What is Puerto Rican ?

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What does being a puerto rican mean? Is it the rice and beans, the salsa dancing, the partying, the spanglish . . ? If someone is born and raised in the United States but has two puerto rican parents are they not puerto rican ? What if somebody is born and raised in Puerto Rico, speak the language, know the culture, but has parents with another ethnicity ? Are they not puerto rican ? There is no way of truly identifying what puerto rican is, or what any ethnicity is by that matter. So how do we identify ourselves ?

Usually what people use as a guide to identify puerto ricans are the stereotypes that define it. For example, whenever I feel bad about something I say "dito"; I eat "pernil" at every Thanksgiving, birthday party, and Christmas; I usually dance salsa at parties and weddings . . . These are some of the things most puerto ricans are familiar with, but doesn't necessarily mean all are.

So what else can we use as to recognize a puerto rican ? The physical aspect of being puerto rican ? I have white (but not pale) skin, dark brown hair and eyes, and 5'1'' tall, particularly short. You could say some puerto ricans fall under those physical characteristics, but what about the ones that don't ?

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There is not a solid definition of what it means to be puerto rican. It's subjective. Some people are born and raised in Puerto Rico and don't do most of the things puerto ricans are expected to do, act, say or like. I get asked frequently if I am truly form here. For some reason I have been labeled as an Arabic one time, and Colombian and American in several occasions. Some have been because of physical appearance and others because of my personality. I get why. I don't particularly "act like a puerto rican," whatever that means. I don't hang a puerto rican flag all over my house or listen to reggaeton. I eat puerto rican food maybe once every three months or so. I have never watched local TV or gone to Shannan's Pub, Brava or any other hang out places common for puerto ricans to go. The weirdest thing of all, I don't drink alcohol, which is almost a right of passage among us.

Nonetheless, I do love the beauty of it. Enjoying the beaches, caves, forests. I love the hospitality, the people, and the fact that I was raised bilingual; which has opened a lot of doors for me. I consider myself a puerto rican and I am proud of being one.