{"id":39098,"date":"2018-12-03T15:58:32","date_gmt":"2018-12-03T20:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=39098"},"modified":"2018-12-04T12:24:02","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T17:24:02","slug":"giving-the-gift-of-multiculturalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/journal\/giving-the-gift-of-multiculturalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving the Gift of Multiculturalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Explore the gift of multiculturalism\u00a0and travel with Passport<\/a>. Attend any and all of our 50+ events in 20+ cities on 5 continents, all for little more than the price of one traditional festival. On-sale now<\/a>!\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve never identified as a White Girl. I\u2019m not mainstream or white bread. I often check \u201cother\u201d rather than Caucasian. I may have been a blonde and blue-eyed baby, but as my hair darkened, my multicultural roots deepened. I feel more comfortable with those that wear the minority label.<\/p>\n

My parents kept multicultural flames alive. They used French and Yiddish phrases when an English equivalent was too bland. We maintained ties with relatives south of the border using Portuguese, Spanish, and a splattering of Yiddish. We crossed the Rio Grande for lunch, and firecrackers. I played with paper dolls representing dozens of countries. I read Russian folktales and Incan adventures.<\/p>\n

When I was 16, I spent the summer in Mexico, alone. I found my true north<\/a> as a vegetarian, a Wanderluster, and a Latinophile. On a backpacker\u2019s budget, I studied in Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, and the streets of Chicago, earning a degree in cultural anthropology and linguistics.\u00a0For 40 years, I haven\u2019t strayed from this\u00a0dharma<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n