photo we should use. Can I
26:42
Speaker 1: ever go missing my photo on my flyer, everyone will
26:47
Speaker 1: find me immediately. But yeah, it was really for all
26:50
Speaker 1: of y'all that like, that's when I started to become
26:52
Speaker 1: more comfortable in my body and like wanting to want
26:55
Speaker 1: what I have and be comfortable in my own skin.
26:57
Speaker 1: And that was was beautiful. So I think for me
27:00
Speaker 1: it was a little bit more of the opposite that
27:02
Speaker 1: it was in my twenties. Six years when I was
27:04
Speaker 1: around twenty six, is that I started to be going
27:07
Speaker 1: out more and explore all of that more. And I
27:09
Speaker 1: was also recently more new to l A. I had
27:12
Speaker 1: moved to l A in two thousand and sixteen and
27:15
Speaker 1: had established like more friendships with with folks here living
27:18
Speaker 1: in l A that we're all natives. Um so through
27:21
Speaker 1: all of that, I think it changed a little bit
27:24
Speaker 1: to what all of y'all had earlier in your twenties. Yes,
27:28
Speaker 1: so I can I can see that it's just being
27:30
Speaker 1: a little bit of you know, backwards. But I think
27:35
Speaker 1: now with you know, with work being so busy, and
27:38
Speaker 1: with other things going on in my life and being
27:41
Speaker 1: in the relationship and all of that, things have changed
27:43
Speaker 1: a little bit as well. That's say that I'm not
27:45
Speaker 1: now more also a little bit like I don't mind
27:47
Speaker 1: staying at all. Right today I had to wake up
27:49
Speaker 1: at mine I am, and I was like stressing out.
27:51
Speaker 1: We're also like just so tired, so tired. I'm so
27:55
Speaker 1: tired all the time, and I'm just like who even
27:58
Speaker 1: has the energy to go out? You know what I mean.
28:00
Speaker 1: That's how I feel about it, you know, even like shopping,
28:04
Speaker 1: like going back to shopping. I think that's what I've
28:06
Speaker 1: been realizing, like, oh shit, I am like no longer
28:09
Speaker 1: a little like twenty two year old Dasa, you know
28:11
Speaker 1: what I mean? Because now, like when I walk into
28:14
Speaker 1: a store, I kind of I think about like work
28:17
Speaker 1: and like what can I buy for work and for
28:19
Speaker 1: me in particular, like at my job, I can't show
28:22
Speaker 1: any of my tattoos, so I have to get really
28:24
Speaker 1: creative with what I wear. And it's also very annoying.
28:29
Speaker 1: You know, it's not it's my least favorite thing. It's
28:31
Speaker 1: the only thing I don't like about my job. Um
28:33
Speaker 1: that I can't show any of my tattoos. And it's
28:35
Speaker 1: uncomfortable and I hate it, but you know, it is
28:38
Speaker 1: what it is. Um general generationally like it just it
28:42
Speaker 1: makes sense for where I work. Um. But yeah, so
28:45
Speaker 1: even like shopping, I like have to think like, okay,
28:47
Speaker 1: well I need a new blast for work, right because
28:49
Speaker 1: I need to cover my shoulders and I need to
28:51
Speaker 1: cover my arm and all this stuff as you know,
28:53
Speaker 1: yeah yeah, yeah, yeah I am so I'm a teacher now,
28:57
Speaker 1: and like with my clothes, I've been thinking a lot
28:59
Speaker 1: of too about you know, what am I wearing for work?
29:01
Speaker 1: And because that's really where the majority of our dressing
29:05
Speaker 1: is happening, is that work. Unfortunately, unfortunately, I have less
29:08
Speaker 1: and less reasons to buy going out clothes. If I
29:11
Speaker 1: know I have an event, I'm going to buy anything specific.
29:14
Speaker 1: I was going to say, and I think because of local.
29:17
Speaker 1: When we go out now it's very it's because we're
29:19
Speaker 1: working or related exactly. So even then it's more like
29:24
Speaker 1: because before when I would go shopping, it would be like, oh,
29:26
Speaker 1: this is cute. I'm buying seven pieces that I'm going
29:28
Speaker 1: to probably wear out in one week, right, you know
29:31
Speaker 1: what I mean? I would like buy dresses every weekend
29:34
Speaker 1: because I knew we were going to take picture and
29:37
Speaker 1: we were going to go out. It was a lot.
