Radio No Jodas

Stories From El Salvador is a platform and space for Salvadorans to write and share their stories. These are stories of hope, courage, compassion, migration, love, resilience, solidarity, humor, and how awesome we, Salvadorans are. Today’s episode is a collaborative episode with Stories From El Salvador. Thank you Clelia Rodriguez for creating this platform, and thank you to everyone who submitted their stories, they’re all beautiful! If you’d like to submit your own story, you can visit www.storiesfromelsalvador.com or visit them on social media, @storiesfromelsalvdor. You can catch up with Radio No Jodas on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter using @radionojodas. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to hear more stories like these, let us know! you can visit radionojodas.com and submit your stories, topics, and anything you’d like to hear on the podcast.

Song- On my mind by AR Ferdinand ft GEISTE

It’s a cold day in LA! So wherever you are in the world listening to this, we invite you to sit down, relax, and enjoy a cup of coffee while listening to this episode. Cristian Quintanilla is the owner of his own coffee business known as Don Leo Coffee. Born in El Salvador and raised in Los Angeles, his main goal is to provide gourmet coffee from El Salvador in the US and make El Salvador’s coffee known again. As we sat down and drank some of his coffee Cristian shared a little about his background story and how he began his business. We also discussed a few other topics, such as traditions in El Salvador; like drinking a cup of coffee and sharing stories. Enjoy!

Welcome back to Radio No Jodas and to Season 2! On this episode my great friend Anais guest co-hosted and lead the conversation about the issues going on in Nicaragua. Anais has been actively speaking about Nicaragua since the minute the crisis broke out. Coming from two Nicaraguan parents, and visiting Nicaragua every summer; this is something that she holds tight in her heart. In this episode she was able to get a friend of hers (who’s name will remain anonymous for safety purposes) who has been living in exile for the last 3 months to speak about his experience and the severity of the situation. It was a very raw ,honest, and open conversation through WhatsApp so please excuse the call getting cut short. If you’d like to get involved or learn more about Nicaragua, you can look up the hashtag #sosnicaragua or follow Anais’s platform @quiensosvos

On this weeks episode I finally got around to sharing a scary story as I promised. I know it’s not October anymore but let’s get real here; scary stories are cool to hear year round. So for this episode I invited the best story teller I know- my dad. I remember when I was young my dad told me this story that happened to him during his youth while he was in El Salvador. He was around 14 going on a trek with his boy-scout group. While embarking that trip they all witnessed an eerie group of people known as “La Procesión”. To this day people still claim it goes on but, where these group of people come from remains unexplained..

On this week’s episode I had the pleasure to sit down and talk to Erick- the owner of Normandie records.

Erick talked about his love for music and how it connected him to his parents, his roots from El Salvador and how that motivated him to own his record label. When he started his record label he ventured off and found new modern music from the motherland and that inspired him to work with these bands and artists exclusively and have them signed on his label. Erick is helping bring the level of music from El Salvador that we’ve been longing and waiting for here in the US! After finding his record label I have been actively listening to many of these artists and I truthfully can’t get enough.

We played two exclusive songs from two of the artists which you’ll get to listen to on this episode and we also gave out a little easter egg about a project that is brewing and is in the works momentarily- stay tuned!

In the meantime, you can find the Centro America Vol 1 mixtape cassette on his website normandierecords.com get your own copy while they’re hot and available, there’s a limited supply left! Also watch out for Centro America Vol 2 mixtape coming out soon, this time it’ll be on vinyl.

Special shoutout to Jose Vela who created an amazing playlist called El Salvador on Spotify that features all the artists we spoke about- go check out when you can!

Songs played: Camelo- Ya No Juegues Con Mi Amor & Tonico 86- Todo Marcha Bien

Welcome back to another episode, I’m back from my trip and finally able to share my experience with you all! It’s been 19 years since I’ve last gone to El Salvador and it’s taken me so long to visit for various reasons. This trip was extremely personal and fulfilling in so many aspects of my life but I wanted you all to hear about it because I know for many it’s difficult to go back and visit or for some of you it may not be possible to.

