HanaHuaWa


HanaHuaWa explores dual identities and the tension between cultural heritage and present surroundings. Each curated article reflects the experience of balancing different worlds—whether it's being split between two cultures, places, or identities. 

From navigating immigrant life, racial or cultural differences, to appreciating the richness of both worlds, these stories emphasize the importance of community, identity, and belonging while embracing the complexities of living between two or more realities.

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Entre Alturas
Between Heights

Issue 01 Article 02


Entre Alturas
Between Heights
Higuel Peña
I grew up where the streets hum

con merengue y bachata,*
with merengue and bachata

where abuelas* sit on stoops,
grandmothers

fanning themselves under the summer heat,

and the smell of café bustelo

floats out of every window,

like a daily offering to the sky.



"Ven pa’cá!"* mi mamá calls from the window,                
Come here

her voice cutting through the rhythm of the block.

But I'm too busy

running with the kids down the street,

jumping between English and Spanish

como si fuera lo más natural,*      
as if it were the most natural thing

like switching between the two

was just breathing.



Los carritos de fritura* sizzle on the corner,                   
The frying carts

the air thick with the scent of empanadas,

while taxis zoom by,

yellow flashes against the red brick buildings

stacked high, like the dreams

of everyone who came here

looking for más.



Aquí,* Washington Heights is a world,  
Here

un universo en sí mismo,*    
a universe in itself

where the beat of the city mixes

with the voices of tíos y primos,*        
uncles and cousins

where “oye, primo”* yells across Broadway    
Hey, cousin

like a bridge connecting us

all the way back to Santo Domingo.



And though the buildings tower over us,

grises, fríos,*
gray and cold

we find color in the murals,

the ones painted with hands

that knew struggle,

knew home was more than just a place.

Aquí, the island lives in every bodega,

in the loud domino games at the park,

in the laugh of a neighbor,

rolling loud like waves.



En la escuela,* they asked us    
At school

to choose—

between English y español,

between aquí o allá,*            
here or there

but we just laughed,

porque somos ambos,*  
because we are both

born between two places,

raised on concrete but with roots

in palm trees and playas.*          
beaches



"Un chin más",*        
just a little more

my mamá would say,

adding another spoonful of arroz*    
rice

to my plate,

as if the food could fill

the spaces between my two selves.



The George Washington Bridge glows at night,

its lights flickering like stars,

and I think of how it connects us—

one side to Manhattan,

the other to our memories,

las historias de los que llegaron antes.*          
the stories of those who came before



We grew up here,

entre sueños y realidad,*  
between dreams and reality

where the Heights held us close,

even when the world seemed too big,

too fast,

and we learned to make it ours,

a mix of island soul

and city grit.


Candido Bido – Morning Walk (Paseo de la Mañana), 1979
Musicos. Leopoldo Perez 1964
Cabeza de negro. Luis Desangles 1915
Abelardo Rodríguez Urdaneta. "Miseria Humana
Paisaje argelino. Arturo Grullon 1897.



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A Word from the Founder

Hello,
My name is Tina Cho, a Senior at Phillips Academy Andover with an academic interest in language and identity. As a Korean American student whose first language is Korean, I grappled with suppressing my accented English when I first arrived. However, after embracing my unique tongue, including the unintended mixing of Korean and English while speaking, I saw that my accent and mixed-use language embody the different parts of who I am as a person. I started this magazine to showcase the unique beauty of mixed-English language and the identities they represent, so that readers and potential contributors can do the same. I hope you enjoy each of the individual works and the stories they hold, as they express small, nuanced slices of our immensely rich world.

- Tina Cho, Andover ‘25