29:41
Speaker 1: But you know what I find interesting is I really
29:43
Speaker 1: am enjoying this practice of dressing up for work, like
29:46
Speaker 1: in the class. My mom has been a fourth grade
29:49
Speaker 1: teacher for many years, and something that she always did
29:51
Speaker 1: and would talk to us about is she goes super
29:54
Speaker 1: dressed up and she does her hair, and she wears
29:57
Speaker 1: her jewelry, and she's coordinated and her outfits are very colorful.
30:00
Speaker 1: And her students have always responded very positively to that.
30:03
Speaker 1: And my mom's philosophy has always been as a teacher,
30:07
Speaker 1: when you show up like put together, your students can
30:10
Speaker 1: tell that you put an effort to be there, that
30:12
Speaker 1: you're there to work, and that they like appreciate colors,
30:16
Speaker 1: and it catches their attention. So I like I am like, okay, mom,
30:19
Speaker 1: I'll follow this advice. I'll follow that advice. And so
30:23
Speaker 1: I've been really intentional about having like cute outfits and
30:27
Speaker 1: it does make a difference because then my students are like,
30:29
Speaker 1: you have good outfits. They notice, they notice, they notice,
30:34
Speaker 1: so it's cute time. Oh my god, I want to
30:35
Speaker 1: share real quick. Okay. I was cleaning out my closet
30:38
Speaker 1: the other day and I definitely like throughout a lot
30:42
Speaker 1: of like the stuff that when we would go out,
30:45
Speaker 1: Like do you remember that? Remember that leotard, the like
30:48
Speaker 1: pinkish mesh one and I just wore like a bra
30:50
Speaker 1: underneath it. Then I do remember that, Okay, I put
30:53
Speaker 1: that in the like pile to give away, to donate.
30:57
Speaker 1: I just don't see myself wearing that now, you know.
31:00
Speaker 1: And then my partner and my mom were both in
31:02
Speaker 1: the room with me, like they were like helping me,
31:04
Speaker 1: like judging, like yes, give that away, no keep that.
31:07
Speaker 1: And I looked at the blue and white dress when
31:10
Speaker 1: we all met the night that we all met. I
31:12
Speaker 1: remember that dress, and my partner was like, oh, no,
31:15
Speaker 1: like that one has to go, and I was like, no,
31:17
Speaker 1: I'm not ready to part with that dress, like staple.
31:20
Speaker 1: That is like even if I don't, I don't even
31:22
Speaker 1: feel like i'd wear it again, but I just can't
31:24
Speaker 1: part with it. Like that was a night we all met,
31:27
Speaker 1: like for real, for real, and the Mommy Collective was born.
31:30
Speaker 1: When the museum opens that right, like I need that
31:33
Speaker 1: dress on display, looks through the ages, right, I love it.
31:38
Speaker 1: I love it. Okay, So that has been all you
31:40
Speaker 1: look as thanks for those questions. They came from ourselves.
31:45
Speaker 1: We came up with those. Thanks to us, So we
31:49
Speaker 1: did great. Yes, and someone shout out to our shouts
31:52
Speaker 1: shout out mania, thank you for being vulnerable and sharing. Yeah,
31:56
Speaker 1: we appreciate it. So now to the gardener of the podcast. Yes,
32:00
Speaker 1: let's get into it, Mariza, and you're amazing work. Mariita.
32:03
Speaker 1: Can you tell us, um a little bit more in
32:05
Speaker 1: detail about what you do, um the organization that you
32:08
Speaker 1: work for? Yeah, of course, um So, I work for
32:11
Speaker 1: a nonprofit organization. What we do is that we provide
32:14
Speaker 1: legal services for unaccompanied miners. UM. My role specifically is
32:19
Speaker 1: I am their social services coordinator. So what I do
32:22
Speaker 1: is anything that's outside of their legal case, um so,
32:27
Speaker 1: assisting them with educational needs, um, housing needs, food, needs UM,
32:33
Speaker 1: medical needs UM, anything that is really not connected to
32:37
Speaker 1: their legal case, that's where I try to step in.
32:38
Speaker 1: So anything social services related, which is such a big,
32:41
Speaker 1: big scope of work, UM, is what I help our
32:44
Speaker 1: clients with. And it's been just so incredibly rewarding just
32:46
Speaker 1: working with my my grant community, working with immigrant children
32:50
Speaker 1: and youth. UM. I've thankfully because of this job, I
32:53
Speaker 1: found that that is now my passion, that is what
32:55
Speaker 1: I want to do long term. So I really am
32:58
Speaker 1: enjoying it. Yeah, you do. You do incredible work. And UM,
33:02
Speaker 1: I'm really I wanted to ask you because of a
33:04
Speaker 1: project that you really spearheaded and facilitated and took the
33:07
Speaker 1: lead on, which is Baby Too Baby, And I know
33:10
Speaker 1: that you had do you still have the wish lists
33:13
Speaker 1: so that our listeners can contribute if they're able to.
