10 REASONS WHY I LOVE BEING LATINA

From time to time my heart skips a beat when I hear a good Spanish song. I don’t often listen to Spanish music, but when I do it warms my soul.

Play me a good Carlos Vives, Juan Luis Guerra or Oreja de Van Gogh and pour me a glass of wine —  I am a happy woman! A few sips later, I may even start to shimmy. (But really, who am I kidding I was probably dancing or swaying with the first note.)

I moved to the U.S when I was 8 years old. I remember so vividly being embarrassed at the fact that I didn’t properly speak English till the 3rd grade. I hated telling people where I was from because half of them had no clue where Bolivia even was. One time, someone asked me, “what language do they speak there?” And they were confused at the fact that I “wasn’t brown”! Seriously!?!

I had no choice but to laugh…

NORDSTROM tank
NORDSTROM BP necklace and bracelet
FOREVER 21 pants
Images: Katie Lopez Photography

As a Latina millennial, I’m proud to live in America and thankful for the opportunities this country has given me. But I also love and embrace my Latin culture. I love my roots, I love my people and I love our food. Maybe that’s why I love Miami so much because we’re the heartbeat of this city!

Well, in honor of Hispanic Heritage month, here are 10 reasons why I love being Latina:

1.  English is optional, but Spanish is necessary. In an ideal world, your children will definitely be bilingual. If your parent’s taught you well, you speak both English and Spanish. And that’s huge!
2. Being loud is perfectly normal. And so is yelling someone’s name accross the halls. Whisper? What does that even mean? If the house is quiet, then you know something is wrong.
3. There are no secrets, ever. If you told abuela something… Well, she told your mom, tía, sister and cousins. Pero, don’t worry. Todo se queda entre familia, mi hija. And if you didn’t tell her, she most likely was snooping through your stuff and already read about it in your journal.
4. Rice is served in every meal. Yes, even breakfast! Nuestros amigos de Centro América lo comen hasta en su desayuno, y con una cremita deliciosa. Mmmm. It’s quite scrumptious!
5. We work for what we have. Cubans are the epitome of this example. They’re not afraid to persevere. Sweat, tears and a little blood — you gotta do what you gotta do! Latinos dream big dreams but we also fight to make them a reality.
6. We’re all related. No, but really… If you meet a fellow Latino or Latina you like them that much more just because they are Latin. They speak your native tongue and understand your antics.
7. We genuinely enjoy seeing each other prosper and we’re willing to help one another. We’re all hermanos y hermanas remember? So how could we not help each other? We create communities within communities, we celebrate the accomplishments of others and share our secrets to success.
8. We drink coffee like Germans drink beer. Cafecito, cortadito, colada… Que Starbucks, ni que Starbucks! Oh and we drink it right before bed because we’re pretty much immune to caffeine. (Well, at least most of us!)
9. Any reason is a good reason for a pachanga. Bad day? Good day? Sad day? Let’s make it better with a few friends, drinks and some dancing.
10. We value and nurture relationships. Our passion, excitement and contagious zeal comes from doing life with others.  We’re thankful for every day and the lessons they bring. But even more, we’re thankful for the bond between family and friends.

Me falto algo? Feel free to chime in and add to my list in the comments section below.

As of 2014, the Latino population reached an all-time-high of 55.4 million, that’s 17.4% of the total U.S. population. So, whether the Trumps of the world admit it or not, Hispanics have helped make and  shape this country. Don’t you agree?

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month, mi gente!

PS: If the pictures above look familiar to you it’s because I had them as banners in my old site, but I never actually did a post with them. So I figured, why not? ;) PSS: I had a really hard time finding similar items as the ones pictured. (All those pieces are so old). Oh well, I tried.

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