Latinflare Presents: Ask a Latinx

I'm Rafael Carabaño, your host. I'm a CSM based in New York and I'm originally from Caracas, Venezuela. ASKA Latinx is the second of four Latinx Heritage Month events sponsored by Cloudflare's Latinx Employee Resource Group. I want to welcome and thank you all of you for joining us as we learn more about what it means to be a Latinx around the world. Today's panel is broad and diverse, just like our culture. You may hear things today that might surprise you and we hope this is the case. I hope that you will be surprised as I'm expecting to be. To make sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to speak and have their voice heard, I will serve as moderator. We're going to be recording today's sessions, so if you don't feel comfortable, please turn your camera off. Hari, you can start recording now, please. During today's event, I'll be asking the panel questions that each panelist has committed to answer honestly. More importantly, we hope it will show how although we are one culture, there is a lot of diversity within the Latino community in the U.S. and around the world. It really depends on the country that we were born, raised, etc. Panel, welcome to our talk. Let's start off by having you share your name, your job title, what office you work in, and your nationality. Let's start with you, Christina. Hi, my name is Christina. I am on the corporate team and I am from Chile. What about you, Neil? You're on mute. Good morning, everyone. My name is Neil Sanchez from the customer success team in San Francisco, now from Dominican Republic. Thank you, Neil. Gabby. Hey, everyone. I'm Gabby, also from the customer success team in San Francisco, and I'm from Mexico. Guido. Hey, my name is Guido Jimenez. I'm with the network engineering team based in London, and I am from Costa Rica. Estefania. Hi, I'm Estefania. I am based in the London office. I am an AE and I am a hybrid. I'm Mexican-Italian. Awesome. Thank you, guys. Are you ready for some questions? Do it. All right. Let's go with the first one. Share with us where you were born and where you were raised. Let's start with you, Christina. So I was born in Santiago, Chile, and I grew up there my entire life until I came to the US. What about you, Neil? I'm sorry, Christina. What about you, Neil? I was born in New York City, raised between Dominican Republic and New York City. What about you, Gabby? I was born in Los Angeles, also known as the Valley, and I was raised in a pretty progressive family, I would say. What about you, Guido? Yes, I was born in San Jose, Costa Rica. My family, when I was six months old, we moved to Brazil. So I actually spoke Portuguese before I spoke Spanish, but by now I've forgotten most of it. And yeah, then we went back to San Jose, where I lived until like seven years ago when I came to this side of the pond. I guess my family was a fairly, what do you expect from Latin American family, like fairly Catholic. However, it was a funky mix of progressive and conservative. I don't know. It's hard to explain. And last but not least, Estefania. So I lived 27 years in Mexico City. Yes, I made it out alive. And I lived a bit in Italy too, and now I live in London. Although I did spend a lot of my summers in the US to learn to speak English. Yeah. All right. Awesome. So let's jump into a good one here. Can you guys dance to salsa? How good are you from one to 10, 10 being a super salsero? I would give my rate around an A or an I. I mean, I wouldn't say that I'm a 10. What about you, Guido? I don't think anything better than a six, I would say. I play guitar, so I have a decent ability to keep time. But I don't know the steps, right? If you ask me how to dance salsa, I have no idea. Just listen to the music and go with it. So a six, I'd say. All right. What about you, Gabby? Yeah. While I have rhythm, I would not say that I'm blessed in this area. So definitely a two or a three. But if I have a good lead, maybe a five. All right. What about you, Estefania? I have to be modest here, so I'm going to say 11. Yeah. I really like it. And I learned to dance salsa in the UK, funnily enough. Oh, wow. That's really awesome. What about you, Neil? Well, I'm a Latin percussionist, and I used to play in salsa for about 10 years for salsa and reggae band. But I would rate myself an eight, only because I prefer to dance reggae and bachata, but pretty decent. Awesome. What about you, Christina? So I'm a dancer. I actually danced ever since I was really young, but I don't know how to dance salsa at all. So I've never danced it, so I would say a one. Awesome. So I think we should all organize an online class for everybody else here. That would be fun. So let's move into, I mean, within this music type of questions, what is your favorite type of music and which bands do you listen or you like? Let's start this time with you, Neil. Oh, boy. Being a musician, there's so many variety of music that I listen to, so many genres. But I was raised in the musical family. All my siblings, my older siblings, I'm the youngest of five, were all musicians. But I listened to mostly merengue, bachata, salsa. I love salsa as well. I'd rather listen to it than dance it, just because the rhythm is a little different for me. But yeah, as far as names of bands, we all know Marc Anthony, Lupo Nietzsche. In terms of salsa, I just love any kind of Latin genre. So reggaeton is a lot of artists that I love there as well, merengue, bachata as well. What about you, Guido? So I would say mostly it's some type of music, some type of genre around rock. I started listening to Metallica and Megadeth and Iron Maiden when I was like 10 years old because of my older brother. You can imagine my very devout Catholic mother was not too thrilled about my newfound love for music. I don't know, people who may not be old enough to remember, like the mid-90s were like the peak of the global mass hysteria around subliminal messages. And you can play the song backwards, it'll tell you to go burn down a church or something. So yeah, she wasn't too happy. She came to accept it eventually. But yeah, I mostly like some different types of rock now. Radiohead and Pink Floyd are kind of a couple of my all -time favorite bands, but then