33:15
Speaker 1: Can you talk about first? First of all, can you
33:17
Speaker 1: talk about Baby Too Baby and what that program is
33:20
Speaker 1: so one of the great things with my position. I mean, well,
33:23
Speaker 1: so let me saying I started my position in two
33:25
Speaker 1: thousands sixteen with this nonprofit organization and UM, I was
33:29
Speaker 1: actually the first one of anything social services related that
33:34
Speaker 1: they started within the organization. So I am one of
33:37
Speaker 1: three social services coordinators that they hired for all our
33:41
Speaker 1: turn offices throughout the United States. Um So, really, when
33:44
Speaker 1: I came into the position, everything it was a clean slate,
33:48
Speaker 1: like there was there was nothing for me to fall
33:51
Speaker 1: back on or to work off of. Everybody in my
33:53
Speaker 1: office is a legal attorney, um so they didn't really
33:57
Speaker 1: know what my job would consist of. So everything I've
34:00
Speaker 1: created with my with my nonprofit and working with other partners,
34:05
Speaker 1: I've really established on my own over the last almost
34:07
Speaker 1: three years. Um So, creating these networks. Networking has been
34:11
Speaker 1: a huge, huge part of the work that I do,
34:14
Speaker 1: and just going out into the communities and seeing who
34:17
Speaker 1: is already doing this work, because there are already so
34:19
Speaker 1: many amazing folks out there doing this work for the
34:22
Speaker 1: immigrant communities, for undocumented communities, um so partnering with them
34:26
Speaker 1: and seeing how can I help you to make help
34:29
Speaker 1: us grow together bigger and get our presence known because
34:32
Speaker 1: there's a lot of people behind the scenes doing this work.
34:36
Speaker 1: Um So. One of the things that came about is
34:39
Speaker 1: I met Baby to Baby through literally just a resource fair,
34:44
Speaker 1: and um I applied with them for one of their
34:46
Speaker 1: partnerships and so many people applied to their program, so
34:49
Speaker 1: I was on the wait list for a year and
34:51
Speaker 1: UM after that. I the reason I applied to it
34:55
Speaker 1: is just I noticed that a lot of our clients
34:57
Speaker 1: are just in need of very very basic things, whether
35:00
Speaker 1: be diapers or formula UM. A lot of our clients
35:03
Speaker 1: are have children of their own UM from a young age,
35:07
Speaker 1: and you know, it's struggling to go to school and
35:09
Speaker 1: support them at the same time. So I was so
35:12
Speaker 1: so grateful to find this partnership with Babe the Baby
35:15
Speaker 1: where they're able to provide me with diapers whenever I
35:18
Speaker 1: need them, or baby wipes whenever I need them, formulas UM.
35:22
Speaker 1: If one of my clients needs a baby stroller, I'm
35:24
Speaker 1: able to email Baby to Baby and tell them, hey,
35:26
Speaker 1: can you find me a baby stroller? And most of
35:28
Speaker 1: the time they find me a brand new, like expensive
35:32
Speaker 1: baby stroller or brand new car seat, things like that
35:35
Speaker 1: that are just such essential basic items that we take
35:38
Speaker 1: for granted sometimes that aren't always accessible to us UM.
35:43
Speaker 1: So through that partnership with Baby to Baby UM, they
35:46
Speaker 1: have been so supportive for the work that I'm doing
35:50
Speaker 1: UM with with unaccompanied miners in my organization. And then
35:55
Speaker 1: in the beginning of this summer, when everything, all the
35:58
Speaker 1: crazy family separation nonsense started hitting the hitting the media
36:03
Speaker 1: and started hitting the headlines. UM, they reached out to
36:06
Speaker 1: me and said what can we do to support your work?
36:09
Speaker 1: How can I help you? Which I was just so
36:12
Speaker 1: taking aback. That's such a big organization like Baby a
36:15
Speaker 1: Baby took notice and took their time to come talk
36:18
Speaker 1: to me and call me and asked me how they
36:20
Speaker 1: can contribute. UM And, like I mentioned, we have offices,
36:25
Speaker 1: ten offices throughout the United States. So I mentioned to them,
36:28
Speaker 1: I'm like, well, there's so many clients coming right now.
