As I browed the internet today at work (no – not for fun; Yes – it was work related) I discovered a hilarious blog written by an Hungarian-Venezuelan multicultural/ethnical lady from Miami living in Boston (confused yet?).
She bills her blog (Triple Passport) as an "A witty and lighthearted look at what it's like to be multicultural" – and that is exactly what it is – a fun filled look at being a multicultural individual living in the US. Here's an example of her humor:
December 16, 2007
I was chatting with my neighbor today (while shoveling snow) when I got a mobile call from my mom. I excused myself by raising my finger, the way people usually do when they need to quiet someone during mid-conversation, but with the knowledge that they only need a few seconds to wrap it (whatever is causing the interruption) up. I knew it wouldn't be a long phone conversation as my mom was calling to ask about my fiance's neck size for Christmas shopping purposes. Although I spoke English almost the whole time, I did incorporate a few Spanish words that I couldn't think of in English. When I hung up, my neighbor (who had no idea that I speak Spanish and credits my "cute little accent" to my Hungarian roots) proceeded to say: "I didn't know that the national language of Hungary was Spanish." I let this one slide as I understand that not everyone knows where, or sometimes what, Hungary is (I've actually met people who thought "Hungary/ being Hungarian" was a religion or political party). My neighbor then decided to stick her foot in her mouth even more by adding incoherently: "So where in Latin America is Hungary? Central America? Near the Patagonian region or more north, near the Amazon?" I couldn't believe she was so ignorant when it came to her query. I also couldn't understand how someone who knew so much about South American regions, as to have mentioned Patagonia or the rainforests, DIDN'T realize that Hungary was NOT located in South America. What did she think? That her geography professor in college covered every Latin American nation EXCEPT Hungary, and that it WAS actually hidden somewhere between Bolivia and Peru? I finally cleared things up for her by telling her that Hungary was a European country and that I speak Spanish because of my mother who is of Hungarian descent but who was born and raised in Venezuela. She looked at me in absolute confusion and THEN asked (and this was really the icing on the cake): "So wait, Venezuela is also in Europe?"
I encounter these mix-ups ALL the time.
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