I'll randomly diverge into Latin music. When I used to social club, like the guys who were in the band that Hedy was playing at the beginning was one of my best friends from university. So yeah, it's kind of like a big mix. I play guitar, as I said, so I'm very heavily leaning towards guitar -based music. So that's kind of my deal. That's great, Guido. What about you, Gabi? I definitely listen to different kind of music depending on my mood, but I would say I lean more towards alternative slash rock, with my favorite bands being Kings of Leon and The Strokes, which actually, fun fact, was my first concert that my mom bought me a ticket to. So it looks like we have diverging experiences there, Guido. That's awesome. What about you, Cristina? I think that my favorite type of music to listen to is Korean pop, and one of my favorite bands right now is Blackpink, and like used to be 2NE1, but they got disbanded, so sad. And what about you, Estefania? I would say I lean more towards rock, so this is a weird one, like Guns N' Roses and, you know, The Rolling Stones. However, I do appreciate salsa and all of this Latin music that is part of our culture. Yeah. Yeah. So let's move on. I mean, a lot of people describe Latino food as spicy. Do you like spicy food? And what's your favorite dish? I know that I don't like spicy food, so this is one of those stereotypes that we all Latinos eat spicy food. So let's start with you, Estefania. Oh, yeah. I am the stereotype. I love spicy food. The spicier, the better. And, you know, tacos al pastor is by far, yeah, my favorite dish. What about you, Cristina? I love spicy food, but I never really associated the spicy food with Latino food because Chilean food is not very spicy. I always thought it was like the Korean side because of my parents. And my favorite dish is ceviche. Oh, yeah. What about you, Anil? Dominican food is not spicy, very flavorful. So I was not brought up, you know, eating spicy food. However, I've learned to enjoy it here in California since I moved out here many years ago. But I don't eat it in public because it's more of an appearance thing. I just start to sweat immediately, profusely. So I do every once in a while. I'll buy a nice burrito or something. I need it at home just so I can be in my privacy and talk myself down. Yeah. And I can relate to that. I mean, especially food in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, you know, they have this heavy Caribbean influence that we don't tend to eat that spicy. So I can relate to that. What about you, Gabby? Yeah, I'm definitely a fan of spicy food. I even had a Hot Ones birthday party, virtually, of course, and Conquer De Bomb, which is by far the spiciest hot sauce that I've ever had. Those rivers are not downplayed. But as far as favorite foods, it's actually not spicy at all. It would definitely be sushi slash sashimi. Guido? Yeah, I would say my answer is very similar to Neal's. Costa Rican food isn't spicy either. It's like hearty. It fills you up, but it's not particularly spicy. But I do love spicy food. And yeah, usually I'll resort to Mexican or Thai for my spicy requirements. That's great, guys. So let's move on. For a lot of non-Latinos, Cinco de Mayo is a big celebration. Do you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? And if you do, how? Let's start with you, Gabby. I've never celebrated Cinco de Mayo with my family. But when I turned 21, I definitely celebrated with my friends. But probably only a handful of people actually knew the significance of Cinco de Mayo and what we were celebrating, which was really just a battle at the end of the day. Yeah, that's a very good point. And what about you, Christina? It was not something that I really heard of until I came to the U.S. I never celebrated. What about you, Guido? Same. I think I found out that Cinco de Mayo was a thing when I was, I don't know, 25 or something. I had no idea. Estefania? So as a Mexican, we don't celebrate it. Well, we celebrate it, but not like in the U.S. because it's one of the few battles we actually won against any army in the world because we're really, really bad. So we won the battle against the French. And this is to commemorate that battle. We lost the war eventually. But it's also it's not something that we celebrate a lot. And it gets very confused with our independence in other countries, which is definitely not. Yeah, I mean, I'm not into the Cinco de Mayo celebration either. So this is very interesting that many non-Latinos associate that as, you know, belongs to us. So talking and continue talking about stereotypes. What are your thoughts on the topic of stereotypes? What other ones have you heard of or experienced yourself? Let's start with you, Guido, this time. Yeah. So I think, you know, stereotypes, I think every single person in the world holds stereotypes against somebody else. I think it's kind of inevitable. There's just so many ways, so many people in the world, so many ways in which you can group them. And it's not just in this case, like by culture, but, you know, gender, political opinion, heights, whatever. Like there's always some way in which you can separate and make groups of people. So inevitably, our brains, I think, resort to some shortcuts to make sense of all the information. So now I think the problem is when you don't question them or you don't let anybody question those stereotypes. And it's even worse when, like, you know, the person who's doing the stereotyping is in the power dynamics is in some type of privilege over the group being stereotyped, right? That's when it really becomes an issue. But that being said, I think there are a lot of like very well -known, kind of like just old and tired stereotypes about Latin American people, you know, lazy, uneducated, crass, like, you know, that type of thing. I think I've heard them all up by now. I don't think they particularly bother me, although I'm aware that there are people in the world that are directly affected by it. I know it's like people that are, you know, they miss opportunities because somebody holds these stereotypes against them, which I think is a huge issue. I just don't know what to do about it, really. So, yeah, I kind of like just one of those things where you