{"id":686,"date":"2012-06-21T00:12:33","date_gmt":"2012-06-21T04:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philvelez.com\/blog\/?p=686"},"modified":"2012-06-21T19:57:48","modified_gmt":"2012-06-21T23:57:48","slug":"colombian-adoptees-connect-in-nyc-to-share-their-life-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philvelez.com\/blog\/?p=686","title":{"rendered":"Colombian Adoptees Connect in NYC to Share Their Life Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Colombian adoptees from across the US met in Jackson Heights, Queens to share an incredible personal experience and a wonderfully social time. June, 2012.<\/p><\/div>\n

I had an incredible opportunity earlier this month to meet and interview a phenomenal group of people who were adopted from Colombia and raised by American parents. Thanks to a Facebook Group they met in New York City during the second weekend in June for a momentous occasion. They decided to have dinner at Bogota Latin Bistro in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where I work. I wrote a blog post for the restaurant that I wanted to cross post here. Below are some excerpts:<\/p>\n

Being adopted and choosing to share your life story is a very personal and sometimes painful decision for many adoptees. For some, learning about one\u2019s birth culture can be a lifelong process. For others the desire to connect with people with similar experiences is profound yet not always easy. <\/em><\/p>\n

When an adoptee learns of his\/her birth culture some totally immerse themselves in the culture, while others take their time digesting information. Some just like to keep things the way they are, not learning much about their ethnicity at all. It\u2019s a very personal choice and some adoptees go through different phases of feelings throughout their lives.<\/em><\/p>\n

Some adoptees may feel they are slighting their adoptive parents if they show interest in learning about their birth culture, but others eventually need to know more to fully understand who they are, a process most people go through, whether adopted or not, to truly know themselves.<\/em><\/p>\n

To read the full Bogota Latin Bistro blog post visit Colombian Adoptees Connect in NYC to Share Their Life Stories. <\/a><\/p>\n