Conversation with Irene Robalino

Title

Conversation with Irene Robalino

Description

This interview features Irene Robalino, a fourth-year student in the International Studies and Modern Language program at the University of Ottawa. She was born in Ecuador but grew up outside Toronto in a strong Latin American community of friends and family. Since moving to Ottawa, Irene has built a small Latin American community here and lives with three other Latin American roommates, two of whom have family connections to Colombia and one from Venezuela. In this interview, Irene discusses different ways she stays connected to her culture, such as speaking Spanish with family and friends, listening to Ecuadorian music and especially cooking. Irene wishes more people knew about Ecuador’s cultural dishes, especially since shared meals are a big part of not just Latin American culture but also family connection. Her favourite dish that she has recently learned to make is Ecuadorian Ceviche, a combination of shrimp, fish, lime, cilantro, and tomato, traditionally served with Plantain chips. Throughout our conversation, Irene emphasized childhood and community when celebrating her Ecuadorian culture and her heritage. She articulates this, stating,

“there's a huge emphasis on, like, you know, taking care of every family member [...] we're all very close-and every-there's so many gatherings that are just centered around, like, eating and just dancing and-and just being happy.” (Irene Robalino 5:11).

Date

February 28th, 2026

Format

MP3 File

Language

English

Interviewer

Mila Shull, Kielyn Gatensby

Interviewee

Irene Robalino

Location

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Transcription

Irene Robalino 0:04 Okay, well, my name is Irene Robalino, and I'm a fourth year student at uOttawa. I'm in my last semester, and I'm in the International Studies and Modern Languages program.

Mila Shull 0:19 Great, okay, so our first question for you is going to be, what is your country of origin?

Irene Robalino 0:23 My country of origin is Ecuador.

Kielyn Gatensby 0:27 Okay, the second question is, what brought you to Ottawa?

Irene Robalino 0:32 So I came to Ottawa for university. I'm originally based in Toronto. I grew up there, but I came here four years ago for school.

Mila Shull 0:44 Do you have family here, and do you see them frequently?

Irene Robalino 0:49 I do not have family in Ottawa. My parents and my siblings live in Toronto.

Kielyn Gatensby 0:56 Do you live in a Latin community or neighborhood where people speak Spanish and or Portuguese and celebrate various occasions?

Irene Robalino 1:07 I live-well in Ottawa, here in my apartment, I have three roommates that are Latinas, so one of them is Colombian. One of them is half Colombian, one's Venezuelan, and so that's my community in Ottawa. But back home in Toronto, where I grew up with my family, we did have a big community, or I do have a big community of Latin American, like a Latin American community. I have a lot of family friends that I grew up with that were Ecuadorian and Colombian, Venezuelan, and we go to a Spanish mass. Well, we go to church every Sunday, so we go to Spanish mass. And, yeah, I definitely have a community back home in Toronto.

Mila Shull 1:52 What celebrations are most important to you?

Irene Robalino 1:55 Um, there's a lot of celebrations that are very important to me, but my favorite that is an Ecuadorian celebration, but more specifically, a celebration in Quito, the city where I'm from, it's this... it's a holiday called Dia de los Difuntos, and it's called, it's, it means the day of all souls. So it takes place on November first and November second, and it's a celebration of- it's an all-celebration of the dead. Basically, it's our version in Ecuador. And it's really fun, because we get together with our family and our friends, and we just, like, celebrate our, you know, deceased family members in a happy way, and we make these, like little bread shaped baby dolls, I guess you would call them. They're called Wawa Zipan, which means in, like the Indigenous language, Quechua, it means like, child. And then, we make this thing called Colada Morada, which is like a big warm Berry, like warm drink that we make. And we just all like drink. And we decorate our like bread dolls, and we just like celebrate. And, yeah, I think that's one of my favorites. And always Christmas. Of course, Christmas is really big in Ecuador, so, yeah.

Kielyn Gatensby 3:13 Could you describe a typical day in your community?

Irene Robalino 3:18 Um, I don't know about a typical day. I think the most important day in my community growing up was Sunday, because everybody in my community goes to Mass, and we all see each other at Church. And then a lot of times there's, like, a lunch or a dinner after and we all get together and we have food and there's music, and we stay up late dancing, or, you know, eating and drinking. So day to day, I feel like it's just confined to my family and I, but weekends, specifically, Sundays, are a big community day.

Mila Shull 3:58 How do you celebrate your heritage?

Irene Robalino 4:02 Um, I think there's lots of ways that I celebrate my heritage. Mostly, I think just practicing a lot of like the things I'm used to that I grew up with. For instance, like cooking meals that my mom-Ecuadorian meals that my mom grew up with, like, learning, intentionally learning. I used to not really care about it when I was young, but like, now I've, like, kind of focused on learning, like, a lot of recipes and, like family recipes that I grew up eating. As well as, just like, you know, speaking Spanish, making sure I'm practicing the language with my parents or my friends or my siblings, and listening to music and just everything. I think just keeping up with everything that I grew up with, that I'm not really surrounded with anymore, is often.