try to do your best to not live up to, you know, not particularly because you want to convince anybody that they're wrong. It's just like, you know, you're aware of them. It's kind of like my thing. There are some good stereotypes, I would say, or some stereotypes that don't bother me particularly, like, you know, that we're lively people, that we have like a positive outlook of life, particularly in Costa Rica. And that's that people associate with Costa Ricans a lot. Like, you know, we have a saying like Pura Vida, which is like so generic, you can use it for anything that's positive. So, yeah, I don't think that's much of an issue. The one thing I would say sometimes I do have to like breathe deep and just, you know, forget about it is when people amalgamate all of Latin America into like one image of like, and it's usually kind of like little versions of Mexico, like further south, you go, you dial down the mariachi and turn up salsa, but it's kind of like, yeah, it's all the same. So, you know, kind of like in movies, right? You know, there's a character that's supposed to be from Peru, but, you know, he sounds Mexican and they dress him up like typical Cuban clothes, that type of thing. I kind of like picture if you made a movie, you know, set in Brazil, and there's a character that's supposed to be from the United States, but he comes in dressed in a little bit of wholesome, and his name is Jean Pierre, and he sounds like he's from Manchester, right? That's the type of thing that happens sometimes in the movies, and you think, like, you know, that you have millions of dollars in budget, you can probably get somebody from the country that that person is supposed to be from. So those things I say, okay, I mean, I probably hold the same types of stereotypes about other parts of the world. Difference being, I try to acknowledge that and I try to be open when something I don't expect is presented to me as, like, okay, so I was wrong. I'll try to learn from it. Yeah, that's a very good point. I mean, I remember, you know, being a Latinx in the U.S. and having an accent. Somebody asked me, oh, where in Mexico are you from? And I said, no, I'm from Venezuela. Oh, we're in Minnesota. So, I mean, the conversation went wrong in so many ways. I'm not from Minnesota. I'm not from Mexico. And then this person asked me, he's like, oh, does your father own a farm? And I'm like, no, I've never stepped foot in a farm. So, you know, sometimes people have these preconceived ideas and stereotypes about Latinos. I mean, as you mentioned, you know, we have heard it all. So what about you, Estefania? I mean, have you experienced that? Yes, I need to echo exactly what you just said, because they all think we're all Mexican, and we're not, right? And I guess the stereotypes is something that we all do, because it's something we have been taught. And it's not particularly a bad thing. However, in my experience, what I really feel uncomfortable with is the narco culture. So the glorification of drug dealers and drug lords and cartels. So anytime I meet someone, and I say I'm from Mexico, they're like, oh, yes, narcos and El Chapo and drugs, and do you have cocaine? So I understand where this is coming from. But it's a little bit insensitive, considering all the people that have died in my country and all the problems that this has caused. And the fact that the only thing that is known from us worldwide, it just incentivizes people to get into that particular line of work, if you want to call it something. So that would be my take on the bad stereotypes. However, I have to echo what Guido said, the good ones, obviously, lively, and, you know, we're very warm, which I think we are. But yeah, I think it's a difficult one. Thanks. Thanks, Estefania. What about you, Christina? I think that the general stereotypes that I've heard, like ever since I left Chile, like it's very similar to what Guido and Estefania said. But I think that because I don't look like Latin American, or like, obviously, like I'm from my parents are Korean, like the stereotypes kind of interact with me differently, I think. More people have stereotypes about what the country is like, and what the living style like, or what the level of like development in the countries are, like how dangerous it is. And they have these ideas that like, all of Latin America is dangerous or something like that, when it's like, just like any other country, there's parts that are, you know, like the there's like cities, like Santiago, Mexico City, like we have like tall buildings, just like other countries, you know. But they think that it's like, for some reason, just kind of like a middle of nowhere place. Sometimes I've generally I have had people ask me like, Oh, is it safe there? Like, do you have to be armed? I remember once in college, like, somebody asked me, like, Oh, like, do you guys have Wi Fi? And I was just like, I don't understand how you can think that we don't have Wi Fi. Like, how do you think I like applied to college, you know? So it's just like all of those things that kind of make me take a step back and be like, what I don't know what the picture of Latin America really is. And that's kind of like the things that I find myself trying to like debunk almost. Yeah, and that's a very good point. What about you, Neil? You know, stereotypes, whether they be negative or positive, or just part of a culture and part of society, right? It's just, I think it just depends on how you want to live your life and how you whether you represent with the negative or the positive side of those stereotypes. For instance, you know, sometimes you hear people say, Oh, Dominicans, or the very romantic and blah, blah, blah. But then you start the same talking here. Oh, they're womanizers. I'm like, Okay, where do I fall somewhere in between here? I hope I don't represent, I feel I don't represent with the negative stereotypes of, I don't know, for maybe the way I was brought up. But I do like the positive ones that are crazy, but identify us as though as Dominicans, we're loud, we love good music, every party we go to, whether that be, I don't know, a party after a baptism or a wedding or whatever, there's music everywhere, you can go to someone's house