36:31
Speaker 1: There's so many children in detention facilities UM And unfortunately
36:35
Speaker 1: we don't work directly with kids in detention facilities, but
36:38
Speaker 1: they they've been released. The majority of kids have been released,
36:41
Speaker 1: thank god. And once they get released, they do eventually
36:46
Speaker 1: end up looking looking for legal representation. So over the
36:50
Speaker 1: past month and a half, we've started now receiving these
36:55
Speaker 1: cases and meeting with these clients in our offices. Clients
36:58
Speaker 1: as young as five six years old coming to our
37:01
Speaker 1: offices UM with their sponsors looking for legal representation. And thankfully,
37:07
Speaker 1: with this partnership with Baby to Baby we've been able
37:09
Speaker 1: to provide them just essential items. So Baby to Baby
37:13
Speaker 1: UM really reached out to their networks and their partners
37:17
Speaker 1: who was pretty like wide celebrity funded um so that
37:22
Speaker 1: that's been a huge, huge contribution. Um And through that partnership,
37:26
Speaker 1: they reached out to them their networks and put created
37:29
Speaker 1: their own wish list without me even asking, they created
37:33
Speaker 1: their own wish list and literally in a day, it
37:38
Speaker 1: shut down the internet, Like there were so many people
37:41
Speaker 1: buying items. They bought every item off the wish list
37:45
Speaker 1: that the site broke down because yeah, they had so
37:48
Speaker 1: much volume that the site went down and it wasn't working,
37:53
Speaker 1: and it was amazing. It was just so overwhelming to
37:55
Speaker 1: see that community support over during a time that has
37:58
Speaker 1: just been so heartbreaking to see in our communities. UM.
38:02
Speaker 1: So they created this this wish list with just basic
38:05
Speaker 1: essential items for families, um and that just went viral
38:10
Speaker 1: and it was amazing. And then they created another wish
38:13
Speaker 1: list through Target and then that one like almost sold
38:16
Speaker 1: out as well. UM So that was going on during
38:19
Speaker 1: the summer and that was really really successful. UM As
38:23
Speaker 1: of now, like we're doing our own wish list within
38:25
Speaker 1: our own office, which I can share with you later. Um.
38:28
Speaker 1: But yeah, through those items and through that partnership, we
38:31
Speaker 1: were able to provide things like they got a bunch
38:36
Speaker 1: of donations like towels and toothbrush and toothbrushes and toothpaste
38:40
Speaker 1: and shampoo, deodorate, stuffed animals, bilingual books like so many
38:45
Speaker 1: things that are just essentials that we need to live
38:48
Speaker 1: everyday life. Um. They were able to collect those items
38:52
Speaker 1: for us, and it's just been life changing that they
38:54
Speaker 1: were able to, you know, take the time to do
38:57
Speaker 1: that since they already have so much going on and
38:59
Speaker 1: they so many partners in l A County already, Um,
39:03
Speaker 1: and they take note, took note of what we're doing
39:06
Speaker 1: in the work we're doing. It was just really really
39:07
Speaker 1: nice to see that love coming in from all over
39:11
Speaker 1: from all over the world when folks were donating. So
39:13
Speaker 1: that was beautiful. Well, congratulations, that's incredible to you and
39:17
Speaker 1: your organization. Thank you. Yeah. I mean I am continuously
39:23
Speaker 1: amazed by like our friends and just the people that
39:26
Speaker 1: we know, and like you are one of those people
39:29
Speaker 1: and need to actually trained me. Yeah. I was going
39:31
Speaker 1: to say, you know before you share, before you share
39:34
Speaker 1: that you know, Mariza has been our friend for three
39:38
Speaker 1: years not right, and she is like a person that
39:42
Speaker 1: is very low key about all the incredible ship that
39:46
Speaker 1: she's doing. That It's kind of like Mom and I
39:50
Speaker 1: were like together and we were like looking at Instagram.
