author's note: this morning i got asked to write a little post elaborating more on this. please feel free to stop now if you don't want an explanation.
first thing's first.
it's not weird at all that you asked me to give an "insider's opinion."
it actually makes me feel quite fancy.
okay.
back to business.
i called my mom about this.
having grown up in ecuador her whole life i figured
she has a smidge more experience than me in this department.
she said it's the way of latins.
"we express our emotions through our actions.
i think it's our way of being and our blood
that makes it so we don't communicate only through our words
but also through our actions."
i once semi-dated a boy from scotland.
we had a discussion about emotions
and what is appropriate and what isn't when expressing them.
he said crying along with excessive hugging
was a no-no even among family members.
i found it strange because in my family, we always say hello and goodbye
with a hug and kiss on both cheeks.
i have found hispanics to be some of the warmest people i've met.
they get so involved in the stories they are telling
it completely consumes them.
i feel like speaking with hand gestures also stems
from the fact we are a touchy people.
hardly anything holds us back.
after my friends come to my house for the first time
my mom always says goodbye with a hug.
i think some of them get weirded out when their personal bubble is popped
but that's something you have to prepare for when you enter a hispanic home.
and sometimes it's just easier to gesture at something instead of speaking.
i don't really know if this helped you too much...
i felt like i was just rambling.
if you need anything else just let me know. :)
1 comment:
That was so so perfect! Thank you! I'm in a Spanish teaching program and they've taught us to teach culture using a product (the video), a practice (the use of gestures), and perspective (what the product/practice tell you about the people) and I was having such a hard time figuring out the perspective. I've spent years learning about Latinos and spent time with them, but I had never noticed, actually, the hand gesture thing, so when asked to say what about them causes the use of hand gestures, I was pretty stuck. But you've totally answered my question - thank you! :) I hope you have a lovely day! :)
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