at two in the afternoon, and they have music playing just because that's part of our culture. But it's very, very much part of society. And, you know, I think it just depends on the individual person to either be on the positive side of that or the negative side of that. What about you, Gabby? Yeah, I mean, growing up, I've heard it all from that we're lazy, or we're drunkards. But to be frank, that's not the reality I saw in my family or my friends. So I've just kind of let those comments slide off my back and choose to not give them any power. But I do like the positive associations that, you know, we've chatted about today where it's like, that we're lively or that we really know how to bring the party. For example, my niece is three and she already knows how to say party down. So I think that there's something positive that we can bring and sort of change the narrative. Yeah, yeah, that's a great point. I mean, having four Latinos in a room, we'll overtake it, we won't let anyone else speak. So I agree with all of you guys. I mean, there are many bad stereotypes that we can choose, you know, to embrace them or not. But as Neil said, you know, it's better we take the good ones and be proud of that. You know, we're happy people. And at the end, that's what makes us who we are, right? So let's move on, guys. What does the word America means to each one of you? And let's start with you, Gabby, this time. Yeah, it would mean the United States of America. What about you, Guido? Um, it's morphed a little bit. I'd say by now, since I moved to Europe, like Europe holds the same concept of America means the US. So by now, I'm like, especially when I speak English, I'm kind of used to understanding it like that. In Latin America, I think mostly we're talking of America as a single continent. So America means, you know, Canada to get out of way or like all that in between. So, you know, it's something you may find like, maybe my colleagues would say the same thing. Initially, like that kind of bothers us when people will say America is the US like, Oh, no, it's all of us. But right now I get it. Like, that's the name of the country that a bunch of people, you know, made, you know, they put that name, what was like 200, 300 years ago, I don't know. So like, what else would you call it? However, the difference is I, when I speak, I don't really say, like, even if I get it, I don't say Americans is somebody from the US, I will say somebody from the US like people from the US. Although it's a mouthful, I just cannot really associate myself saying Americans and excluding myself from that, because I consider myself an American. So yeah, that's, that's a very good point. I mean, we're all Americans. So some of us are from South America, some from Central America, from North America, right? Yeah, the word America was used for Spanish colonies first, then colony. So I don't know. Yeah. What about you, Estefania? What does the word America means? Yeah, so I would have to agree with what Guido just said. America, for me is the whole continent. And I used to get very angry before when I say when when people would say, Oh, from America? Yeah, from the US, you are not from America. And they would they would like point at you and say, well, no, you are not part of this cool group. That is America, right? So yeah. So I've learned how to how to, obviously, just like Guido said, is it's the name of the country. And this is it's how people most people around the world refer to it. So it's fine. However, it does come back to America for the Americans. And it brings back some history and lessons learned, because that's what was used to get some, some influence in the Latin American region. So it was a doctrine that was used by the US by James Monroe, if I'm not mistaken, to be able to, to go into further into Latin America while kicking the Europeans out when there was this decolonization of the continent. So it's a it's a Yeah, it's I've had to learn to live with it. But I always always say people from the US a person from the US. And yes, I am American. I am North American, because Mexico is part of North America, too. Yeah, that's a very good point. What about you, Christina? I think that when I was younger, and I was going to school in Chile, like all of our teachers were from the US. And it I remember, like it used to bother me a lot more than what it does now. And I think it's more similar to what you're listening. But and now it just means the US and that kind of like come to terms with that. But for a long time it for me, America meant the entire continent, like North and South and Central America. What about you, Neil? Um, I think we've done a good job here covering the geographical answers to that. But I mean, for me, being born in New York, and then eventually moving to Dominican Republic, with my mom, when I was about 11. I saw America as just like the land, it might sound cliche, but the land of opportunity, I've always wanted to come back to America, I know, I love Dominican Republic and everything that it has to offer. But in terms of, you know, creating a future for yourself and your family, you know, I think America is where for me is where I was able to realize that dream. So for me, it means just a land, an opportunity to kind of reset an opportunity to do better for you, for your family, and for future generations. So I, you know, I served in the United States Navy. So I highly have high regards for United States of America. And I think it's just a place where everyone wants to come at some point in their lives, whether it be South America, North America, wherever that may be. Now, thank you for your service, Neil. So, so let's move on to a question that I know can be tricky. But have you ever felt the need to hide or justify your heritage? Let's start with you, Neil, this time. Um, not necessarily. You know, I think that we in, as people, as adults, we try to represent ourselves the best way we can, at least for myself and my family. I've always been, you know, proud to be Dominican. Again, you know, you mix in all the negative and positive stereotypes in that. But as a culture, as people, as a society, we're all, we're very loving, we're very accepting of everyone else. And I'm very