Blogger | Vamos a Leer

Queridos lectores,
I am very excited to tell you that I will be reviewing children’s books for ¡Vamos a Leer! My name is Carolina Bucheli and I am currently in my second semester of my MA in Latin American Studies. I am a Teaching Assistant for the Spanish and Portuguese department and a Graduate Assistant for the Latin American and Iberian Institute, where I will be assisting with this blog. Last semester I was the communications coordinator for the Student Organization for Latin American Studies, where among other responsibilities I oversaw the redesign of their website.

I am originally from Quito, Ecuador, and I came to the US in 2015 for my undergraduate program. I graduated in 2018 with a BA in English Studies and Spanish, and a minor in Communication and Journalism from the University of New Mexico (UNM). During this time I took several literature, creative writing, film, and multimedia classes that enriched my academic and creative work.

Books and writing have always played an important role in my life. In college I was able to explore the creative side of my work even further and I was able to work on a project called Voids of Ink, which combined my poetry and my multimedia skills. I presented my videos and my written poetry and photography in events promoted by the Spanish and Portuguese department, which were attended by UNM students and faculty. I have also published a poem and a couple of photographs, the latest one being an image of a laser from a lab in the Physics and Astronomy department which was selected as image of the week by the international magazine Optics and Photonics News (OPN).

I hope you enjoy my blog entries and I look forward to working in this wonderful literary world of ¡Vamos a Leer!

Nos vemos pronto,

Carolina

¡Hola a todos! ¿Cómo estamos? First of all, I should humbly ask for everybody´s acceptance in this amazing ¡Vamos a leer! project, and should too thank you all in advance. My name is Santi Carrasco García and I am originally from Madrid, Spain. I always liked to tell stories, or take an active part of them, so I am looking forward to joining this story-driven blog. While growing up, my family got used to see my craving for different paths—first for becoming a veterinarian (which was my initial career path, given my love for dogs), and then a teacher (preferably of Spanish literature), and then a pilot, a flight attendant (to travel the world), a writer, a photo journalist, and a long list thereafter.

Finally, in college, I was so confused that I decided to focus on Journalism. It seemed like the most natural choice, for I have always love writing and reading, and especially doing so the other way around: reading (plus watching tons of movies), and then writing. After getting my BA in Journalism at the Complutense University of Madrid, I got fully immersed in theatre and languages, which were my ever-lasting, not-to-date-accomplished wishes. I did miss, though, the academic environment, so I went back to school at the Autonoma University of Madrid to get my MA in Spanish Teaching as a Second Language. This, more than anything, was supposed to lead me abroad to distant cultures, and finally opening myself up to the WORLD (yes, in capital letters).

Indeed, it provided me the opportunity to work at Instituto Cervantes here in Albuquerque, NM where I got to practice my communication skills, and ultimately led me to pursuing a second MA in Latin American Studies at the University of New Mexico. I cannot recall how many times I have believed in the what a wonderful world motto, as beautifully sung by Louis Armstrong. I believe all the decisions taken by us, no matter how little sense they may make in a precise moment, do find their way to finally piece together and organically follow the stream of those lyrics.

Because I love communicating and telling stories, observing and exchanging in relating to other people, writing and reading, traveling, and lastly but foremost watching movies, I am in Albuquerque, NM and surely the life trip will further in unimaginable, surprising, and potentially exhilarating roads; just as literature does.