On this episode my friend Victor, who came on the show before and many of you may know him as Dichos de un bicho, is back as a recurring guest! We had a full on conversation and I shared my experience with him so you’ll get the full insight on why it’s taken me so long to visit again, and about my family roots! Q&A’s are at the end of the episode. Thank you to everyone who submitted their questions, I enjoyed answering them all on this episode! And thank you Victor for coming back on and allowing me to share my experience with you and helping me with all the questions! Bienvenidos a El Salvador!

Huge shoutout to Radio Pulgarcito for the Taca intro audio!

Instagram: @radiopulgarcito

Victor’s Instagram: @dichosdeunbicho

Welcome back to another episode of Radio No Jodas! This time we got to speak to Juan and his wife Stephanie- the owner's of La Pupusa Urban Eatery located in Downtown LA.

On this episode we had the opportunity to learn about Juan and Stephanie's backgrounds-both family wise and in the kitchen, how they got started with the idea of La Pupusa, and ultimately where they see their business going in the long run. La Pupusa has been recognized for their unique presentation and revolutionary take on Salvi food. From Colachampagne floats and quirky Salvi merchandise, Juan and Stephanie give us the insight on how their restaurant is uniquely different to the ones we're typically used but still significantly feels like home.

Welcome back yet again to another episode of Radio No Jodas, this week we have Wendy and Donny the owners of Vchos truck, a modern pupuseria on wheels. How difficult is it to start a food truck business? Who'd be interested in a Pupuseria truck? Is being with your spouse 24/7 ever a good idea? On this episode we get the luxury of getting the insight on just how the truck got started, the battles they faced, and how they transformed our most traditional dish into a Los Angeles staple. From being invited to events curated by Sean Wotherspoon, to advice on the endless possibilities Salvadorans have, Wendy & Donny spill the black beans on everything there is to know about the life behind the scenes of this now majorly popular food truck.

Welcome back everyone and happy weekend! On this episode we dug a little into an unspoken dilemma that seems to be going around lately. One of the largest stereotypes in the Central American community is that we don't support each other when it comes to our own personal goals and aspirations. Today we decided to open the discussion to try to find out why? Is there a solution to this or, are we doomed to be stuck in our ways? 

With this in mind we invite you to come join us and support your fellow Central American artists/ creatives at Isthmus Roots: A Celebration of Central American Creativity & Story Telling. On Saturday, May 26th of 2018, from 5pm-8:00pm at the EastSide Cafe in El Sereno, California we will be moderating this event/panel in celebration of all the amazing artists/ creatives on this panel that have utilized their platforms to speak and amplify the stories of their respective communities. This event will be free and there will be music, food, and art! 

Panel features: A. Sarr: Nicaraguan musician, Breena Nuñez Peralta: Guatemalan/Salvadoran illustrator, Brigette Lugo: Panamanian & Nicaraguan journalist/founder of SomosGenteLA, Nicole Ramsey: Belizean educator, Tamika Burgess: Afro-Panamanian blogger, founder of EsMiCultura, Yeiry Guevara: Salvadoran writer and artist, Zaira Miluska, Salvadoran founder of Central American art and beauty, Victor Interiano: Salvadoran artist known as the one and only Dichos de un bicho.

Special thanks to Angela Flores and the collective from Eastside Cafe for generously providing the space to host this event.

Happy Saturday and welcome back to another episode of Radio No Jodas! This week we had the opportunity to talk to Steve from @afja.es, an organization he created to help give kids in El Salvador access to soccer equipment and resources that they'd otherwise never obtain without his organization's help! With donation drives, free equipment, and an emphasis on good grades in school, Steve, his family, and his group of friends are pushing what it means to help each other out in our community. Make sure you listen as we discuss how it got started, where he plans on taking it, and what you can do to help keep the dream alive! Intro song for this episode is Salvadoreña by Los Hermanos Flores, our regular intro song will be back! -Enjoy!