Local Talk on Americans / US
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I don’t know how to describe this, but I have had some interesting conversations and encounters with people here. It felt so strange to me that people wouldn’t believe I am from the United States. They would look at me with confusion. The most asked question is “Where are you really from?” When I answer “the United States,” I’d then say, “Well, my parents are from Mexico”. After that, their reaction changed to “Ahh, yes, Mexico!” I noticed they seemed to like that answer more than “the United States.”
If I’m being honest, I eventually stopped saying that I am from the United States, only because I wanted to skip all that. I remember telling my mom about this and my small interactions with people. She said maybe it’s because they associate “American” with light-skin people/ white people. She told me, “Well, you are not what they pictured.” I suspected that before, but it was interesting to see how differently people react.
I do appreciate that they are not disrespectful. They were just curious about my background and wanted to know my actual roots. So now I say I’m from Mexico, which technically I am, through my parents.
A recent interaction happened at the airport in early November. I was sitting there waiting for my gate number to drop. A woman came up and asked about my Hello Kitty bag. I told her I got it back in the US. Then she asked, “Are you from the US?” I answered, “Yes, I am.” She responded, “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you were Latina.” She looked at me again, and I told her that I am Latina. But she seemed confused. I told her I was from the United States, and she kept repeating herself. Then she walked back to her seat and started speaking in Spanish. She said something about me not being Latina. I responded in Spanish because I understood everything she said. She looked so surprised that she ended up getting up and moving away. This interaction was so weird and shocking.
However, I understand that here in Greece it’s different. Their idea is often that if you are born in Greece, you are Greek, and that’s it. So I can understand where she was coming from. She had told me that she was from Spain, so I don’t know whether this belief is similar for her or not. But I also really wanted to let her know that I am Latina, I just happen to be American as well.
Other interactions have been more like what we talked about during our study abroad orientation back in March. I’ve had people be like, “Yeah! Trump!” or ask if I voted for him. I once had a whole conversation with a German man about politics in the United States; he was so curious. It was funny only because they said their government is bad too. Seeing how things are in America right now, we are not far off.
To end this off, I don’t think these interactions come from disrespect; many people are just curious. They want to better understand you and your background. I think if they’re not being aggressive about it, it’s fine to educate them. However, you always have the option to brush them off or not engage at all. Don’t feel like you have to explain yourself to people.
Here are some pictures from my flight that day. OH, also I went to visit AnnaLeah in Thessaloniki, Greece, so here’s a picture of us together 
It was funny that the German man I met was actually with AnnaLeah! Here I also added the gyros we had together on my first night there.
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