What it’s like being Mexican (for me, atleast)
My whole family is Mexican. I am Mexican, my parents are Mexican, my cousins are Mexican, my grandparents are Mexican, it goes on for a while. We’re all pretty Mexican, yet we don’t all look the same. I can look similar to some of my cousins, but sometimes I don’t even
look similar to my own sisters. We’re all different, and this is just my experience.
For me, being Mexican means going out to eat and somehow always ending up at a Mexican restaurant. It’ll probably be the same Mexican restaurant you always go to because your parents know what they like and where they want to spend their money, but you can’t really blame them because you love the enchiladas there.
For me, being Mexican means going to Mexico and spending the whole time with family. Even, and especially, if the trip is considered a ‘vacation’. You won’t stop to take tours and pose in corny pictures with burnt white tourists, you’ll visit family and spend hours inside their house instead. You’ll be there for so long that if you hadn’t already told one of your tias over
WhatsApp that you’re in town, she will have stopped by to chismear with the tia you’re already visiting and see you then. She’ll ask you the question everyone asks, “y el novio?” and you’ll reply with, “no ahorita,” just to be nice and move the conversation along. Other times, if you really want to make your parents mad, you may even reply something like, “no tengo novio, pero estoy buscando una novia,” and see her gasp, “ay mija,” while your mom rolls her eyes at you.
Later your mom will tell you, “you know it’s because she grew up in a different time.”
For me, being Mexican means going to church every Sunday and growing crushes on boys in church. You’ll look back on it and realize it probably would have done you better to pay attention to the father than to have sat there thinking up a game plan in which you’ll be able to shake hands with the cute boy near you during the sign of peace. Don’t get confused though,
your church crush and your youth group crush will be two different people. We all know the really cute ones never stay for youth group, and if they do then they show up with their girlfriend who brought them.
For me, being Mexican means going on Instagram around the holidays and wondering what it would be like if you had a family the size of Courtney’s from highschool. You’ll see the pictures and wonder “Is that really her whole family? She’s gotta have more cousins than that,” before being interrupted by your own family yelling “Fondo! Fondo! Fondo! Fondo!”
For me, being Mexican means you went to see Coco with your whole family and nothing was more special than all of you at that moment. You knew what you signed up for and you saw it coming, but you cried the hardest a movie has ever made you cry because it was real and it was you. The same people you sat and watched the movie with were the same people you saw on the screen. That was rare and it was special.
For me, being Mexican is a lot, but there’s nothing I’d want more than the family I have now. Everyone is loving. Everyone is funny. Everyone can dance. Everyone can sing. Everyone knows you and you know everyone.
For me, being Mexican is something I will take pride in forever. I know who I am and I know where my family comes from, no one will take that away from me.