Sometimes the strongest memories come wrapped in paper and carried home.

Mery talks about learning English, long trips across the city, and a bakery that made Jackson Heights feel like Colombia. Her story is about food, memory, and the quiet comfort of familiarity.

This episode is shared in Spanish.

The full English translation appears below.

My name is Mery Elba. I have known Jackson Heights for about 18 years. I am from Colombia, from Bogotá. I arrived in the United States about 25 years ago.

One of my memories of Jackson Heights is from when people first arrived here to study and learn English. Around 75th Street and Roosevelt, that was the place for Colombians to come and learn English, with schools nearby around 82nd Street. And there were Colombian restaurants close by. Being there made you feel like you were back in your country. There were many Colombians, and the places were very good. You felt comfortable in those restaurants and Colombian shops that no longer exist.

Many Colombian stores have left Jackson Heights. My favorite place was a bakery called Las Américas, which has since been modernized.

That bakery was one of my favorite spots. We used to travel all the way from Long Island to Las Américas to buy pandebonos and pan de yuca. I do not know if it still exists under the same name, or if it exists in a more modern version, with different food, more Americanized.

But pandebono is something that identifies us as Colombians.
That delicacy.