39:53
Speaker 1: We were talking about our friends, and I was like, um,
39:55
Speaker 1: we need to have Monitza on the show because she
39:57
Speaker 1: fucking in our circle. It does incredible work, but it's
40:00
Speaker 1: very very humble and low key about it, and we
40:02
Speaker 1: just really wanted to give you this time to like
40:05
Speaker 1: shine and like really talk about all the amazing ship
40:08
Speaker 1: that you're doing. Thank you, so thank you again, not
40:10
Speaker 1: the interview ever, but thank you again for coming on
40:13
Speaker 1: the show, because it's so incredible to hear everything that
40:16
Speaker 1: you're doing. Yeah, No, I really appreciate that. It's it's
40:19
Speaker 1: like blown up and I've been so grateful for the
40:22
Speaker 1: love of folks all over the communities. I Mean, we
40:25
Speaker 1: see just terrible things happening in with politics these days,
40:28
Speaker 1: but it's nice to see that there are folks that
40:31
Speaker 1: support the work that we all do and all that
40:34
Speaker 1: love and what that partnership with Baby to Baby. Not
40:36
Speaker 1: only were they able to help folks here in l
40:39
Speaker 1: A County, they actually sent items to all our ten
40:43
Speaker 1: offices that kind of tasks. So they sent out I
40:47
Speaker 1: got the numbers and it was like they sent out
40:49
Speaker 1: one point five million items to twenty six cities throughout
40:53
Speaker 1: the United States. And like, I was crying when I
40:57
Speaker 1: heard those numbers when they told me that in person,
40:59
Speaker 1: and they were thanking me, like for creating these parts,
41:02
Speaker 1: for hooking them up with the other organizations that do
41:06
Speaker 1: this work. And I was just in tears to see
41:08
Speaker 1: those numbers, to see all the people that we were
41:10
Speaker 1: finding that we were able to reach. UM. So that
41:13
Speaker 1: was really really beautiful. And you know, other other partnerships
41:17
Speaker 1: that I've been able to establish with my position, UM,
41:20
Speaker 1: like working with Metro to obtain bus tokens for my
41:23
Speaker 1: clients UM, and that gives them the opportunity to get
41:27
Speaker 1: to doctor's appointments, to get to school, to come see
41:30
Speaker 1: their attorneys in our office, UM, to go to therapy
41:33
Speaker 1: on the weekly basis. Things like that are just so
41:36
Speaker 1: so so important. And that's another big aspect of the
41:39
Speaker 1: work that I do, is focusing on mental health and
41:42
Speaker 1: just UM giving the clients that I work with, all
41:46
Speaker 1: who are under the age of nineteen, just giving them
41:49
Speaker 1: the tools that they need to know how to take
41:52
Speaker 1: care of their mental health and the importance of their
41:54
Speaker 1: mental health, and constantly telling our clients how important, how
41:59
Speaker 1: mental health is just as important as physical health. Um.
42:03
Speaker 1: The population that we work with have just gone through
42:05
Speaker 1: so much trauma throughout their lives, which is the reason,
42:07
Speaker 1: you know why they're in the United States. Like, nobody
42:09
Speaker 1: wants to leave their home. Nobody wants to leave their
42:12
Speaker 1: home country, their community, their families behind. Nobody wants to
42:15
Speaker 1: do that. But unfortunately we can established we come to
42:19
Speaker 1: situations that we're forced out of our homes, out of
42:22
Speaker 1: you know, just terrible things that are going on, and
42:25
Speaker 1: that that's who the population that I'm working with, And
42:28
Speaker 1: they've just experienced so much trauma, and they've taught me
42:31
Speaker 1: so much about resiliency because just looking at a twelve
42:35
Speaker 1: year old that's escape so much violence in their communities
42:39
Speaker 1: inside and outside of the home, and I'm just like,
42:41
Speaker 1: you're twelve and you're smiling every day, and you're like
42:44
Speaker 1: getting straight a's, and you're being this amazing badass kid
42:48
Speaker 1: every day. And I'm like, and you've like left all
42:51
Speaker 1: of this behind, you left your family behind, and here
42:54
Speaker 1: you are shining like teaching me how to be a
42:56
Speaker 1: better person. And just like I'm blown away every day
43:00
Speaker 1: by working with these youth and and just the beautiful
43:02
Speaker 1: things they do. And that's you know, what I want
43:05
Speaker 1: to keep doing is keep supporting them, helping them achieve
43:09
Speaker 1: whatever they want to do in their lives and reminding
43:11
Speaker 1: them that they are capable of everything and anything that
43:14
Speaker 1: they set their minds to. Yeah, your passion definitely shows
43:17
Speaker 1: and yeah, we can definitely see this is your your
43:20
Speaker 1: on path. This is definitely what you're meant to be doing.
