About Me

Introduction

Allow me to begin my first post by providing you with a short autobiography of myself. I was born and raised in the city that never sleeps, the Big Apple, New York. I grew up in the Bronx during the 70's and 80's. It was a great time in history. New York City is the birthplace of Hip-Hop culture. A culture that is seen and felt on a global scale. Fortunately, I was not only privy to the inception of Hip-Hop culture, but I was also a big part of it.

Being raised by a Puerto Rican mother, I often identified myself as a New Yorican. A Puerto Rican raised in New York City. It wasn't until later in life that I accepted my father’s Ecuadorian heritage. This realization is why I decided to use the blogger name, The Latin American Vegan. Nevertheless, we'll get into the name and the reasons for starting this blog later down the line in future posts. 

Growing up in the Bronx, the only topic I heard concerning education was about finishing high school and earning a diploma. So, that is exactly what I did. After graduating high school, however, I was accepted into several universities. Then again, I was a decent student during my youth. Nevertheless, college life wasn't for me at the time. Thus, I decided to leave college and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. My mother was so proud of me. 

The Greatest Loss of My Life

She loved being able to tell people that her son was a sailor. Unfortunately, her days of telling stories about me didn't last too long. Shortly after enlisting in the Navy, my mother was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. Although I was away at my duty station, Jacksonville, Florida, when my mother was diagnosed, the Navy was able to transfer me to a reserve naval station in the Bronx, where I was able to spend the remaining days of my mother's life with her. I will forever be grateful for the support I received from the military in this humanitarian effort. 

After my mother's death, I made a decision to leave the military to take care of my younger brother, who was only thirteen at the time. Having left the military, I decided to return back to school, but it didn't take again. This time, it wasn't cause I wanted to leave school by choice. Something marvelous had occurred. I was about to become a father for the first time in my life and needed to go to work to take care of my parental responsibilities. Shortly after my first son was born, my family and I made a decision to leave New York City. We decided to move to the Motor City, Detroit, Michigan. Regrettably, we arrived in Detroit in the early 1990's, during the decline of the city. After doing a few odd jobs, I was able to find work as a court security officer at the 36th District Court in Detroit. While working at the courthouse, my heart was yearning for something more. 

Shift in Careers

While working at the courthouse, I went to school to become an emergency medical technician (EMT). I worked and went to school full-time. As I was just about to finish the EMT program, I decided to go straight into the advanced emergency medical technician (paramedic) program. I continued to work and go to school full-time for approximately another year after finishing the basic EMT program. Long story short, I finished the program. However, before I finished, I applied for a paramedic job with the Detroit Fire Department (DFD). By the grace of the Almighty, I was able to gain rightful employment with the DFD, EMS Division. Thereafter, I worked for the DFD for exactly three years before accepting a job in the Middle East. I have tons of stories about my life as a Detroit paramedic; however, this topic is not the theme of this blog. I may decide to blog about it if anyone is ever interested in it. Anyway, moving right along.

In 2002, I started working as a paramedic for one of the largest and most well-known healthcare systems in the Middle East. Of course, being from America, I thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Oh boy, did I find out the hard way that this wasn't the case, but we'll leave that for a future blog post. After working for nearly five years without much change in routine or position, I had an epiphany. I started to see matters from a whole different perspective. I learned, after many years, that things were not always as they may have seemed. Issues in this part of the world had to be approached and handled in a culturally appropriate manner, which until then, I refused to accept. Needless to say, once I wholeheartedly accepted culturally different viewpoints, my professional life improved. I was promoted from a paramedic to team leader, then to operations officer, and finally to section head of a whole different service altogether. That's me in the white shirt as the operations officer of the ambulance services.

Continued Professional Development

As mentioned above, when I first arrived in the Middle East, I came solely with paramedic credentials. Since being in the Middle East, I have acquired my critical care paramedic certification from the Medical College of Georgia now called Augusta University, a Bachelor of Science in Health Professions from Excelsior College, and a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from Southern New Hampshire University. Well, I believe this segment is enough to give you a glimpse into my humble yet happy life. Next, I will provide you with the reasoning behind me becoming The Latin American Vegan in my upcoming blogs, along with handy information on where to buy food items and which restaurants offer vegan options in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Yeah, now you know which Middle Eastern country I work and reside in at the moment. Cheers!

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