In this episode, we explore the journey of food and familial connectivity with Chef Maribel.
Ex-executive chef now teaching virtually home cooking classes covering foods from South America to North America.
Cooking to me is about sharing life experiences and traditions with food. I'm motivated by the stories behind cooking and expressing that story into the flavor of the food. In 2017, my brother and I created Yuyo Peruano restaurant as a celebration of my culinary immersion throughout South America, where I connected with the people and the culinary community from Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and Uruguay. I was recognized by the James Beard Foundation with the Best Chef nomination in 2019.
In this episode, we explore the journey of food and familial connectivity with Chef Maribel.
Ex-executive chef now teaching virtually home cooking classes covering foods from South America to North America.
Cooking to me is about sharing life experiences and traditions with food. I'm motivated by the stories behind cooking and expressing that story into the flavor of the food. In 2017, my brother and I created Yuyo Peruano restaurant as a celebration of my culinary immersion throughout South America, where I connected with the people and the culinary community from Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and Uruguay. I was recognized by the James Beard Foundation with the Best Chef nomination in 2019.
[00:01:54] Nyra: First of all. Thank you, Marbella for just saying yes and glad that it's so [00:02:00] funny that when you start talking to people and listen to it, it's like, wait a minute. She totally should be on my show. And what, so the reason why I was so excited is because you, you know, I try with this, especially with this podcast I'm interviewing expats and all.
[00:02:17] But try to get a variety of professions represented. Yeah. And and you know, there are people out there who just don't know well, when they think of, you know, Oh, you work abroad, are you a teacher? That's the first thing. And yes, it's one of the top jobs. Most people go and that's, what's talked about and most people go abroad to do, but it's not the only way to get abroad. It's not the only one. Job path you can take, there are all these other paths that can lead you to having a global experience and you don't have to be a public entertainer or a public image person or something like that. Some, some wildly famous person to have those experiences. Right? Yeah. So so I love it.
[00:03:08] That you are a chef. Yes. And I've even though I've never experienced any of your food, but I just love talking about food. So let's get started. So tell me who you are, where are you from? And yeah,
[00:03:21] Maribel: so my name is Marbella Ribeiro, and I grew up in San Antonio, Texas. I was born in LA Paz, Bolivia. Because my father is Bolivian and my mother is Mexican American, meaning she's, first-generation Mexican. And she grew up in San Antonio. And my mother also was an ex-pat because she taught English as a second language. Yeah, but she taught like, well, she was a teacher [00:04:00] she's passed. And so is was my father, but she that's how she met my father because in San Antonio there are like four or five military bases.
[00:04:13] So my father was a air force pilot for the Bolivian government. Yeah. And so what they would do is the United States, especially in the seventies, they just started in the seventies. They would train people all over the world, English as a pilot. So they would, they would have stations all over the world, also in the United States, obviously. And San Antonio is one of the stations of course being Latin America, it was really easy to come to San Antonio. And so he was one of her students or he was a student, maybe not one of her students. It's totally it wasn't professional to date, any of the students back then, it was a little bit of a rebel and they would have like dances and stuff.
[00:05:08] So this was 1969, late 1960s. And so they met, they married She was up for getting out of the States and moved to Bolivia in 1970 and had my brother and then had myself. And she got a job as a ESL teacher because she was already teaching English as a second language. And she got a, she got an ESL job with the American school in LaPaz, which is really prestigious. Yeah. I mean, it's like one of the best jobs you could get as an ESL teacher, because as you know You're burning American dollars in a, in the economy of that country. And in [00:06:00] Bolivia, you know, it still is one of the poorest countries. So I mean, she, they were doing pretty well. And my father was starting his career as a, as a pilot.
[00:06:12]So Yeah. So that's how they met. And then they had us and my father passed away early young. And so my mom moved back to the States San Antonio. And, you know, I feel like that always just, my mom would talk about Bolivia and her life and, you know, the life of living in Latin America and how it was so different than the United States, the markets. You know, she would talk about the farmer's markets. And I mean, they're not called farmer's markets are just called the market life to get fresh produce, right. Just to get food. Right. So there were no supermarkets in the 1970s. You have to imagine that's where you got everything, you eat, you know, everything.
[00:07:00] So I would, I grew up with that, like, Romanticism about that. So I knew that the first chance I could get especially it was always a dream to spend my summers. I had godparents who would, we would always keep in touch with not really any well. On my father's side, we did have family, but they didn't really like my mom. So I didn't really know my father's side .
