I CAN speak English and Spanish!
Fernando Martinez,
McAllen, TX.
Some people assume I don’t speak Spanish because I have light skin. But others assume I don’t speak English when they find out I lived my entire childhood in Mexico and English is actually my second language. Little do they know that I can speak both!
So, did you all eat tacos?
Hilary Salazar,
McAllen, TX.
I attended a middle school with only seven Hispanics/Latinos. One day during 2nd period, the librarian called all seven of us over the intercom to come to the library. I had no idea why, but everyone laughed as I walked out of class. I got to the library along with the other students to find out the librarian had ordered the very first set of Spanish books. She wanted a picture of the seven of us pretending to read them for a picture to put up in the hallway. I let her know that I didn’t know how to read in Spanish, and she ignored me and snapped a photo anyway. Walking back to class, I felt wronged but couldn’t process my feelings. When I got back to class, the first question I was asked was, “So did you all eat tacos?” Those would be the beginning of a long process for me to sort out the feelings I had about my heritage. As a middle-schooler in a school where I wasn’t noticed for my academic achievements, but rather for my skin tone, being Hispanic was difficult. As an adult, being Hispanic is something I am proud of.
Mexican-American, Mexican and always American!
Thelma Garcia,
McAllen, TX.
Thanks to my father (Mexican born) for making me proud to be an American.
No, where are you REALLY from?
Gerard Achilles Obnial,
McAllen, TX.
When I first worked in the hospital, it had always been routine that my patients would ask not for my name or how my day went as was customary (even though I knew that people don’t really want to know) — they would always ask for my age and where I was from.
I could bet a trillion dollars that one of my patients or their relatives would say “You look so young!”
Then they would follow up with “where are you from?”
I knew what that question meant.
Just to tease my patients, I’d always tell them I’m from McAllen, Texas to which they would say, “No, where are you really from?”
My patients are just curious as to what my nationality is. They’d usually say I look Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. Sometimes, they’d say I look Mexican. I always laugh it off because in a year, only 3 patients correctly guessed that I am Filipino.
I don’t really mind. The Philippines is basically a hodgepodge of cultures from the east and west anyway. Whether or not people would find out where I’m from is not my concern, nor would I offended if they ask me. If anything, I think people just ask because they’re curious.. and race is just a man-made concept.
You’re spanish and don’t speak it?
Keatan Oliva,
McAllen, TX.
Growing up near the boarder of Mexico, where I would often cross with my mother to have lunch on weekends, it seemed expected of me to know Spanish fluently. Although I was raised in a town named Rancho Viejo, which might even be considered nearer to Mexico and its culture than McAllen is, I really wasn’t exposed to the Spanish language very often and it never occurred to me that I HAD to learn it growing up. My entire family is bilingual, but even so I was never spoken Spanish to in or outside of the house by them. To add to the lack of exposure outside the natural culture that was all around me, I was defiant in learning Spanish. For some odd reason I just didn’t want to know it and was aware of the fact that I felt I didn’t need or want it. Unfortunately, the older I became the more demanding it got to know the language. A barrier had been created and I was no longer looked at as the young little girl who had time to learn. I was a teenager and eventually a college student who was now looked at differently, almost disrespectfully with surprise. Although I personally feel somewhat left out of the culture around me because I don’t speak Spanish, I know I can become fluent in it with practice. Even though I feel its a stereotype for all Spaniards, Hispanics, Mexicans or what have you’s to be able to speak Spanish, I do feel its probably important for us to learn the language to be better able to communicate and know our culture a bit better.
