The Discovery of a Latin Heart

by Maria Reina (Brazil)

Making a local connection Mexico

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In 2015 I had never been to a Latin country. I was just a brazilian girl, thristy to discover the world and without much sense of the beauty of the native blood I carried with me. Until I was invited to go to a conference of Latin youngs at Puebla, Mexico. That me had no ideia who she was gonna become after that trip. I spent five days at a Mexican family's house and tasted pepper for the first time. I allowed myself to live as a Mexican and leave my Brazilian customs aside. I ate fried mosquitoes, disgusting as it sounds. Even Mexican corn tastes different as the Brazilian does. I walked through Puebla and Cholula streets until my feet hurts. But it didn't matter - I was discovering myself. I met people from Mexico, Uruguai, Argentina, Paraguai and Puerto Rico, and there was a girl we called Chihuahua. No, she didn't look like a Chihuahua dog. She just lives at Chihuahua state. I also had to get used to the Spanish accent of all those nationalities. The Uruguayan Spanish was the hardest. At the conference, I could talk publicly to many people of many countries about how is living at Brazil, and the most important: I defended the need for a good life quality so that we can fight for our rights and for our lives. I represented Brazil, but I emphasized the importance of Latin America countries union. I saw it with my own eyes later. At the free time we used to play together. All the conference participants. We laughed lots. I learned some Mexican games and it's kind of funny. Some games are even a little bit dangerous. I couldn't teach them to my Brazilian friends when I came back, so. I teached Mexicans how to speak "você é linda", that is "you're beautiful" in Portuguese. Yes, they wanted to say it to the other Brazilian girl of the group. It was so funny. The last day at Puebla should have been the saddest, but it was the best day of my life. It might seems silly, but it was the day I discovered the size of my Latin heart. It is the size of my love for my Latin blood. On that day I was invited to a party at a schoolyard. Everyone was going. I thought it would be a normal party like the ones I always go in Brazil. But it wasn't. It was really special. At the beggining of the day, me and the other Brazilian girl sat with some Uruguayan girls and we started talking about music. They showed us how Uruguayan music sounds and they sang for us. It was fantastic, like a live show that we didn't have to pay for. The time had come for us to sing for them. I was a little bit ashamed, I confess. But I couldn't lose this opportunity. Me and my friend sang to them a song composed by Maria Gadu, a Brazilian singer. The name of the song is Linda Rosa and the lyrics are very beautiful. That song never came out of my mind. In the evening, before the party, we had a thing like a goodbye meeting. And the Brazilians, including me, sang 'bossa nova' to EVERYONE! "Garota de Ipanema", one of the most famous songs of the world, was the one we chose to represent our country and our culture. It encouraged all the folks to sing songs of their own countries. The end of the night, the most special moment. Suddenly, everyone started dancing a Mexican music in the schoolyard. My teacher pulled me into there to accompany the youngs. The dance was funny and the steps were kind of difficult, but I did it. I could see nobody without dancing. It was one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen in my entire life. Me, dancing in a Latin way with Latin people, like I defended on the conference. Everybody, together and strong as ever. At that moment I realized what my origins are. And I couldn't be prouder of that. Just like Calle 13 sings: "soy America Latina, un pueblo sin piernas, pero que camina".