43:23
Speaker 1: Love it. Love it when purpose aligns with like need. Yes,
43:27
Speaker 1: like you know, like, yes, you're doing good, You're doing good,
43:32
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you do. And you had an exciting
43:36
Speaker 1: experience recently involving Yes, yeah that was the real too,
43:41
Speaker 1: because I'm used to seeing like all my friends behind
43:44
Speaker 1: the camera being interviewed, being like partnering with Adidas and
43:49
Speaker 1: Levies and doing all these badass things. Um so yeah,
43:54
Speaker 1: so I mean with my partnership with the baby. Um
43:58
Speaker 1: the mayor marre Garcetti took note us of everything that
44:00
Speaker 1: was going on, and they've been trying to support immigrant
44:04
Speaker 1: families in in the Los Angeles County as well, Um,
44:08
Speaker 1: so he saw the work that my my organization is doing,
44:12
Speaker 1: the work that we're doing helping immigrant families, and um,
44:16
Speaker 1: he wanted to talk to me and meet with me
44:18
Speaker 1: and like thank me for the work that I'm doing
44:20
Speaker 1: and the contributions um that other organization legal organizations are
44:25
Speaker 1: also doing in the community. Um And yeah, and was
44:29
Speaker 1: there and the study TV was there and they were
44:32
Speaker 1: just asking who the population that we work with is,
44:35
Speaker 1: how we're helping, how they can continue to help, how
44:38
Speaker 1: they can promote the work. And that was awesome to
44:40
Speaker 1: just to reach out to our own communities. Like the
44:44
Speaker 1: next day, you know, that same day, like I got
44:46
Speaker 1: a text from my sister and she had sent me
44:49
Speaker 1: a picture that her friend took while she was at
44:51
Speaker 1: home watching TV. And she's like, Hey, your sisters on TV.
44:55
Speaker 1: Picture And it was so so sweet. The reach, the
44:59
Speaker 1: reach impact, that's amazing. So all this amazing work that's
45:05
Speaker 1: so far And what's next? What's next for you? Meriita?
45:09
Speaker 1: Um lord, so I am in the process of applying
45:12
Speaker 1: to grad school right now. That the whole process it's
45:16
Speaker 1: just been work on its own second job. We have
45:20
Speaker 1: put it off for that same reason. We've been talking
45:23
Speaker 1: about it though we've been discussing. We discuss it, it comes,
45:27
Speaker 1: it comes into conversation every few months. But so what
45:31
Speaker 1: is that process like or like? Because are we noticed
45:34
Speaker 1: that our listeners will ask us those questions and we
45:37
Speaker 1: kids do not have the answer because we've been avoiding it,
45:39
Speaker 1: like the play. So like for folks that are applying
45:42
Speaker 1: or in the process or thinking about it, like, what
45:44
Speaker 1: are some from your experience thus far, Like what are
45:47
Speaker 1: some tips that you can give them? Honestly, start as
45:51
Speaker 1: early as possible. Like in my head, I had given
45:54
Speaker 1: myself the deadline up. Okay, by Thanksgiving, you're going to
45:57
Speaker 1: have all your applications done, because last year I was
46:00
Speaker 1: in the process of doing this, of of applying to schools.
46:03
Speaker 1: I had started some of my applications last winter, and
46:07
Speaker 1: then life happened, just things out of our control happened.
46:11
Speaker 1: I wasn't able to go through with it, and and
46:14
Speaker 1: that's okay, Like it gave me that room to grow
46:16
Speaker 1: and to really explore more schools and more programs. Um
46:20
Speaker 1: So I would just say, start as early as possible,
46:22
Speaker 1: just like researching schools, feeling out the programs, like going
46:26
Speaker 1: to their information sessions, getting to know the faculty is huge.
46:30
Speaker 1: I've learned that over the last couple of months is
46:32
Speaker 1: just knowing the faculty, knowing who is working these departments,
46:36
Speaker 1: and knowing what their research looks like, how you want
46:39
Speaker 1: to contribute to that to that research as well, and
46:43
Speaker 1: for them to see know your face and know your
46:45
Speaker 1: name so that when they get that application on their desk,
46:47
Speaker 1: they're like, oh, I know who this girl is like
46:50
Speaker 1: in yeah, So that that's been really really important, And
46:54
Speaker 1: I were like, can we apply to grad school with
47:00
Speaker 1: We're like, we're a unit. And also like they don't
47:04
Speaker 1: use to know our government names parts under the past,
47:10
Speaker 1: that's those are That's that's good advice. But it's a
47:15
Speaker 1: really intimidating process. It really is. I think just looking
47:18
Speaker 1: at these big name institutions and Ivy League schools that
47:22
Speaker 1: were never created for us and we're never created for
47:24
Speaker 1: people of color and just trying to get into these
47:27
Speaker 1: systems and trying to get into these schools um and
47:32
Speaker 1: my in my head, I'm just like I'm going to
47:34
Speaker 1: get into these schools and my goal is to just
47:37
Speaker 1: function up. My goal is to show them why you
47:41
Speaker 1: need me in your school, because this is what I'm
47:44
Speaker 1: going to bring to the table um, but that process
47:47
Speaker 1: is intimidating. It's intimidating process to get there. For me
47:50
Speaker 1: to even four or five years ago, I would have
47:54
Speaker 1: never even thought of the idea of getting a master's
47:57
Speaker 1: was something that was an option for me. Call it.
