1. We share pretty much everything. And by that, I mean food, drinks, clothes, etc… germs, in general, don’t really scare us. We don’t just live off of “mi casa es tu casa” for fun, amigo.

2. We are loud. And proud of it, too! Don’t expect to hear yourself think, much less what the person across from you is saying when you walk into a room full of Latinos.

3. Every gathering is a party. Birthday? Anniversary? Pregnant? Graduating? Sunday lunch? You can bet you’ll see no less than ten people there – mom, dad, brother, sister, abuelo, abuela, tia, and tio. Oh, and remember your mom’s friend’s sister-in-law’s cousin’s daughter that you met seven years ago at that party? Yeah, she’ll be there too.

4. We are pretty happy people. And here’s proof.

5. We can’t properly finish a sentence in one language. Even though we may speak several languages fluently, there are some things that can only be expressed in one of those languages. We’re also a lot smarter in one language than the other…

6. We’re very close to our families. We didn’t get to where we are out of thin air, and we respect the hard work our parents did to give us everything we have. We also know that nothing compares to the food you find at grandma’s house.

7. We love to eat. Therefore, our foods are amazing. We’ve got tequeños, pasteis, croquetas, pão de queijo, empanadas, tostones, arroz y frijoles, feijoada… you name it, we got it.

8. We are great company for drinking. Get a few tequila shots in us and watch our freak flags fly…. Don’t even try and stop us from dancing.

9. Everyone is a tia or a tio... “Hey, let’s go to New York!”... “Oh, my aunt lives there, maybe we can stay with her!”... “Your mom’s sister or your dad’s?”... “well, no actually, my mom’s best friend’s sister, but our families are very close…”

10. … even when they’re not. Any friend’s parent is also a tia or a tio. It’s just how it is.

11. Our music is unbeatable. We’ve got some pretty stellar songs and some pretty classic musicians – Carlos Santana, JLo, Pitbull, Mana, Carlos Vives, Daddy Yankee…

12. Our dancing is on point. And our hips don’t lie, doesn’t matter if we’re dancing salsa, merengue, bachata, or a little samba.

13. We are talkers. Conversation is a big part of our lives. We feel rude if we don’t spend a little time during the meeting, phone call, email, text, or lunch asking you about how you’ve been, how your family is, or how your latest project is going. It’s not that we’re trying to butter you up or waste time, it’s just how we were raised.

14. Personal space is not a thing. We kiss each other hello, we kiss goodbye, we hug a lot. If we’re not touching someone near constantly, we might implode. We’re needy people, we can’t help it.

15. We know how to party. You have Drunk Aunt Judy who dances the Macarena, but we have everyone drunk and dancing before dinner. Also, you haven’t lived until you’ve experienced a quinceñera.

16. We’re very patriotic. We accept the fact that our governments are far from perfect, that’s why we try to find a place to give our children more, but we know that absolutely no country is as breath taking as any of ours.