I don't really think I had that great epiphany moment when I realized, "Whoa, I'm an American!" If anything it was the other way around. When I was little, I guess I just assumed that everyone was American; that they grew up here and just lived in the U.S. It wasn't until I started learning about my individual ethnicity and culture from my parents that I realized not everyone is from America.
I remember asking about my German and Guatemalan heritage, traditions that were unique to my respective cultures. Going off on a tangent here. . . I think that's why so many people identify themselves with the culture they came from. It makes the individual different from everyone else (a sense of pride) and allows people to identify with other people in their respective culture. Personally, I am proud to be of both German and Guatemalan descent, but I am also proud to call myself an American.
There are a lot of aspects of America that we take for granted as citizens. Things like speaking out against something we don't agree with, or practicing our respective religions. Not every country can do that. I always knew and understood this, but it never became a reality until I was given the opportunity to travel to Guatemala and Costa Rica two years ago and the Mexico last year. Some people there live so much more poorer than we do not get some of the same opportunities Americans do. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people in those countries are very well off and do extremely well. And most importantly, they are happy.
This blog kind of leaned toward the aspect of "What is an American" rather than when I realized I was one. But, I think that the definition of an American plays a big part in realizing we ARE Americans.
No comments:
Post a Comment