In the words of my uncle his son,my brother, and I are mutts. Mutts meaning that we have mixed backgrounds. My brother and I are Filipino,on our dad's side, and white and our cousin is Filipino and Indian (Indian from India Indian).
Growing up my brother and I were exposed to two different cultures. Our Filipino side prided itself on a sense a community. Today I still feel more comfortable around my Filipino family rather than my mom's family. There were things that the Filipino family would do that was extremely different that my other family. Here in the United States there is this constant need to be tan and have that sunkissed glow. When I was a child my dad's mom would always send me outside with a hat or something to cover my skin so that I would not get too dark or develop freckles. In the Philippines there is this obsession to be light skinned and my grandmother brought that view over with her when she came to the states. My mom's family is on the whole very tan. However, their tans come from being outside in the sun too much and they are very proud of how they look.
This is just one example of how being a "mutt" has introduced me to different worldviews on different aspects of culture.
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