What Is Hispanic?: How My First Impressions of Spain Have Changed the Term

         When I finally stepped off the plane in Granada after nearly 18+ hours of travel, I was greeted with a breathtaking view of the Sierra Nevada mountains and a blanket of comfortable heat. We all got on a bus and, as we neared the city center, I kept practicing in my head how to introduce myself in Spanish. Looking back, the nerves I had were completely unnecessary because Spain has proven to be very different, and much more welcoming, than my preconceived notions.
        After spending a week in Granada, I have cultivated an appreciation for both Spanish and American culture. The main reason I wanted to go on this trip was to improve my Spanish and learn about the culture because I am 50% Hispanic. Growing up in a small, homogenous town in rural Michigan, I have always felt very disconnected from my heritage and thought this trip would help me better understand my family's roots. On my mom's side, my great-grandmother, Bencz de la Garza, was first generation in the U.S. with parents from Spain. My mom's dad, Jesus de la Cruz, had Mexican descent, so my mom is half-Spanish, half-Mexican. Although my grandparents spoke Spanish fluently and preferred it to converse, my mom (and all of her four sisters) do not speak and never taught me. After growing up being called an "albino Hispanic" by my friends, I made one of my primary goals in college to be to learn Spanish.

A mariachi band serenading me and my aunt in San Antonio 

       While growing up, I had visited my grandparents in San Antonio, Texas, a few times and had spent a long time with my grandma hearing stories of her teenage years working on farms in Michigan and then living in Texas during the winter and going to Mexican dances. I had seen mariachi bands, ate homemade tortillas, and been called "mija" before I could even understand what it meant. However, my own day to day life reflected very little of this culture, and I thought that visiting Spain was my golden ticket to accepting my Hispanic identity. I have quickly realized that my ideas of what comprised Spanish culture were confused with the Latin@-American culture I have personally experienced. I assumed the food would be spicy, with lots of tortillas and rice. I have yet to have a Spanish meal with a tortilla, and I have learned that fish (and meat in general) are staples in every meal. I also pictured architecture and a lifestyle more similar to Mexico, but I am continuously awed by the distinct Spanish style.

       My host family quickly taught me that even the language I thought would be the same is very different in Spain. I immediately struggled to understand the Spanish lisp and lack of pronunciation of the letter "s" (for example, "pescado" sounds like "pecado" to me). When talking to my host dad about the accent, he commented that the Spanish spoken in Latin America is not real Spanish, which he jokingly referred to as Spanglish. In the United States, there is a tendency to lump all Spanish-speaking people under the umbrella term "Hispanic," but I think we have an ignorance of how Spanish people in particular play into the this group because we are much closer and knowledgeable of Mexico and Central America. Before my trip, I wish I had spent more time learning about the history of Spain so that I could better understand the distinctions in Spanish architecture and lifestyle.
       I was also incredibly surprised by the vast incorporation of American pop culture in Spain. My 15-year-old host sister's favorite artist is Jason Derulo, and her favorite movie is The Hunger Games. I have watched more episodes of "The Simpsons" here than I ever did at home, and I am constantly hearing American pop music. Before coming here, I struggled with the term "American" to refer to people in the United States because of its convoluted history with the Native Americans and the fact that there is a North, Central, and South America. However, when meeting my host sister's friends, I am always referred to as "americana" instead of "estadounidense." We have a tendency in the U.S. to identify with other ethnicities instead of just being "American" (for example, I am 25% Mexican, 25% Spanish, 25% French, and 25% Irish).  Even though it has only been a week, I feel more comfortable with my identity of "americana" than I thought I would ever be, and I feel a bit more settled that I will never fully (and shouldn't, in my opinion) feel comfortable with knowing exactly what being part Hispanic means.

Me and my Spanish family's dog, Daroca

       Despite all the differences I have perceived, there are countless things I can now see are relatively universal. Spain, despite all its beauty and history, is not free from poverty or political debate. I have also witnessed the power of music to bring cultures together, as one of the first things I did was play piano for my family, and we spent dinner tonight talking about the Beatles. At the end of the day, despite language barriers, I can also fully understand their love of ice cream and dogs.