proud of that. I think that that's definitely built who I am today, even though again, you know, born in the United States, I love the fact that in those years that I was growing up in my mind was just absorbing everything, I was able to move to Dominican Republic and really enjoy my life there and my family there and the heritage and everything that my country has to offer. What about you, Christina? I was actually thinking about this since like the last time when we like ran through the questions before, you know, and I think that, yes, I've had to both hide and justify both sides. I think hiding mostly outside of Chile, just because I think it just invites a lot of questions. And I don't always want to explain everything that I like my background and all. And an example of that, I think is like, when I'm at the supermarket or something like that, I think a lot of ladies are, you know, like are speaking amongst themselves in Spanish, I've overheard conversations in which they're like talking about me, because I asked a question. And like, I kind of pretend like I don't understand just because it just makes like a series of questions, and it's just uncomfortable. And then when I was living in Chile, I constantly found myself trying to justify that I was like Chilean as well. Like, because they would look at me and they'd be like, but you don't look it or they were like, what do you mean? And I'd be like, but I was born here. And I lived here my entire life. And a lot of people would be like, yeah, but like, I don't know if that because I went to a school that was very American. So they're like, oh, you're just like part of that bubble. So it was kind of interesting how that has shifted since I've moved here, because everybody accepts that I am from Chile. But I sometimes decide to hide it because it's just more easy. Yeah. What about you, Gabby? I've never felt the need to hide my heritage. But oddly enough, I have needed to justify it. Mostly just strangers who are, well, first of all, asking me kind of a rude question of where I'm from. Secondly, they're just in disbelief because I'm not from whatever exotic location they think I should be from. So that I think is just kind of odd and something that I've had to deal with. But yeah, it's mostly with Uber and Lyft drivers. So nowadays, those engagements are not happening so much. Yeah. And I can relate to that. I mean, well, when people think that I have an accent, I always get that awkward question, right? It's like, oh, where are you from? And I'm finding myself in that position that is like, okay, do I want to engage in this conversation? So, you know, sometimes I've said, okay, yeah, I'm from Venezuela. And as I mentioned before, I get the Minnesota joke sometimes. Or sometimes I just decide not to answer. It's like, well, whatever, right? And that position is very awkward for some of us. And when we get asked, especially, you know, if you're in a professional environment. So what about you, Guido? Not really justify. I don't think any. I'm pretty sure I've never met anybody who doubts for a second that I'm from a Latin American country. I do sometimes. And again, like kind of like thinking about the question, I realized that every now and then, I don't mention that my father's from Colombia. Because I get the same thing that Stefania gets about Mexicans like Colombia. Oh, yeah, Narcos and Escobar is like, you're not even pronouncing it right. It's Escobar, not Escobar. So, you know, that sometimes does get old. And depending on my state of mind, sometimes I'll just decide not to share it. Because it's, you know, I don't people don't necessarily mean, mean something, anything bad, but it's just annoying. And an old, you know, the stereotype, like you reduce a whole country of 50 million people in a very rich history about many things to a drug lord. So. So yeah, like, but what does happen very often is with my wife, she's Costa Rican as well, like, she's like fifth generation. But again, like, she doesn't look the part like she's like, fair skinned and, you know, green eyes and, you know, light colored hair. So it's always like, so where you guys from Costa Rica is like, really? And but he looks through Costa Rica, like, you know, like, 90% of the people who say that we asked him, so what does a Costa Rican look like? And they'll be like, I don't know, they just kind of place somewhere here in Latin America. And it's like, and when kudos, if they can place us in the right place, because they people can, you know, think we're an island half the time, which we're not, if somebody thinks we're an island, you know, shame on you. But then the questions come like, you know, oh, so but but, you know, about where's your family from? And they're like, yeah, from Costa Rica, like, you know, my grandparents and everybody's like, and eventually they'll, you know, we'll cave and or she'll cave and we will say, Oh, yeah, I'm like, from my, you know, father's side, they're from like, northern Spain, from my mother's side, there's a bunch of like, you know, from the Balkans, I think, you know, like, Oh, okay, that that makes sense. And remember, like somebody was like, before that they asked, like, Oh, but do you have like European, you know, ancestry? It's like, yeah, that's that's how being white works. Like, everybody who's white in the world has European ancestry, like, be it America, or the US or Canada or Australia. So but but they could just not fathom that Europeans would settle and migrate to Latin Americans like that never happened. All 700 million people, Latin Americans look the same. So that cannot. So you know, that, again, that does become annoying. Sometimes it's funny, because like, the British people do, you know, play the part of you, they do have a little bit of the good stuff about being very, you know, very polite, and educated. And the question here is, oh, the both of you are from Costa Rica. It's like, yes, her as well. Like, they don't ask necessarily directly, but you know what they mean when, when we say where we're from. So yeah, again, that that's, that's something that happens very often. And we're kind of just like, we just we have our own routine now to it. And we just kind of like laugh it off. Yeah, it