South Texas, The Valley, Texico, North Mexico… no one really knows how to refer to our region. People in Mexico don't think we're real Mexicans and the rest of Texas and the United States don't think we're really American…if they even find out we exist (Yes, there is life past San Antonio…lots of it). We have a very different culture here. We're something I call "Americanized Mojo Mexican." I hate it. I find myself not wanting to identify myself as a Valley girl, but having lived here all my life, I guess I am. Since I am a Mexican-American, I think lately I have adopted the Mexican culture as my own; I find it richer and more real than a "halfsie" culture. I love Texas and I love Mexico, but what am I?
This week at Rec Week, we had a Latino talk during lunch about starting more Intervarsity LaFe chapters. LaFe stands for Latin Faith or Latin Fellowship. I think it would be awesome for campuses where Latinos aren't the majority; our IV chapter is only LaFe. Haha. One of the staff workers was talking about how she knew she was Mexican and she felt Mexican at home, but when she went to school she had all kinds of different friends and couldn't quite identify with them. She wanted to fit it, but she didn't really know how. I feel like that sometimes too. Where I live the majority is Hispanic, but most people are not first-generation Mexican American, so they've got major Valley culture. In my family, we're still very Mexican even though little by little it seems our Mexican customs and traditions are changing into the ones of this area. It would be so much easier to have just one set culture by which to live by, but since I have several, I find it very hard to identify with just one. I guess I am lucky to be a part of all these backgrounds, but it is very confusing.
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