Since I do not currently have a work-in-progress, I decided to write the letter about a character that I am tossing around in my head right now. I have witnessed my husband’s immigrant journey and feel that it would be an excellent story to follow a teenager who is going through similar things. I have had some interesting interactions with my in-laws because of cultural differences and I wonder what it would be like to be a teenager having to deal with these situations with your own parents and grandparents. To that end, I have written a fake e-mail to my mother describing this girl, who does not have a name yet.
Hi Mom!
I hope you are doing well and enjoying your time up north with the family. I had a fabulous week and am excited to start summer vacation.
This morning I met the most interesting girl. She has been living in the USA for most of her life, but her parents are from Spain. Ramon and I met her parents and invited the family over for one of our ex-patriot parties so they could connect with the other Spaniards in town. She is a typical teenager but feels a little out of place at times because of the way her parents act. I can tell that it is embarrassing to her that her family does things differently at times. Her grades are good and she likes school. She is definitely an amazing soccer player and she is looking forward to some good prospects for scholarships to good schools. When her friends ask her about her culture, she sometimes feels like an alien and is sometimes blown away by the stupidity and ignorance of their questions. Why should she have to defend her love of caracoles to anyone? They are delicious! What kind of moron asks if there is popcorn in Spain? What a stupid question! Her abuela is an amazing person and I can tell that she has a great relationship with her, albeit a long-distance one throughout most of the year. Her abuela is always telling her Spanish old-wives tales and she has to constantly decide which superstitions to abide by. I am excited to get to know this teenager better. I think she also has a younger brother and possibly other younger siblings. I am sure that she loves to read and will be reading all kinds of books in Spanish and English when I run into her in the future.
That’s all for now. I am sure I will have more to say about this girl in the future.