Kielyn Gatensby 5:05 What are some values that you hold most dear as a member of the Latin Caribbean community?

Irene Robalino 5:11 I would say the value of family. I think family's huge in the Latin American, Caribbean, community, you know, there's a huge emphasis on, like, you know, taking care of every family member, like your grandparents, your cousins, your aunt, your uncle. Like, we're all very close-and every-there's so many gatherings that are just centered around, like, eating and just dancing and-and just being happy. And I think that's really important to me. Like, I love being surrounded by people, and I love just, like, it's weird to say, but like, I think, feel like food is such a big thing, and music, those are, like, the two main things, but because we just take that as an opportunity to, you know, get together with your all your family members, like, we see each other all the time, and, yeah, so I would say probably, like, the value of community and family are, like, the most important to me.

Mila Shull 6:07 What would you like to share about yourself or your community that you think is important for people to know?

Irene Robalino 6:13 Um, I think one thing at least, particularly about the Ecuadorian community, is that I think a lot of people don't know about our culture as much as maybe other Latin American cultures. I think I haven't met a lot of people that have tried our food, but I think it's one of the most delicious foods ever, and like cuisines, but that's just my opinion. And yeah, there's just, like, there's so many things to learn about us, and we have a, like, a great country with so many places to see. And I think people just don't hear about Ecuador as much as they hear about Colombia or maybe Mexico. And like, yeah, I think if anyone gets the opportunity to try our cuisine, it would be amazing.

Kielyn Gatensby 7:00 That's actually a really good answer, because the next question is, what foods do you make that remind you of home, and where do you purchase your groceries to prepare your traditional meals?

Irene Robalino 7:09 I love to talk about this. I can't make that many dishes, but my favorite that I've learned to make is the Ecuadorian ceviche. So it's like a, it's a cold, shrimp or fish soup, essentially. So it's like, just a combination of shrimp, and fish, and lime, and cilantro, and tomato, and you eat it with plant fried plantain chips. And it's different than like a Peruvian ceviche, or a Colombian or Mexican ceviche, and it's really good. Also, I think one of my favorites that I recently learned is the classic Quiteno dish. So like, from the city I'm from, Quito, and it's just like, like a pork with white corn and these, like potato cakes called Llapingachos and empanadas. And just like...anything with plantain is huge where I'm from, and one of my favorite things to make is fried plantain, or plantain dishes. And in terms of groceries...well, I feel like a lot of ingredients you can only find at Latin markets or Latin grocery stores, and thankfully, there is a lot in Ottawa, actually. So I go to one on Montreal road that's right by my house, and they have like, the white corn that you can only get in Latin America, and they have like, seasonings and plantains that are like green because you can't usually find, like, the fully green plantain at a regular grocery store sometimes, and they just have, like treats and like just random food items that are, like, very nostalgic to where I'm from, yeah.

Mila Shull 8:59 How likely would you and your family be to use the website we are creating for uploading your stories, and how would you use it?

Irene Robalino 9:20 I think my family would probably be likely to use it. I think I grew up with my parents telling me, like, a lot of stories from back home and, like, just like the historical context of my family in Ecuador and everything like that. And I mean, yeah, my dad's a huge storyteller, so I'm sure he would love the opportunity to just talk about his whole history and the culture, and he loves telling people that. So, I think my dad especially would really use a website like that.

Kielyn Gatensby 9:55 Do you have any other comments, and/or concerns?

Irene Robalino 10:00 Religion in Latin America is deeply ingrained into our culture. Most of Latin America is predominantly Catholic, and I think it plays a huge role in our culture and our community and the way we interact with each other, and how everything, like gatherings and get togethers revolve around religious holidays and that culture of religion. For instance, in...for Latinos in Latin America, all religious sacraments are huge moments and like milestones in a community and family. For instance, a baby's baptism, a first communion, or a Catholic wedding. Like, even though a lot of people aren't practicing Catholics, there is still a sense of connection to the religion, just because of how important it is to the culture, how many churches there are all over our countries and our cities, and how it's so important to see your family after Sunday Mass and to see people from your community at Mass like not everybody is practicing, but it is-does play a huge role in the culture and how we interact. Like, you know, Easter is huge, Christmas is huge. All these religious holidays are huge. And I feel like a lot of people feel a connection to the Catholic religion just because of the cultural aspect of it. And yeah, I think that I grew up with that. And, you know, I just feel that connection to it. Like, if I think of religion, my religion, I feel more connected to it just through the memories that I had growing up with my family, going to baptisms, going to weddings, going to celebrations, going to mass, and seeing my family. And, you know, you learn all these like songs that are like Christmas carols when you're young, and like the tradition that it's baby Jesus that brings your gifts on Christmas. And just those things are very like ingrained in us. And it's just like the same with food, and music, and religion. I feel like those are very big factors in the Latin American community that kind of all brings us together and creates like that sense of community.

Original Format

In person

Duration

11 minutes and 51 seconds