Shannon Murphy Berrios, 131 TESS

“Soy Boricua primera, segundo Americana.”

Those words are pretty important to me when people ask about my background, since many still struggle to understand that Puerto Rico is part of the United States. It translates, “I am Puerto Rican first, American second” and while that sounds more harsh in English it’s just our explanation that we love our island and align with our culture more than the American culture.

So when I explain to people at my site that I am Puerto Rican most, don’t even know where that is. So I pull out my trusty little phone map and show them that it is off the coast of Florida, then I explain further and say that the USVI is also part of America, just further out. This helps many understand the concept much more, and even when they don’t fully understand it, most just say, “Okay” and move on from the subject. They know that I am still the volunteer that they signed up for and I feel happy because I get to share my culture for a bit.

What else has been done to share my Puerto Rican side? Well some methods are very low-key. As simple as making my classroom playlist consist of albums like “Marc Anthony for Babies”, some students enjoy it, while others don’t know what to make of it. Even when I’m getting ready and hanging out in my classroom, most of the visitors are welcomed by some form of salsa, bomba y plena, or reggaeton. Then, for the adults when we are out on the town and they want to cheers, we take the second to learn how to cheers in English and in Spanish, saying loudly and for the first couple of tries messing it up. But at the end of the night everyone is saying “Arriba, Abajo, Al Centra, Pa Dentro!”

Then there’s other times where my Puerto Rican influence goes all out. It’s going to take a killer experience to overshadow the night that my host family and I gathered in the kitchen to make Mofongo and Coquito. With my aunt and I managing the Pilon, my Yai handling the fryer, and my mom peeling all the plantains, it was a wonderful time where I got to explain to my family how Puerto Rican culture is. Why we use plantains in most of our food, what else do Puerto Ricans eat? Why is mofongo called mofongo? and one question that had nothing to do with food, but I could tell was driving them crazy since day one I told them I was Puerto Rican: What is Puerto Rico? No matter how odd the question was, I answered it and shared my culture and stories with them. Did they enjoy the mofongo you may ask? No they didn’t really care for it, they wanted spicier food and that got answered with “Most Puerto Rican food isn’t spicy”

I am a Puerto Rican first, an American second, in Thailand. The joy of travel is the sharing of cultures and I’m happy to be in a country so intrigued by mine, I can’t wait to share more and see the connections that it can make. Who knows maybe my school will have the first Bomba Club in Thailand.