I have two last names, one from my father, and one from my mother.
The Martinez side is from El Salvador.
The Guzman side is from Costa Rica.
I was born in San José and moved to Cincinnati when I was 6 years old.
I dropped everything I knew about Spanish.
English became my mother tongue.
Fast-forward I move from the States back to Costa Rica and I don't know how to speak Spanish.
I had to re-learn it in my late teens.
Just in time to start university in Costa Rica.
On my first winter break I took an intensive German language course in Munich.
After months of language courses you would think that I had a running start integrating myself into the German language.
Wrong.
I landed in Rosenheim. They speak Bayrisch.
I literally couldn't understand anything for the first 3 weeks.
My roommates were my life savers. They taught me how to understand dialect.
It was a steep learning curve, German is a language that you never stop learning.
Thankfully over the years its become part of my already mixed identity.
I dont believe cultural identity is static.
For me its a never ending story of the people, language and places that impact me the most.
Check out my gallery. You'll get a unique experience.