Ep. 41: Merendiando with Mela Pabón
November 4, 2020
“You have to do it until you get the answer you want.” -Mela Pabón
This week’s guest is Mela Pabón, a Puerto Rican improviser, writer, illustrator and astrologer who has garnered almost a million followers on Instagram with her digital monthly horoscopes and illustrated art.
In this Spanglish interview we talked about Puerto Rican slang, Mela’s connection to Latin culture while living in a US colony, and creating and running her own brand.
Show Notes
- Mela’s instagram @checkinmela, where you can find her Bola Magica / Magic 8 Ball filter
- Non Gratas, Mela and Patricia Tab’s bilingual improv comedy duo
- The Jones Act or the Cabotage Law which controls shipping to and from Puerto Rico
- Madame Mela’s Boricua Glossary. Boricua is a word used to describe someone from Puerto Rico, derived from the Taino name for the island, Borikén
- Celia Cruz, a Cuban singer known as the Queen of Salsa
- Mela’s Meriendia: the Merengue song A’ Güiro’ by Rafa Pabön. Perfect for Christmas, and any occasion you want to dance at!
All Merendiando episodes are in Spanglish, English, or Spanish. New episodes of Radio Aluna Theatre are released on Wednesdays. Follow and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
Radio Aluna Teatro is produced by Aluna Theatre with support from the Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Metcalf Foundation.
Aluna Theatre is Beatriz Pizano & Trevor Schwellnus, with Sue Balint; Radio Aluna Theatre is produced by Monica Garrido and Camila Diaz-Varela.
For more about Aluna Theatre, visit us at alunatheatre.ca, follow @alunatheatre on twitter or instagram, or ‘like’ us on facebook.