And your heritage is . . .?

Since childhood, my sister KC has been asked what her nationality/heritage/ethnicity, etc. might be. With her naturally tan skin, straight, almost black hair, and startingly minty green eyes, she doesn't look like your everyday girl-next-door. There is something rather exotic about her. Thus as a child, she could tell people she was part Native American. As a teen with her long cornrows, she could pass as half African American. Indeed some people went so far to tell her when she waitressed for them that "If you were white, I'd give you a better tip." (I'm not going to go on my rampage against the prejudices of the ignorant just yet--maybe another post). When she worked at the Barnes and Noble cafe and the Pak-a-Sak in Amarillo, people questioned if she were Brazilian. I believe even in L. A., land of the melting pot, people ponder if she might be Persian. Sometimes, out of sheer irritation or a sense of fun, she plays along with it and makes up a fantastical story as to her ancestry. Honestly, people will believe just about anything if you look "different."

Now I, on the other hand, have never had such questions. I'm the "whitey" in my family, the one whose skinned would burn, peel, and/or freckle growing up. It still does that to some extent, but honestly, since I've moved to OH, I've been able to get the best tans of my life. (Isn't that insane? I grew up in TEXAS!) Ok, yes, I've been envious of my sister. Interestingly enough, our eyes are just about the same color, but hers just look so much more striking because she has that fantastic tanned skin to set off the lightness. Mine just blends right in with my whiteness.

However, since I've moved to OH, people seem to find it easier to believe I might have more exotic origins than the Irish/German combo that created my genetic makeup. Not that there's anything wrong with those . . .I'm pretty proud of my heritage, especially the Irish part. But in the past year I've had more than one person ask me if I were Italian, in the past couple of months I had someone tell me I look "European" (whatever that means), and in the past twenty-four hours, I had one guy tell me I looked like I could have come from southern Europe or maybe Spain, and another guy question if I were Greek. Greek! I suddenly feel a bit more exotic than I ever have. And, yeah, I feel kinda good about that. Like I'm . . .cooler somehow.