[00:07:25] I tell you
[00:07:29] Nyra: difficult in laws out there. Be nice. Look at you. You, they made somebody fabulous and (word not clear)fabulousness.
[00:07:40] Maribel: Well, you know, it's just it's culture clash. Actually, my mother is American and although she's Latin, it's still worlds apart, you know, once you cross that border of, you know, United States and Mexico, so it's a whole different world and even more so for my [00:08:00] mom, because she was educated, she was, she went to university. My grandfather believed in. Education and betterment of your life through education. So education was a big thing and I don't and being so, and not that my, my father wasn't educated, it's just that he did come from, he basically came from the Amazon and they, you know, he was the oldest and he was a boy.
[00:08:29] So they paid for his education to get His like professional career started in the big city, which is Lopez. Lopez is like there's two capitals in Bolivia LaPaz is the highest city in the world. And it's, it's the where the government is. So that's where he went.
[00:08:48] Nyra: So I just love this theme of education, the generations, and how it is really sincerely up leveling from one generation to the next, a thing that we didn't really talk about heavily, but it was just an unsaid. I don't know if you can feel the same way. Like is it was an unsaid requirement to what wants to do?
[00:09:15] Maribel: Yeah, it was just understood. There would be no reason for my mom passed away when I was 21 and everyone was worried, I wouldn't finish school. And like, that would not, I mean, I would not That would not into my mind, because I just was so ingrained to go to college.
[00:09:33] it's part of our culture now, but even back then, it was just like, no, I'm going to finish. You know that that's ridiculous. How am I not gonna have my my university Education? So I did struggling, but, but yeah, that is so ingrained that it was just part of my, my being. Yeah. And I think that I attribute that to knowing that my grandparents who were [00:10:00] immigrants and you know, somehow, you know, got their children in private school and, you know, university. So that's, that's pretty big for Latin women at that time,
[00:10:14] you're in
[00:10:16] Nyra: school, what are you in school studying?
[00:10:20] Maribel: Well, so when I went to university, I've always been interested in food. My grandfather actually was a cook on the Missouri Pacific train from Mexico all the way up to, it would go to Colorado and then from Colorado, it goes to Chicago. So he could stop in Colorado and come back to Mexico. And then and so he was a cook. He, he learned continental food. And so when he came to the States He opened a a Mexican foods, products company where you get tortillas and you, and they make the like fresh tortillas, corn tortillas, flour tortillas. And at the time in the 1950s, there was not such a thing as tortilla chips, but that didn't exist. Yeah. It's not until actually the 1980s at that became popular.
[00:11:16] And so, you are giving a food history now
[00:11:22] Nyra: I love history, so I always
[00:11:24] Maribel grew up, you know, so he was a good cook. So was my grandmother and my mom learned how to cook. So cooking was definitely big in our family. And I knew I wanted to do something in food, but I didn't like the idea of selling products of food and commercialism, because you're , I didn't like the idea of like so I mean, I thought what my grandfather was doing was good, but like all these other package foods. I just never grew up on and I, that, that was my [00:12:00] only concept of what it is to be in the food industry at the time. So I studied nutrition. I loved learning about food and what it does for your body. And I was really into health in high school. And so my mom's like, I don't know where you got that profession because becoming a dietician was not a thing that was so common.
[00:12:24]So I said he nutrition and then I switched finally to health and wellness. For me, that was a little bit more focused on community outreach. And, and that to me was really how you reach people. And so you know, I had my basics in nutrition, but I actually finished and helped them llamas (word not clear). And then my first ex-pat experience was going to Bolivia because I thought, well, I have all this knowledge, the best way to get a really good job is to work abroad.
[00:12:59] I don't know. I just had it in my head, especially in public health. So I knew that I had people family or people, some kind of family that I could get to know my, my cousins and I knew I had and my aunt that I didn't know. And my godparents that I knew I could go to Lopez and that would be my home base. And there were a lot of nonprofit organizations there. So I, I went there and then I figured out how to volunteer They're in Lopez. And I actually got a volunteering gig, which it's not easy to do. Cause I was like, I was emailing and I'm like, look, I'm just going to go. And I'm going to knock on their door.