makes sense. What about you, Estefania? Oh, I would have to say yes to both. So I've had to justify and hide my heritage. When I was younger, I guess, I guess it's, it's the byproduct of living so close to the US. And in the 90s, we were, well, it's, it's a general feeling that the US is the land of opportunity. And everything that is associated with the US is all good. So we all want to be tall, blonde and white and have blue eyes, right? So the more you are closer, the more, yeah, the closer you are to that stereotype, then the better, right? So when we used to be in the US, because I spent a lot of time there, I used to have a very, very American accent like this. So you could not tell that I was from Mexico. And people would say that that was that that was so nice that this is oh my god, you don't even look Mexican. That's amazing. And that made me feel good about myself, which is terrible, right? I now that I look back on it is it's not something that is, that is healthy for, for a teenager for a child to think that, oh, you need to hide where you're from just to fit in with the stereotype you have been taught. So it took me a while to get around that. And obviously, I don't hide it anymore. Now I have to justify it. And I get the awkward question. Oh, oh, but why are you white? Why do you speak so good English? What? What? How? It's like, well, a like Guido said, we were conquered by the Spanish, right? So and, you know, Mr. Saka, they all blended in. And hence, we are here. But I do find that it does get old. And depending on my on my state of mind, and on the day I've had is the the answer I give to that question. But yeah, it's it's not not great. Yeah. So all right, guys. So let's move on. Um, you know, as Latinx, we use a mix of Spanish and English together at times, right? Especially now with so many anglicisms that you know, how often do you speak Spanglish? And with whom? Let's start with you, Christina this time. Um, well, I love speaking Spanglish. I think that was kind of like my language when I was living in Chile. And like the language that I spoke all the time at school. But now there's not a lot of people that I can speak it with, unfortunately, as much as I wish I could. But my brother always Spanglish. And then my friend Marina at work, she is Argentinian Korean. So we speak, speak to each other in Spanglish all the time. Like we used to sit like a row next to each other. And we would kind of just like talk. That's great. What about you, Anil? The area that I was born in New York is called Washington Heights, which is pretty much middle Dominican Republic. And obviously you have people that come from Dominican Republic and live there, obviously learn the English language. Spanglish was very much a part of me growing up part of my household. Moving to Dominican Republic, Spanglish was a way for me to continue to remember my English and still be, you know, decent and good at it. And then it just becomes part of your culture. You come back to New York and everyone still speaks in Spanglish, right? But when I came to California, something I can't do here, I can't pull it off. Here in California, there's a big, obviously very Latino influence, but very Mexican influence as well. And my Spanish part of the Spanglish is very fast. So when I'm speaking to them, when I put the Spanish in there, they're like, wait, slow down. So we speak Spanish too. Then it took me a long time to realize that it's not the same, you know, they can also, Mexicans, you know, Salvadorians, Nicaraguans, they can actually speak Spanglish as well. But it's a little bit different. So every country, even though we speak Spanglish, we don't necessarily understand what each other is saying because of the speed of the language. It's not because we don't understand Spanish. Yeah. What about you, Guido? I don't think we do. Like I do really Spanglish in the way that you normally think about it, which is like, you know, whole sentences in English, whole sentences in Spanish, and you'll go back and forth. I just never grew up in that type of, you know, environment where you can do that. I don't think my brain can handle that. I either need to speak in Spanish or English. What does happen often though, is like, if I'm talking, I'm just having a conversation about a work topic, like, or something about like, I'm an IT, right? I'm an engineer. So even when speaking to somebody who's a Spanish speaker about work, I'll throw in like the terms, like, the jargon will be in English, just because otherwise it sounds weird. Like I'll be speaking in Spanish, but I'll be talking about routers and repositories or something. It sounds weird to say for a firewall. I don't know. I think people from Spain do that. But for me, it sounds weird because I've always worked in international companies. So most of my career has been in international companies and it usually defaults to English, right? So yeah, that's mostly it. But that's really most of it. So what about you, Estefania? I try to keep to either Spanish or English, unless my brain decides to stop functioning and I forget the words. So then I do have to throw in the word in Spanish or in English, or maybe it just doesn't even come at all. But I don't have that ease to go from, you know, in a whole sentence to switch from from Espanol to English and go forth. I feel so weird. I can't do it. What about you, Gabby? So I would definitely default to English when speaking to individuals and really only speak Spanish if it's with a family member or someone initiates the conversation in Spanish. But because I learned to speak Spanish to engage with my grandparents, it's definitely more formal and Spanglish just wasn't really something that I heard growing up. And yeah, not really something that I can like process. It's only if I wouldn't know the term or if it's yeah, it's just weird to have that duality. Yeah. So let's move on to a related question. Do you guys think or dream in Spanish or English? Let's start with you, Neil, this time. That's a good question, Raul. I think in Spanish, especially when I'm trying to analyze something or when I'm shocked about something. If I'm looking at a show, I'm like, in my mind, I'm thinking in Spanish like, what the hell was