Latinx celebrate graduation with carne asada

Families bring another way to party free from crowds

Families and loved ones booked hotels in the area for months and now restaurants will quickly fill just as quickly with graduation around the corner.

What else is there to do when you don’t have a place to eat after graduation with your loved ones? The answer is to host and have dinner at your house. Take out isn’t going to cut it, it’s time for a comida of carne asada.

Carne asadas to Latinx families are what BBQs are to everyone else.

Alexis R. Parra

Armando Facio, 23, is going to be walking in the commencement ceremony this May. Facio worked on his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology for five years and although he has to return for one more semester in the fall, he says he couldn’t be more excited to celebrate with his family.

Facio’s family was a little late on booking somewhere to stay for his graduation.

“When you find out when you’re going to graduate, book your hotel or whatever the beginning of the semester before,” he said.

His family is staying at an Airbnb in Willow Creek, roughly a 45-minute commute to Humboldt State University, where the graduation ceremony will take place.

Facio figured that since his family had a hard time finding somewhere to stay for graduation that they were going to have just as much trouble finding somewhere to eat. He decided they would just have a carne asada at his house or where his family is staying.

“I’d rather focus on my family and celebrate with them in a private space instead of a restaurant packed with people,” Facio said.

Carne asadas to Latinx families are what BBQs are to everyone else. An excuse to get together with family and friends and eat a bunch of food.

Have a birthday coming up? Carne asada. Want to do something on the weekend? Carne asada. Fourth of July? Carne asada. After- funeral reception? Carne asada.

In Facio’s case, a carne asada for graduation. Not to mention it is going to be summer when a lot of carne asadas tend to happen.

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These gatherings are meant for the outdoors and you can’t really have a carne asada in the rain – summer is prime time. Usually, they are at the heart of the family’s house, which in a lot of cases tend to be the grandparents.

When you arrive, you follow the music to the backyard and are greeted by whoever is there. Pick your table and wait for food to be ready.

The types of foods you find at carne asadas are the various meats, of course, rice, beans, grilled onions and all the fixings for it, such as salsas and guacamole.

As you make your plate, you might see your favorite cousin and move next to them throwing off the seating arrangement. When everyone is finishing eating the music suddenly starts to pick up and the dancing begins. The night usually ends with drunk uncles singing emotional songs at the top of their lungs.

Regardless of how emotional the night ends or the reason for carne asada, these nights tend to be some of the best and most memorable of a Latinx individual’s life.

“No one leaves a carne asada unhappy,” Facio said. “And no one leaves without full stomachs.”

If you have the chance to attend a carne asada, always take it. The food will never disappoint, the music will make you dance, and the energy the people give is everything you want to feel.