My Trip To Mexico City: Spain vs. Latin American Spanish

I was born in Spain…

but raised in Miami, so I’ve always felt equal parts Spanish and Latina. I often felt I couldn’t distinguish which parts of my life and language came from which continent.

On the one hand, Miami is a wonderful and unique city—an exquisite melting pot of all things Latin, mixing Cubans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Argentines, and so many more together in a beautiful, imperfect harmony. This is exemplified in the Spanglish spoken there.

On the other hand, my roots are from Spain. My Spanish heritage has always made me seem slightly out of place with my Latin American friends, whether it’s the lisp on my tongue when I say “gracias” or the paella and lentejas (Spanish lentils) my dad served us at home growing up. I thought this was all my native language had to offer, but I found the missing ingredient on my recent trip to Mexico.

Though as a Spaniard I can be understood across the Spanish-speaking world, it is the small nuances that embody the culture and history unique to each place and make our language so rich. In Mexico, the Spanish language takes on new life with a version that is uniquely its own by incorporating the Nahuatl language spoken by the indigenous Aztecs before the Spanish colonization.