Friends, colleagues, comrades, all beautiful…

Foreign women in a country that kindly embraces diversity. Two things bind us: the greatness of our hearts and our mother language Spanish.

Our first members met through their kid’s activities (sports, parks, libraries, etc.) or simply by recognizing their mother language when at a store or just walking by.

The group activities began in April 2010 with our first ever “Property Exchange”, a fun, fresh and spontaneous event in which we traded clothing, toys, books, decoration and more, in a casual atmosphere with a coffee aroma in the air.

We were left with a desire of meeting again, and so we did. Many of us are business owners and a “bazaar” was organized. After that, a long exchange of emails took place to praise and thank everyone for such a wonderful activity, and we just continued to use this channel to stay connected. We used emails to ask questions and exchange references: who knows a good mechanic or air conditioner technician? Who cleans carpets? Anyone need any aid with moving?, and so much more. But there was a specific question that I believe marked the history of our group: “Who knows where to buy good Arepas in Charlotte?” A barrage of answers was sent and being that more than one country has arepas in their cuisine, an arepas throw-down was called and so "the arepazo" tradition began. It was followed by "the empanadazo", more property exchanges, more bazaars...

Many of our "Maris" have day jobs that didn’t allow them to come to the events. None the less, they followed everything through our chain of emails. It was in their honor that we had a “Maris of the night" gathering. It was held at one of our group member’s home and wine replaced coffee. Again, we chatted, laughed, shared and sat in a circle for what was our first “round table”. We introduced ourselves and shared a little bit about us. We began to put faces and names together.

Our group started to grow when friends of friends wanted to be part of this adventure. Today we have more than 100 members and comprise artists, jewelers, bakers, photographers, interpreters, entrepreneurs, and dance and yoga instructors, to mention a few. We meet once a month, have a book club, join as a group in organized walks and keep in touch via email and Facebook. We have a social works Committee that allows us to help people in need and, thanks to the many talents within our group, we are here now with this newborn web page.

We should also mention that one fine day we decided to have a co-ed meeting and invited our husbands (Mari’os). It was nice to see how they bonded and that the camaraderie between them has led them to meet occasionally on their own.

We got our little miracle right here in Charlotte. Our group has grown and with it great friendships have formed. It is common now to have coffee with one or two, knowing that others are having lunch or a playdate, developing personal relationships and getting closer to each other. Even so, our monthly collective gatherings are “sacred”, since they allow us to keep the essence of our purpose.

We all feel the same force when we share, help or stay with those who need it the most. Great women with intrinsic strength and energy, almost electric. Free spirits that chose to be here! Some spontaneous, some timid, some outgoing, some that in their silence brighten up the room. All, wonderful women!

Luisa Garcia

     Fundadora