Tío Lalo is Mami's uncle. He owns a shop that sells Puerto Rican street food and is famous for his stuffed potato balls. He makes his daughter Gladys peel potatoes and when Negi stays with him, he makes her help. Negi thinks that Tío Lalo purposefully humiliates her when she stays with his family.
Get the entire When I Was Puerto Rican LitChart as a printable PDF.
Tío Lalo Character Timeline in When I Was Puerto Rican
The timeline below shows where the character Tío Lalo appears in When I Was Puerto Rican. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
8. Letters From New York
...Mami reminds Negi that she's staying for a few days. Angelina then leads Negi into Tío Lalo 's store to choose a dessert for dinner. The store is evidently Tío Lalo's domain,...
(full context)
They pray before dinner and then Tío Lalo asks Mami how long she'll be in New York. Negi is in disbelief that Mami...
(full context)
...about potatoes, Negi takes interest. Gladys explains that Negi is here to peel potatoes for Tío Lalo 's famous stuffed potato balls. Negi cries and thinks that this is an intense punishment...
(full context)
When Negi and Gladys finish eating the next morning, Tío Lalo presents them with boiled potatoes and Gladys shows Negi how to properly peel them. Two...
(full context)
9. Casi Señorita
...allows this to go on for a while, but one morning he takes Negi to Tío Lalo 's house to stay. When Negi asks when Mami is coming home, Papi answers as...
(full context)
10. Dreams of a Better Life
When Mami returns for Negi at Tío Lalo 's house, she tells Negi and Angelina that when she returned from New York, she...
(full context)