[00:13:43] Literally. So I did. And they just were like, well, you know, the, our volunteer positions are like a yearlong project and you're talking about going a couple of months. You can't do that. And I'm like, look, I am Bolivian. And I, you know, I [00:14:00] really wanna do this for getting to know my people, my heritage, and I did it. And so they let you know, there was like an opening and it just so worked out that I went and worked in the mountains and it was actually like a like a public health. It was like teaching women, how to, because the girls were getting pregnant, like at 12 and 13 and they were having a high mortality rate.
[00:14:27] So they were trying to teach them first of all, about sex education. And second, what happens when you get pregnant? So I was helping with that program and that was invaluable experience. And I, again, I got to know about my heritage by, by being in the country of my birth. And then I came back, and they immediately got a job. And then I started working for a nonprofit. My dog is making noises. I immediately started working for a cooking and nutrition program. And I loved it. And from there, I mean, I, I loved it. I really did. We would train the whole focus of that program that still exists here in Austin was to train people who were underserved to have access to fresh produce and to meet them at the farmer's markets and whatever, and, and correlate their access with government funding.
[00:15:29] Now it's called I think snap, but before it was, I think the lone star card and then I loved it. But then my, at the same time, my brother was becoming a restaurateur. It was becoming very successful with his restaurants and like
[00:15:45] Nyra: food was really ingrained in, in the entire family. I mean, y'all were trying to be the, you know, the, the next, you know, Kardashians of food, right.
[00:15:57] Maribel: Yeah. Like I just so happened [00:16:00] that way. Actually. It's just my brother and I. But my cousins on my mom's like maternal site work that into it, but yeah, like my uncle's a food broker for grocery stores. Yeah. So food was definitely,
[00:16:16] Nyra: that's so fascinating. That's so fascinating. So your, your brother you're, you're getting knee deep and further into food. He is a restaurateur, or he's got a a successful restaurant, you know, and
[00:16:33] Maribel: he was opening more restaurants. He had a trajectory to open more restaurants. Wow. I was really intrigued, and I wanted to do something more with food that was like on that side of, of food. So I thought, well, if I'm a part of his restaurant group, I could do in my program, I was doing everything I was wearing like 11 hats. You know, when you're, when you have a community program, you're the PR person, your promotions, your graphic designer, you're the teacher. You're, you're all the things also. I was like, I'm just gonna parlay.
[00:17:08] Cause I, I realized that. I was good at marketing and I had a good basis for marketing to the restaurant. So I, I help them with events and, and catering and things like that. And I just wanted to like, learn more about the restaurant.
[00:17:23] Nyra: Did you go to official like culinary school?
[00:17:26] Maribel: Well, that's what I was about to say
[00:17:30] Nyra: all of these different segues of how you've been building your seating, your skillsets in food and in different arenas and, you know, actually assisting a community. Yeah. But I said, but did you get formalized training?
[00:17:46] Maribel: I did. So I realized that I could go one of two ways. I could, I could get my. Graduate degree in public health. I could get a graduate degree in marketing, [00:18:00] or I could really just utilize what I was already doing, like teaching people about food and cooking, and I loved it and I wanted to do it on my own. I could go to culinary school, but culinary school is super expensive. Like it's, especially at one of our like the most famous, which would be the culinary Institute of America, which was founded in New York, Hyde park in the 1950s after world war two. And you know, it's like the most prestigious that's where all the famous chefs have gone.
[00:18:38] Anthony Bordain. I mean, the list goes on and on. So they were opening a campus here in San Antonio with the funding and the I guess what's the word? Not the restaurateur but with the funding and the influence in San Antonio with there's, this guy made a lot of money with the salsa called paste, the contest (word not clear) salsa. And he, he really wanted something like the CIA in San Antonio to bridge the gap between Latinos who are always working at the bottom in the kitchen, but never really get up to the top as an executive chef. So they were giving it so. Anyways, he got the CIA to come to San Antonio. They open a campus it's 2008, 2007, I think, or 2008 that they open, and they didn't have that many students.
[00:19:31] So they were offering like almost a hundred percent scholarship. So I, it was like, it was 2009, 2010. My brother's like, you know, you're a good cook. Why don't you consider that program? And, you know, we can figure it out. So I did, I did it and I got my basics. And then from there they were offering, ultimately the goal of that campus was to really focus on Latin [00:20:00] cuisine, like get your basics. And then here's this program on all of Latin America. So they had, I was one of the first that did this prototype program where they brought chefs top chefs from Peru, from Brazil, from Mexico.
