A PASSION FOR CULTURE
“I grew up with a wonderful Mexican mother, father, and brother. I was born and surrounded with a way of speaking that had prevailed through other dialects with its persevering influence. A language that simply originated as vulgar Latin, but basically evolved and formed into what today is now modern-day Spanish. The Spanish language that translates "Hello" to "Hola".
And that makes me wonder...what's the story behind, "Konnichiwa"?
Apart from being surrounded by a particular language that was different from many other languages in the world, I was also surrounded by delicious, spicy Mexican cuisine cooked authentically and lovingly by my mom.
Several recipes were taught and passed down through a long line of generations and then fed to me. Food is an ingredient that creates culture and is built by its surroundings. Pozole, Gorditas, and Tacos form a small percentage of the vast amount of authentic, Mexican dishes I would taste as a kid. And it was glorious, but then I smelled a hamburger and said, "Ouuu, what's that?"
Paintings of the Virgin Mary adorned my house. Music that naturally made me move flowed through my ears beautifully. I love my culture/race (though, at a young age, I wished to be surrounded by the Japanese culture). I became so fascinated by everybody else's heritage that I craved to understand everyone else's traditions.
My passion isn't just to seek out those experiences and quench my questions that are on fire though. It's to have others crave and respect the story of others as well.
I want to help those who oppose anyone else's perception of the world to understand that people are different, and everyone has their faults and things to work through. To learn to appreciate a person for who they are as a person regardless of where they come from and what they believe in. Though, that mindset has to become mutual everywhere, and I definitely aim to increase that state of mind.
Having a plethora of different cultures is a dazzling and captivating luxury we should be taking advantage of, not be neglecting or shunning it. I want people from everywhere to crave the answers to the questions I ask myself.
What is their story? How is it like being raised through different customs than mine? How did your food taste and music sing? How did your parents sound when they screamed at you? Was your home embellished with the same type of ornaments and would you call your house, "Casa"? How did a person sway those who they were attracted to in the Italian language?
How do you love in French?”
- Luis Abel Espino Arvizu
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