48:00
Speaker 1: It was never something that like we talked about really
48:03
Speaker 1: in my household. Um, so I think like, yes, my
48:08
Speaker 1: parents were were being on education, but college was never
48:11
Speaker 1: like you have to go to college, you have to
48:12
Speaker 1: do this. It was never something that was really pushed
48:14
Speaker 1: on us. So to me, like I saw my friends
48:17
Speaker 1: go to college and saw my friends get their masters
48:19
Speaker 1: I'm seeing my friends get their pH d s. And
48:22
Speaker 1: now I'm just like I can do this. I saw
48:25
Speaker 1: this too, like this is my resume of all the
48:27
Speaker 1: badass ship I'm doing. So I'm like I got this.
48:31
Speaker 1: So it's been a lot of PEP talks on my own.
48:34
Speaker 1: Three days ago, I had was like crying in the
48:35
Speaker 1: bathroom because like the whole process is so intimidating of
48:39
Speaker 1: just getting it all together and selling yourself honestly to
48:42
Speaker 1: these institutions of like this is why you should you
48:46
Speaker 1: should bring me on board. Um, it's it's a really
48:49
Speaker 1: really intimidating process. So just having folks that have possibly
48:54
Speaker 1: already done the process has been huge. Um. I've had
48:57
Speaker 1: so many people share with me their personal statements when
49:00
Speaker 1: they applied to grad school. So I've been reading and
49:02
Speaker 1: going through those like crazy and getting ideas and just
49:06
Speaker 1: the way people were things that I'm just like, wait
49:08
Speaker 1: a second, I do that, but just different so differently
49:13
Speaker 1: that that it changes the whole game. That's amazing. Thank
49:18
Speaker 1: you for that advice. I'm going to follow that advice
49:22
Speaker 1: myself because I've been I like went through this process
49:27
Speaker 1: of like I've done the g R the g R E,
49:30
Speaker 1: and so I sat for it and and I took it.
49:32
Speaker 1: I got my scores, I requested my transcripts. I like
49:37
Speaker 1: did all these applications, and I did everything except the
49:39
Speaker 1: personal statement. That's yeah, no, that's always where I stopped too.
49:44
Speaker 1: It's the personal statement that's the most intimidating to me.
49:47
Speaker 1: And that's why I like, when I was in high school,
49:49
Speaker 1: I didn't apply to u c S because you had
49:52
Speaker 1: to a personal statement. And I was so intimidating by
49:55
Speaker 1: my writing, intimidated by my writing, that I didn't think
49:58
Speaker 1: I was good enough. I spent so many years thinking
50:01
Speaker 1: that I wasn't good enough, for smart enough for grad school.
50:05
Speaker 1: These programs up definitely, and now I'm just like, um No,
50:10
Speaker 1: I can get into Gail, I can get into Columbia,
50:13
Speaker 1: I can get into you. I can do all these
50:15
Speaker 1: things because they need us in these It's true. Yes,
50:18
Speaker 1: they did this representation as an immigrant woman, like they
50:22
Speaker 1: need my voice. Yes, yeah, yes, sir, yes girl, we
50:27
Speaker 1: support you one, any type of support we can offer you,
50:31
Speaker 1: taking you coffee, getting coffee, getting a little tell something right,
50:42
Speaker 1: an old fashioned anything, anything you need, anything about any beverage. Hey,
50:54
Speaker 1: I wan Monita. Thank you so much for being here
50:57
Speaker 1: with us today. I'm looking at that our radio. We
50:59
Speaker 1: love you. We are pretty. She hate you. Come back soon, yes,
51:02
Speaker 1: come back anytime. Our space is your space. Definitely, thank you.
51:07
Speaker 1: I love this. Thank you for inviting me. We need
51:09
Speaker 1: to hang out more. Yes, other than birthdays. Who has
51:13
Speaker 1: the next birthday? You know? Mama January? Mala's in January, Capricorn.
51:19
Speaker 1: We need our Christmas party? Yes, okay, so we'll wait
51:24
Speaker 1: on the invite from you, Medita. Yes, akay, perfect hosting
51:29
Speaker 1: because we're not doing fucking pajamas. This year. I did
51:33
Speaker 1: not wear pajama. The pajama party for Christmas last year
51:37
Speaker 1: was Mala's idea. And she's the only show in pajamas.