[00:20:18] Nyra: I was thinking like, how do you create a program? Well, cause that's, that's a wide, wide, wide net. You'll be there for your programs. It feels like
[00:20:33] Maribel: it could be. So they really did their research. They got as much. Recipes and focus and each country as they could, some countries are a lot less like maybe two weeks, but like Mexico was a whole month. Peru was a whole month. And, and so that's, so I you know, they're like, you know, you'd be really good fit. And so I was like, Okay. So I really didn't plan on that, but it just kind of worked on the timing. I was just finishing my basics are like it's a hundred percent covered because they knew that once you've been as your basics, that how could they attract more people into this program? So it was a very small group.
[00:21:17] And like I said, they brought top chefs from Peru and in Argentina. And so. I then I was like, Oh my God, I gotta go. I gotta go back. I gotta go to the motherland. And then from there, I'm going to do my own cook store and just, you know, seek out those chefs and cook with them in their restaurants because they had legit established restaurants and they were doing innovative stuff for that. Even their country.
[00:22:45] Going to work with the chef. Who's, who's really big in any country, you know, they have what they call here you would call it internship there. It's called a stodgier and a stodgier is someone who works for free and you're working for free because you're working for like a really known well known chef who has like innovative cuisine and you want to be in that part. So they have all these stodgier so even to get in that, working for free is hard, but I already had a connection with them. Cause you know, they came to our program and we had, we would spend like a week with them and they get to know this and they're excited. So, I mean, I just already had an immediate, and so I thought, why not just go to them? They're not going to say no, if you knock on their door. Cause I had already had that notion in my head and that's what I did.
[00:23:47] I planned; I sold all my stuff. I sold my car. I sold everything I could to raise money. And I traveled not knowing what, [00:24:00] not really with the intention of opening a restaurant, but my intention was to learn about food. And from there it would evolve into something and it was already starting to evolve. And so when my goal was to do one year one year turned to three years, And I did, the majority of my focus in Peru
[00:24:21] Sometimes traveling
[00:24:22] Nyra: requires you know, planning and, you know, especially if you're looking to do something, but you're carving out, you're taking a chance on you and you're giving out a pathway for you know, this passion that you have for food and for this passion that you have for Latin food. Yeah. Specifically,
[00:24:44] Maribel I mean, I didn't have it as much before, but after this program I was like, usually what happens? Especially if you're classically trained, meaning the basics of being a chef do start from France and Europe, because they have so much more years in terms of professionally. Presenting food, you know, starting with the Royals, and anything. And then from there, it's really the culture of hotels and whatever. So that's what I did. And, usually students want to go to Europe to cook in Italy or Spain or France.
[00:25:31] Nyra: That's why, you know, with food it's such a good it, a history, historical reminder of how people migrate and how people move because there You know, their taste buds, their senses, their aesthetics, you know, to the place, you know, their traditions, their culture, their food culture, and their food traditions to another place. They don't leave with that. That's the connective [00:26:00] bond. Right. So I keep hearing that you keep going to Bolivia. Bolivia is clearly home for you.
[00:26:06] Maribel It's definitely a second home, you know? Yeah, I am American, but you know, I thought, well, if this presidents and (word not clear), you know, emotion, I'll just go, you know, I have dual citizenship there and Well, anyways, so for me, most, most classically trained students want to go to Europe and I, after doing the Latin cuisine program, I was like, well, I just have to go to my roots. I have to connect with these chefs. I kept saying it without a plan. And then it just things started falling into place. I saw an article in the New York times of this famous, famous chef from Denmark who was opening a like you know, really revolutionary restaurant and Lopez. And why was he opening a restaurant in Lopez?
[00:27:02] That was really interesting. So I thought, Oh my God, I could just knock on their door and be a part of their program. I'm, you know, I have a wealth of knowledge. I'm also older. I wasn't younger and actually that's an advantage. So. That's what I did, you know, I emailed them, I thought, okay, I can see, I can stay with, by this time I had got like the first time I'd gone to Bolivia, I had met my cousins for the first time. This time we kept in contact, thank God through instant messenger and then Facebook and so on. And so this time around I could stay with them, you know, and then figure something out and. And then go from there. And so I did, I ended up working with this restaurant. They contracted me; I went through a whole contract process as though I were Bolivian citizen because I was. They had a certain amount of money set [00:28:00] aside for ex-pats and how they could pay them.
