Corazon's Cafe by Judith Cofer

I assumed that this story line followed that of the woman described in the poem from the "Latin Deli" collection that we read for class yesterday. I appreciated that the short story gave more background to the subjects and the deli itself exploring the way in which the owners and the neighborhood interacted to build and grow the store. I noticed a lot of attention given to gender roles in Corazon's story from the very beginning of her life. Corazon's relationship with Manuel's mother was one of tradition and gave insight into her heritage as she cared for her in her poor health and learned domestic skills in the home and kitchen. She is meant to serve her elders and her husband, although they seem to have a mutualistic understanding of the fact that they consider themselves to be a more equal partnership than others. She has a similar understanding with Innocencia of the role that gender plays in their relationship due to their different backgrounds. I particularly liked the story line containing Innocencia because I thought it gave a more personal and relatable depiction of two foreigners struggling to establish themselves in a foreign setting and simultaneously holding on to their idea of "home" and tradition through the food and the store.