Flipping tortillas with chopsticks, Asian-Latino families celebrate their dual culture
Asian-Latino parents and their kids talk about mixing cultures, cuisines and festivals, the struggle to fit in, and how others perceive them
Traces of Mexican and Chinese cultures are evident in every corner of the Salinas family’s California home.
In the living room, Chinese history books, paintings and dolls share space with family photos and school diplomas. The family calls this area the “Chinese room”, says Jesse, a first-generation Mexican-American, and this is where his wife Lisa, a fifth-generation Chinese-American, entertains her youngest grandchild with toy dogs.
A few feet away, in the “Mexican room”, a photo of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez hangs proudly on the wall, while a bookcase displays copies of the Spanish novel Don Quixote. Here, the Salinas’ adult children Felicia and Esteban reminisce about their childhood.
The two siblings spent Christmas Eve making tamales and Christmas Day enjoying dim sum. They learned fluent Spanish from their parents and in a dual-language programme. They also spent Friday evenings at Chinese school.
Esteban called himself “ChiMex”. Felicia mastered flipping tortillas with chopsticks.
“I felt like I was a chameleon in many ways, where I had the ability to speak to my audience and whatever community I was with,” Felicia, 32, says.