[00:28:03] But they , because I had Bolivian citizenship, they could pay me as a Bolivian, which was. They didn't pay me the Bolivian rate. They actually paid me, you know, like a little bit more than that because of my experience. But you know, it wasn't like, it was, it was good for the economy of the country. So. I had a contract for six months and that was perfect because after that I was like, well, I want to go, you know, still travel. So that's what I did. And it just snowballed.
[00:28:35] Nyra: And now was that a negotiated contract or was that just what they offered? Six months. And you just said, Oh, sure. That's perfect.
[00:28:43] Maribel: Yeah, that was actually perfect because I didn't negotiate the time. I might've, I tried to negotiate a little bit of the money. I but the time was perfect because I didn't want to be in Bolivia forever. It was just like my, let me sort myself out and then I'm going to see what I need to do to go to Peru.
[00:29:04] Nyra: Yeah, for sure. So I hear the trajectory, your career trajectory very clearly what I want to tap into is what's happening with Maribel internally to all of this. How, for instance, you know, you're back in Bolivia, even though you're American, there is a, is there a conflict in how you see yourself?
[00:29:34] Maribel Hm. I was so this is definitely the basis for a book, you know, that I had wanted to do ever since I got back because, you know, hindsight and, you know, in reflection, I realized that I was rediscovering and connecting with my mother. And like I said, she passed when I, when I was 21. So it already been like, you know, 10, 15 years that she had passed when I was [00:30:00] there. And I didn't realize that I was really just kind of processing my mom's passing and experiencing a country as old as she was when she was there. So I definitely had a coming home, a feeling. Without realizing that that was home as well.
[00:30:27] Nyra: Those points in our lives that, you know, we're constantly evaluating and reflecting and trying to research within ourselves. What is our next moves? Who are we? What are we doing? What's our contribution? How do you want to contribute? Those questions never go away. They, they go with you no matter where you are on the planet. You know, they were with you and they are begged to be, you know, they begged to be answered and they want to be answered no matter where you are to be answered no matter where you are.
[00:31:00] Maribel: So I that's why I highly, you know, I highly wish that people would send their kids abroad in high school or whatever, because even though they're. Maybe in a broad program or something, or if you never had that opportunity, then get yourself abroad because there's nothing like learning life skills in another country that you're not a part of. And we all know this as ex-pats, but yeah, I was in a very uncomfortable setting. I was sick. You know, the access to our comfortability is not there.
[00:31:41] And you just make do. You appreciate with what you do have? And you appreciate the people that are super kind. And, you know, I started, I could see how my mom created a network of people that maybe she was frustrated. My so. My, my mom, [00:32:00] my, my father had his copilot and he still lives. And I would get together with him and talk about my mom. I would talk about my father or he would, and he would share stories and we would have coffee and, you know, live the Latin life. I had the luxury to do that because, you know, I had. I had this job, but before I got that job, I kind of gave myself like three months to kind of settle in and you know, being American, it's all about rush, rush, rush, get the job, get the, but the whole purpose of that trip was to rediscover yourself, what can you do and find new opportunities.
[00:32:44] And you can't just do that by like, forcing it and you just, sometimes you just have to let it be. And a lot of things happen that way for me. So I met, I met in Lopez in the restaurant I was working for it's called goose stew. They had, they were really connected and trying to revolutionize the food scene. There was no food scene. They created it. They created, you know, food festivals. And I, from there, people in other parts of Latin America were coming and celebrating what they were doing. And from there I met this American, so my, the heir(word not clear), who was the director of the restaurant there. For the number one restaurant, and that was in Lima.
[00:33:30] And you know, of course we connected because we were American. And then when I was moving to Peru, I was like, I don't know anybody. I had no contacts on. And I just happened to send him an email. And I said, do you know, I'm realizing that people that, like, if I want to live in a safe area, I'm going to have to rent a room. Do you know of any places that are available? And he's like, well, I live in this house past three years. It's a big house. [00:34:00] They have a room available. Let me ask for you. So just from my like meeting him and actually he was sick in Lopez because what happens is it's the highest city in the world. You can get, you can get Well, people have adverse reactions with altitude, right.
