Sanchez 1

Carla Sanchez
Prof. Zelaya
CAS114B
10 May 2014
Home is Where the Food Is
Its not difficult to go out today and find local super markets or restaurants which provide
a sense of being home to people from all around the world. These places are always in many
ways connected to a specific location, and are always very in touch with the specific location that
they are connected to. Earlier on in the semester, when assigned to merge ourselves into three
different spaces, and take in the Central American experience, I was initially very excited to be
able to participate and invest a lot of my time on familiarizing myself with three different
locations. It was a very interesting experience, learning how Central American people are able
to feel so at home in particular locations, due to the fact that they can come to them, and feel as if
they are back in their homelands. I found that to be the most interesting thing about my
experience in each location. For the people who have the proper documentation to travel back
and forth to their home countries and back to the United States, they enjoy bringing a little piece
of home back with them, but for those who cannot travel back, they find comfort within Central
American oriented places, because it gives them a sense of belonging, and a sense of being
home.
The first location that my group and I visited, was the Guatemalteca Bakery &
Restaurant, located on Van Nuys Blvd, Van Nuys California. One of the first things that we
noticed while being there, was that you can see the pastry display from the street. It is very
organized, and quite tasteful looking as well. We were very concerned about grasping the entire
experience of the place, and one of the things that we noticed while being there, was that all of
Sanchez 2

the pastries were $1.75 each. Also, the restaurant is divided into two, one area being a bakery
and the other half, a busy restaurant. One of the most interesting facts about the
bakery/restaurant that we discovered, was that most of the food is homemade, and authentic,
which we found to be very incredible. We also appreciated the fact that there was a lot of
parking available for customers.
The second location that my group and I visited, was a Guatemalan home that was very
culture oriented. It contained a lot of pictures, paintings, etc. The girls home that we visited was
named April, and she was nice enough to also tell our group about many of her family traditions,
as well as give us some of the foods that her family eats, such as recipes passed down from
generation to generation. She opened up her home to us and allowed us to see all of the culture
that is kept alive within her home. She also informed us that it has become a family tradition to
travel back to Guatemala at least once every year in order to keep their customs and culture alive
back home. It was amazing to see how much time and effort had been put into every piece of
detail that was within her home.
The third and last location that I visited, was the food store Mi Pueblo. The reason why
we chose this place, is because my stepdad is corporate manager for the company and he is from
San Salvador, El Salvador. One of the changes that he has incorporated all throughout the
twenty-two stores throughout Northern California, the bay area, central coast, and central valley,
is that a lot of the Salvadoran culture is now seen throughout the many stores. Creative things,
such as selling pupusas on a daily basis, as well as many Salvadorian merchandise within the
store, brings in a lot of Central American customers, which allows the company to continue to
grow and expand. An interesting detail about the store in Seaside specifically, is that all of the
Sanchez 3

chefs that work the deli, are Salvadoran, therefore cook many Salvadoran meals for the deli
department in the store.
There are a number of ways in which one can define space, just as there is more than one
way in which it is interpreted. The analysis above takes into consideration the race, social
economic class, and geographic themes in relation to Central America, its culture, and its people.
Project Space was the ethnographic experience that my group and I had while visiting three
different locations, which are in one way or another, also connected to Central America. It was a
very interesting experience, learning how Central American people can visit one of these places
and feel a sense of belonging there. Aaron Terrasaz goes into this online, when discussing a lot
of the challenges that Central Americans face, thus potential reasons behind why they feel the
need to find comfort in places such as the Guatemalteca Bakery / Restaurant, in order to feel a
sense of belonging again.
In another source, Jeroen Laven goes into exceptional detail about many different reasons
behind why people feel at home in these places in the first place. He states that home is where
you are familiar with, and being at a restaurant that initially reminds you of your home country,
has a lot to do with why you feel comfortable there in the first place. Adding to this, in a blog by
Chelsea Fagin, she states that the reason why people emerge themselves into restaurants and
continue to return to them, is because of the need to share and communicate their own
experiences with people who might be experiencing the same thing as they are. She states that
strangely enough, sharing experiences, is enough to link two people together and build the
foundations of a friendship. These two sources further explain why Central Americans may
only feel comfortable shopping at a specific super market, or eating out at one specific restaurant
each time.
Sanchez 4

In an overview study of Cuban, Haitian, and Guatemalan immigrants to Florida,
regarding ethnicity and belonging, Julia Chaitin, J.P Linstroth, and Patrick T. Hiller provide an
overview of a study which they conducted, that explored the personal meanings of home. What
they discovered was that the themes that were present in the analyses of members of the
Guatemalan sample included the violent political situation, family, and religion/spirituality. All
of these discoveries simply add on to what Chelsea Fagin stated in her blog, which was that
through sharing experiences, people come together to form connections in order to share their
situations, with those who can familiarize it with them in order to no longer feel alone. That is
what these restaurants and supermarkets do to people, which is also why they feel a sense of
belonging when they are there, and why the feel home, thus continue to go back time and time
again. All in all, space makes its way through our everyday lives, and whether we interpret it as
physical space, a location, etc. it is an experience that we should all take the time to enjoy, and
potentially, share with each other. Everyone deserves the chance to feel at home, and sharing
experiences with others in same situations as you, is a good way to connect with people who
might be having a hard time trying to fit in or feel accepted in a foreign country that they dont
consider their actual home.

Sanchez 5

Works Cited
"Central American Immigrants in the United States." migrationpolicy.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 10
May 2014. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/central-american-immigrants-
united-states-0>.
Chaitin, Julia. "Ethnicity and Belonging: An Overview of a Study of Cuban, Haitian and
Guatemalan Immigrants to Florida | Chaitin | Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung /
Forum: Qualitative Social Research." Ethnicity and Belonging: An Overview of a Study
of Cuban, Haitian and Guatemalan Immigrants to Florida | Chaitin | Forum Qualitative
Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.
<http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1363/2856>.
Fagan, Chelsea. "What Happens When You Live Abroad." Thought Catalog. N.p., n.d. Web. 10
May 2014. <http://thoughtcatalog.com/chelsea-fagan/2012/05/what-happens-when-you-
live-abroad/>.
Lavin, Jeroen. "Home is not where you were born, but where you eat and live." Stipo. Team for
urban strategy and city development.. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014.
<http://www.stipo.info/Artikel/An_evening_about_homeliness_in_the_Afrikaanderwijk
_in_Rotterdam>.
"News - Central American Migrant Workers." News - Central American Migrant Workers. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. <http://immigration.terra.com/articles/a1.html>.