Maria's Blog

Who are you?

Yes, I speak Spanish... I celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December at midnight... I love to dance and most of my family lives in South America.
But.. I look like a regular 'American' ..
The trouble arises here, because my ethnicity is regularly questioned. Just because I look a certain way, it doesn't mean that I am not Latino. I have to argue my way and prove myself almost every time I encounter a.... "You say you are Peruvian.. but why how come you are white?". These questions do not come from a certain group of people, but Hispanics also ask me this.. A LOT.
Being Latino means a lot of things to me. Although I look a certain way, in my heart I know where I came from. I have seen all aspects of Peru. I have been to Cusco, the ghettos in Lima (called 'invasiones' or 'pueblo joven'), shopped at the common market (yes, the ones where the whole chickens and cow legs hang), attended a Catholic school, learn all the dances to the songs that are popular or 'de moda' and visited the little town in la selva (or jungle of Northern Peru) where my family came from (A town that my great grandmother lived in, the small city where my grandparents fell in love that had no electricity, a central square and people played soccer barefoot and swam in the river for fun).

So.. yes, I am proud to be who I am and will always be. In all, I am also an American, but I come from the southern hemisphere of the Americas. It does not mean that I have to look a certain way, because the beauty of being Latino (as a good friend once told me) is that we all come in different shapes, color and sizes.
The lesson here is this:
If you ever come close to someone who speaks Spanish, and for some reason does not 'look the part' ... PLEASE don't ask them why the look the way they do, and don't stare at them as if they were a freak show. Just be aware that your comments, as harmless as they may be, they can be taken the wrong way.. and you may be subjected to a history lesson on South American immigration. If the latter one happens, then you may have come across me.

posted by Maria @ 9:43 PM