[00:34:17] And so he was sick. And so I made it a point of like taking without, without having any notion that I would see him again or anything. I just like, let me go get that for you. Cause I know, you know, like once, you know, once you're living abroad, you're like, you know what it is to need help and whoever, if you can help anybody, you do it. So this is hindsight, as I realize that he just immediately vouched for me with his With the owners of the house. And I got my place to stay. They're wonderful people. It was a beautiful home. He became a friend and great contact to meet other people because he was rooted in the best restaurant. It's one of the best restaurants in the world.
[00:35:04]The, you know, the chef. But anyway, so long story short, you never know who you meet when you just put yourself out there abroad and you think you don't know anyone, but it only takes one person and it will snowball before you realize it. And it did. My brother was like, he was scared even though I'm a grown ass woman, sorry,
[00:35:31] I'm a grown woman. I'm 37 when I went. You know, he was just like you don't know anybody, Peru, Peru, Lima is 20 million people. It's a big metropolis and you have to have your wits about you. It's like, you know, it's no joke.
[00:35:51] Well, there's
[00:35:52] Nyra: some places that, you know, it's like, you know, some places I didn't know that you had to, you can negotiate everything and it requires a [00:36:00] certain disposition of certain posture.
[00:36:02] Maribel: It's all about posture. It's all about like, so by this time I had not only worked in Lopez. Which is kind of like a small community. I also I had the opportunity in time. Once my contract ended, it was perfect. It had already been eight months since I was in Lopez. And then from there, a friend of mine was doing the same thing. He, well, he's actually my brother's friend, but I knew him. He was doing the same thing. He sold all his stuff. And was working abroad, but he was a graphic designer, so he could work from anywhere. So he happened to be in bono Citus (word not clear), and I'm like, Oh my God, I didn't, this wasn't even on my plan. So it's Bolivia and then Argentina.
[00:36:52] Okay. And, and Uruguay is like adjacent to Argentina and the shelf that. I had worked with that. It's shown me about Argentina and food had a restaurant in Uruguay on the beach and I was like, oh my God, I'm going to come visit you. And then I'm going to go see if I can do a stodgier with this chef at his restaurant and just be there and learn. So I did that, but I traveled, I didn't go because I wanted to see the country of Bolivia, which I had not all seen. So I went by train and bus, you know, by land and that's huge. Like that's a big feat to do as a woman on your own in Latin America. However, I'm five, seven. I'm not tiny, you know, I've got big curly hair and I've got wide hips and, you know, I could squash these people.
[00:37:55] That's how I feel. So I was fine and they just look at you with the [00:38:00] amazement that you're traveling. I also had a big suitcase because I didn't imagine that I would be doing this, but I took everything I had with me in this big suitcase, on a train, on a bus and, and cross the border from. So I would stop in different places in Bolivia. And then I crossed the border and that was like kind of scary to cross any country border is always precarious. You have to know where to cross. And I had done, thankfully there's like all these blogs that, you know, give you all this stuff, information
[00:38:37] Moving about Bolivia.
[00:38:38] Nyra: You're learning about yourself. You're learning about your country more dearly. Yeah. You're, you're, you're realizing that, you know, and you, you can find this in many different countries where people do not leave their community. Like they stay in their community. So when they see a foreigner come through, it's like, What are you doing?
[00:38:57] Maribel: You know, like, and, and the country and the country that you're visiting is like the United States in the sense that there's not one town alike there they're like worlds apart, almost speak the different languages. Absolutely. Yeah. they look similar, but their traditions are rooted in different influences. And that's how Bolivia is. They have the Amazon; they don't have the only thing they don't have is the ocean. They don't have a water access. There are landlocked country. However, they have the Amazon, they have the Andes mountains. They have the lowlands. They have the desert; they have one of the largest salt Salt flats in the world. And then they have like beautiful country land.
[00:39:49] Nyra: That's amazing traveling, but I want to tap into, because this is the reason why I was so excited that you said you had cooked for yes. Yeah. Tell me [00:40:00] how that happened.
[00:40:02] Maribel: I don't think people realize how easy it is to well, Bolivia is a small country in the sense that it's a big country, but it's also a very small country in the sense that in Lopez, the embassy, the us embassy is a smaller embassy. And because I was working for a very prestigious restaurant, I mean, everyone knew about it only. Usually it was like a restaurant in Lopez that foreigners would go to, or maybe higher echelon of people would go to ex-pat diplomats and whatever. Right. So they contracted, they had, you know, as somebody had asked.
