[dropcap size=big]I[/dropcap]f you’ve ever been to a fiesta Latina, you might’ve noticed that the matriarca usually eats last. She spends the bulk of the evening making sure everyone is fed, comfortable and satisfied. When the dust has settled, you might find her in a corner, eating a cold plate of carne asada, exhausted but content. That’s how I found Cynthia Gonzalez about an hour after her inaugural ¡Chévere! event had ended, only with a plate of pupusas and a Corona. It was her first meal of the day.
“This is just the beginning, setting the foundation, connecting each one of us,” Gonzalez said. “We’re all little unicorns, but we’re here. It’s just that we don’t know about each other.”
Happiness and pupusas aplenty defined the vibe on one recent boiling-hot afternoon at The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, for the first-ever ¡Chévere! The event was hosted by Salvies Who Lunch, a new networking platform that aims to empower the Salvadoran community by highlighting role models. The group was founded by Gonzalez, who is operations manager for Lil’ Libros, as well as a culture writer and poet.