Personal Narrative: My Ethnic Background

I am proud to say, "I am a perfect blend of sweet and salty." My ethnic background consists of two; My dad being Salvadorian and my mom is Mexican, making me and my siblings quite the concoction of Hispanic blood. You would think because we are all in the Hispanic category our lives wouldn't be difficult since we speak Spanish, have the same characteristics, and usually, family traditions are or should be quite similar. Not completely, in this case, I recently found out that it isn't common for Salvadorians and Mexicans to get along because they both are just as proud and tough. In specifics, my mom always has given me the warm side of caring for others, being family oriented is important and giving is always better than receiving. My dad, on the other hand, was very dry in emotion he
wasn't someone to show affection he would teach me self-respect is key, never turn your back, and always be proud.
Starting from the beginning, my mother and father were the perfect add ups for tough and love: "Tough Love." Growing up my parents taught me core values, life lessons, manners and all the good every kid should know.
Of course, they weren't perfect but they wanted to build me (being the firstborn) up to perfection or at least as perfect as a human can be. From my knowledge, Hispanic families tend to build their child's character with perspective. When growing up they give them a feel of what happened to them and why we shouldn't take great opportunities for granted. Males are taught that crying is a sign of weakness and should learn how to confront their problems. Also, that they should be able to maintain a home, do outside and handy work for the house, and lastly, keep a steady job to provide for their family. Females are taught that we should know how to cook, clean the house, take care of the kids, and put her man as forwarding lead. Hispanic fathers are very overprotective of their daughters and teach them that there are no boys in the house, they will not receive support if they are pregnant out of marriage, and well they can't leave the house if they are not
married.
Such things as these are what my parents taught me to be like and didn't take lightly. Having immigrant parents builds pressure unto a child because they want the best for their child and make sure they use it to their advantage. I am thankful that I took my parents advice and hope to make them proud. I hope that if I make it to the "ACT SIX CADRE" I will incorporate some of what my parents taught me strength, hope, love, and success. We all come from different background and can learn and grow as a family.