JACKIE LAMAS

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My Two Worlds

Think: My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I was going to American school with our pancakes and eggs and cheeseburgers for lunch. At home was a whole different world. My father would practice his English and we would practice our Spanish. I was learning two cultures at the same time, and trust me, there was resistance in learning the culture of my parents. I was speaking English better and faster and my Spanish sounded, well, not so great.

However, as I got older, things began to make sense. I am proud to be an American, to live in a country where my parents' culture can flourish and I can celebrate both worlds with no resistance. This of course, includes the great home-made Mexican food that you can't get anywhere else but at home. Chorizo con huevos is my favorite breakfast of all time. Growing up, I'd wake up to the smell of the chorizo aroma filling the house as my mom prepared the burritos I would eat on the bus on the way to school.

And now, more than a decade after those early morning school bus rides, I am enjoying the same aroma and great taste of my childhood.

Happy Wednesday!