The Situtation

Last name: Garcia.
Ethnicity: Cuban.

"Hablas espanol???"

"No, lo siento."

I'm here to fix that! My dad is from Cuba and came here when he was 12 years old (via plane) with his family permission from the government.... but only with the clothes on his back. It was a big ordeal, but that's a whole other blog story. Basically he's living the American dream for us (my family) and he figures, why would it be necessary to speak a different language other than English?My mom is American, we live in America, I guess it makes sense. But something has also felt missing. It's that fact that Spanish is in my blood and I can't ignore it... maybe if I was blond and my name wasn't hispanic I'd let it go.

I used to carry around a little notebook and ask my dad random words. He would write me little poems in it too.. I also used to have a little handmade money pouch stapled on my bulletin board with a boat drawn on it that said SPAIN ... in 6 year old handwriting of course. I knew even at that age, that it was important for me to pick up on words so that it'd be easier later. Thus, I picked up the accent... but that's about it! I could form vowels, but never sentences past "como estas".

So I'm here to EMERGE!! I picked Salamanca because it the most prestigious university in Spain, pretty much like the Oxford of Britain. All my classes are in Spanish, I'm living with a family that speaks Spanish, and I'm even talking with my friends in Spanish here :) Can't wait to finally pick up this language.

And when I do, next time I'm in Miami and I walk into Walgreens to buy a straigthener for example, I'll be able to communicate to the cashier, and the janitor in McDonaolds won't yell at me for not understanding Spanish, and I'll be able to talk to my most awesome prima (cousin) from Cuba who'se name is Daniela. My dad went back to visit Cuba for the first time ever since he left, brought me, and I fell in love with my cousin I never knew I had! See the picture! She is another motivation for learning Spanish. Sherades only goes so far...