rice and beans is named after gallopinto, a traditional Central American dish you can have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Like the dish, this monthly morning radio show is meant to accompany you through the day, offering comfort and connection.

With nostalgic sounds and musical storytelling, the show highlights migrant selectors based in Germany, exploring memory, identity, and belonging.

Hosted by azulado, co-founder of Gatxs and organizer based in Leipzig.

Inspired by classic Christmas compilations in Latin America, and by the nostalgia this time of year brings once you leave home — as well as by the new meaning your chosen family gives it — the first half of the show focuses on alternative Christmas carols in Spanish, alongside well-known songs mainly from Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Spain.

The second half of the show is curated by Zelvatica, born in Venezuela and raised in Tenerife, and now based in Leipzig — co-founder of Gatxs and a dear friend who has shown me what home away from home can be. It centers on gaita, a folk music genre from the state of Zulia, Venezuela, which became a symbol of Christmas. Although it is played year-round, gaita is characterized by its vibrant rhythm (6/8 or 3/4), call-and-response vocals, and a distinctive instrumentation that includes the cuatro, charrasca, maracas, drums, and furruco, telling everyday and Christmas-related stories.

“This is the music that was playing while I was growing up in Venezuela. It takes me back to being a little kid, waking up to loud music first thing in the morning — my parents dancing abrazaditos in the living room, my mom cooking in the kitchen. For me, Christmas was always about joy and noise, people dancing, neighbors coming together for the holidays. As a contrast, I also brought some Christmas songs that became part of my Christmas after I arrived in Tenerife.”