IRES Assignment 4: Honduras, Trucks, and "It's Complicated"

If you have read at least one of my blog posts, you can tell I'm an opinionated person. I generally have a well defined idea of what something is, what it should be, and what others should think about it. It's not the best tool for making friends, but it's simply the way I am. But when you're out here in another continent altogether, there are things that you simply don't know, and you need to form a criterion on. I have been adapting to changes, both cultural and geographical, for quite some time now.

As far as where I'm from, I think I've always consider myself as an in-betweener, not from here nor from there. I was born in the Honduran capital city of Tegucigalpa, but by the time I was in 3rd grade I had already spent an equal amount of time living in two cities. My extended family (all of it) lived in Tegus and both my parents were both raised back there, but I myself was pretty much raised in San Pedro Sula. I had a very heavy influence from both cities, since we did travel a lot to visit family. So naturally, when asked where in Honduras I was from, I would get stuck and have to think about it (I still kind of do).

S.O to both.

After third grade, the plot thickened. I moved to the U.S for two years, specifically Arkansas. The issue of my identity did become simpler though, I was now just Honduran. As it normally happens when abroad, it was here that I developed my strong sense of patriotism and love for everything back home.

At the end of the two years I moved to Miami. Miami was a strange limbo. Everyone was from somewhere else, but at the same time they were predominantly South Floridian. I think the most telling example of this Miami culture is the language. The conglomeration of so many Spanish accents melded with English into one strange Spanglish dialect. It really didn't matter where you were from as far as you were there. I was only there for a year, so it wasn't terribly important in my life. The fun began back home in Honduras.

I was back in San Pedro, having spent three very important years abroad. I might as well have grown up my whole life in Topeka, Kansas as far as my schoolmates were concerned. It was hard to explain how I grew up in Tegus, San Pedro, Arkansas and Miami; all the while speaking a little bit more English than Spanish. I was a bit of a snobby kid too, already fairly smart and wanting to prove it in the classroom by trying to answer as many questions as possible. Good thing I got that under control (somewhat). Thanks to a very welcoming group of friends, though, and the time I was allowed to grow up in San Pedro, I grew up into my (mainly) Honduran north coast identity.

When I moved to Texas for college, people were again confused. If I was an international student, why did I speak in an almost perfect American accent? Why had I taken a mainly American curriculum in High School if I was in another country? (Bilingual schools being another good example of in-betweens). If I lived in the US before, was I American?

Not quite. 

These almost-three years living in Texas also rubbed off on me. I again got another identity to add to my collection, but at least this time it had a lot smaller effect.

So, why is this relevant now in Spain? Well, as a general pattern to this story you can tell that relocating tends to make things more interesting. How am I supposed to explain to your average Spaniard the cultural snowball that has been my life up to now? I'm a research student in Spain from an American university, in which I am an international student from Honduras (even this sentence gets more complex, since I am not technically an international student because I am a U.S resident; but I am a foreign national and thus not American). So I have just learned to answer "It's complicated", and hope they don't ask me to explain in detail.

All this change, though, does comes with its benefits. I have learned to adapt easily to changes, having been exposed to them all my life. I think Spain has been where I have most noticed my resiliency. I have adopted as much of Spanish culture as I can, since I have come to learn that the best way to learn from your experience, and to make the most of it, is a "Do as the Romans do" approach.

I think traveling, at the heart, is about learning; that's the main reason I want to do it. I have always thought that what I've learned from personal experience up to now will help me to adapt to foreign cultures in the future and that will allow me, in turn, to take them in as richly and fully as possible. This experience, so far, has proven that hypothesis.