Faith Arceo / Mexico
When I was little I didn't think much of my culture and thought of being hispanic as just a term people used to call other people, but as I got older I realized that it is way more than just a term.Throughout Elementary school other hispanic kids around me would call each other names like “beaner” and other words like that. I thought the word was stupid and never really thought of my heritage like that.I am only twelve years old but I’ve learned so much from my hard working parents who taught me to be proud of who I was and were my family come from.My parents taught me to work hard and to be grateful for what I have and that my ancestors before me had to work ten times harder to get my family where it is today.My Grandparents play a huge part into learning where I came from and how they were raised in Mexico.Almost every single weekend I would go to my papa and abuelitas house where me and my brother would be at the swap meet with my papa watching him sell and my abuelita right beside him.From a long day being at the swap meet we would go to their house and my abuelita would already have frijoles and arroz ready for us to eat.This is where we would all sit down watching telenovelas and talking about where they grew up.My papa would tell me stories of him on the streets of Mexico with his friends playing and my abuelita would tell me stories of her brothers and sisters and how they were like.I didn't realize at the time but my grandparents had a rough life and they risked it all just so their children could have a better one.My Grandparents have always been there to support me even if my papa couldn't make it because he was tired from working at the swap meet at least he would make an effort to call and make me laugh.Whenever I was at their house I would learn so much.Even though I don't speak Spanish I do understand it and that's one perk from sitting there watching telenovelas with my abuelita. My other grandma on the other hand taught me if anything was broken or ruined it could be fixed.When ever I would say “grandma my pants are ripped” She would always tell me “come here i'll sew them”.My grandma never believed in throwing away clothes unless it was really bad.She would always tell me that what she had is what she got when she lived in Mexico and not everything was a waist.My family has taught me so much and i've learned to love and appreciate that.My family might be crazy but I can't wait to keep learning and going on this adventure into learning more about my family.