Carrie Moultrie, Teenhood

Teenhood by Carrie Moultrie

i wake up to plantains and eggs in the morning, big family parties with Latin music playing in the background, everyone eating arroz con pollo, and all the elders and children dancing bachata . I wake up to cars honking, the train passing, Romeo Santos, and mi madre saying, Ven a comer .

I wake up to a big family, Spanish food, and a strict dad . I wake up knowing my expectations as a Spanish woman and that I don’t meet all of them . But it doesn’t make me less of what I am . Even if I don’t know all my Spanish, and I don’t have beautiful, caramelized skin, I am still no less of what I am as a Hispanic woman in the Bronx: Honduran, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Cuban . It is a blessing that, out of the whole world, I am a Hispanic woman in the Bronx, and I am still able to learn my culture .