Back home, my tíos and tías and primas, Mami and Papi, and mis hermanas had a party for me with sancocho and a store-bought pudí
n, inscribed with Happy Graduation, Julie. There were many gifts – that was a plus to a large family! I got several wallets and a suitcase with my initials and a graduation charm from my godmother and money from my uncles. The biggest gift was a portable typewriter from my parents for writing my stories and poems. Someday, the family predicted, my name would be well-known throughout the United States. I laughed to myself, wondering which one I would go by.
What evidence from the passage best supports the inference that her many names amuse Alvarez?