that all about? You know, it doesn't I don't process it in English. I just see it and it comes in my mind, I process it in Spanish. I don't dream often, maybe because I'm a really sound sleeper. Maybe I do and I just don't remember. But I definitely think a lot more in Spanish than I do in English. What about you, Guido? Yeah, I think I speak English often enough that if I'm speaking English, I'll think in English or like when I read, I'll think in English or I kind of like think in the language I'm speaking and just English, especially the only ones that I can speak fluently. So yeah, I think in the one I'm speaking, I don't think I don't recall what I dream in. I think it's mostly Spanish. But yeah, I think one time the thing that got me most messed up in the head was like, I lived in Czech Republic all my life and I lived for four years and like towards the end, I had a couple of dreams in Czech and that was like, I woke up like sweating because like that's that's weird. That's a tough language. So but otherwise, no, Spanish or English. Yeah, they say that that once you dream in another language means that you have mastered. So maybe you master Czech by that time. So Stefania, what about you? Yeah, I would say in both. It depends on the conversation and the person I'm having the conversation with because going back and forth in my head to translate it from one thing to another, it's it's very tiring. So, yeah, it does happen. I think in both English, Spanish and Italian. So, yeah, it's weird. What about you, Gabi? So I definitely default to thinking in English unless I'm watching a film or television show that's in a different language, like in Spanish, then I would process that in Spanish first and then translate to English. That makes sense. But as far as dreaming, I have no idea. Mostly, I remember what I was doing in my dream and not so much what I said. So probably default to English there, too. Yeah. What about you, Christina? I think I do think I dream in Spanish, but it depends on where I am, I think, or who I've been interacting with most recently. Now everything is mostly in English, but when I'm back at home or when I'm around my brother, things like that, I think I dream in Spanish as well more, too. Awesome. So let's get into this question, guys. What makes you proud to be a Latinx? And I'll start with you, Guido, this time. Yeah. So I get the question is just like I personally, and this is just my personal point of view, is like I don't normally refer to being proud about something that I accomplished, and I don't necessarily feel like I accomplished being Latin, that's just what I am. Although it makes me very happy in many ways, right? We spoke about like the positive stereotypes. I like being associated with positive thinking people and people who like, you know, they move forward no matter the struggles they're up against. Sometimes the thing about being the left of the party is a bit exhausting because I'm an introvert. So sometimes it'd be like, hey, snap your fingers and make, you know, just get the party going. It's like, I can't do that. I'm an introvert. So but yeah, but I like those things. I like it specifically about being Costa Rican. It's like, yeah, as you said, like the Pura Vida, I like the fact that we we have no armed forces. And it's so I think the concept of, you know, armed conflict and just militarism in general is alien to us. So I understand people have different views about it. And I just want to make sure that, you know, people understand that it's just my I am happy that that's the country I grew up in. Right. So this is my personal point of view. And I like the benefits that it brought us. So. Awesome. So what about you, Christina? What makes you proud to be a Latinx? I think that for me, the culture and me having been able to experience the culture of Latin America, despite, you know, all of the identity things makes me proud. And being able to share that experience with everybody, like my friends, the people that I meet now, like makes me really proud to be a Latinx. Stefania? I would say all of the above that everyone has has said. And also the food. I'm a sucker for food. I'm a foodie. Like, I really, really like the food and Latins. Well, I think, yeah, most of us like to feed people. My mom loved to feed me and my my friends and everyone. And it just makes you happy. And it's something that you celebrate. Right. I feel like this is something that we celebrate the food and and we make a we make a party out of it. And well, being lively and yeah, all the positives, I would say. Gabi, what about you? Yes. So I definitely hear what you mean, Gabo. Like, I've just grown up being Latinx. I've never really thought about what makes me proud to be Latinx. But as far as what makes me proud in my life, it would definitely be my connection to my family. And, you know, I've come to appreciate that more so, especially during these crazy times. And, you know, we've found unique ways to keep in touch, which has been great. But also just the values that they've instilled in me as well, as far as hard work and making sure that you're putting out the energy that you want to get back. What about you, Anil? I'm extremely, extremely proud to be Latinx. I represent myself a lot. And I see myself a lot in my mom, who just turned 87 this month, by the way. And I know, I think for me, for all the reasons that we just talked about, the food, the stereotypes, the culture, all those things just make me proud. I mean, what's there not to love? Because you speak another language, that opens another door for you to be able to connect with other people. And not only on your personal life, but also in our jobs, in business and everything as yourself. You run a lot of that time. So yeah, I'm very proud. And it's very much part of my culture and represents, it reminds me of my family. And I'm proud of being a member of my family. So yeah, I love it. So before we finish, guys, let's have a lightning round. And I'll go fast here. Salsa or guacamole? Let's start with you, Gabby. Guacamole. Guido. Both. Stefania. Spicy salsa. Christina. Guacamole. Neil. Guacamole. Maybe a little spicy. Let's go to another one. Maluma or Justin Bieber? Gabby. This is hard, because