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Daughter of two Culturas - A Story
Phoenix, Arizona – Since I can remember I have always wondered
why in my casa we do things differently than some of my friends. Like
take last Christmas, I went over to my friend’s house and her family
was having a wonderful ham and all the trimmings dinner.
At my casa I had helped my mami make tamales the night before. All
my tíos, tías, primos and abuelos from Mexico came and on Christmas
Eve we opened and exchanged our gifts at midnight. My friend
doesn’t open hers until Christmas Day when she gets up. Then on
Cinco de Mayo we throw a huge fiesta and we celebrate it like the
americanos celebrate the Fourth of July.
I enjoy all the holidays and how we celebrate them, because we
celebrate the American and Mexican ones, but just once on my
birthday I wish my familia would sing a song my friends know like
“Happy Birthday to you” instead of “Las Mañanitas.”
Last night I finally got the courage to ask my parents why it is that
we do some things the same and some differently from the
americanos. My mami and papi told me to sit down and listen carefully
because they wanted me to understand and be proud of the
differences our familia has from other familias americanas.
They started by saying “never be ashamed of who you or your familia
are, be proud and stand tall for what you represent.” My papi went
on to say, “mija, your mami and I come from Mexico; we were both
born there and after you and your brother were born we were
struggling with dinero. I was offered a job as a pizcador (migrant
worker) on a rancho here in Phoenix; the dinero they offered was
three times more than what I was making at the time in Mexico. So I
talked it over with your mami and we decided to take the gabacho's
(white man) offer to work at his rancho.”
“At first we struggled because everything was so different than in
Mexico: the language, the food, the people, even the way people
dressed was different. Adapting was hard, but gracias a Dios, my
patron the gabacho was very understanding and helpful. He gave me
lots of advice because he saw that is was duro for me to feel
comfortable in a land that I didn’t know anything about. My patron
told me ‘believe and don’t let go of your cultura, but be flexible
enough to let all the good America has to offer you."
Mija, what my patron said changed my mundo (world). I saw
everything through new eyes, I felt like a Mexican baby born in the
U.S., and I fell in love with her, but I still continued loving Mexico and
my cultura. Your mami and I learned the language, learned to make
hamburgers and hotdogs, I bought a Yankees baseball cap for the
weekends instead of my sombrero, and made friends with the
gabachos. It felt good to be a part of two mundos, but the best part
was being able to teach you and your brother two culturas instead of
just one. You know English and Spanish, we celebrate Thanksgiving
Day and the Fourth, but we also celebrate “el Cinco” y el “Dia de los
Muertos.”
“Mija, you and your hermano now have a greater opportunity to
enjoy the best of two mundos, you have the cultura, the language,
the respect for both countries. You can make two countries proud of
your successes and you can offer more because you have twice the
information.”
With all that said my papi and mami looked at each other with so
much pride, that it made me feel proud of them, my culturas and my
mundos, but most of all it made me proud to know that I am a
Mexican–American.
why in my casa we do things differently than some of my friends. Like
take last Christmas, I went over to my friend’s house and her family
was having a wonderful ham and all the trimmings dinner.
At my casa I had helped my mami make tamales the night before. All
my tíos, tías, primos and abuelos from Mexico came and on Christmas
Eve we opened and exchanged our gifts at midnight. My friend
doesn’t open hers until Christmas Day when she gets up. Then on
Cinco de Mayo we throw a huge fiesta and we celebrate it like the
americanos celebrate the Fourth of July.
I enjoy all the holidays and how we celebrate them, because we
celebrate the American and Mexican ones, but just once on my
birthday I wish my familia would sing a song my friends know like
“Happy Birthday to you” instead of “Las Mañanitas.”
Last night I finally got the courage to ask my parents why it is that
we do some things the same and some differently from the
americanos. My mami and papi told me to sit down and listen carefully
because they wanted me to understand and be proud of the
differences our familia has from other familias americanas.
They started by saying “never be ashamed of who you or your familia
are, be proud and stand tall for what you represent.” My papi went
on to say, “mija, your mami and I come from Mexico; we were both
born there and after you and your brother were born we were
struggling with dinero. I was offered a job as a pizcador (migrant
worker) on a rancho here in Phoenix; the dinero they offered was
three times more than what I was making at the time in Mexico. So I
talked it over with your mami and we decided to take the gabacho's
(white man) offer to work at his rancho.”
“At first we struggled because everything was so different than in
Mexico: the language, the food, the people, even the way people
dressed was different. Adapting was hard, but gracias a Dios, my
patron the gabacho was very understanding and helpful. He gave me
lots of advice because he saw that is was duro for me to feel
comfortable in a land that I didn’t know anything about. My patron
told me ‘believe and don’t let go of your cultura, but be flexible
enough to let all the good America has to offer you."
Mija, what my patron said changed my mundo (world). I saw
everything through new eyes, I felt like a Mexican baby born in the
U.S., and I fell in love with her, but I still continued loving Mexico and
my cultura. Your mami and I learned the language, learned to make
hamburgers and hotdogs, I bought a Yankees baseball cap for the
weekends instead of my sombrero, and made friends with the
gabachos. It felt good to be a part of two mundos, but the best part
was being able to teach you and your brother two culturas instead of
just one. You know English and Spanish, we celebrate Thanksgiving
Day and the Fourth, but we also celebrate “el Cinco” y el “Dia de los
Muertos.”
“Mija, you and your hermano now have a greater opportunity to
enjoy the best of two mundos, you have the cultura, the language,
the respect for both countries. You can make two countries proud of
your successes and you can offer more because you have twice the
information.”
With all that said my papi and mami looked at each other with so
much pride, that it made me feel proud of them, my culturas and my
mundos, but most of all it made me proud to know that I am a
Mexican–American.
Yolie Hernandez January 23, 2011
"Never be ashamed of who you or
your familia are, be proud and
stand tall for what you represent."
Photo by Melody Savannah | Barriozona
your familia are, be proud and
stand tall for what you represent."
Photo by Melody Savannah | Barriozona
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Published by the Hispanic Institute of Social Issues in Phoenix, Arizona
|
| HISTORY IS ABOUT TO CHANGE Grassroots Journalism |
Yolie Hernandez is the Production Director of the Hispanic
Institute of Social Issues. She graduated from the Stanford
University Publishing Program, and is a Barriozona contributor.
Contact
Institute of Social Issues. She graduated from the Stanford
University Publishing Program, and is a Barriozona contributor.
Contact
| Documented Dreams |
| A collection of letters written by students struggling to continue with their education due to their immigration status. The letters document the socio-economic plight of Arizona immigrant students who were brought to the United States as children, and due to their legal status are forced to abandon college or pay out-of-the state tuition. A fully bilingual book in English and Spanish; includes black and white photographs. $19.95 + $3.99 s/h Total $23.94 |
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