Despite my mother being bilingual and a bilingual educator, and the number of years spent learning Spanish in high school and college, I cannot say that I am fluent. Fluent in understanding, mostly. Speaking, not so much. We speak mostly English and Spanglish at home even though my mom and elders are fluent in both languages. Spanglish is the mixing of languages to create new words, start or stop sentences, or make points in one language over the other.

Chicano language and culture maintains both its Hispanic and indigenous origins. We have many words and foods that are called Spanish that have indigenous roots. For example, both the words chile and chocolate come from the Nahuatl language (Aztec and Mexicano) and are now commonly recognized as English and Spanish words--which is very cool, but not often attributed to our indigenous past. Another example of an indigenous past is the Spanish-named tortilla (little cake), which was originally made primarily from corn and then later from wheat once the Spanish arrived.

Chile is a big deal in New Mexico. Every fall in New Mexico you can smell the green chile roasting and ready for preparation. We get together as a family and roast and peel chile to freeze for the season. It is a special commodity as we put green or red chile on most everything. Below are some photos of mi tia (my aunt) roasting the chile as my sister and I peel it before storing it in a Ziplock bag with garlic to last us throughout the year.

Also, I want to share a few dichos (little sayings, idioms) commonly heard growing up. The translation is fun to consider:

Cada cabeza es un mundo.
Each head is its own world.

Pansa llena corazon contenta.
Full stomach, happy heart.

El que no llora no mama.
If you don’t cry, you don’t get fed.

A cada chango su columpio.
To each monkey its own swing.

Ese huevo quiere sal.
This egg wants salt (someone wants attention).

A cada maestro su librito.
To each teacher his own book.

Más claro no canta el gallo.
The rooster’s song is very clear (when someone makes a strong point).

And a rhyme chiquitito (the littlest rhyme) to wish you healing:

Sana sana colita de rana, si no sana hoy sanará mañana.
Heal, heal, little tail of a frog, if you don’t heal today, you’ll heal tomorrow.

And then there are the low riders, which is an entirely different story and totally worth reading. Check out this story from May 2021.

María Stutsman y Márquez is Director of Graduate Recruiting & Admissions