while I do like Maluma, I've been a believer for longer. Don't at me at that. So Justin Bieber. Oh, God. What about you, Guido? I'll respectfully pass on the both of them. Stefania. Yeah, next. Christina. Maluma. Neil. I love reggaeton and Maluma is one of my favorite artists and I'll say it like he says it. Maluma, baby. What about flan or cheesecake? Gabby. Cheesecake. Sorry, not a big flan fan. Guido. Slightly leaning towards flan. Stefania. Flan, all the way. Yeah. Christina. Cheesecake. What about you, Neil? Cheesecake. No topping. Just plain old cheesecake. Last one for today, guys. Beer or shots? Let's start with you, Gabby. Both, depending on the mood. I'm always down for a two for one, but every day I would say beer. Guido. My shot days are behind me. I can't do shots anymore. So beer it is. Stefania. Tequila. Also, I'm very old now, so now I have to sip my shots. So shots. Christina. I think I'm the same with Stefania. A tequila shot. I also need to drop a little bit early, so I can't finish up here, but it was great being part of the panel. Thank you, Christina. What about you, Neil? I love a good beer, but I also enjoy a really good tequila that I can sip on. I don't like to shoot tequila because I tend to shoot too many. So thank you. Thank you so much, panel. I mean, these were great. I want to bring our Ask a Latinx panel discussion to a close. I want to thank our panelists for their candor and their honesty. We hope that you all learned something new today. I know I did. So next week, Latin Flair will be hosting our third Latinx Heritage Month event. On October 1st, we invite you to join us for a panel discussion on moving the needle, putting diversity, equity, and inclusion into action. Our panelists are going to be Joe Sullivan, Jade Wang, Kevin Dumping, and Shannon Cullen. This session will be moderated by our own Hattie Mendez. You can get more details in our wiki. And again, thank you for joining us today. We hope to see you soon next week. Thank you, guys. Bye. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Bye. A location is typically a physical location, like your home, office, store, or a data center that you'd like to protect. For this demo, let's call our location AUS-1. Gateway should automatically detect your IP address, which allows Gateway to know which requests are coming from your location or network. Now, let's configure the DNS resolvers. To take full advantage of Cloudflare Gateway, you should change your router settings to the Gateway IP addresses. For this demo, I'm only going to use the IP addresses that Gateway assigns. Now, let's configure the DNS resolvers. To do this on a Mac, go to your laptop's system preferences, click Network, then Advanced, and navigate to the DNS tab. You'll see your existing Internet provider's DNS server IP address here. Add in the IP addresses from the Gateway dashboard by clicking the plus sign. If your network supports IPv6, make sure to add the IPv6 address here as well. Click OK, then Apply. Now, my laptop is sending all of its DNS queries to Gateway's DNS resolvers. To complete the location setup, navigate back to the Cloudflare Gateway dashboard and click Complete Setup. After configuring your first location, you'll see the Gateway overview page. Here, you can view your location's requests and if they were allowed or blocked. After the initial setup, the graph may take a few minutes to show data. While we're waiting on the data to populate, let's confirm that our location was properly configured. It looks like our location is properly configured, but as you can see, there's no policy assigned. Let's create one. Create a policy and apply it to your location to protect your network from Internet security threats like malware and phishing. The policy will control what the user can or cannot access while connected to your location. To create a policy, click Policies, then Create a Policy. For the purposes of this demo, I'm going to create a policy that blocks malware and social media. Let's call this No Malware or Social Media. We'll assign it to our location by clicking here. Here, you can enable a blocked page, which will show if a user attempts to access a page that's been blocked. Let's enable it, then click Preview to see what a blocked page would look like. Let's disable it for now. You can also enable Safe Search, which allows Cloudflare to automatically filter content based on the same restrictions that large search engines use to protect users from explicit content. Now, let's identify what security threats we want Cloudflare Gateway to protect against. Gateway allows you to block all security threats listed here with one click, which include malware, phishing, and spam. Let's just block malware for now, then move on to the content categories. Gateway allows you to block certain content categories. Since we want to block social media with this policy, click Society and Lifestyle, then Social Networks. If you'd like to allow or block a specific domain, you can do that in the Allow Block tab. Let's enter chatgoogle.com to ensure that it's blocked and click Add Domain. Now that the policy has been configured, let's click Add Policy. The policy will propagate throughout the Cloudflare network in a few seconds. So in the meantime, let's check out the Gateway Activity Log. The Activity Log is where you can see all the requests to your configured location. You can also see what content categories the requests were associated with. This request was associated with content servers and information technology content categories. It was an HTTPS request created from the AUS-1 location and was allowed as it didn't trigger the policy. Now, let's test our policy to make sure that it works properly. Let's test the social media portion of our policy by attempting to navigate to Twitter. Shortly after hitting Enter, you'll see an error page indicating that Twitter cannot be reached. Cloudflare Gateway has successfully intercepted the request and blocked the page accordingly. During this Cloudflare Gateway walkthrough, you saw how to configure a location, create a policy, and use that policy to block Internet security threats. To learn more about Cloudflare Gateway, navigate to teams.Cloudflare.com backslash gateway