[00:40:45] The chefs at the restaurant goose stew, if they would be interested in like contracting out some of their shops to do an event for them. And they were doing like a Thanksgiving party, well, this guy, so that's how that works. you know, I they the head chef at the restaurant was like, okay, I have these two people. So I am, I was a trained chef at the time. And then I also was helping with catering events and whatever. And then there was this other girl who actually was trained at the CIA as well. And she had been working at the restaurant. So we did this event. It was huge. It was like 800 people. We made 500 Turkey sandwiches.
[00:41:33] We cooked 20 turkeys and you know, like, and the guy, we had three people and he really didn't fathom how much. I mean, he was doing it on a budget, and I was like, dude, we need more people. It was kind of a, it was almost a disaster because they definitely ran out of food. There was enough food, but not really. So [00:42:00] anyways, that's how that happened. And because I did that event. Because I had his contact when I went to Peru, I said, Hey, can you give me a referral or contact in Peru? Because I'd like to see if I can do persona Cheffing for anybody in, in Lima. Right. So he's like, okay. So he sent an email, I got a contact.
[00:42:27]I presented myself, like I went there and introduced myself and I talked to like the community organizer who would send newsletters out to the diplomats and their spouses. And I, and then it was really in Lima that I worked a few personal Cheffing gigs, and these are people who are diplomats and they have people over for dinner and you do a dinner. So.
[00:42:56] Nyra: That's that's awesome. And then, you know, making contacts, you know networking, building relationships, I mean, these are things that most people probably don't realize how valuable it is until it's valuable. Right.
[00:43:12] Maribel And so it never hurts to ask it. Never, it never hurts to ask. You never know who you meet. Right. Always treat people like it's an interview. Because your impression is so important, your word is so important. If you say you're going to do something, you better do it. Like your life depends on it. And it could be as simple as like somebody invites you to their house and you say, you're going, and you don't go. And you don't no-show, that's just not cool. One because you're in somebody else's country and they're inviting you to their house or two, because like, it's just. Your word is everything. Your word is everything. And the very smallest ways. And [00:44:00] it's why, it's how I got a community of people. Even though I am Latin descent, there I am as white American as to them.
[00:44:11] I'm a green guy (word not clear). What they would call somebody and but that's how, that's how I was able. I, I, that's how I was able to build a community until this until this day. You know, I can, I want to do a few videos and go the Lima. I want to go back to Bolivia. I have enough contacts to reroute myself and do something like a nice project.
[00:44:34] Nyra: How have you used you kind of already answered it? I mean, you kind of been, you, you did it, but I'm going to ask you more formally. How have you used your passport for change?
[00:44:48] Maribel: Right, my passport for change? Well, you know, just having dual citizenship honoring, that was a big thing because I could have become a resident in Lima because they have this connection with Bolivia Peru, Argentina. Anyways, they have like this thing where all you have to do is show your passport and then you can be a resident, which means you, you can earn dollars and contract yourself like legit. You can live there legit legitimately. But if I didn't have that, I mean, yeah, my American passport gets you anywhere and it's just a matter of taking the chance and people, especially in Latin America are much nice. I mean, Bolivia was actually really safe. It's everyone keeps to themselves. They're very considerate and I could definitely for change. I could definitely communicate to anybody to my cousins for any kind of [00:46:00] help by just going there, you know, family wise to going to this restaurant and if they needed anything I, you know, was in contact with them in, in Peru, I.
[00:46:13]If they needed something, they, they like the people I met in Lopez to these are kids that were working in the restaurant. They knew I was in, in, in Lima. And if they needed anything, they knew that they could call me. I had, you know, they don't ask, but you always offer. And it, it you know, you have these lifelong connections with, without you realizing
[00:46:39] Nyra: there as a, so what I hear is that you were there as a resource. Yeah. And because of your, because of your presence in your, you know, in your resource, in that dual citizenship and what it's providing you that they feel a certain connection to you because as a native, but also understanding that you're a little bit more than a native that allows you to have access and that access could be beneficial to helping the current environment that you're in Bolivia, you know to get better.
[00:47:11] Maribel: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And the smallest of ways and could be in the biggest of ways and not just monetary, you know, monetarily, it could just be, Hey, do you know about this and, and different things, or do you know anybody who knows about something? You know, like I was definitely conscious of my privilege in that aspect. Yeah.