Growing Up Between Two Cultures

Paula’s cousin, Juliana, talks about her experience growing up between two cultures. Juli, as she’s affectionately known in her family, was born in the U.S. to a Colombian family. She grew up in Katy, Texas, her first language was Spanish and she attended a dual-language elementary school program, but as she grew older, she began to notice many things that come with growing up between two different cultures and the feeling of not completely fitting into one or the other.

Juliana and her familia.

Now, as she readies to head to college, Juli has come to terms with her identity and feels proud of her two cultures. She offered some words of advice for other kids and gave us some insight into what our daughters and other bilingual kids may experience as they grow up.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Spanglish

El Mundial

The excitement of the World Cup goes beyond futbol. It’s a time every four years when for 90 minutes a stranger may become your best friend, when families and people from all walks of life gather around the television to watch their country’s team play its heart out, when a goal, a win or a nice play fills you with hope. For people living outside their countries, la Copa is also a way to connect to their homeland, and for their kids, a way to learn about their identity.

In this episode, we briefly talked with Paula and her brother about what the World Cup means to them and how it creates opportunities to connect with other countries and our cultural identity.

Continue reading “El Mundial”