I’m from Miami, Florida which, let’s face it, is North Cuba. I’ve grown up being Cuban-American. Cuban hyphen American. All my life I’ve identified as both nationalities, living in a sort of in between state where I am 100% of two cultures. A fellow Cuban-American internet content creator, Jenny Lorenzo, calls this group of people the 200% - 100% American, 100% Latino. Never did I realize how fortunate I am to be part of these two magnificently divergent ways of life. Being in Baton Rouge for college has been quite the culture shock, to say the least. People are actually nice here; they say hello and open the door. However, to be quite frank, the lack of Spanish at every corner is quite disorienting. I’ve come to realize that due to the merger of my Hispanic and American heritages, I’ve forgotten what many things are called in English, which at times is the cause of a slight miscommunication among my peers.
It’s strange being in a place where no one knows what a liga, chankleta, or a cafecito are, but it gives my friends something to learn from me about something they haven’t really been exposed to before. They also have an overabundance of things to teach me, considering I don’t know many aspects of their Louisiana culture, such as what boudin balls are or how to go about eating a crawfish (I hear that you have to pinch the butt and suck the head, whatever that means. It sounds inappropriate). It makes me feel like an alien sometimes, being fascinated by a way of life that isn’t mine, and people not understanding mine. I learn new things every day from my peers, and I trust they learn from me, too. It makes me laugh every time I hear one of my friends attempt to say the word chankleta, and it reminds me that in the hyphen isn’t so bad and that being part of the 200% is 100% awesome.
