One of the first things people think of when they think of Native Americans is reservations. We didn't have any idea what that was. We were just young kids growing up in normal blue-collar America.
The way I grew up playing, and the way most Americans have grown up, is that you hit the ball up in the air and then it stops where it lands.
I just grew up in the States, so I feel like I identify more with the American culture.
My dad works in insurance; my mom is a speech pathologist. Very Midwestern, adorable childhood.
The reason I'm in San Diego is not because I want distance from South Africa but because I want proximity to the people I love. But I don't envy growing up in America. As ugly as aspects of it were, my biggest blessing was to be born a South African.
For me, being an 'American Latina' means identifying with and being influenced by both my American upbringing and my Latin heritage, and I have so much appreciation for how those two cultures have created who I am.
I have so much appreciation for how those two cultures have created who I am. I'm a full-blooded Brazilian, with an entire extended family of Brazilians, but I was born and raised in the U.S.
Basically it's true that my own life has been my chief window for life in America, beginning with my childhood and the conflicts, the struggles, the strains that I felt in my own family.
Being from the Middle East paired with my upbringing in the United States had pretty polarising effects on the way I perceive beauty.