51:41
Speaker 1: And we're like, we're literally all wearing pajamas. For you,
51:45
Speaker 1: a flaid scar shut up and a sweater dress. It's
51:48
Speaker 1: pajama s with like all thigh split. And she would
51:54
Speaker 1: just work into Cardi bun and I took a nap. Yes,
51:59
Speaker 1: he did, sad you. Firstly, I was so tired. I
52:04
Speaker 1: was stressed buying God's present and I couldn't even make anything,
52:08
Speaker 1: and I was driving all over. She look up for
52:10
Speaker 1: gifts and then fell back because you know, I think
52:12
Speaker 1: I think instead of gifts, because the gifts is kind
52:15
Speaker 1: of stressful. Who has the time. I think we should
52:17
Speaker 1: write meaningful letters to each other, words of affirmation instead
52:22
Speaker 1: of buying something. We just write something. I like a
52:25
Speaker 1: g I need you don't have to wrap it anyways.
52:32
Speaker 1: Money I'm dying, Okay, I can pay for one of
52:37
Speaker 1: my applications. We can negociate, we can negotiate something. We'll
52:41
Speaker 1: figure something. Yes, we'll figure it out like to bargaining. Yes,
52:46
Speaker 1: somebody somewhere else can work. Where can people find you,
52:49
Speaker 1: where can people support the work? Well, you don't have
52:51
Speaker 1: to share if you're not comfortable sharing, but where can
52:53
Speaker 1: people continue to support the work that you do? UM,
52:56
Speaker 1: we do have an Amazon wish list. I can share
52:59
Speaker 1: that with you if you want to. Yeah, we can
53:00
Speaker 1: link it, UM And yeah, through that Amazon wish list,
53:03
Speaker 1: we just have items up that are needed for our clients. UM.
53:08
Speaker 1: Sometimes I get emails from folks or costs from folks
53:10
Speaker 1: in the community asking how can I contribute? Like, I
53:12
Speaker 1: don't speak Spanish, I don't have money right right, and
53:16
Speaker 1: it's totally understandable. But the thing that I always ask is, UM,
53:20
Speaker 1: reach out to folks in your schools or churches or
53:22
Speaker 1: communities and just host donation drives. School supplies and toiletry
53:27
Speaker 1: drives are huge. They're a huge, huge help for me
53:30
Speaker 1: and for for the for our clients. UM. So just
53:33
Speaker 1: raising things like deodorants and toothbrushes and toothpaste, or school
53:37
Speaker 1: supplies like pencils and notebooks and backpacks, things like that
53:41
Speaker 1: are huge and they really really go a long way,
53:43
Speaker 1: and their clients are always always grateful. So those are
53:45
Speaker 1: things that we need year around, UM. So we always
53:48
Speaker 1: appreciate that. UM. Are reach out to me if you
53:51
Speaker 1: know folks who are interested in interpreting. We're always looking
53:54
Speaker 1: for interpreters for our cases. UM, when we work with
53:57
Speaker 1: problem the attorneys, UM, some of the times they don't
54:00
Speaker 1: speak Spanish, so we're always looking for interpreters. My mom's
54:03
Speaker 1: an interpreter. Oh, that's awesome. It's a mental note. Also,
54:07
Speaker 1: we're always looking also for interpreters that speak indigenous languages
54:12
Speaker 1: from Central America or from so many folks that know
54:17
Speaker 1: indigenous languages that can translate for our clients because a
54:21
Speaker 1: lot of times we do have clients that are from
54:22
Speaker 1: indigenous communities that Spanish isn't their first language, so interpreters
54:28
Speaker 1: in that in that area too are huge. Wonderfu amazing, wonderful.
54:32
Speaker 1: Thank you for all my said. Thank you once again
54:34
Speaker 1: for joining us and for our listeners. As always. You
54:37
Speaker 1: know you can find us on Apple Podcasts or on
54:40
Speaker 1: Spotify or on an audio boom SoundCloud. Still still still right. Also,
54:47
Speaker 1: feel free to leave us the review if you feel
54:49
Speaker 1: so inclined moved to do so. We love reading them.
54:53
Speaker 1: Save the date for November sixteen, Friday. It's going to
54:57
Speaker 1: be amazing, It's going to be it's gonna be a
54:59
Speaker 1: good time, bigger than the last one. It's going to
55:02
Speaker 1: be real cute. You're gonna be real cute or cutem.
55:06
Speaker 1: We're on Instagram, we're on Twitter, we're on Facebook, everything everything.
55:11
Speaker 1: Follow us comments like thank you for tuning in to
55:14
Speaker 1: another capital of local radio. We will catch you next time.
55:17
Speaker 1: Besitos